Feta cheese (not Tofu !!)

Posted on May 31, 2015 by proedit

Feta cheese is a well-known Greek cheese but I was not aware that so many other places make their own. You see here French feta, Bulgarian feta, Tabriz, Lighvan, Denmar, Danish, and California, along with Greek. There seem to be rules for a cheese to be called “feta,” such as that it has to be produced in a traditional way in Greece from sheep’s milk or a mixture of sheep and goat’s – but no more than 30%, etc. However, throughout the Baltic region feta-style cheeses (referred to as “White Cheese”) have been produced in many countries. I bought Bulgarian feta, or Serene as it is called in Bulgaria, which is an ancient cheese made solely from sheep’s milk. It is creamier and do not crumble as much, and delicious.

バイオサイエンス分野 英文校正 • 医学翻訳 のPEJブログより

In bloom

Posted on March 31, 2015 by proedit

It happens every year – and each year we are reminded of how gorgeous the spring time in Japan is, as the cherry blossom season arrives. Cherry blossoms are ubiquitous in Japan. Every big city and small town across Japan must have them. In waka and haiku, “flowers” (花) mean “cherry blossoms”. The back (front?) of a 100 yen coin depicts cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms represent and symbolize Japan. In anticipating this year’s cherry blossoms and hanami, I did some research. The ‘full bloom’ means that at least 80% of the flowers have opened. This state is reached in about one week from ‘the day 1 of opening’, which is defined as having 5 to 6 flowers opened on the tree. The peak is supposed to only last for a couple of days. It looked pretty ‘in bloom’ today, so we have about one more week to gather around and enjoy the flowers, and happily take part in national public feasting and drinking that is hanami.

バイオサイエンス分野 英文校正 • 医学翻訳 のPEJブログより

Cat in action

Posted on March 21, 2015 by proedit

I visited my cat who is now under the care of my good friend. There are many reasons why I wanted to keep my cat inside. He is an indoor city cat, not cut out for the rough alley life! Letting him hang out in the fenced courtyard was a mistake, as he grew bolder day by day, and one day, he finally climbed the fence and saw the world. I caught him the moment he was crossing the boarder, and he looked at me once before. Seeing him out and about with his gleaming cat eyes (called ‘eyeshine’, a visible effect of the tapetum lucidum) though made me look at him as an animal, a nocturnal carnivore, with an innate ability to live a cat night life!

バイオサイエンス分野 英文校正 • 医学翻訳 のPEJブログより

Brrrrrr

Posted on February 21, 2015 by proedit

Last winter (2013-14) was famously brutal with cold Arctic outbreaks. Curiously, the same sort of weather patterns are still there, resulting in another brutally cold and snowy winter in the central and eastern United States. We’ve been saying and hearing how “weather is so strange” these years; it is due in large part to global warming. The average temperature may be rising globally, but this changes air pressure and other dynamics, leading to colder winters in localized areas of the world. So I am in Kyoto complaining how cold it is (it’s very chilly!), forgetting how REALLY cold places get. Photo updates from friends confirmed that, yes, New York gets colder, but it is seriously and dangerously cold when the river freezes… [River Side Park By The frozen Hudson River (left), NY]. Also, even historically snowy regions can’t take it any more, when their dogs can’t go outside! [An over three-week snow siege in New England (right), MA].

バイオサイエンス分野 英文校正 • 医学翻訳 のPEJブログより

Antlers

Posted on January 31, 2015 by proedit

Moose is a magnificent animal and I am particularly drawn to the admirable set of horns, or antlers. So the size of the animal is quite impressive especially when randomly coming across him on the street like this, if not on the highway which is to be a very traumatizing and heart-stopping encounter (literally, as accident with them is often lethal). I wondered about their bare appearance (in the picture) because moose antlers generally look soft and furry. I was also curious about how they grow to like 2 m (79 inch), each year, as males drop their antlers before winter. Turns out, that velvety covering is the skin with an extensive blood vessel system that supports antler growth, allowing them to fully develop in 3-5 months. The rubbing and thrashing remove the velvet, come fall, but I am not sure to what end (…does it get itchy? is it an expression of masculinity?)

バイオサイエンス分野 英文校正 • 医学翻訳 のPEJブログより