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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Blood Platelet Donation

Alternative name:
Platelet Apheresis ('plate-let ay-fer-'ee-sis)

What are blood platelets?

Blood platelets are irregularly-shaped, colorless bodies that are present in blood. Their sticky surface lets them, along with other substances, form clots to stop bleeding. When bleeding from a wound suddenly occurs, the platelets gather at the wound and attempt to block the blood flow. The mineral calcium, vitamin K, and a protein called fibrinogen help the platelets form a clot. A clot begins to form when the blood is exposed to air. The platelets sense the presence of air and begin to break apart. They react with the protein fibrinogen to begin forming fibrin, which resembles tiny threads. The fibrin threads then begin to form a web-like mesh that traps the blood cells within it. This mesh of blood cells hardens as it dries, forming a clot, or a scab.

Who needs blood platelets?

Blood platelets are needed for:

What is the process for taking blood platelets?

A special procedure called apheresis (a-fer-EE-sis) is used. A needle is inserted into a vein in one of the donor's arms and whole blood is drawn into a sterile, closed machine. This machine rotates at a high speed separating whole blood into its different components. All but the needed component, in our case the platelets, are returned to the donor either through the same arm. These platelets are then made immediately available to the patient at the Medical Centre.

Who can donate blood platelets?

The ideal candidate for blood plasma donation is a person who:

How often can blood platelets be donated?


Generally, a person may donate blood platelets as often as every 7 days.

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PLATELET DONATION

Become a platelet donor!

If you've donated blood before, you know that you've made a tremendous difference for the hospital patients who received your blood. You can take that feeling one step further by donating platelets. Many hospital patients need platelets to survive. By donating platelets, you provide an invaluable gift of life.


Why are platelets needed?

Blood is made of four components: platelets, plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells. The platelet component is necessary to control bleeding. Patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments are unable to produce enough platelets. Without platelet transfusions, life-threatening hemorrhages could result.


History of plateletpheresis

Until recently(page update=year 2000), the only way to collect enough platelets for a single transfusion was to take units of blood given by 5 to 10 donors, separate the platelets from the other blood cells using a centrifuge and combine the platelets.

Today, sophisticated medical equipment-blood cell separators-can collect enough platelets for a transfusion from a single donor. The separator automatically removes platelets from the blood you are donating and returns the rest of the blood to you.

It is a simple, safe process-very much like a regular blood donation


Who receives platelets?

Most patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment or organ transplant need donated platelets in order to survive. A platelet recipient could be a family member, friend, neighbor, acquaintance or stranger. Your donation can save a life.


How are platelets donated?

By using a special method called apheresis (ay-fer-ee-sis), whole blood is separated into components, and the platelets are removed. Specially trained Red Cross nurses and staff conduct the procedure while you relax, watch TV or read. The entire process takes about two hours.


Who can donate?

You can continue to give whole blood in addition to platelets. You must be healthy, meet medical requirements and be willing to share your good health with a seriously ill patient. There is no possible way to contract any disease, including AIDS, by donating platelets or whole blood. All needles and containers are sterile, used only once, and then carefully discarded. Because platelets are quickly replenished by your body, you can give platelets up to 24 times a year. Your area blood bank staff will work with you to schedule a convenient donation time.

How often can I give?

Your body is able to replenish its supply of platelets very quickly so they are always in plentiful supply. Generally, a person may donate platelets as frequently as every 48 hours but no more than 24 times a year. Restrictions vary, however, from center to center.

Understanding Platelet Donation


Regular Blood Donation vs Platelet Donation

BD:One unit of whole blood is drawn and collected. PD:Whole blood is separated into components, and the platelets are removed. The other components are returned to your body.

BD:A regular blood donation can be stored up to 42 days. PD:Platelets must be transfused within five days of donation

BD:A donor can give every 56 days. PD:Platelet donors can give up to 24 times a year.

BD:Regular blood donors can give blood at any area blood drive. PD:Platelet donors give at certain Blood Banks where the equipment is available.

BD:Regular blood donation takes about an hour PD: Platelet donation takes up to two hours. Donors can read, sleep, watch TV or listen to music.


YOU CAN CONTINUE TO GIVE WHOLE BLOOD IN ADDITION TO DONATING PLATELETS


BE A LIFESAVER!


TAKE YOUR PLATELETS OUT FOR A SPIN!



To be a platelet donor you must:

Be healthy, and meet all the qualifications of a regular blood donor.

Not take any medication containing aspirin for 36 hours before donating.

Be willing to share your good health with someone who needs help.

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Cholistan Jeep Rally 2010 - (19th - 21st Feb)

Here comes this year grand event for all the photographers from every part of the country. The Rally held in Cholistan Desert near Derawar Fort is easily accessible for photographers from Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. The Rally is being held this year from 19th Feb to 21st Feb, 2010.

TDCP's Cholistan Jeep Rally is one of the most awaited event of the year not because of the exceptional programs that they offer or the extremely managed event but due to the variety of events that it provides in the hub of the dersert in front of majestic Derawar Fort. From cultural folk sports to motor sports to fireworks against the backdrop of Derawar Fort, no one can view such grand festivities anywhere in Pakistan at any festival. Unlike last year, this event this year has a lot of changes

Festivities and Programs for Jeep Rally 2010


19th Feb:


This time, no activity will be held in Bahawalpur, the qualifying rounds and inspection of vehicles will be done in Cholistan this year instead of the dried Bed of River Sutluj Between the two Bridges. Hence, all those who want to join for the qualifying round will be reaching directly to Cholistan.

20th Feb:

TDCP has not released any information for the events that they have planned to arrange in connection with Jeep Rally. My resource person has not yet confirmed anything but it is expected that keeping in view the last year tradition, Cultural and folk sports will be held including Camel Race & Camel Dance, Desi Wrestling/Dungal Rustam Cholistan plus the most exciting event of the Fireworks at Derawar Fort.

21st Feb:

This day is mainly for the Jeep Rally, no other cultural activity will be held other than that. So, all those who really want to capture the dust, the action, the speed and the Jeeps, can stay the day long for that.

-----------------

Now, here are the few information for PPG guys.

A lot of PPG members would like to join for the meetup at the jeep rally. So, here is just brief information for all of you.

For those who can spare 3 days:


Reach Bwp in morning of 19th
- Visit Palaces, Surroundings of Bwp (Noor Mehal, Sadiq Garh Palace, Lal Suhanra Park)
or Visit Uch Sharif


For those who can spare 2 days:


Leave on the 19th night and reach by morning to Bwp or Ahmed Pur East or Rahim Yar Khan and directly go towards Derawar Fort and attend all the cultural activities over there. Overnight stay at Derawar Fort in camps or in the residence. Early morning shoot at Derawar Fort and then leave for Desert Rally place. Shoot the desert rally by maximum 3 PM and leave for your cities to avoid the rush which will be there due to the heavy load of traffic.

Route:-

For those coming from Lahore:

Lahore - Multan - Bwp – (Tariq Sulemani Advice that you can now try short cut route of Lodhran – Bwp as the road is in better condition). From Bwp you can either leave for Yazman enjoying the culture or head towards Ahmed Pur East and then taking a turn for Derawar Fort. A single lane road exists going directly till Derawar Fort and it will take you around 2 hours to be there.

For those coming from Karachi:

Khi – Sukkur – Ahmed Pur East and then taking a turn for Derawar Fort. The distance is nearly similar on both sides either from Karachi or Lahore.

For people traveling from Lahore, they can travel anytime but it is recommended to travel from Lahore in mid night so as to get the early light when they reach the Bwp/Ahmed Pur East. For those coming from Karachi, keeping in view the security conditions, leave by 2-3 O lock in morning so that you can cross the interior Sindh in day light.

Equipment:

You can bring as many as you like, but keeping in view that you will be spending most of the time shooting so bring what you can easily hand carry, you normally require a good wide angle to a normal zoom because most of the time you would be shooting at the wide end until you go for Jeep Rally. For the Jeep Rally any zoom other than wide is better, best would a 80-200 or 70-200 mm lens which would give you a better reach and you can avoid dust from being far away. Avoiding your equipment from dust is very important, try not to change any lens while in the dust; use one lens and cover your equipment with a cleaning cloth so to avoid any sort of dust entering into it. You may or may not get electricity in Cholistan desert, though we have got our arrangements done but keeping in view that the electricity over there would be generated mainly by the generators so it is better to have extra batteries charged before you leave for Cholistan.

Do bring loads of water before entering Cholistan and few packed foods because all the stuff would be available in Cholistan but of course costly.

Accommodation:

TDCP has already agreed to provide accommodation, meals and even conveyance to our members, but I would advice the friends to bring their tents if they want to have their independence. For tents, have few warm clothes with you otherwise bring sleeping bags with you.

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Saturday, February 6, 2010

Resignation Letter from US Foreign Service Officer Matthew P. Hoh


US Foreign Service Officer Matthew P. Hoh,
Senior Civilian Representative, Afghanistan

September 10, 2009

Ambassador Nancy J. Powell
Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520

 
 

Dear Ambassador Powell

 
 

,It is with great regret and disappointment I submit my resignation from my appointment as a Political Officer in the Foreign Service and my post as the Senior Civilian Representative for the US Government in Zabul Province. I have served six of the previous ten years in service to our country overseas, to include deployment as a US Marine office and Department of Defense civilian in the Euphrates and Tigris River Valleys of Iraq in 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. I did not enter into this position lightly or with any undue expectations nor did I believe my assignment would be without sacrifice, hardship or difficulty. However, in the course of my five months of service in Afghanistan, in both Regional Commands East and South, I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan. I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end. To put simply: I fail to see the value or the worth in continued US casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year old civil war.

This fall will mark the eighth year of US combat, governance and development operations within Afghanistan. Next fall, the United States' occupation will equal in length the Soviet Union's own physical involvement in Afghanistan. Like the Soviets, we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by its people.

If the history of Afghanistan is one great stage play, the United States is no more than a supporting actor, among several previously, in a tragedy that not only pits tribes, valleys, clans, villages and families against one another, but, from at least the end of King Zahir Shah's reign, has violently and savagely pitted the urban, secular, educated and modern of Afghanistan against the rural, religious, illiterate and traditional. It is this latter group that composes and supports the Pashtun insurgency. The Pashtun insurgency, which is composed of multiple, seemingly infinite, local groups, is fed by what is perceived by the Pashtun people as a continued and sustained assault, going back centuries, on Pashtun land, culture, traditions and religion by internal and external enemies. The US and NATO presence and operations in Pashtun valleys and villages, as well as Afghan army and police units that are led and composed of non- Pashtun soldiers and police, provide an occupation force against which the insurgency is justified. In both RC East and South, I have observed that the bulk of the insurgency fights not for the white banner of the Taliban, but rather against the presence of foreign soldiers and taxes imposed by an unrepresentative government in Kabul.

The United States military presence in Afghanistan greatly contributes to the legitimacy and strategic message of the Pashtun insurgency. In a like manner our backing of the Afghan government in its current form continues to distance the government from the people. The Afghan government's failings, particularly when weighed against the sacrifice of American lives and dollars, appear legion and metastatic:

  • Glaring corruption and unabashed graft;
  • A President whose confidants and chief advisors comprise drug lords and war crimes villains, who mock our own rule of law and counternarcotics efforts;
  • A system of provincial and district leaders constituted of local power brokers, opportunists and strongmen allied to the United States solely for, and limited by, the value of our USAID and CERP contracts and for whose own political and economic interests stand nothing to gain from any positive or genuine attempts at reconciliation; and
  • The recent election process dominated by fraud and discredited by low voter turnout, which has created an enormous victory for our enemy who now claims a popular boycott and will call into question worldwide our government's military, economic and diplomatic support for an invalid and illegitimate Afghan government.

Our support for this kind of government, coupled with a misunderstanding of the insurgency's true nature, reminds me horribly of our involvement with South Vietnam; an unpopular and corrupt government we backed at the expense of our Nation's own internal peace, against an insurgency whose nationalism we arrogantly and ignorantly mistook as a rival to our own Cold War ideology.

I find specious the reasons we ask for bloodshed and sacrifice from our young men and women in Afghanistan. If honest, our stated strategy of securing Afghanistan to prevent al-Qaeda resurgence or regrouping would require us to additionally invade and occupy western Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, etc. Our presence in Afghanistan has only increased destabilization and insurgency in Pakistan where we rightly fear a toppled or weakened Pakistani government may lose control of its nuclear weapons. However, again, to follow the logic of our stated goals we should garrison Pakistan, not Afghanistan. More so, the September 11th attacks, as well as the Madrid and London bombings, were primarily planned and organized in Western Europe; a point that highlights the threat is not one tied to traditional geographic or political boundaries. Finally, if our concern is for a failed state crippled by corruption and poverty and under assault from criminal and drug lords, then if we bear our military and financial contributions to Afghanistan, we must reevaluate and increase our commitment to and involvement in Mexico.

Eight years into war, no nation has ever known a more dedicated, well trained, experienced and disciplined military as the US Armed Forces. I do not believe any military force has ever been tasked with such a complex, opaque and Sisyphean mission as the US military has received in Afghanistan. The tactical proficiency and performance of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines is unmatched and unquestioned. However, this is not the European or Pacific theaters of World War II, but rather is a war for which our leaders, uniformed, civilian and elected, have inadequately prepared and resourced our men and women. Our forces, devoted and faithful, have been committed to conflict in an indefinite and unplanned manner that has become a cavalier, politically expedient and Pollyannaish misadventure. Similarly, the United States has a dedicated and talented cadre of civilians, both US government employees and contractors, who believe in and sacrifice for their mission, but they have been ineffectually trained and led with guidance and intent shaped more by the political climate in Washington, DC than in Afghan cities, villages, mountains and valleys.

"We are spending ourselves into oblivion" a very talented and intelligent commander, one of America's best, briefs every visitor, staff delegation and senior officer. We are mortgaging our Nation's economy on a war, which, even with increased commitment, will remain a draw for years to come. Success and victory, whatever they may be, will be realized not in years, after billions more spent, but in decades and generations. The United States does not enjoy a national treasury for such success and victory.

I realize the emotion and tone of my letter and ask that you excuse any ill temper. I trust you understand the nature of this war and the sacrifices made by so many thousands of families who have been separated from loved ones deployed in defense of our Nation and whose homes bear the fractures, upheavals and scars of multiple and compounded deployments. Thousands of our men and women have returned home with physical and mental wounds, some that will never heal or will only worsen with time. The dead return only in bodily form to be received by families who must be reassured their dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, loved vanished, and promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can anymore be made. As such, I submit my resignation.

Sincerely,

Matthew P. Hoh
Senior Civilian Representative
Zabul Province, Afghanistan

Cc: Mr. Frank Ruggiero
Ms. Dawn Liberi
Ambassador Anthony Wayne
Ambassador Karl Eikenberry

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