Whether you are looking for blackout curtains for a bedroom or any other place in your house, you need to consider certain factors buying blackout curtains so that their true purpose is served.

• Curtains and drapes: There is a key difference between blackout curtains and drapes. Blackout curtains even if they are window curtains or lace curtains are single layer curtains. Drapes are, on the other hand, thicker in appearance and are multi-layered curtains. They do not allow much light to pass through them
• Protecting the home: Blackout curtains, whether they are window curtains or lace curtains, help in reducing energy costs as they cut the sunlight and UV rays which enter the room. The furniture and floor are also protected from sun damage if window curtains or lace curtains are used.
• Spaces to use blackout curtains: These curtains can be used in areas where maximum penetration of light occurs. In conditions where limited exposure to light is needed, the window curtains and lace curtains can prove to be more useful than plain drapes.
• Cost of blackout curtains: Although it is true that blackout curtains are more costly in comparison to other curtains, these curtains prove to be cost-effective as they prevent premature aging of the furniture and other home furnishing material.
• Diverse range: Window curtains and lace curtains come in a range of design and colors. These curtains match the color combination of your home and hence, they are becoming more popular. However, in certain conditions, the light version of curtains does not work, and you might have to rely on darker shades of blackout curtains.

Turning your existing curtains into blackout ones The existing window curtains and lace curtains can also be converted into standard curtains. Blackout liners can be added which give a cool and refined look to the home and make the room look good with blackout curtains. Installation tips A couple of inches beyond the window frame should be measured for installing such curtains. Wraparound rods can be used to block the excess light; the room will, therefore, turn into your most favored room where you can rest and relax.

The blockchain technology has found many takers all over the world for its revolutionary way of decentralizing ledgers through digital transactions in fields such as real estate, sport, insurance, healthcare, data security, and so on. In late 2017, Coinbase, an American exchange platform, highlighted that cryptocurrency touched a record $19,340 in stocks at one point. The idea behind blockchain is to contain data on any transaction history. This cannot be manipulated by any external force, which has been a perennial problem traditionally in stock markets around the world. So, when there are buyers and investors wishing to use cryptocurrency, there may be more transactions and thus, its value is bound to increase with time. However, you must understand how to buy Bitcoin stocks and follow the set process. Coinbase is a go-to site to sign up for a Bitcoin wallet since it caters perfectly to any user or investor who has basic knowledge about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and is still in the process of getting familiar with it. It has other currencies too such as Bitcoin cash, Ether, and Litecoin. You need to fill a form online with your basic personal details on it which shouldn’t ideally take more than two minutes. Your bank account, debit card, or credit card is the instrument which will be linked to the Coinbase account to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. If a bank account is used for Bitcoin online trading, it generally takes 4-5 business days for the transaction to be completed. These are recommended for bigger purchases and investments since as much as $11250 may be spent from a bank account every week. Debit cards are valuable for those who want instantaneous purchases. However, there is a much smaller limit of $1125, which is 10 times lesser than a bank account. Besides this, no cryptocurrency may be sold on it. The base rate of a transaction in the United States is 4% for either buying or selling. The site would pretty much look like a net banking page when you try to transact on it. Getting comfortable with Coinbase and automated Bitcoin investing is essential for an amateur investor to move on to Coinbase Pro. Moving assets to it is a simple process. On the home page, click ‘Deposit’ on the upper left corner and then choose the currency to be deposited in the account. Next, select the source of the deposit, which could be a bank account, any Coinbase wallet, or a private crypto wallet.

Uric acid occurs in our body naturally. It is a waste product formed due to the breakdown of purines, a crystalline compound found in certain foods. Generally, this purine dissolves in the blood and is eliminated by the kidneys through urine. However, when the proportion of uric acid increases, it gets deposited in our body, resulting in gout or hyperuricemia. There are several ways to lower uric acid, and this primarily depends on the diet that you follow. Lifestyle changes also help to lower uric acid levels. Here are some ways in which you can bring down your uric acid levels.

• Avoid fructose Fructose contributes hugely towards the formation of uric acid. So limiting or perhaps cutting down on foods rich in fructose is the best way to lower uric acid levels. Reduce soda consumption, fruit juices, and other sugary drinks.
• Limit alcohol consumption Alcohol dehydrates your body and reduces the dissolving capability of the blood. It is advised that you don’t drink alcohol, especially when you are consuming foods that are high in purine if you want to lower uric acid levels. However, wines have not shown any effect on the uric acid level. So, drinking wine is not that harmful.
• Eat anti-inflammatory foods Food items that hold anti-inflammatory qualities such as cherries, blueberries, strawberries, celery, and pineapples should be included in your diet. These foods help to reduce inflammation by inhibiting the protein that is responsible for inflammation of the body.
• Stay hydrated Hydration is essential for maintaining lower uric acid levels. Water helps in diluting the uric acid in our body. This makes it easier for the blood to dissolve the acid and carry it to the kidney from where it has been eliminated.
• Lemon juice Lemon juice helps to neutralize uric acid. Although lemon juice is acidic, it produces an alkaline effect that neutralizes the acid. The vitamin C in lemons also brings down uric acid levels.

Uric acid is a problematic bodily secretion. It causes a lot of trouble when it increases beyond its normal level. Follow these simple, yet effective, remedies to control the uric acid level in your body.

From the year 2012, the mobile market world got bigger, better and fiercely competitive till no extent. The launch of Windows 8 Phone to increase Microsoft's presence in the growing Android and iOS market was nothing short of a struggle, indicating just how competitive the market has gotten. However, the style, convenience of handling a Microsoft mobile and its operating system is indeed one of its kind, and around the world even today, Lumia is hugely popular. Listed below are the two best phones in the Nokia Lumia series, which are listed along with their best and unique characteristics which make them so popular: Nokia Lumia 1520: The latest best Nokia smartphone is the Nokia Lumia 1520. This is for those who want a big touch screen to enjoy media playback, pictures and video. It has an enormous 6-inch HD LCD display with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution display. It also has the Pureview camera with 20MP duel-LED flash and front camera of 2MP with HD video and auto focus feature. That means selfies and video calls have great quality and come out really well. The graphics processor is really good; however, it is not great enough to make this a gaming mobile. The phone is also scratch resistant, so the user is forced to be very careful with the display screen. Nokia Lumia 1520 works on Windows 8 OS, a very powerful quad-core 2.2GHz with 2GM of RAM and Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. It guarantees opening and use of multiple applications smoothly and simultaneously. Battery life is also quite good 3400mAh. The new version of this phone is preloaded with 7GM SkyDrive storage space and Microsoft office. Internal storage space is about 32 GB which can be expanded for about 64 GB through microSD card. Nokia Lumia 1020: The Nokia Lumia 1020 has made its presence in the market for being the best phone for taking photographs. It looks to capture even the high detailed objects of the scene with its 41MP rear sensor camera with Carl Zeiss optics, LED flash & Xenon. The front camera is 1.2 MP. The AMOLED touchscreen is about 4.5 inches with 16M colors display resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels. It has a 2GB RAM with extendable internal memory up to 64 GB. Like any other mobile phone, Nokia Lumia 1020 have shown its advanced tech options like with the 802.11 Wi-fi, dual-band, DLNA, NFC 3G with Bluetooth v30.0 and microUSV v2.0. Each Lumia phone has a certain distinguishing unique quality and the user can pick any of those by analyzing the purpose of the mobile, like some would need to capture photographs, others for gaming etc.

According to WHO, 80 percent of deaths due to liver cancer have been caused by Hepatitis C. Nearly 1 million people have been killed by this disease. It is estimated that approximately 3 million people in the US are affected by the Hepatitis C virus. In most cases, Hepatitis C goes undetected, until a critical stage is reached. By this time, it is too late to take any preventive or remedial measures. Hepatitis C is caused by a virus that infects the liver and spreads through the blood. It usually spreads through contaminated syringes or by the sharing of injections and through transfusion of blood, which might not have been tested for Hepatitis C virus. There have been cases of the Hepatitis C virus spreading sexually and also from an infected mother to her infant. However, these are very uncommon instances of the transmission of this virus. Hepatitis C virus does not spread through casual contact or sharing food with an infected person. The virus also does not spread through breast milk, food, or water. Hepatitis C virus usually takes about two weeks to six months to manifest any discernible symptoms. The symptoms are quite generic: fever, reduced appetite, abdominal pain, nausea, joint pain, jaundice, and so on. These symptoms are quite common with other diseases like flu, diarrhea, jaundice, and so on. Hence, it becomes quite difficult to detect the Hepatitis C virus. After the first infection, it has been observed that nearly 80 percent of the patients do not show any symptoms of infection. Since in majority of the cases, the virus remains undetected and undiagnosed for a long time, it has been labelled as a slow and silent killer by medical experts and professionals. The initial phase is called as acute Hepatitis C. In this stage, the infected person exhibits mild symptoms, which can be caught by an alert medical practitioner. However, in most cases, patients go from acute to chronic stage without any substantial diagnosis. The chronic stage is when the liver gets infected to a greater degree. Sometimes, this may take decades after the initial infection. The virus hits the immune system hard. Although treatment in the chronic stage is not impossible, it does become difficult to completely eliminate the strain of the virus from the body. After elimination, it has to be ensured that the patient does not relapse. With consistent progress in the R&D of this virus, affordable and accessible treatment of the disease has now become possible.

Electric wheelchairs are an evolution of the traditional hand-pushed manual wheelchairs. Being self-propelled, they grant mobility to users over a wide range of terrains and inclines, with the motor doing the hard work. They also differ from manual wheelchairs in the sense that they feature systems platform beneath the seat. The platform is usually enclosed within a plastic shell. This platform consists of the motor as well as a power source to drive it, which is typically a battery array. This power pack is then connected via a wiring system to the motor, the seat and most importantly, to the control panel of the electric wheelchair. The controls are usually located on the armrest of the wheelchair. They enable the user to operate the majority of chair's functions. The control panel lets you adjust the seat position (this includes both elevation and tilt), motor power for speed alternation, and directional movement which is delivered through a feedback mechanism that comprises of the battery, motor and the control circuit of the control panel on the armrest. The motor and the control panel of the electric wheelchair are connected directly. Any control operation initiated by the user is prompted to the motor (connected to the wheels through an axle), which then performs the functions such as moving forward, backward or tilting, and sends a feedback signal to control panel. If there is a change in the operation, the control panel will send the signal accordingly. All this, while continuously powered by a 12 to 80 ampere of DC battery. The drive system or chassis of electric wheelchairs, unlike manual wheelchairs, are fixed on a single plane. They have an additional or a pair of sets in front or back of the chair that takes care of the guidance. These guide wheels are usually fitted with variable suspension struts and springs so that the wheels remain in contact with the ground even on uneven terrains. Modern electric wheelchairs come with large tracked wheels and have reinforced pivot frames, pneumatic suspension units, and high-torqued motors that can be operated on robust terrains and are best for cross-country use. Some of the popular electric wheelchairs include Golden Compass Sport, Cirrus Plus HD, Drive Medical Titan X23, Pride Jazzy 600 ES, KD Smart Chair, Invacare Pronto M51 etc. Electric wheelchairs are priced anywhere between $1000 to $4000. Some high-end electric wheelchairs can also cost up to $7000. There are a number of healthcare websites and exclusive wheelchair websites online that sell electric wheelchairs at reasonable prices. You can also consider big box stores to buy the same. Read the reviews of the brand of the wheelchair you wish to buy, on the internet to get a better idea.