Inspection systems play a crucial role in keeping consumers safe, as product contamination can cause harm and has the potential to result in high costs and damage to brands.

Product contamination can cause harm and has the potential to result in high costs and damage to brands. Elisabeth Skoda looks at recent developments and explores the role AI can play to make inspection systems more efficient.

A proactive approach

Different types of inspection systems, whether its vision inspection, metal detecting or X-ray systems, face a range of challenges and have to find a balance between precision and false rejects.

Smart technologies have increasingly been used in inspection technology not just to identify contaminants, but also to improve efficiency, compliance and profitability.

In the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), everything that can be connected will be connected, points out Phil Brown, Managing Director of Fortress Technology Europe and Sparc Systems. Knitting together the extraction of data and bridging the gap between machines and humans to help predict rather than react to all types of production scenarios. Advanced new systems with data collection and paperless test routines are becoming more prevalent.

Manufacturers might opt for a combination metal detector and checkweigher capable of pre-configuring every test by retailer code of practice and product being inspected. As demonstrated by the Raptor series recently launched by Fortress and Sparc, integrated sensors can confirm when a check has been conducted, generating a dated digital due diligence report that is signed by the operative on the screen for full transparency, Mr Brown adds.

In food inspection, the quantity of data tags is fairly small. Yet, this makes it easier to automate the identification of meaningful patterns. When time-series granular data is monitored side by side across a fleet of machines 24/7, it provides production managers with the level of production oversight previously unattainable.

Robust communication must be the starting point of any good digital transformation program. We recently launched a new suite of connectivity software. Comprising turnkey packages like Contact Reporter and Contact Manager, the Industry 4:0-ready package also gives factories a choice in networked data retrieval technologies including OPC/UA Adapter and Ethernet/IP Adapter to facilitate real-time end-to-end production visibility and enhanced Quality Assurance and due diligence, says Mr Brown.

A software-driven approach

This year, Fortress Technology Europe and Sparc Systems are set to launch a system that combines two technologies X-ray and metal detection to provide a more failsafe inspection solution in line with digital transformation.

Sparc engineers have conceived a software-driven solution for inspecting dual density products with an X-ray. The software uses two algorithms working side by side to inspect denser areas of a product, such as bread crust, and the less dense centre. This same technology is now being applied to a compact integrated metal detector-X-ray system. Operating side by side, two inspection heads are mounted on one conveyor and operated by a single touchscreen, sharing electronics, controls, and a reject mechanism.

Boosting accessability

Neil Sandhu, SICKs UK Product Manager for Imaging, Measurement and Ranging, has observed developments towards greater accessibility in inspection technology.

We have seen an explosion in ease of use that has hugely broadened the accessibility of machine vision systems to packaging operators, opening up so much more scope for them to automate quality inspection and process control tasks. Advancements in processing technology have enabled massive amounts of power to be packed into ever-more compact and affordable, programmable vision sensors. Only a few years ago, 3D was still feared as a black art only to be attempted by seasoned experts, while 2D systems still needed a lot of time and cost to configure and commission. Now many 2D solutions are plug and play and even creating something bespoke is straightforward using just a web-browser dashboard, and without the need for programming skills.

Machine vision hardware has become smaller, more powerful and more robust, but the real advances have come from the software, he adds.

Development platforms like SICKs AppSpace aimed at making it as quick and simple as possible to configure a machine vision solution no matter whether you are an experienced machine-builder or a novice end-user.

Using AI in pharmaceutical inspection

Syntegon recently installed the first fully validated visual inspection system utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in an automated inspection machine in collaboration with biotechnology company Amgen. The AI utilizes deep learning algorithms which are capable of accurately identifying recurring patterns and deviations.

When we started development in 2017, AI was already used in many domains, so why not apply it to pharmaceutical inspection? One of the main challenges consisted of transferring this type of application to very complex pharmaceutical processes and developing suitable implementation and validation concepts for this strictly regulated industry. Together with Amgen, we were able to install the first fully validated visual inspection system utilizing AI in an automated inspection machine in 2020, says Dr Jos Zanardi, responsible for vision inspection development and applications at Syntegon.

The AI-based system resulted in both an increase of particle detection rates and a reduction in false detection rates, he explains.

Amgen uses the system to reliably distinguish pesky air bubbles at the syringes rubber stopper from foreign particles, where conventional vision technology may misidentify. Syntegons AI-based vision system was able to increase the particle detection rate by 70%, while reducing the false detection rate by 60% (average values in a particular inspection station).

Dr Zanardi points out that there are a few points to bear in mind when it comes to using AI within inspection systems.

A decisive factor is courage. The pharmaceutical industry is known for its conservative approach to innovation, due to the very strict regulatory guidelines for process validation overall a highly positive attribute since the manufactured products have a direct impact on the health and safety of patients. Inspection technology experts can easily perform the required upgrades for visual inspection usage. However, there is one crucial point that must be considered to enable validation: in contrast to many other industries, the neural network must be frozen for application in pharmaceutical use once its training phase is finalized. It must be fixed and internal parameters are no longer able to change to make it version-controlled for validation.

Deep learning in vision inspection

Mr Sandhu points out the potential of deep learning when it comes to new developments in inspection technology. The SICK Intelligent Inspection Deep Learning App runs on SICKsnewly launchedInspectorP6212Dprogrammable vision camera.By embedding the Intelligent Inspection App onto SICKs InspectorP621deep learning camera, SICKcan offer aready-madepackagethat uses artificial intelligenceto run complexvision inspections.

Whereit has previously been very challenging to achieveconsistently robust and repeatablequalityinspections,for example when packaging naturally-grown produce, theycan now be masteredwith high levels ofreliability and availability.Automation is thereforenowpractical and affordableforcompleximagingtaskssuch assorting fruit and vegetables or checking that flow wrapping is correctly sealed, he adds.

Theimage inference is carried out directly on the device, sothere is no need for an additional PC. As the system training is done in the Cloud, there is also no need for separate training hardware or software, saving on implementation time and cost.

The app is set to be expanded to anomaly, detection and segmentation functions.

This will enable a product with a complex shape to be identified in a scene, or to be picked out from a random selection on a conveyor, for example to pick apples randomly placed on a conveyor but leave the pears, says Mr Sandhu.

The future of AI

Dr Zanardi sees great potential for AI and deep learning in inspection technology, and foresees it will be used more and more in facilities globally, and different inspection processes.

AI is especially advantageous in Difficult to Inspect Products (DIP), i.e. products that pose a challenge to obtain satisfactory inspection results when inspected with traditional image processing techniques. Advantages include an increase in detection rates (i.e. defective products successfully assessed as defective) and a decrease in false reject rates (i.e. good products wrongfully assessed as defective). Achieving these two points simultaneously is a remarkable feature, which is made possible by utilizing AI. Syntegon are developing the AI solution further to implement it in other machine families in our portfolio in the near future. Fewer false rejects will make inspection more efficient. Hence, I am convinced that our project with Amgen is just the beginning of a very exciting journey, he concludes.

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Boosting inspection performance with AI and deep learning - Packaging Europe

International Yoga Day 2021: Meditation can help reduce stress and promote calmness

The prevalence of diabetes is rising rapidly all over the world and even in India. Indeed, type-2 diabetes is now reaching epidemic proportions. It is known that poor lifestyle contributes to the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Conversely, modifying one's lifestyle can help to reduce the burden of these non-communicable diseases in general and diabetes in particular.

The effect of healthy diet with reduced carbohydrate intake and increased intake of green leafy vegetables, plant, protein and healthy fats and the role of physical activity in prevention and control of diabetes are well established. However, the effect of other lifestyle modifications, particularly, yoga, pranayama and meditation are less well known. At least in a subset of people with type-2 diabetes, stress plays a very important role in its causation and also in making the diabetes go out of control in those with already established diabetes. There is also a separate entity called 'stress induced diabetes'.

Stress, anxiety and depression are well known to be associated with diabetes. Indeed, depression has a bidirectional relation with diabetes. Thus, depression can produce diabetes and diabetes can produce depression. It is here that the role of yoga, pranayama and meditation plays a big role. There are specific yoga sanas which are believed to help to control and to prevent diabetes. Deep breathing and meditation are also very useful but less studied in relation to diabetes control.

Also read:Myth Or Fact: Can Drinking Milk Lead To Type-1 Diabetes?

International Yoga Day 2021: Try breathing exercises to control stress and manage diabetes effectivelyPhoto Credit: iStock

It is worth emphasising the benefits of deep breathing, pranayama and meditation. When one does deep breathing, it brings in a state of deep relaxation. The stress which tends to accumulate in the muscles, particularly in the neck and on one's shoulders, disappears and one becomes relaxed and more cheerful. Happy hormones, known as 'endorphins' are released when you do deep breathing as well as meditation. When you practice pranayama and meditation regularly, the levels of counter regulatory hormones like adrenaline, non-adrenaline and cortisol, which block the action of insulin come down. This makes control diabetes easier.

Also read:Can Moringa Help Manage Diabetes? Know Its Effect On Your Blood Sugar Levels

Even if you devote just 10 - 15 minutes a day to practice deep breathing, you will find beneficial effects, not only in controlling diabetes, but also in reducing blood pressure and preventing heart disease. Moreover, you will find that you are less excitable, calm and stress free. Hence, on the occasion of International Yoga Day, everyone with diabetes should practice pranayama and deep breathing and make it a part of their daily living. You should try it and see the beneficial effects, both on your body and your mind.

(Dr. V Mohanis Head of MDRF-Hinduja Foundation T1D program and also Chairman & Chief of Diabetology, Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre & President, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Chennai, India)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

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International Yoga Day 2021: The Benefits Of Deep Breathing And Meditation For Diabetics - NDTV

IT'S A STRANGE FEELING, knowing you could scream as loud as you wanted and no one would hear you. As the golden light of a late-September sun set on Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument's cracked junipers and seemingly endless hills of sandstone, I considered the option. Camp had to be somewhere nearby, but I had gotten off track. I couldn't spot any bright tents or curls of campfire smoke from the paleontology crew I was supposed to meet. My radio stayed silent as I treaded mile upon mile of high Utah desert, fearing wrenching an ankle, stepping on a Great Basin rattlesnake, or having to shiver through the night.

I checked my GPS and then the notebook where I had written the campsite's coordinates. Then my phone, then the GPS again. The shadows grew longer. I should have seen the other fossil hunters by now. Helicopter Camp was somewhere ahead, no more than 200 yards away. But all I could see was a small, flat-topped hill dotted with low shrubsan indifferent piece of topography that would require hiking down, then up again to find out how truly lost I had become.

There had to be some bones for me in those millions of acres that would reward all the sunburn and the sweat.

I'd been to Grand StaircaseEscalante eight times before as a volunteer with paleontology field crews from the Natural History Museum of Utah. I knew the road I drove in on and the landscape I was crossing to meet the campers awaiting me. A few days prior, that lucky crew had been helicoptered in and deposited miles beyond the boundary of the two-track "road" leading up over Horse Mountain and Death Ridge. I, on the other hand, had drawn the proverbial short straw. While my tent and duffel were granted the privilege of the flight in, I had been given keys to the museum pickup, had driven four hours south from Salt Lake City, and had ground my way two hours deeper into one of the last places in the continental United States to be mappedthe wreck of a 75-million-year-old world. Here, in a vast wilderness that stretches more than 1.8 million acres down toward Arizona, dinosaurs wait patiently for someone to notice them.

IN 2010, THE YEAR BEFORE I packed up all my belongings and made the I-80 drive from New Jersey to Utah, paleontologists named eight new dinosaur species from Utah, most from Grand StaircaseEscalante. Utahceratops, Kosmoceratops, Teratophoneus, Hagryphus, Gryposaurus, Talosthese were just some of the saurian names I had memorized while daydreaming about wandering the outcrops and gullies of this distant place. Perhaps I'd kick over a rock that enclosed a beautiful piece of jaw or stop dead in my tracks upon spotting signs of the 40-foot alligator Deinosuchus.

Fossils are why I moved to the Beehive State, why I'd spent so much time sifting through academic papers' technical jargon, hoping to pick up new clues for the search. There had to be some bones for me in those millions of acres that would reward all the sunburn and the sweat.

I've been dinosaur-crazed since I was a child and have long dreamed of exploring lost worlds, but I didn't expect to find such a place in the center of the Four Corners. The American West is replete with fossil wonderlands, but Grand StaircaseEscalante remained a secret even as the famed Jurassic Morrison and Cretaceous Hell Creek Formations offered up Apatosaurus and Tyrannosaurus bones. Southern Utah wasn't anywhere close to the rail lines that acquisitive paleontologists relied on to ship tons of bones back East in the 19th century, and a lull in dinosaur science during much of the 20th century meant that few were interested in searching the high desert. Even the Mormon settlers who founded towns such as Hurricane and Kanabtoday, your last stops for gas and groceries before leaving pavementstayed around the edges of Grand StaircaseEscalante. Simply looking at the national monument, you can see why: The land almost vibrates with the sense that any attempt to tame or settle it would backfire.

MANY OF THE SAME PLACES that are good for fossils are also good for fossil fuels. This has precious little to do with dinosaurs, despite what the Sinclair logo might bring to mind. The stacked stone of Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument documents hundreds of millions of years, tracing back to when southern Utah was, at various points, a floodplain, an ocean, and a coastal swamp. During some such epochs, ancient vegetation was buried and compressed to become coalan estimated 62 billion tons within the monument's original boundaries. Microorganisms from the bottom of the prehistoric sea, likewise, became oil. This nexus of the biological and geological almost led to the monument's undoing.

On December 4, 2017, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation nearly halving the size of Grand StaircaseEscalante, a historic reversal of the Antiquities Act, the 1906 law that governs national monuments. The move was a symbolic show of what the Trump administration termed "energy dominance." The flashy phrase remained nebulous. "Energy dominance gives us the ability to supply our allies with energy as well as to leverage our aggressors," said Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary at the time.

For decades, conservative politicians have believed that the West is being "lost" to the federal government, as the establishment of national parks and wilderness areas renders millions of acres off-limits to development. President Bill Clinton's creation of Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument in 1996 left local politicians sore. President Barack Obama's designation of Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 left them fuming. Just months before Trump put pen to paper, thenUtah representative Rob Bishop proclaimed, "Bears Ears is a symptom of the problem. The disease is still the Antiquities Act." Bishop and his allies decried federal overreach, insisting that what Bears Ears, Grand Staircase, and other federal lands needed was local control. They made no secret that this was a push to grant fossil fuel leases, casting them as an income stream that would provide royalties to Utah's perpetually underfunded schools.

For all that rhetoric, fossil fuel companies were reluctant to take up leases on carved-out monument land. Under Trump, the Bureau of Land Management offered 24,000 acres of fossil fuel leases; only around 4,200 acres sold. Industry interest moved on, lawsuits were filed over mishandled BLM reviews, and on his second day in office, President Joe Biden issued a stay on fossil fuel leases on public land. The Right's grand plans for tapping further into Utah's energy deposits fizzled.

ALMOST ALL OF UTAH'S geological wonders, those high-desert landscapes filled with coyotes and rabbitbrush, exist because the southern and eastern parts of the state were shuddered upward onto the Colorado Plateau tens of millions of years ago. The entire plateau covers more than 130,000 square miles of the Four Corners, with deep canyons and peaks as high as 13,000 feet, giving the Southwest much of its character.

The high desert lives separate from our perceptions, something at once so grand and so detailed that our brains can take in only a fraction of what we're seeing in any moment.

If you had visited the area 75 million years ago, you would have found a warm, drenched place. Think Florida Everglades meets the vast Pantanal of Brazil. In the Cretaceous, southern Utah was a soggy coastal swamp on the margin of the great Western Interior Seawaya shallow sea that split North America in two. There was plenty of sedimentmud, sand, and silt sloshed through the swampsand all those little particles were enough to bury everything from tyrannosaurs to delicate palm fronds. Through those millions of years of deposition, while dinosaurs thrived and continents shifted, rock layers were nestling atop one another. Then, about 70 million years ago, the mountains of the West started getting pushed upward during the Laramide orogeny. Picture once-buried layers, shoved and cracked and jutted out from their resting places below the surface, seeing the light again after millions of years. Then erosion could do its thing. Sun, rain, ice, and wind all began to carve the exposed stone, creating arches and hoodoos andfortunately for my fossil-fixated minduncovering pieces of prehistoric bone.

That evening in Grand Staircase, I didn't wish to become one of the skeletons left to the mercy of the desert. As the planet turned away from the sun, my radio finally crackled. I called back. Something motioned to me across the divide from the top of that indifferent hill. No, mountain lions don't wave. I let out a long exhale. I'd made it close enough to Helicopter Camp for the others to find me. I climbed up the hill and down the opposite slope to the duffel containing what I'd need to crash into deep and dreamless sleep.

Bones were on my mind when the sun started to turn my tent shell orange. Bones were on my mind as I shivered and rooted around for clean clothes. Bones were on my mind as I warmed myself by the fire and waited for our designated camp cook to finish making breakfast. Bones were on my mind as I switched out my sandals for boots and double-checked that I had everything I needed in my pack. The bones had to be out there. The geological maps confirmed I was in the right place, the right slice of deep time. Still, the prospect ahead of me was essentially finding a dinosaur in a giant haystack.

It's rare for a paleo camp to set up tents right on top of a dinosaur. Just digging down isn't going to give you more than sore muscles and sore questions about what led you to excavate a hole in the middle of nowhere. Instead, you walk. One foot in front of the other, over and over, until you come across something that looks a little funny. Maybe it's a different shape or color. It could even be an entire jaw glistening, teeth set as they were back in the Mesozoic. The point is, you rely on erosion to do the work for you. You're an outcrop inspector, your gaze on the ground in front of your feet as you try to pick out the most promising spots.

This entire landscape was carved out of the dinosaur-rich Kaiparowits Formation, meaning every exposed piece of stone carries the potential to reveal what life was like millions of years ago. I found a few pack rat bones, lots of harvester ants, and a sea of juniper trees. Each step seemed to confirm where dinosaur bones were not. But these things can't be rushed, and there truly is no telling what may rest in the next gully or rock face. Not long after an impromptu catnap beneath a gnarled juniper, I noticed the small twirl of a snail shell in a slab of maroon sandstone. Later, on a slope where my boot treads did very little good, I happened across the rounded cheek tooth of a crocodilian; this enamel-covered peg likely busted through turtle shells during the dinosaurian heyday. Bone fragments indicated where dinosaurs and turtles had once emerged from their rocky slumber to see the sunshine, only to be eroded down againa sign I'd arrived decades or centuries too late.

I climbed outcrops that I wasn't sure I could get down from. I checked under overhangs. I dipped down into gullies to look for any tidbits the all-too-scarce desert rain might have washed up. I used muscles I didn't know I had, scrambling, huffing, and plodding across bare rock. All the while, I looked over my shoulder for the mountain lion that had left crisp paw prints in the sand of the wash I was traveling down.

I wish I could tell you that I found the dinosaur of my dreams on that trip. I did not, though another crew member found a promising toe bone. Its curvaceous shape matched that of a coelurosaur, part of a family of feathery dinosaurs that thrived in the Late Cretaceous. A colleague quickly identified the bone as that of a tyrannosaur, a carnivore from the genus Teratophoneus. But as we discussed around the campfire later, it could have come from an ostrich-like dinosaur called an ornithomimosaur or the beaky, parrot-like hagryphus. There wasn't enough to tell during that particular dig, though in time, additional finds in the same spot would confirm that the bone indeed belonged to a young tyrannosaur.

Envious as I was, no fossil hunter lasts long if they don't learn to find joy in the search. I remember happily hiking along dry washes, smiling at all the inventive ways plants anchored themselves in rocky canyon walls. I remember the dried-out skeleton of the range cow I happened across, a reminder of how life and death intertwine in these places. I remember silently watching the ancient starlight of the Milky Way bathing the prehistoric rocks that stretched into the sky.

FROM THE TIME I'd first set foot in this patch of high desert in 2010 through the years of field excursions that had followed, I'd felt like this fantastic boneyard belonged to me, that I was exercising my right to explore a wilderness left unpaved. But over time, being alone in the wilderness will change your heart, whether you like it or not. On recent digs, I'd feared that I was acting like the oil companies I want kept out, a colonist on stolen ground. It can feel wrong to repeatedly hike into someone else's ancestral lands searching for something that, with any luck, will be taken away to be placed in a museum.

But on this dig, after I almost literally lost myself, I felt drawn into Grand StaircaseEscalante's landscape in a new way, folded in much like the dinosaur fossils had been long ago. I wanted to keep hiking, keep looking, keep wondering what might be over the next hill and how it might fit into the ever-changing nature of this particular patch of our planet.

As I made my final, solo hike back out to where I'd parked the museum pickup, I spotted a mess of small crocodile bones. And within spitting distance of the vehicle, I stumbled across the broad, circular vertebrae of a duck-billed dinosaur. I didn't have time to do much else but take photos and notes, hoping the encasing rock might keep the bones safe until I returned. But even if I never do, this constantly changing landscape gave me what I needed most: a place to get lost and found.

The high desert lives separate from our perceptions, something at once so grand and so detailed that our brains can take in only a fraction of what we're seeing in any moment. I could spend the rest of my life hiking this immense wilderness and only find what would amount to a few flecks of sand on a beach. It's that unknown that's going to have me packing my boots and tent, all for the promise of what I wish to see but may never find. No museum exhibit can capture that; no dollar value can do it justice. Grand StaircaseEscalante is one of the last places in the world where we can jot "Here be dragons!" on the map and mean it. We need such places. To be on public land amid that invaluable natural history, with little more than a hunch of where to look, evokes one of the greatest joys I knowcuriosity.

This article appeared in the Summer quarterly edition with the headline "Digging Deep in the Desert."

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Public Lands Preserve More Than What's on the Surface - Sierra Magazine

Humans have been consuming alcohol for nearly 13,000 years. Archaeological evidence points to the brewing of ancient beer predating the baking of ancient breads and maybe responsible for sparking the agricultural revolution in early civilizations.

Beer, wine and spirits have traveled with humans across the globe and even caught a ride into space. Alcohol consumption has been ingrained into most human cultures, which includes the approximate 50% of American adults who drink at least one day per month.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Health and Human Services released Dietary Guidelines for Americans in its 2020-2025 edition. As defined by the report, moderate alcohol consumption is two drinks per day for adult males and one drink per day for adult females. One drink is equivalent to 12 ounces beer (5% alcohol by volume, 150 kcals), 8 ounces of wine (12% ABV, 120 kcals), 1.5 oz distilled alcohol (40% ABV, 100 kcals).

Keep in mind the guidelines suggest moderate consumption does not significantly increase risk to health effects, but higher than moderate (two for males/one for females) does increase the risk for health effects if consumers make a habit of over-drinking. Short-term effects of alcohol reduce deep sleep and disrupt digestion, causing tiredness and bloating.

This may seem commonsense to most but alcohol and weight loss do not work well together. At seven calories per gram, some nutrition scientists consider alcohol the fourth macronutrient, the others being fats, carbohydrates and protein.

When alcohol enters the digestive system it becomes a priority. Alcohol is considered a toxin and bodies will prioritize the burning of calories brought in from alcohol. Alcohol will be used as a fuel source while it is in the body altering how much other macronutrients are being used as fuel sources. The more one consumes the longer the disruption will last.

Frequency of consumption will affect digestion as well. If trying to lose weight, alcohol consumption should not be in your diet.

Finally, binge drinking, which is classified as four for females and five for males or more drinks in less than two hours per the CDC. One in six adults will binge drink one day a week, consisting of about seven drinks on average, four times per month, per CDC.

Saving all or most of your drinks for Friday night is not a way to be considered moderate. There are 52 weekends in a year. Not every weekend needs to be celebrated like New Years Eve. Moderation! Moderation! Moderation!

A moderately active, 5-foot 10-inch, 200-pound, 40-year-old male who is trying to maintain weight is projected to need 2,800 calories a day; a 40-year-old female at 5 foot 4 inches and 170 pounds who is moderately active needs 2,100 calories to maintain weight.

Making room for the potential 100- to 300-plus extra calories consumed with one or two drinks is something that needs to be considered on a day if you are drinking.

Alcohol has been a part of the human story and will continue to be. You can drink moderately and still live a healthy life. Keeping in mind the more you consume the more risk you assume to your long-term health.

Plan ahead if you plan to drink, make meal plans with lower calories and remove other indulgences.

Have an honest conversation with your doctor about your risk factors and medications that dont mix with alcohol. Seek professional help if you or somebody close to you seems to be struggling with over consumption of alcohol.

Josh Klingenberg is assistant wellness director at the Walla Walla YMCA. He has is a National Strength and Conditioning Association personal trainer and is functional movement systems-certified and certified functional strength coach.

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Does alcohol have a place in a healthy lifestyle? - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

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In part 1 of this article, I went over being prepared by having a first aid kit, fire, dry clothing, a knife and a compass and map. In part 2 of this article, I will go over five more items that are equally important and also equally versatile if you want to survive some of the worst-case scenarios during your next backcountry hunt. As always, it is important to look at your specific unit, time of year, temperature and present dangers and assess what you should bring; however, this list is fairly universal to any deep or high country hunter who is trying to prepare for some of the accidents that can occur when you are miles from the truck and from help.

Typically, you may not think about carrying around a paracord or lightweight rope with you; however, this item can serve a lot of purposes during both emergency situations and normal day-to-day hunts. I always have some amount of paracord or high strength rope rolled up or around the handle of my knife just in case I need it. In normal day-to-day hunting, I find myself cutting a small piece here and there to perform normal tasks, such as securing a shed or an elk head to my pack, hanging meat high in a tree when I have to leave it overnight or repairing a broken belt or strap on my pack. In emergency situations, a length of paracord can help you splint up your leg, restrict venom flow after being bitten or stop the blood from gushing from an artery after a bad fall. Paracord can help build a shelter, hoist up a tarp or get your pack of food up into a tree and outside of a bear's reach for the night. Though I usually only carry a few feet of rope on my hunting trips, when I am in bear country, I always carry more. You always want to keep some distance and height between bears and your day-to-day food source.

On my first ever solo hunting trip out West, I made it to camp around mid-day just in time for an afternoon hunt. I packed my pack and was weighted down as if I was heading to a spike camp for a week. This was a huge mistake and my legs were the ones that paid the ultimate price. Though I thought it might have been over the top, I chose to pack my ultralight tarp and man was that a good idea. The first evening brought an unbelievable amount of weather while I was out in the mountains. It rained, then sleeted, then snowed. The temperature dropped from around 30 degrees to barely above zero as a storm moved in. For the first few minutes, I tried to keep hunting, but then realized that if I got too wet and cold, I would have to head back to the truck and it was only 4 p.m. in the afternoon hours until prime time. Instead, I quickly headed for the trees and set up that tarp as a canopy in order to shield myself from the elements. After about an hour, the rain, sleet and snow stopped and the sun came back out. I was dry so I packed up the tarp and kept hunting, only to find multiple bulls getting out of bed early to shake off the precipitation and head to feed. If I wouldn't have had that tarp, then I would have been soaked and cold and heading back to the truck instead of having one of the best adventures that got me hooked on elk hunting.For this reason, I always pack a tarp with me. Even if it's sunny, the mountains have a way of brewing up a storm in a matter of minutes. A tarp always allows me to be prepared to wait it out.

A lack of light is an amazing thing that we seldom experience in our lives. We walk into a room after dark and flick a switch, lighting it up. We go on a night run underneath the street lights and jump in our car as the automatic headlights illuminate the road. In today's day and age, we are seldom without light, which is why it is an essential survival item in the backcountry where the only light is the moon and stars and whatever you have in your pack.Having a main light source, batteries and a backup light in our pack can help us on a hunt and also during emergencies.

There have been so many times where my batteries die due to extreme cold and I am glad I have a backup set and a backup light for peace of mind. Having a light source in your pack will give you the peace of mind to stay deep in the mountains until the last light. If you can do this, you will have a better chance of harvesting a mature animal. A lighted path is the only safe path so do yourself a favor and have a great headlamp with high lumens and good battery life and a backup.

When it comes to backcountry hunting, there is one thing that is often taken for granted and this is water. It is estimated that over 60% of an adult body is made up of water and we need an adequate supply of water to keep us hydrated and at our best performance. This is especially true in the West where the arid climate combined with physical excursion will quickly suck moisture out of our body. Having clean, filtered water is important especially out in the mountains where it is common to have water carrying bacteria like giardia. There is a barrage of possibilities for brands and types of water filters; however, my favorites are a Sawyer Mini Water Filter or Katadyn Vario Filter. I also carry around Aquatabs Purification Tablets. The goal of all of these and other brands available at the goHUNT GearShop is to provide safe water to hydrate your body. If you get stuck in the backcountry for whatever reason, you will be glad that you have a way to filter your water.

By far the most important emergency preparation you can take is not any survival item you can buy, but, instead, someone you can trust. The most important emergency item I carry with me is peace of mind that someone back home knows exactly where I am going and when to expect to hear from me. Most of the places I hunt have very limited to no cellular service no matter who your carrier is. Telling someone what drainage you are planning on going in, when you should be out and when they should start to worry and call someone could save your life. When I go backcountry hunting, I always carry a Garmin inReach, but also communicate with my wife and friends who are familiar with the area as to when I should be touching base and when they should worry and call for help. Then, I stick to that plan. Not only does that give them peace of mind, but it also gives me peace of mind as I am hiking. If I were to get hurt or not be able to contact someone, eventually someone would come looking for me. Keeping a spot a secret is not worth your life so tell someone where you are going and know that someone is coming if things go awry.

Overall, there are a lot of other essential survival and emergency items you may want to take depending on the situation. For example, a high decibel whistle may allow someone to hear you from miles away, a space blanket may keep you warm, a bivy sack can keep you dry overnight, bear spray can deter curious bears, an EpiPen can delay an allergic reaction or snake bite kit can slow the spread of venom. It is important to look at every situation and trip differently and carry the things that are important. Of course, weight is always a concern; however, most of these items have been made for backcountry enthusiasts and the goHUNTGear Shop offers an excellent selection of high-quality goHUNT-approved items. Though weight is important, the most important thing is to have you coming off the mountain in one piece even if you are injured along the way. Stay safe out there this fall and always be prepared with some of the aforementioned survival and emergency items.

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Emergency and survival items you need to put in your pack - Part 2 - goHUNT.com