Get compensated for a delayed flight

This post is for those of you who fly internationally (in particular, within, from, and outside/to the European Union).
 
Did you know that the European Union law dictates certain standards of airline service, and if you experience a delayed flight, you can be compensated through AirHelp?

I did not know anything about the European Union (EU) laws, and until recently, I had never heard about AirHelp. 

However, two months ago, I was contacted by AirHelp about a delayed flight I experienced this past summer. The flight in question was from a smaller European country through another, bigger European airport, and with the final destination of JFK, U.S.

In an email, AirHelp explained the relevant EU law and informed me that I can be compensated if I file a complaint through them. The company would keep 1/3 of the compensation, and I would receive 2/3 of the sum.

After I researched AirHelp online, I agreed to the offer. Why? If the airline company that was guilty of the delayed flight had been nice to its customers (including me and my child, who traveled with me), I would not have filed a claim. However, instead of easing the seven additional hours spent at the airport due to a defective airplane, the airline subjected its customers to humiliating, unpleasant and even abusive experiences. 

I do not want to enlist all of the offenses, but I would mention that after a few hours standing in front of a help desk, a few passengers complained about their kids being hungry and thirsty.  One of the airline employees brought a plastic tub with a few sandwiches and water bottles. Silently threw this on the floor next to us, the passengers, and as soon as the children collected a few items, the same lady came and retrieved the tub still full with food and water. I did not have time to grab even a water bottle.

At the end of the nine hours we spent at that airport, my child was crying and had a terrible headache. I was numb and tried to avoid thinking about the fact that we had another 18 hours of travel ahead, and there was a possibility that we would lose our New York hotel reservation.

So, I filed a claim with AirHelp, because of the anguish the airline company caused us. For a comparison, let me tell you how another company dealt with the passengers after a delayed flight. Three years ago, we were flying with KLM and had a six-hour delay on JFK, U.S.  Once on board of the plane, JFK airport closed down due to a severe thunderstorm for another hour. So, the delay was huge... We arrived in Amsterdam late and missed our next flight.  

It was unpleasant, and it was chaotic and difficult to find the help desk dedicated to stranded passengers like us. However, once we got to interact with the company employees, all we received was comfort, not abuse. We received our newly issued flight tickets, coupons for phone usage, coupons for the food court at the airport, and vouchers for approximately 50 euro for each of us to apply as a compensation to any future flight.

Within two months of filing a claim with AirHelp, I received the compensation for me and my child. The check was promptly deposited in my bank account. Thank you, AirHelp!

Do Big Muscles Lead To Bigger Muscles?

Left, an example of human muscular hypertrophy.

By Benjamin J. Falk (1853-1925) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Eugen_Sandow.jpg, originally uploaded 13:46, 31 August 2005 by en:User:Johnteslade, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=669519

People show individual variation in the ease in which they can grow muscle in response to stimulus (muscle hypertrophy).  There are hard gainers (such as myself) and there are men who have bulging biceps despite never having ever touched a weight; their everyday activity suffices to stimulate growth.  An example of the latter is famous American baseball player Jimmie Foxx, pictured here, who claimed to have developed his famous physique and massive strength simply as a result of doing farm work as a youth.  As far as anyone knows, Foxx never did any weight training whatsoever nor did he perform any sort of exercise to maintain his muscular development apart from playing baseball.  In contrast, many men spend years lifting weights and drinking protein shakes while never achieving the physique of “the natural” Foxx, and these men start losing their hard-earned gains as soon as they stop going to the gym.  And when the “naturals” do work out with weights, their gains are rapid and impressive. 

People also differ in their “starting” (basal) level of muscle development before they encounter muscle-growing stimuli.  There are the big-boned, naturally muscular mesomorph types, the small-boned thin ectomorph types, and the big-boned and overweight endomorphs who have much more fat, and much less muscle, than the mesomorphs.

Is there are correlation between basal muscle size and the ability to put on muscle?  The popular conception (see below) is that ease of muscle growth goes as follows: mesomorph>endomorph>ectomorph.  Generally speaking: Is basal muscle mass a good predictor of muscle gain achieved from overload-exercise?  Do people who have the most muscle before exercising tend to make the greatest gains?

Researchers performed a study using mice, and utilized eight different mouse strains to mimic the genetic variability found in humans. Male mice were used.  One strain (BEH) was myostatin-mutant, another was BEH with the wild-type (normal) myostatin gene added back in (BEH+/+).  Myostatin is a known inhibitor of muscle growth, and mammals born with mutant myostatin that does not function properly tend to be much more muscular than their normal counterparts.  However, pharmacological interventions to inhibit myostatin have not resulted in positive results with respect to muscle growth.  Therefore, myostatin status was one interesting variable to look at in this study. The other six strains were naturally wild-type for myostatin. 

The muscles examined were the soleus (slow-twitch) and plantaris (fast-twitch) muscles; therefore, slow vs. fast twitch was another variable studied.  Muscle growth was stimulated by ablation of the gastrocnemius muscle by removing most of the muscle from both hind legs; therefore, the soleus and plantaris muscles had to work harder to compensate for the loss of the gastrocnemius, stimulating growth.

The mice strains exhibited different levels of basal (before experiment) size of their soleus and plantaris muscles. Not surprisingly, the myostatin-mutant BEH mice were very well developed; also not surprising, there was a correlation between skeleton size and muscle weight (we can consider some mouse strains to be more “mesomorphic” than others). 

The main findings from the experiment were: (a) there was significant strain-to-strain differences in the amount of muscle growth observed, (b) the well-muscled myostatin-mutant BEH mice were less (not more) responsive to muscle-growth stimulus, and (c) some mouse strains showed greater soleus growth and others showed greater plantaris growth.

Looking at those three points, we can say first that just as different people exhibit different potential for muscle growth, so do different strains of mice. 

Second, and most surprising, there was no positive correlation between mouse strains with the most basal muscle (“natural” muscle before the experiment) and those mice that showed the greatest muscle growth with the experimental stimulus.  Most interestingly, the myostatin-mutant mice showed the least growth, which may explain why pharmacological inhibition of myostatin hasn’t been effective.  Possibly, myostatin inhibition allows for muscle growth when the myostatin function is lacking from conception or birth, but the function of myostatin may be different when considering fully-developed adult muscles.  Myostatin may possibly not inhibit adult muscle growth in response to overload stimulus; or even may be necessary for such growth.  More studies are needed.  The “bottom-line” is that the most “naturally muscular” mice did NOT show the most muscle growth.

Third, different strains of mice showed a “preference” for which muscle grew the fastest; this is analogous to people having more responsive and less responsive body parts.  For example, we hear anecdotes of one person who easily gets muscular legs from squats but who cannot build a big upper body (or vice versa), some people build chest easily but not biceps, some people develop big triceps and a big neck but small lats.  Many people have trouble with the calves and forearms.  This situation seems to be mimicked in the mice.

The study did not identify genes responsible for these differences, which would be an important area for future study.

If we take these findings out face value, they seem to go against popular conceptions about muscle gain.  For example, casual observation would lead one to conclude that it is the “naturally muscular” mesomorph, with abundant basal muscle mass even before exercise, who shows the greatest hypertrophy with weight training, while their less muscular counterparts struggle to make gains. 

Two general possible explanations for this discrepancy are as follows.  First, it is possible that mice, particularly myostatin-mutant mice, are not a suitable model for human differences, and so the findings of this mouse study would not strictly apply to the human case.  Second, it may be that the mouse findings do indeed apply to humans, and the confusion revolves around human perception.  Perhaps, people judge physiques on their final size and not the net gain.  Therefore, while the skinny ectomorph may show the greatest percentage gains, the naturally muscular mesomorph starts so far ahead in basal musculature that the mesomorph’s final physique would be much more impressive than the ectomorph’s  The mouse data support this possibility.  For example, looking at the findings, we can compare the myostatin-mutant BEH strain to the D2 strain.  D2 mice showed significant greater growth in the soleus muscle (1.7-fold vs. 1.3-fold) and the plantaris muscle (1.5-fold vs. 1.3-fold) comparted to BEH mice.  However, the BEH mice were far, far ahead of the D2 mice in basal (starting) muscle size. Basal soleus weight for the BEH mice was around 3-fold greater than that for D2 mice, and basal plantaris weight was nearly 4-fold higher.  So, when all was said and done, the BEH mice ended up with bigger muscles than the D2 mice, despite showing a smaller percentage increase.  Maybe there is a threshold for muscle growth, so that, for example, the BEH mice simply could not reach sizes reflecting a 1.5-1.7-fold increase?

It is of course also possible that both explanations are to some extent true.

Adenoma Detection Rates In Obese And Smoking Patients

At left, stained adenoma under the microscope.

By Nephron - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8273894

Here is a study showing higher detection rates for adenomas and serrated adenomas in obese and smoking patients undergoing colonoscopy. Adenomas are benign tumors that - if left in the colon - have a probability of turning into full-fledged cancer (e.g., for a given polyp, could be a 10% chance in 10 years). Therefore, when detected in endoscopic screening, adenomas are typically removed.  The more adenomas, the greater the chance for cancer, so it is not surprising that obese and smoking individuals tend to have higher rates of colorectal cancer, since they are developing more of the pre-cancerous adenomas.

This again underscores the fundamental importance of maintaining a healthy bodyweight and to refrain from smoking.  If you are already at a normal weight and do not smoke, great, keep it up; if not, lose weight and make every attempt to quit smoking.  In general people associate obesity with diabetes and smoking with lung cancer, and those associations are indeed correct; however, there are many, many diseases associated with both obesity and smoking - including colorectal cancer - so the health ramifications of weight control and no smoking are enormous.

Appetizer cake

What is an appetizer cake? It is a cake that is served as an appetizer or as a snack at a party.

I love appetizers. I would forgo the main dish for the appetizers. When I was little, my parents left me alone at the Holiday table for a couple of minutes, and when they came back, they found me unable to talk since my mouth was full with olives and salami. I do not remember this humiliating episode, and anyway, my parents and I survived the crisis. The food was somehow pried out of my clenched jaws.

Today, since processed meats are out of our diet (they increase the risk of colon cancer), I try to find healthy, and yet delicious, substitutes.

In the past, my mom had made a pancake stack for an appetizer. It consisted of layers of pancakes with various cheeses, mayo and pickles in between.

For this past New Years Eve, I decided to experiment and make my own healthy appetizer cake. The "cake" would be well-received at any party. This year, break the tradition of celebrating every occasion with sugar. Try something new. Try the appetizer cake!

Appetizer cake

You need:
Four pocket thins (with high fiber contents or any other type you may like). Two packages of cream cheese (I use the reduced fat). 3 - 4 Tbsp of plain yogurt (I use non-fat), 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 medium size sweet onion (diced), 5 - 6 baked and peeled red peppers (I buy the ready to use peppers in jars), 1 - 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 can of pitted olives, 1 or more cups of shredded Cheddar cheese or any other cheese you like, a cucumber and/or tomatoes for decoration.

Instructions:
Soften the cream cheese in the microwave (for 30 seconds or less) and mix with the yogurt and crushed garlic. Soften the onion in a pan with olive oil until caramelized. Crush and drain well the pitted olives. Drain well the peppers and dice. Mix separately the olives, the peppers and the onions each with 2 Tbsp of the cream cheese-yogurt mixture. Assemble the cake by layering the thins and the fillings. I arranged my cake in the following order: one thin as a foundation of the cake, onion layer, another thin, pepper layer, thin, olive layer, and a final thin. Cover the cake on all sides with the remaining cream cheese-yogurt mix and sprinkle the shredded Cheddar cheese on top and on the sides. Decorate with sliced cucumber or tomatoes.

My tweaks for the "next edition" of the appetizer cake:
 

• Next time, I will use the half (one layer) of each doubled-layered pocket thin. 
• Instead of onion, I will use mushrooms softened in oil. The onions were too sweet and clashed with the salty taste of the cake.  
• The double-layered thins were a bit tough but the taste and texture improved after I kept the cake for 24 hours in the refrigerator, and then a couple of hours at room temperature (before serving). 
• I may also try to make the same cake with pancakes

How to save yourself

How can you save yourself?  

How much do we need to save the nation?

Do you need a lot of money to eliminate the major diseases in the U.S.?

An eighth-grade English teacher knows it. Do you? 

Check this excellent post by Patsy Ouellette of Bakersfield; she teaches at Norris Middle School and obviously can teach us more than just English: 

Community Voices: Power of healthy eating