There is a long list of things that we’d all rather be doing than cleaning the house, but if you don’t want to live in a dirty, bacteria ridden home that is going to make you and your family ill, you’re going to have to do it. Sometimes, it feels like you spend your whole weekend cleaning the house, especially if you’ve got a family to pick up after. But there are some simple ways to cut your cleaning time in half. It all comes down to the design and layout of the house and if you don’t factor cleaning into your home design, you’re just making things harder for yourself. These are some of the easiest ways to design an easy clean home.

Downsize Your Home

This is a fairly drastic solution but if you’re already considering moving house soon, you should think about downsizing your home. A lot of people are doing it these days because it’s cheaper to buy a smaller house, you’ll save a lot of money on your energy bills and it’s easier to keep everything clean and tidy. Often, people overestimate the amount of space that they really need and end up with a house that’s way bigger than it needs to be, which means lots more cleaning to do. When you’re looking at properties, have a look around some smaller houses or even a large flat or condominium. You’d be surprised how much you can downsize and still live a comfortable life, as long as you make good use of the space that you have and design the home for efficiency.

If you’re not moving house, you need to find other ways to cut your cleaning time in half, so just make these basic changes.

Choose The Right Materials

When you’re first starting to design your home, picking the basic materials that you’re going to use is the first step. You’ve got to pick carefully here because there are a lot of different home decor materials out there and some of them are a lot harder to clean than others. For example, if you pick a fabric sofa, that’s going to be prone to staining if things get spilt on it which is a big problem if you’ve got young kids in the house. But if you go for a leather one instead, it only takes a second to give it a quick wipe. Carpets are similarly dangerous so you might be best putting wooden laminate down in a lot of the rooms. In the rooms where you are using carpets, you can use carpet tiles instead. That way, if you do get a big stain on one of them, you can just swap it out rather than paying for an expensive carpet cleaner or replacing the entire thing.

Kitchen worktops can be a bit of a pain as well if you pick the wrong materials. There are some beautiful granite worktops that you can get but they’re difficult to clean because if you use the wrong cleaning materials, you can damage them quite a bit. Wooden ones aren’t great either because they’re easily dented and scratched and those scratches will soak up a lot of bacteria. Stainless steel or glass are both easy to clean and fairly inexpensive.

Pick The Right Paint

If the walls are dirty, it can be a struggle to clean because if you’re too vigorous and you use strong cleaning chemicals you’ll strip the paint off the wall. There are a couple of ways around this. First off, you should be careful with the color choice because if you go for whites or creams, every tiny speck of dirt is going to show up. It’s easier to stay on top of the cleaning if you go for darker shades. However, dark colors don’t work in smaller rooms so you need to find another way around it. You can get some great wipe clean paints that you can clean easily without worrying about damaging the paint. It’s a little more expensive but it’s worth it because the paint will last longer and cleaning it is a breeze.

Put Furniture On Wheels

This is a bit of an odd idea but it’ll save you so much time. Most people spend so much time vacuuming the house because they’ve got to move everything out of the way to clean underneath and behind it. You can get around that problem easily if you put the furniture on wheels. You can look for sofas and armchairs that are already on wheels and you can also buy casters that go on the bottom of the dining table. It saves you having to stop and start all of the time to move furniture out of the way.

Think About Storage

Blogging presents more risks than you might realize, and it’s vitally important that you’re ready to deal with those risks. It’s all about keeping your site safe and secure, and in turn, ensuring your visitors feel secure when using and exploring your site. On top of that, you need to protect yourself as a blogger. Read on to find out more about how you can avoid exposing yourself to too much risk as a blogger.

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Only Work With People and Companies You Know You Can Trust

One of the times in which your business can really be put at risk is when you’re dealing with other people and other companies. It’s much easier to protect your blogging brand when it’s you and you alone running things. But when you aim to grow, bring in new writers and partner with external companies, you can feel like you’re losing some of that control. So only work with people and companies you know you can trust.

Know Your Customers

Knowing your customers can mean a few different things. Knowing them, what they care about and what they want from you will help you to provide them with what they need. You will then be able to keep them coming back for more. Then there is Know Your Customer compliance; Netverify from Jumio helps with KYC compliance if this is something that applies to your site.

Be Open About Ads and Sponsors

When you’re having your content sponsored or there are ads in your content, this is something that you should be open and honest about wherever possible. That’s important because you will only put your blog at risk and risk alienating your audience if you fail to do that. It’s what people expect these days and it’s always best to be ethical in order to avoid risks.

Learn From the Mistakes of Other Bloggers

There are lots of bloggers out there who have made big mistakes and had their blogging careers completely ruined as a result of those mistakes. That’s what you should be looking to avoid, and you can do that by learning the lessons from these bloggers and finding ways to avoid having to deal with the risks and potential threats that did so much damage to them.

Stay Original

Finally, you should remember the importance of staying original and not just copying the content that’s put out there by other people. You will betray your audience and potentially get into legal troubles if you copy content from other writers. It’s not ethical and it’s not something you should ever have to deal with if you run your blog in the correct and proper way.

As you now know, there are lots of risks that you can be exposed to as a blogger. It doesn’t matter what your niche is or even how big your blog is, there are still risks that you need to be aware of and know how to avoid. So don’t forget about the things you’ve learned here today.


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Today, most people are familiar with DNA and the impact that it can have on a person, including their looks, their health outcomes, and even their personality. The way that DNA affects humans has become increasingly important in the practice of medicine today, but it’s also become an entire market on its own. Commercial DNA testing and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) have now become commonplace for people looking to better understand their risk of developing a health condition or the risk that their unborn child will develop one.



But how does DNA work and how do we test for DNA mutations? DNA is usually taught in the classroom in high school biology (around 9th or 10th grade), so it’s likely that most of us need a small refresher to brush up on their knowledge about DNA and the human genome.

What is DNA?

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a material that holds the instructions for how your cells go about making other cells, proteins, and molecules. Without DNA, your body would not perform the functions necessary to sustain life.

This material is unique to every person. Each person’s set of DNA’s first created at conception when the sperm fertilizes the egg and the 23 chromosomes from each parent combine to create the child’s unique 46 total chromosomes.

Where is DNA found?

DNA is found in the nuclei of human cells, within structures called chromosomes. To undergo DNA testing (testing for an adult) or non-invasive prenatal DNA testing (for a fetus), the person or expectant mother undergoing testing will have their blood drawn and analyzed for particular DNA sequences and mutations. While a pregnant woman does not have her child’s cells in her bloodstream, detectable DNA fragments of the fetus are usually present in the mother’s blood sample. Lab technicians use these fragments to analyze the unborn child’s DNA for particular mutations or abnormalities. At the same time, they are also usually able to tell the sex of the baby.

What is DNA made of?

DNA consists of many smaller molecules, or nucleotides, that combine to form a “chain” of DNA. Each nucleotide is composed of deoxyribose (sugar), a nitrogenous base, and a phosphate group. The DNA chain is composed of two strands of nucleotides, held together by the bonding of their corresponding nitrogenous bases.

There are four different kinds of nitrogenous bases: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. Each of these bases has a corresponding, or opposite, nitrogenous base that it is exclusively able to bond with. Adenine nucleotides will only bond with thymine nucleotides, and cytosine nucleotides will only bond with guanine nucleotides. When the two strands of nucleotides bond, they create the two-stranded double helix DNA structure that we’re used to seeing in illustrations.

Mutations in DNA

The order of the nucleotides and their bases is a code that provides instructions to cells for how to make certain proteins and how to express certain genes. Depending on what instructions are encoded in the DNA, you will have certain genes turned “on” (or expressed) and other genes turned “off” (or not expressed).

Most mutations in DNA occur during meiosis, when a cell is dividing and needs to make a copy of its DNA for the new cell. Mutations can also occur due to damage from environmental factors. There are many different kinds of genetic mutations that can vary greatly in their expression and overall effect on a person. Depending on the mutation and subsequent expression of a gene, you or your unborn baby may be more likely to develop a particular genetic disorder or health condition later in life.

Learn More About DNA Testing

If you’re interested in learning more about genetic mutations, genetic diseases, or DNA testing in general, speak with your doctor. They will be able to recommend genetic testing that is specific to your health and family history (if deemed necessary) or refer you to a healthcare professional called a genetic counselor who specializes in the assessment and treatment of genetic health issues.

SOURCES:

• https://basicbiology.net/micro/genetics/dna
• https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/12/fetal-dna-sequenced-mothers-blood
• https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/26/368449371/dna-blood-test-gives-women-a-new-option-for-prenatal-screening
• https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/basics/dna
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9944/
• https://biologydictionary.net/phosphate-group/
• https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/%3C?%20echo%20$baseURL;%20?%3E/mutations_04

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There are a staggering amount of people who are addicted to opioids in the United States, and the number is only growing. It is an epidemic, and there are new synthetic opioids such as fentanyl that is emerging. In 2016 overdose deaths increased by 21.5 percent according to the CDC. The problem doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon, either.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Luckily, addiction is a treatable as well as preventable disease. It is estimated that almost 64,000 Americans die of a drug overdose involving a prescription or illicit drug in 2016 alone. New drugs like fentanyl which are 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine are party to blame.

There are many different medications that are effective at helping those addicted to opioids to get off the drug, but it is often necessary for there to be a combination of both medication as well as therapy. With any addiction, there is normally an underlying problem that caused a person to begin using in the first place. It could be that they were depressed or that they have a painful past that they are trying to escape.


When you take that person off of their "self-treatment," they are often likely to relapse. They simply do not know how to deal with all of the emotions as well as the withdrawal symptoms that come flooding in when there's an absence of the opioids or other substance to help numb the pain. They don't know where to turn. When you take someone off of their drug or other substance, everything is much more magnified as well, and they can be overwhelming. It can be helpful to be able to talk to others who are going through the same thing in a support group. Treatment centers are often centered around therapy and support groups such as https://www.harrishousestl.org

Treatment centers are often very effective because they not only treat the addiction but they also deal with the underlying situations that can be in the present or in the past. Patients learn how to cope without the use of opioids, and they also learn the different triggers for them and how to deal with them in alternative ways.

A treatment center offers the tools needed to overcome addiction as well as provides the support system that the patients need in order to feel love when they may not be able to get it elsewhere. Sadly, not everyone has a good, strong support system at home or know anyone who genuinely cares about their well-being. Many addicts simply know their dealer and other addicts since their lives are so deeply involved in their addition.

An addiction recovery center shows its patients how to live again and without any judgment. Recovery from an addiction is a long and slow process. It is necessary to detox as well as to get treatment so that the brain can recover from the damage that has been done. Daily life has to be relearned, and coping skills need to be adopted.

It can take as much as an entire year to get off the medication-assisted treatment, and each path to sobriety is a different one. No one is the same, so there is no universal plan that will make everyone better. Each patient who attends a treatment center will get the one-on-one care and attention that they need, and they will also meet with a therapist to access the severity of their addiction before deciding on a treatment plan. It is also best to involve the family if they are going to be supportive as well as friends who care about the well-being of the person attending treatment.

In many instances, family and friends are the ones to get the patient to get treatment in the first place, so it is important to have them involved in the life of the patient. Loved ones of the patient are going to help support them once they get out of the rehabilitation center and they are going to have to be a strong support system for the patient. It can be difficult to resume life after a crippling addiction, and it may be best to cut ties with former acquaintances if they are still addicted to a substance so as not to be a bad influence.

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Last December 13, 2018, at Mall of Asia Music Hall, Del Monte Spaghetti Sauces treated families for the 2nd time to an excitingly different spaghetti experience by sampling all five of their delicious spaghetti sauce flavors in their Del Monte Spag Sarap Squad Headquarters - Carbonara, Italian, Sweet, Filipino, and their newest flavor, Creamy and Cheesy.

The Del Monte Spag Sarap Squad (Photo Courtesy of: Del Monte Philippines Facebook page)

These flavors came to life through the Del Monte Spag Sarap Squad heroes whose mission is to save the day with delicious spaghetti. The squad - Carlo Carbonara, Taliana, Sweetie, Ino Filipino, and Cheesy, interacted with the audience and hosted fun games with them to help them experience the variety of these delicious flavors:

• Sweet Style - made with 100% naturally sweet California tomatoes is everyone's yummy childhood favorite;
• Filipino Style - a leveled up sweet sauce because it's also meaty and cheesy;
• Italian Style - a tomato-ey sauce with basil, oregano, and parmesan cheese for that authentic Italian taste;
• Carbonara - an up and coming comfort food favorite for resto-going yuppies as it's made of real cream and milk; and lastly,
• Creamy and Cheesy - an "extra fun" sauce because of the extra cream and cheese in it.

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