Scientists Twist Light to Send Data: Beams of Light Can Be Twisted and Combined to Transmit Data Dramatically Faster

Artist's abstraction. Researchers have developed a system of transmitting data using twisted beams of light at ultra-high speeds -- up to 2.56 terabits per second. (Credit: © kentoh / Fotolia)

Science Daily  — A multi-national team led by USC with researchers hailing from the U.S., China, Pakistan and Israel has developed a system of transmitting data using twisted beams of light at ultra-high speeds -- up to 2.56 terabits per second.

Their work might be used to build high-speed satellite communication links, short free-space terrestrial links, or potentially be adapted for use in the fiber optic cables that are used by some Internet service providers.To put that in perspective, broadband cable (which you probably used to download this) supports up to about 30 megabits per second. The twisted-light system transmits more than 85,000 times more data per second.

"You're able to do things with light that you can't do with electricity," said Alan Willner, electrical engineering professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the corresponding author of an article about the research that was published in Nature Photonics on June 24. "That's the beauty of light; it's a bunch of photons that can be manipulated in many different ways at very high speed."

Willner and his colleagues used beam-twisting "phase holograms" to manipulate eight beams of light so that each one twisted in a DNA-like helical shape as it propagated in free space. Each of the beams had its own individual twist and can be encoded with "1" and "0" data bits, making each an independent data stream -- much like separate channels on your radio.

Their demonstration transmitted the data over open space in a lab, attempting to simulate the sort of communications that might occur between satellites in space. Among the next steps for the research field will be to advance how it could be adapted for use in fiber optics, like those frequently used to transmit data over the Internet.

The team's work builds on research done by Leslie Allen, Anton Zeilinger, Miles Padgett and their colleagues at several European universities.

"We didn't invent the twisting of light, but we took the concept and ramped it up to a terabit-per-second," Willner said. His team included Jian Wang, Jeng-Yuan Yang, Irfan M. Fazal, Nisar Ahmed, Yan Yan, Hao Huang, Yongxiong Ren and Yang Yue from USC; Samuel Dolinar from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Moshe Tur from Tel Aviv University.

Wang, the lead author, left USC after completing this research and is now a professor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.

This research was funded by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the InPho (Information in a Photon) program.

Study Slashes Deforestation Carbon Emission Estimate

Distribution of annual carbon emissions from gross forest cover loss between 2000 and 2005 mapped at a spatial resolution of 11.5 miles (18.5 kilometers). (Credit: Winrock International)                                                               Science Daily — A new study with NASA participation has sharply reduced previous estimates of how much carbon was emitted into Earth's atmosphere from tropical deforestation in the early 2000s.

Research scientist Sassan Saatchi of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., participated in the study, published June 21 in the journal Science. The team, led by researchers from Winrock International, an environmental nonprofit organization in Little Rock, Ark., also included scientists from Applied GeoSolutions, Durham, N.H.; and the University of Maryland, College Park. They combined satellite data on gross forest loss and forest carbon stocks to track emissions from deforestation in the world's tropical forests. The resulting gross emissions estimate of 0.81 billion metric tons of carbon emitted per year is approximately one third of previously published estimates, and represents just 10 percent of the total global human-produced carbon emissions over the time period analyzed (2000 to 2005).

Two countries -- Brazil and Indonesia -- produced the highest emissions during the study period, accounting for 55 percent of total emissions from tropical deforestation. Nearly 40 percent of all forest loss in the study region was concentrated in the dry tropics, but accounted for only 17 percent of total carbon emissions, reflecting their relatively low carbon stocks in comparison to those found in tropical moist forests.

The Winrock study is the first study of global carbon emissions from tropical deforestation to use satellite data, rather than tabular bookkeeping models, to account for carbon. This approach allows for a much more refined analysis and yields results that will serve as a better benchmark for monitoring global progress on reducing emissions in the future. Individual emissions numbers were calculated for each country, along with a statistical uncertainty range.

"These detailed emissions estimates would not have been possible without the NASA satellites that helped us quantify forest cover change and forest carbon stocks, which are the two critical data sources for this work," said Saatchi. Data from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite; NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat); NASA's Quick Scatterometer (QuikScat) satellite; and the joint NASA/U.S. Geological Survey Landsat program were used to produce the estimate.

The team hopes the policy mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that proposes to compensate developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) will benefit from a more accurate benchmark of emissions from deforestation.

"The relative contribution of deforestation to total greenhouse gas emissions will likely continue to decline through time as emissions from other sectors rise, but the loss of millions of hectares of forest per year remains considerable," said Alexander Lotsch of the World Bank, which funded the study. "Effectively reducing forest-related emissions through international efforts that also promote biodiversity conservation, forest livelihoods and help maintain essential forest functions such as water regulation, is an essential measure to avoid serious climate change impacts and to ensure low carbon sustainable development in the developing world."

The team plans to update their work for the period from 2006 to 2010 to assess whether carbon emissions increased or decreased in the second half of the 2000s.

For more information on the study, read the full news release from Winrock International. For more on Winrock International, visit: http://www.winrock.org.

For more information on Sassan Saatchi's terrestrial carbon cycle research, visit: http://carbon.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Treating Vitamin D Deficiency May Improve Depression

Science Daily — Women with moderate to severe depression had substantial improvement in their symptoms of depression after they received treatment for their vitamin D deficiency, a new study finds.

Because the women did not change their antidepressant medications or other environmental factors that relate to depression, the authors concluded that correction of the patients' underlying shortage of vitamin D might be responsible for the beneficial effect on depression.The case report series was presented June 23 at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

"Vitamin D may have an as-yet-unproven effect on mood, and its deficiency may exacerbate depression," said Sonal Pathak, MD, an endocrinologist at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, Del. "If this association is confirmed, it may improve how we treat depression."

Pathak presented the research findings in three women, who ranged in age from 42 to 66. All had previously diagnosed major depressive disorder, also called clinical depression, and were receiving antidepressant therapy. The patients also were being treated for either Type 2 diabetes or an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

Because the women had risk factors for vitamin D deficiency, such as low vitamin D intake and poor sun exposure, they each underwent a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test. For all three women, the test found low levels of vitamin D, ranging from 8.9 to 14.5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), Pathak reported. Levels below 21 ng/mL are considered vitamin D deficiency, and normal vitamin D levels are above 30 ng/mL, according to The Endocrine Society.

Over eight to 12 weeks, oral vitamin D replacement therapy restored the women's vitamin D status to normal. Their levels after treatment ranged from 32 to 38 ng/mL according to the study abstract.

After treatment, all three women reported significant improvement in their depression, as found using the Beck Depression Inventory. This 21-item questionnaire scores the severity of sadness and other symptoms of depression. A score of 0 to 9 indicates minimal depression; 10 to 18, mild depression; 19 to 29, moderate depression; and 30 to 63, severe depression.

One woman's depression score improved from 32 before vitamin D therapy to 12, a change from severe to mild depression. Another woman's score fell from 26 to 8, indicating she now had minimal symptoms of depression. The third patient's score of 21 improved after vitamin D treatment to 16, also in the mild range.

Other studies have suggested that vitamin D has an effect on mood and depression, but there is a need for large, good-quality, randomized controlled clinical trials to prove whether there is a real causal relationship, Dr Pathak said.

"Screening at-risk depressed patients for vitamin D deficiency and treating it appropriately may be an easy and cost-effective adjunct to mainstream therapies for depression," she said.

Rate of Severe Reactions Higher Than Thought in Young Children With Food Allergies

A new study finds that young children with allergies to milk and egg experience reactions to these and other foods more often than researchers had expected. (Credit: © Africa Studio / Fotolia)                                                                              Science Daily  — Young children with allergies to milk and egg experience reactions to these and other foods more often than researchers had expected, a study reports. The study also found that severe and potentially life-threatening reactions in a significant number of these children occur and that some caregivers are hesitant to give such children epinephrine, a medication that reverses the symptoms of such reactions and can save lives.

The study results appear online in the June 25 issue of Pediatrics and are the latest findings from the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), a network established by NIAID to conduct clinical trials, observational studies and basic research to better understand and treat food allergy."This study reinforces the importance of doctors, parents and other caregivers working together to be even more vigilant in managing food allergy in children," said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The research is part of an ongoing CoFAR observational study that enrolled 512 infants aged 3 to 15 months who at study entry were allergic to milk or egg, or who were likely to be allergic, based on a positive skin test and the presence of moderate-to-severe eczema, a chronic skin condition. The investigators are carefully following these children to see whether their allergies resolve or if new allergies, particularly peanut allergy, develop. The study is ongoing at research hospitals in Baltimore; Denver; Durham, N.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; and New York City.

CoFAR investigators advised parents and caregivers to avoid giving their children foods that could cause an allergic reaction. Study participants also received an emergency action plan, describing the symptoms of a severe allergic reaction to food and what to do if a child has one, along with a prescription and instructions on how to give epinephrine if a severe reaction occurred.

Data compiled from patient questionnaires and clinic visits over three years showed that 72 percent of the children had a food-allergic reaction, and that 53 percent of the children had more than one reaction, with the majority of reactions being to milk, egg or peanut. This translated into a rate of nearly 1 food-allergic reaction per child per year. Approximately 11 percent of the reactions were classified as severe and included symptoms such as swelling in the throat, difficulty breathing, a sudden drop in blood pressure, dizziness or fainting. Almost all of the severe reactions were caused by ingestion of the allergen rather than inhalation or skin contact.

In only 30 percent of the severe reactions did caregivers administer epinephrine, a drug that alleviates the symptoms of severe reactions by increasing heart rate, constricting blood vessels and opening the airways. Investigators found that caregivers did not give children epinephrine for a number of reasons: the drug was not available, they were too afraid to administer it, they did not recognize the symptoms as those of an allergic reaction, or they did not recognize the reaction as severe.

"This study documenting the natural history of allergic reactions to three of the major food allergens in pre-school children provides important new information for parents, caregivers and health care workers because of the large number of children involved and the rigorous follow-up," said Daniel Rotrosen, M.D., director of the NIAID Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation, which oversees CoFAR. "The findings not only reveal that food-allergic reactions occur at a much higher rate in young children than we thought, they also suggest that more vigilance and increased use of epinephrine is needed."

Almost 90 percent of allergic reactions to egg, milk or peanut occurred after a child accidentally ate the food. The reasons for the accidental exposures included caregivers misreading food labels, not checking a food for an allergen, and unintentionally allowing a food allergen to come into contact with other foods (cross-contamination).

The study also found that approximately 11 percent of allergic reactions to egg, milk or peanut occurred after a caregiver -- most often a parent -- provided a child the allergenic food intentionally.

"Intentional exposures to allergenic food are typically reported in teenagers, who tend to take more risks or who might be embarrassed about their food allergy," says David Fleischer, M.D., the lead study author. "What is troubling is that in this study we found that a significant number of young children received allergenic foods from parents who were aware of the allergy."

CoFAR investigators are exploring possible reasons for these intentional exposures, but they speculate that it could reflect parents' at-home tests to determine if children have outgrown the food allergy. Because giving children allergenic foods could possibly result in life-threatening reactions, such testing should only be conducted under the direct supervision of a health care professional trained in performing food challenges. The study findings reinforce the importance of caregivers working closely with their doctors to understand how to effectively manage a child's food allergy.

Perfect Nanotube Could Be Grown One Meter Long, 50,000 Times Thinner Than a Human Hair

Defects in nanotubes heal very quickly in a very small zone at or near the iron catalyst before they ever get into the tube wall, according to calculations by theoretical physicists at Rice University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Tsinghua University. (Credit: Courtesy of Feng Ding/Rice/Hong Kong Polytechnic)

Science Daily  — At the right temperature, with the right catalyst, there's no reason a perfect single-walled carbon nanotube 50,000 times thinner than a human hair can't be grown a meter long.

That calculation is one result of a study by collaborators at Rice, Hong Kong Polytechnic and Tsinghua universities who explored the self-healing mechanism that could make such extraordinary growth possible. That's important to scientists who see high-quality carbon nanotubes as critical to advanced materials and, if they can be woven into long cables, power distribution over the grid of the future.

The report published online by Physical Review Letters is by Rice theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson; Feng Ding, an adjunct assistant professor at Rice and an assistant professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic; lead author Qinghong Yuan, a postdoctoral researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic; and Zhiping Xu, a professor of engineering mechanics at Tsinghua and former postdoctoral researcher at Rice.

They determined that iron is the best and quickest among common catalysts at healing topological defects -- rings with too many or too few atoms -- that inevitably bubble up during the formation of nanotubes and affect their valuable electronic and physical properties. The right combination of factors, primarily temperature, leads to kinetic healing in which carbon atoms gone astray are redirected to form the energetically favorable hexagons that make up nanotubes and their flat cousin, graphene. The team employed density functional theory to analyze the energies necessary for the transformation.

"It is surprising that the healing of all potential defects -- pentagons, heptagons and their pairs -- during carbon nanotube growth is quite easy," said Ding, who was a research scientist in Yakobson's Rice lab from 2005 to 2009. "Only less than one-10 billionth may survive an optimum condition of growth. The rate of defect healing is amazing. If we take hexagons as good guys and others as bad guys, there would be only one bad guy on Earth."

The energies associated with each carbon atom determine how it finds its place in the chicken-wire-like form of a nanotube, said Yakobson, Rice's Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Engineering and a professor of materials science and mechanical engineering and of chemistry. But there has been a long debate among scientists over what actually happens at the interface between the catalyst and a growing tube.

"There have been two hypotheses," Yakobson said. "A popular one was that defects are being created quite frequently and get into the wall of the tube, but then later they anneal. There's some kind of fixing process. Another hypothesis is that they basically don't form at all, which sounds quite unreasonable.

"This was all just talk; there was no quantitative analysis. And that's where this work makes an important contribution. It evaluates quantitatively, based on state-of-the-art computations, specifically how fast this annealing can take place, depending on location," he said.

A nanotube grows in a furnace as carbon atoms are added, one by one, at the catalyst. It's like building the peak of a skyscraper first and adding bricks to the bottom. But because those bricks are being added at a furious rate -- millions in a matter of minutes -- mistakes can happen, altering the structure.

In theory, if one ring has five or seven atoms instead of six, it would skew the way all subsequent atoms in the chain orient themselves; an isolated pentagon would turn the nanotube into a cone, and a heptagon would turn it into a horn, Yakobson said.

But calculations also showed such isolated defects cannot exist in a nanotube wall; they would always appear in 5/7 pairs. That makes a quick fix easier: If one atom can be prompted to move from the heptagon to the pentagon, both rings come up sixes.

The researchers found that very transition happens best when carbon nanotubes are grown at temperatures around 930 kelvins (1,214 degrees Fahrenheit). That is the optimum for healing with an iron catalyst, which the researchers found has the lowest energy barrier and reaction energy among the three common catalysts considered, including nickel and cobalt.

Once a 5/7 forms at the interface between the catalyst and the growing nanotube, healing must happen very quickly. The further new atoms push the defect into the nanotube wall, the less likely it is to be healed, they determined; more than four atoms away from the catalyst, the defect is locked in.

Tight control of the conditions under which nanotubes grow can help them self-correct on the fly. Errors in atom placement are caught and fixed in a fraction of a millisecond, before they become part of the nanotube wall.

The researchers also determined through simulations that the slower the growth, the longer a perfect nanotube could be. A nanotube growing about 1 micrometer a second at 700 kelvins could potentially reach the meter milestone, they found.

The work at Rice University was initially supported by the National Science Foundation and at a later stage by an Office of Naval Research grant.

Common Diabetes Drugs Associated With Increased Risk of Death

Science Daily  — Compared to another popular drug, three widely used diabetes medications are associated with a greater risk of death, a large new analysis finds. The results were presented June 25 at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

"We have clearly demonstrated that metformin is associated with a substantial reduction in mortality risk, and, thus, should be the preferred first-line agent, if one has a choice between metformin and a sulfonylurea," said study lead author Kevin M. Pantalone, D.O., an endocrinologist at Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, who conducted this study in conjunction with a team of researchers from Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.The drugs, glipizide, glyburide, and glimepiride, are known as sulfonylureas, which help decrease blood-sugar levels among type 2 diabetes patients by stimulating the pancreas to produce insulin. In the past, these medications were considered comparable to one another in terms of effectiveness and safety. Recently, however, research has shown some sulfonylureas may be safer than others. These findings led to this latest research, which compared them to another type of blood-sugar-reducing drug known as metformin. All four medications are available under low-cost, generic labels.

In the United States, nearly 26 million people, or 8 percent of the population, have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these patients also have other underlying medical conditions, including heart, or coronary artery, disease.

Investigators found that all three sulfonylureas studied were associated with a more than 50 percent greater risk of death compared to metformin. Additionally, among diabetes patients with heart disease, only glimepiride did not increase the risk of death compared to metformin. In contrast, glipizide was associated with a 41 percent, and glyburide with a 38 percent greater risk.

"Since many patients with type 2 diabetes also have coronary artery disease, our results could potentially impact the care of a large number of patients," Pantalone said. "In these patients, we now know that glimepiride appears to be safer than the other commonly prescribed sulfonylureas, glipizide and glyburide, available in the United States."

For this retrospective study, using the electronic health-record system at Cleveland Clinic, the investigators identified 23,915 patients with type 2 diabetes who previously had received treatment with one of the four medications. Overall, the study population's average age (years) was 62, and 50 percent were male. Among the subgroup with heart disease, the average age was 68, and 69 percent were male. Both groups comprised primarily Caucasian patients. The median follow-up was slightly more than two years.

According to Pantalone, this research serves as a reminder that adverse events can occur with any medication. "All drugs have risks, even those which are generic and relatively inexpensive," he said. "It is important to talk to with your doctors about which drugs may be better and safer options, which may vary depending on your other health conditions."

In addition to the data from the hospital electronic health-record system, investigators analyzed death statistics from the Social Security Death Index. The study was supported through a grant from Astra Zeneca.

Bile could prevent heart disease

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

Share on print The bile pigment bilirubin is linked to an increase in antioxidants in the blood, which can protect against cardiovascular damage. The discovery could lead to new drug, dietary or lifestyle methods of preventing heart disease.  Image: rustycloud/iStockphoto There's new hope for the fight against cancer and cardiovascular disease, following breakthrough research identifying a pigment in our bile. A fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, bile's function was simply thought to aid in the digestion process. However, in conjunction with the University of Vienna and the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Dr Andrew Bulmer from the Griffith Health Institute has found that a pigment in bile called bilirubin could help to stave off cancer and cardiovascular disease. Published in the leading journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine, the scientific report details how Dr Bulmer and his team conducted a study with 44 participants, half of whom had Gilbert Syndrome. People with this syndrome show naturally elevated levels of bilirubin in the blood and also higher concentrations of antioxidants, which can protect against disease. "Analysis of blood revealed that those study participants with Gilbert Syndrome had less free radical damage and consistently showed higher levels of antioxidants in their blood," said Dr Bulmer. "Naturally elevated bilirubin concentrations are clearly protecting persons with Gilbert Syndrome from processes implicated in disease initiation and progression. We are in a unique position to use this information to assist in preventing an array of diseases in Australia and beyond. "These findings reveal future potential for new drug, dietary and lifestyle interventions which could be used to mildly increase the concentration of bilirubin in people at risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease." By chance, Dr Bulmer also discovered that bilirubin potentially reduces cholesterol levels and that this could have an additional impact on preventing cardiovascular disease. "We will be investigating this additional benefit as part of our ongoing research," he said. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Viewing Images of High-Calorie Foods Brings On High-Calorie Cravings, Research Finds

Science Daily — You're minding your own business when a food craving suddenly hits, and if you just saw an image of a cupcake, or consumed a sugary soda, that may be no accident.

"Studies have shown that advertisements featuring food make us think of eating, but our research looked at how the brain responds to food cues and how that increases hunger and desire for certain foods," said Kathleen Page, principal investigator and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "This stimulation of the brain's reward areas may contribute to overeating and obesity, and has important public health implications."Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) will present preliminary findings June 26 at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting demonstrating that viewing pictures of high-fat foods and drinking sweetened beverages while viewing the pictures stimulate appetite and reward centers in the brain.

Page's presentation, "Fructose Compared to Glucose Ingestion Preferentially Activates Brain Reward Regions in Response to High-Calorie Food Cues in Young, Obese Hispanic Females," will be made on June 26, during the Endocrine Society meeting, which takes place from July 23 to 26 in Houston, Texas.

Page and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain responses of 13 obese, Hispanic adolescent women ranging in age from 15 to 25. Women were chosen because prior research indicates they are more responsive to food cues; the study group was narrowed to Hispanic women because of the high risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the Hispanic community.

The women's brain responses were scanned twice as they looked at pictures of high-calorie foods, such as hamburgers, cookies, and cakes, and low-calorie foods such as fruits and vegetables. After seeing the high-calorie and low-calorie groupings, the participants rated their hunger and desire for sweet or savory foods on a scale from one to 10.

Halfway through the scans, the women drank 50 grams of glucose -- equivalent to a can of soda -- and another time, they drank 50 grams of fructose. Glucose and fructose are the main components of table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.

"We hypothesized that the reward areas in the women's brains would be activated when they were looking at high-calorie foods, and that did happen," said Page. "What we didn't expect was that consuming the glucose and fructose would increase their hunger and desire for savory foods."

The researchers also noted that fructose stimulated more hunger and desire in the participants' brains than glucose did.

"Our bodies are made to eat food and store energy, and in prehistoric days, it behooved us to eat a lot of high-calorie foods because we didn't know when the next meal was coming," Page said. "But now we have much more access to food, and this research indicates added sweeteners might be affecting our desire for it."

With many questions unanswered about whether these cravings are environmental (caused by obesity) or genetic, Page plans to study what happens to the brains of obese individuals while they are dieting.

ஆப்பிளை விட சிறந்ததாம் வாழைப்பழம்

எல்லா காலங்களிலும் எல்லா இடத்திலும் அனைத்து தரப்பினரும் வாங்கக் கூடிய விலையில் கிடைப்பது வாழைப்பழம். இப்படிப்பட்ட வாழைப்பழத்தின் அருமை பெருமைகள் நம்மில் பலருக்கும் தெரிவதில்லை. உடலுக்கு தேவையான சத்துகள், வைட்டமின்கள் வாழைப்பழத்தில் மலிந்து கிடைக்கின்றன. ஆப்பிளை விட சிறந்தது, பல வகை சத்துகளைக் கொண்டது ஆப்பிளைவிட பலமடங்கு சிறந்தது வாழைப்பழம். கார்போஹைட்ரேட் ஆப்பிளில் உள்ளதைவிட இரண்டு மடங்கு அதிகமாக வாழைப்பழத்தில் உள்ளது. பாஸ்பரஸ் மூன்று மடங்கும் புரோட்டீன் அளவு இன்னும் அதிகமாக நான்கு மடங்கும் உள்ளது. வைட்டமின் ஏ மற்றும் இரும்புசத்தின் அளவு ஆப்பிளில் உள்ளதைவிட ஐந்து மடங்கு இதில் அதிகமாக இருக்கிறது. மற்ற வைட்டமின்கள் மற்றும் மினரல்களின் அளவு ஆப்பிளைவிட வாழைப்பழத்தில் இரண்டு மடங்கு கூடுதலாக இருப்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. பொட்டாசியம் சத்தும் வாழைப்பழத்தில் செறிவாக உள்ளது. ஒரு சராசரி வாழைப்பழத்தில் 23 கிராம் கார்போஹைட்ரேட், 12 கிராம் சர்க்கரை, 2.6 கிராம் நார்சத்து ஒரு கிராம் கொழுப்பு மற்றும் 9 மில்லி கராம் வைட்டமின் சி உள்ளது. அதாவது உடலுக்கு கூட்டமளிக்கும் 90 கலோரிகள் இதில் உள்ளன. நரம்புக்கு வலு சேர்த்து புத்துணர்ச்சி தரக்கூடியது சர்க்ககரை பொருட்களான சுக்ரோஸ், பீக்டோஸ் மற்றும் குளுக்கோஸ் ஆகியவை இதில் உள்ளது. இத்துடன் எளிதில் ஜீரணத்தன்மை ஏற்படுத்தும் நார்ச்சத்தும் உள்ளதால் உடலுக்கு உடனடியாக புத்துணர்ச்சி கொடுக்கும் ஆற்றல் வாழைப்பழத்திற்கு உள்ளது. உலகின் தலைசிறந்த தடகள வீரர்கள் வாழைப்பழம் உண்பதை வழக்கமாக கொண்டுள்ளனர். பயிற்சியின் போது தங்களுக்கு ஏற்படும் சோர்வை வாழைப்பழம் நீக்கும் தன்மை கொண்டது. வாழைப்பழத்தில் வைட்டமின் பி நிரம்ப உள்ளது, இது நரம்பு மண்டலத்தில் வலு சேர்க்கிறது. இதில் உள்ள இரும்புச்சத்துகள் ரத்தத்தில் ஹீமோகுளோபின் எண்ணிக்கையை அதிகரிக்கிறது. இதனால் வாழைப்பழம் தொடர்ந்து உட்கொள்பவர்களுக்கு ரத்தசோகை ஏற்படாது. நிக்கோடினில் இருந்து பாதுகாக்கிறது புகைபிடிக்கும் பழக்கம் உடைய சிலர் அப்பழக்கத்தை திடீர் என விட்டு விடுவர். இவ்வாறு விடுவது தான் சிறந்தது. இப்பழக்கம் காரணமாக நிக்கோடின் என்ற நச்சுபொருள் ஏற்கனவே உடலில் சேர்த்திருக்கும். வாழைப்பழத்தில் உள்ள பி6, பி12 வைட்டமின், பொட்டாசியம் மெக்னீசியம் ஆகிய சத்துப்பொருட்கள் இந்த நிக்கோடினை கொஞ்சம் கொஞ்சமாக உடலில் இருந்து அகற்றி விடும்.

3000 மொழிகளை காக்க கூகுளின் புதிய திட்டம்(Google Tries to Save 3,000 Languages)

Endangered languages. Whether from Africa, Mexico, USA, or any country, we believe all languages should be preserved and remembered for the special place in time when they were the means of communication for a group of people. Language is what makes us unique, as well as what brings us together. With that being said, we are sad to see that some languages are in fact going extinct. Google is doing their part as a worldwide service to provide these languages a lifeline: As Google sees it, documenting the 3,000-plus languages that are on the verge of extinction — about half of all languages in the world — is an important step in preserving cultural diversity, honoring the knowledge of elders and empowering youth. And Google sees technology’s role in strengthening those efforts through research and collaboration. This collaboration is through a website www.endangeredlanguages.com where people can upload the languages and share the most up-to-date information about them. An example is seen in the Miami-Illinois language, once spoken by Native American communities throughout the region. Although the last known person who spoke this language died in 1960, a contributor to the project is teaching himself the language through old documents. Because of this, children in Miami are now learning the language and even teaching it to each other. If you know a language that is becoming extinct, post it in the comments or through the website and we will all do our best to preserve the language. Also, check out the video below to learn more about the project. Thanks www.montereylanguages.com உலகம் முழுவதும் அழியும் நிலையில் இருக்கும் 3 ஆயிரம் மொழிகளை காப்பாற்றும் நோக்கில் பிரத்யேக இணையத்தளத்தை கூகுள் உருவாக்கியுள்ளது. உலகப்புகழ் பெற்ற கூகுள் இணையத்தளம் அழிந்து வரும் உலக மொழிகளை பாதுகாக்கும் நோக்கில் புதிய இணையத்தளத்தை உருவாக்கி உள்ளது. அறிஞர்கள் மற்றும் மொழியியல் வல்லுனர்கள் அடங்கிய குழு ஒன்றும் உருவாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்த குழு அழிந்துவரும் மொழிகளை அடையாளம் கண்டு அவற்றை பாதுகாக்க உரிய நடவடிக்கை மேற்கொள்ளும். இணையத்தளத்தில் பொதுமக்கள் பங்கு கொண்டு தங்கள் கருத்துக்கள், தகவல்களை பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளலாம் என்றும் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதற்கான ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர்கள் மற்றும் பொறுப்பு அதிகாரிகளாக க்ளாரா ரிவேரா ரோடரிகஸ் மற்றும் ஜேசன் ரிஸ்மென் ஆகியோர் நியமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். அவர்கள் கூறியதாவது: உலகம் முழுவதும் 7 ஆயிரத்துக்கு அதிகமான மொழிகள் உள்ளன. இதில் ஏறக்குறைய 3 ஆயிரம் மொழிகள் வழக்கொழியும் நிலையில் இருக்கின்றன. இவற்றை பாதுகாக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்காவிட்டால் 100 ஆண்டுகளில் அழிந்தே போய் விடும். மொழிகள் அழிந்தால் ஒரு சமூகத்தின் வரலாறு, கலாசார பெருமை, பண்பாட்டு சிறப்புகளை எதிர்காலம் அறிய முடியாத சூழல் ஏற்பட்டுவிடும். அதை தடுக்கும் நோக்கில்தான் இணையத்தளம் தொடங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. சில மொழிகளை ஒரு சிலர் மட்டுமே பேசிவருகின்றனர். அவர்கள் காலத்தோடு அந்த மொழி அழிந்துவிடும் அபாயம் இருப்பதால் அந்த மொழியின் வீடியோ, ஓடியோ பதிவுகள் இந்த இணையத்தளத்தில் வெளியிடப்படும். அதை பார்ப்பவர்கள் அந்த மொழி பற்றி தெரிந்து கொண்டால் அந்த மொழி அழியாமல் இருக்கும் என்று தெரிவித்துள்ளார். இணையதள முகவரி

யூடியூப் வீடியோக்களை VLC Player மூலம் தரவிறக்கம் செய்வதற்கு

பல லட்சக்கணக்கான வீடியோக்களை தன்னகத்தே கொண்டுள்ள யூடியூப் வீடியோக்களை VLC Player மூலமாக தரவிறக்கம் செய்து கொள்ள முடியும். இதற்கு முதலில் யூடியூப்பில் எந்த வீடியோவை தரவிறக்கம் செய்ய வேண்டுமோ, அந்த வீடியோ முகவரியை கொப்பி செய்து கொள்ளவும். இப்போது VLC Player - ஐ ஓபன் செய்து Media --> Open Network Stream என்பதை தெரிவு செய்யவும். அதன் பின் Please Enter a Network URL என்ற இடத்தில், வீடியோவின் முகவரியை கொடுத்து Play கொடுக்கவும். இப்போது வீடியோவின் Thumbnail இமேஜ் வரும். உடனே Play பட்டனை கிளிக் செய்யவும். இப்போது வீடியோ ஸ்ட்ரீம் ஆகி play ஆக ஆரம்பிக்கும். இப்போது உங்கள் வீடியோவை இரண்டு வழிகளில் தரவிறக்கம் செய்யலாம். ஒன்று Network Stream பகுதியில் Play கொடுப்பதற்கு பதிலாக convert என்று கொடுப்பதன் மூலம். இது எல்லா வீடியோவுக்கும் வேலை செய்யாது என்பதால் இது உதவவில்லை என்றால் அடுத்த முயற்சி. இப்போது உங்கள் வீடியோ play ஆகிக் கொண்டிருக்க வேண்டும். அதில் Tools >> Media Information என்பதை தெரிவு செய்யவும். அதில் கீழே Location என்ற ஒன்று இருக்கும். அதில் உள்ள முகவரி மீது ரைட் கிளிக் செய்து Select All கொடுத்து மீண்டும் ரைட் கிளிக் செய்து Copy கொடுக்கவும். இதை Firefox உலவியின் Address Bar-இல் கொடுக்கவும். அது இதனை Play செய்ய ஆரம்பிக்கும். அதில் ரைட் கிளிக் செய்து Save Video As என்பதை கிளிக் செய்து Save செய்து விடலாம். இது "WebM" என்ற Format-இல் Save ஆகும். இது எல்லா பிளேயர்களும் ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளும் ஒரு Format தான். சில வீடியோக்களை இதன் மூலம் தரவிறக்கம் செய்ய இயலாது. அவை பெரும்பாலும் RTMP என்ற வகையை சேர்ந்ததாக இருக்கும்.

ஞாபக சக்தியை அதிகரிக்கும் துளசி

துளசியின் மருத்துவ குணங்கள் ஏராளம், அதற்கு ஆன்மீக மகத்துவமும் உள்ளதாக புராணங்கள் கூறுகின்றன. எல்லோர் வீட்டிலும் இருக்க வேண்டிய செடிகளில் முதன்மையான இடத்தைப் பிடித்திருப்பது துளசி செடி தான். அவரவர் வசதிக்கேற்ப சிறிய தொட்டியில் கூட துளசி செடியை வளர்த்து வரலாம். ஆனால் அதனை கவனமாக பராமரிப்பது அவசியம். எளிதாகக் கிடைக்கும் துளசியில் மகத்துவங்கள் ஏராளம். துளசிச் செடியை ஆரோக்கியமான மனிதன் தினமும் தின்று வந்தால் குடல், வயிறு, வாய் தொடர்பான பிரச்சினைகள் அவன் வாழ்நாள் முழுவதும் வராது. ஜீரண சக்தியும், புத்துணர்ச்சியையும் துளசி இலை மூலம் பெறலாம். வா‌ய் து‌ர்நா‌ற்ற‌த்தையு‌ம் போ‌க்கு‌ம். நமது உடலுக்கான கிருமி நாசினியாக துளசியை உட்கொள்ளலாம். துளசி இலையைப் போட்டு ஊற வைத்த நீரை தொடர்ந்து பருகி வந்தால் நீரழிவு வியாதி நம்மை நாடாது. உடலின் வியர்வை நாற்றத்தைத் தவிர்க்க குளிக்கும் நீரில் முந்தைய நாளே கொஞ்சம் துளசி இலையைப் போட்டு வைத்து அதில் குளித்தால் நாற்றம் நீங்கும். தோலில் பல நாட்களாக இருக்கும் படை, சொரிகளையும் துளசி இலையால் குணமடையச் செய்ய முடியும். துளசி இலையை எலுமிச்சை சாறு விட்டு நன்கு மை போல் அரைத்து அந்த விழுதை தோலில் தடவி வந்தால் படைச்சொரி மறையும். சிறுநீர் கோளாறு உடையவர்கள், துளசி விதையை நன்கு அரைத்து உட்கொண்டு வர வேண்டும். கூடவே உடலுக்குத் தேவையான அளவிற்கு தண்ணீரும் பருகி வர பிரச்சினை சரியாகும். மருத்துவக் குணங்கள் சளி, இருமல், வறட்டு இருமல் போன்றவற்றுக்கும் மருந்தாகும். தொற்றுநோய்களை எதிர்க்கும். சீரண சக்தியை அதிகரித்து பசியை அதிகரிக்கும். வயிற்றுப் பொருமலைத் தணிக்கும். துளசி விதை ஆண்மையை அதிகரிக்கும். ஞாபக சக்தியை அதிகரிக்கும். வெண் தோல், ஆஸ்துமா, மூச்சிறைப்பு, இடுப்புப் பிடிப்பு, சிறுநீரகப் பிரச்சினைகள் போன்றவற்றுக்கும் மருந்தாகும்.

Baje Shanmugham Saibaba Song By Vinoth Chandar

Beauty of Fantasy Art Part

Life Span:

Guru is the Karaka for Jeeva. Rahu is the karaka for Death.

The difference of Nakshatra Pada’s between Guru and Rahu will indicate the life
span.

 If Rahu and Guru are in the same sign are in the same direction, then the person is
short lived. If friendly planets aspect Guru, then the life span will be increased.

 If Guru is hemmed between two enemy planets, then the life span will be reduced.

 If Guru is hemmed between Mangal and Rahu, then the person will die unexpectedly
due to either heart attack or vehicle accident.

 If Sani is hemmed between Mangal and Rahu, then the person will die unexpectedly.

 If Surya is hemmed between Mangal and Rahu, then the father of the native will die
unexpectedly.

REMEDIES

There are many kinds of remedies namely

 Reciting shlokas and stotras.
 Chanting mantras.
 Conducting homa’s.
 Performing pooja for Nava Grahas.
 Performing pooja for Deities.
 Wearing precious stones.
 Wearing coloured clothes.
 Wearing talisman etc.,
 Offering Daana’s (Charity)

The remedies should be prescribed by taking into account of the level of mind of the
person.

 If the person is a learned man (having vedic knowledge), he should be advised to
recite the shlokas, stotras or chanting mantras.

If the person is having little bit of religious ideas, he should be advised to perform
pooja’s.

 If the person is not having any idea of religion, he should be advised to wear gem
stones or wearing coloured clothes or offering daana’s.

Brihadeeswarar temple of Thanjavur

proud to be an indian!

on the right side is the leaning tower of pisa a bell tower of the cathedral of the italian city of pisa. the construction occurred in 3 stages across 177 years ,the tower began to sink after the construction progressed to the 2nd floor ,the design was flawed right from the beginning, foundation was weak, soil was weak, no soil test was done, the construction was stopped due to a war,this allowed ...time for the underlying soil to settle, otherwise the tower would've surely toppled. a very bad amateurish piece of architecture. which people (even ) indians consider a wonder. the tower is still under going structural strengthening even today
(started on aug 8th 1173 - 1372)

on the left side is the big temple (brihadeeswarar temple ) of thanjavur ,built by one of the greatest kings of india, (raja raja chola) and is one of the marvels of architecture, the temple tower is 216 ft high and is among the tallest of its kind in the world,an idea to build a mammoth temple like this is said to have occurred to raja raja while he stayed in eelam(sri lanka) as emperor. the gopuram(spire) was built over 12 years on a single piece of granite weighing around 80 tons,for centuries this temple has fascinated, historians, artists and travellers, for its architectural magnificence, it has been listed by unesco heritage list of historical sites. it is considered as the expression of the tamils wealth, power and artistic expertise. but here people don't even consider it as a site to go and see ,built in 1010 ad and completed its 1000 year in 2010, it is a living wonder!

sometimes we forget what we have and search outside, proud to be an indian!

by cholas, (arason)

(please help to share this post!)

Multicolored Salt Ponds at San Francisco Bay

If you ever fly over San Francisco Bay, be sure to peer out of the window to catch a glimpse of one of the world's most incredibly coloured landscapes - the salt evaporation ponds operated by Cargill, Inc.

Salt evaporation ponds are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested. During the five years it takes for the bay water to mature into salt brine, it is moved from one evaporation pond to another. In the final stages, when the brine is fully saturated, it is pumped to the crystalizer where a bed of salt 5 to 8 inches thick is ready for harvest.

Salt ponds range from blue green to deep magenta – colored naturally by the microorganisms that thrive as salinity levels increase. The color indicates the salinity of the ponds and the type of microorganisms that’s breeding on it. Three microorganisms in particular, Synechococcus, Halobacteria, and Dunaliella, influence the color of salt ponds.

In the low-salinity ponds, both color and microbiology match the blue green waters of San Francisco Bay. As the brines concentrate, several algae, including Dunaliella, impart a green cast to the brines. With increasing salinity, Dunaliella out-competes other microorganisms and hues vary from pale green to bright chartreuse. About midway through the pond system, the increased salinity promotes huge populations of tiny brine shrimp, which clarify the brine and darken it. The saltiest brine, or pickle, appears deep red, because Halobacteria take over and the hypersaline brine triggers a red pigment to form in the Dunaliella’s protoplasm.

The palette of salt pond colors reflects an unusual micro-biota. Yet it is more than just a curiosity of nature. The algae and other microorganisms create the basis for a rich ecosystem, supporting more than a million shorebirds, waterfowl and other wildlife. At the same time, these tiny creatures regulate water quality -- which promotes development of a higher quality salt.

-- 
sejal

Paintings