Khamis, 27 Ogos 2009

The Appendix: Useful and in Fact Promising

The body's appendix has long been thought of as nothing more than a worthless evolutionary artifact, good for nothing save a potentially lethal case of inflammation.

Now researchers suggest the appendix is a lot more than a useless remnant. Not only was it recently proposed to actually possess a critical function, but scientists now find it appears in nature a lot more often than before thought. And it's possible some of this organ's ancient uses could be recruited by physicians to help the human body fight disease more effectively.

In a way, the idea that the appendix is an organ whose time has passed has itself become a concept whose time is over.

"Maybe it's time to correct the textbooks," said researcher William Parker, an immunologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. "Many biology texts today still refer to the appendix as a 'vestigial organ.'"

Slimy sac

The vermiform appendix is a slimy dead-end sac that hangs between the small and large intestines. No less than Charles Darwin first suggested that the appendix was a vestigial organ from an ancestor that ate leaves, theorizing that it was the evolutionary remains of a larger structure, called a cecum, which once was used by now-extinct predecessors for digesting food.

"Everybody likely knows at least one person who had to get their appendix taken out - slightly more than 1 in 20 people do - and they see there are no ill effects, and this suggests that you don't need it," Parker said.

However, Parker and his colleagues recently suggested that the appendix still served as a vital safehouse where good bacteria could lie in wait until they were needed to repopulate the gut after a nasty case of diarrhea. Past studies had also found the appendix can help make, direct and train white blood cells.

Now, in the first investigation of the appendix over the ages, Parker explained they discovered that it has been around much longer than anyone had suspected, hinting that it plays a critical function.

"The appendix has been around for at least 80 million years, much longer than we would estimate if Darwin's ideas about the appendix were correct," Parker said.

Moreover, the appendix appears in nature much more often than previously acknowledged. It has evolved at least twice, once among Australian marsupials such as the wombat and another time among rats, lemmings, meadow voles, Cape dune mole-rats and other rodents, as well as humans and certain primates.

"When species are divided into groups called 'families,' we find that more than 70 percent of all primate and rodent groups contain species with an appendix," Parker said.

Several living species, including several lemurs, certain rodents and the scaly-tailed flying squirrel, still have an appendix attached to a large cecum, which is used in digestion. Darwin had thought appendices appeared in only a small handful of animals.

"We're not saying that Darwin's idea of evolution is wrong - that would be absurd, as we're using his ideas on evolution to do this work," Parker told LiveScience. "It's just that Darwin simply didn't have the information we have now."

He added, "If Darwin had been aware of the species that have an appendix attached to a large cecum, and if he had known about the widespread nature of the appendix, he probably would not have thought of the appendix as a vestige of evolution."

What causes appendicitis?

Darwin was also not aware that appendicitis, or a potentially deadly inflammation of the appendix, is not due to a faulty appendix, but rather to cultural changes associated with industrialized society and improved sanitation, Parker said.

"Those changes left our immune systems with too little work and too much time their hands - a recipe for trouble," he said. "Darwin had no way of knowing that the function of the appendix could be rendered obsolete by cultural changes that included widespread use of sewer systems and clean drinking water."

Now that scientists are uncovering the normal function of the appendix, Parker notes a critical question to ask is whether anything can be done to prevent appendicitis. He suggests it might be possible to devise ways to incite our immune systems today in much the same manner that they were challenged back in the Stone Age.

"If modern medicine could figure out a way to do that, we would see far fewer cases of allergies, autoimmune disease, and appendicitis," Parker said.

The scientists detailed their findings online August 12 in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

Selasa, 25 Ogos 2009

Utlubha huna (dapatkan disini!!) Mai secawan

Pintu masuk ke Safwah Tower dari Gate 1 Masjidil Haraam. De'Saji Restoren berada di tingkat 2

Kopi Radix sudah mula dipasarkan di Makkah di De Saji Restoren di Safwah Tower Makkah yang bersebelahan Zamzam Tower. Tinjauan sebentar tadi mendapati Kopi Radix mendapat sambutan yang amat menggalakkan daripada rakyat Malaysia yang mengerjakan umrah.

Diharap supaya maklumat ini dapat disebarkan kepada ahli yang bercadang dan bakal mengerjakan umrah.

Sabtu, 22 Ogos 2009

Mai Secawan di Makkah!!

InsyaAllah mulai esok 24 Ogos 2009 para tetamu Allah boleh membuat pesanan 'mai secawan' Kopi Radix di Makkah. Restoren yang terawal menyediakan Kopi Radix sebagai salah satu menu minumannya ialah Felda De'Saji Food Court. Beralamat di Tingkat 2, As Safwah Tower. Bertentangan dengan Gate 1 (King Abdul Aziz) Masjidil Haraam.

Sabtu, 15 Ogos 2009

Seminar Masjid telah selesai

Alhamdulillah, sebentar tadi selesailah sudah program seminar ekonomi masjid bagi daerah Petaling yang telah dihadiri oleh lebih 30 buah masjid. Tahniah kepada Pegawai Penyelaras Masjid YBhg Ustaz Zainuddin yang telah berjaya menghimpunkan nazir-nazir dan Ahli Jawatankuasa Masjid dibawah pemantauan beliau. Satu semnagat baru dapat dilihat hasil dari perbincangan yang amat menarik pada pagi tadi.
Pembentang kertas kerja. Prof Madya Dr Ishak Sulaiman dan saya sendiri.Ustaz Zainuddin Zakaria menyampaikan ucapan aluan

Majlis dimulakan dengan ucapan alu-aluan Ustaz Zainuddin dan seterusnya pembentangan permasalahan halal haram produk makanan yang disampaikan oleh Prof Madya Dr Ishak Sulaiman. Pembentangan yang disertakan dengan video cukup menarik dan telah membuka minda peserta yang hadir. selepas tea-break, saya telah menyambung dengan pembentang profile syarikat dan projek pembangunan ekonomi masjid bersama HPA.Rata-rata yang hadir telah memberi respons yang positif dan tindakan dari pihak masjid akan dilakukan segera. Semoga tela usaha yang kerdil ini objektif projek ini iaitu membangunkan ekonomi masjid dengan perniagaan produk halal, memberi kesedaran kpd masyarakat tentang peri pentingnya produk halal dan pengimarahan masjid dapat dicapai insyaAllah.

Khamis, 13 Ogos 2009

70% sijil halal kepunyaan bukan Muslim

Keratan Akhbar Metro 29 Julai 2009. Seorang Timb Menteri menyatakan bahawa 70% Sijil Halal dikeluarkan kepada pengusaha bukan Islam disebabkan kurang minat pengusaha Muslim membuat permohonan Sijil Halal. Betul ke?

Rabu, 12 Ogos 2009

Petukaran lokasi Program Masjid

Program seminar bersama masjid yang dijadualkan pada 16 Ogos ini akan bertukar ke lokasi baru iaitu De Palma Inn Ampang (lokasi sebelumnya De Palma Inn Sepang). Perserta yang bakal mengikuti program tersebut ialah dari Masjid-masjid dibawah pantauan penyelaras Masjid dan Surau Daerah Petaling, Ustaz Zainuddin.

Berusaha Supaya Tidak Menjadi Miskin

HADITH: Berusaha Supaya Tidak Menjadi Miskin

Oleh : Shania Opal

Kategori : AKIDAH Akhlak

Tajuk :
Berusaha Supaya Tidak Menjadi Miskin

Hadith :
Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda yang maksudnya: “Kemiskinan membawa kepada kekufuran dan hasad mengatasi qadha’ dan qadar.”

Riwayat Abu Naim

Huraian
Pengajaran Hadis:

i) Manusia yang mempunyai sikap tercela (mazmumah) sering dibenci oleh orang ramai. Ia boleh merosakkan potensi diri hingga adakalanya turut menganggu masyarakat setempat. Sikap inilah yang menjauhkan hati daripada mengingati Allah S.W.T.

ii) Hasad dengki adalah di antara sifat-sifat mazmumah tersebut. Oleh itu awasilah diri daripadanya kerana ia adalah dosa yang pertama sekali dilakukan oleh Iblis laknatullah yang telah menolak perintah Allah agar sujud kepada Nabi Adam a.s. Begitu juga Qabil yang telah membunuh Habil, juga disebabkan oleh perasaan dengki.

iii) Sifat dengki itu ialah ‘apabila melihat orang lain lebih daripadanya maka dia akan cuba menjatuhkannya’ . Inilah dengki yang dilarang oleh Islam. Seharusnya apabila seorang mukmin melihat orang lain berjaya maka dia harus berusaha kuat untuk menjadi sepertinya. Inilah dengki yang dibenarkan oleh Islam.

iv) Dengki (yang dilarang Islam) harus dicegah dengan memupuk sifat qana'ah ( puas hati dengan apa yang ada setelah berusaha), redha serta bersyukur dengan pemberian
Allah bukan melakukan perkara-perkara yang membawa kekufuran terhadap-Nya.

v) Takdir yang ditentukan Allah terhadap hamba-Nya tidak sama, sesetengahnya di luar
kehendak hamba itu sendiri. Ada yang dapat memiliki rumah besar, berpangkat tinggi serta dapat menikmati makanan yang enak-enak dan ada juga yang hanya duduk di pondok buruk,dan makan sekadar untuk mengalas perut. Namun Allah tidak pernah menzalimi hamba-Nya.

Jika seseorang itu dapat menghadapi setiap ujian dan takdir Allah itu dengan redha, berharap dan takut pada kemurkaan-Nya tentulah setiap takdir itu akan menguntungkannya. Jika dikurniakan kekayaan, maka dengan kekayaan itu dia dapat membantu orang yang susah, anak-anak yatim, fakir miskin serta melakukan lain-lain kebajikan sehingga ia menjadi lebih hampir kepada Allah dan mendapat rahmat serta kasih sayang-Nya. Sebaliknya jika ditakdirkan menerima nasib yang kurang baik seperti miskin dan sebagainya, tetapi dia sanggup bersabar di samping berusaha, maka Allah akan membalasnya dengan seribu rahmat.