New 'Bionic' Leg Gives Amputees a Natural Gait

Science Daily  — A new lower-limb prosthetic developed at Vanderbilt University allows amputees to walk without the leg-dragging gait characteristic of conventional artificial legs.

The device uses the latest advances in computer, sensor, electric motor and battery technology to give it bionic capabilities: It is the first prosthetic with powered knee and ankle joints that operate in unison. It comes equipped with sensors that monitor its user's motion. It has microprocessors programmed to use this data to predict what the person is trying to do and operate the device in ways that facilitate these movements.

A passive leg is always a step behind me. The Vanderbilt leg is only a split-second behind.""When it's working, it's totally different from my current prosthetic," said Craig Hutto, the 23-year-old amputee who has been testing the leg for several years. "A passive leg is always a step behind me. The Vanderbilt leg is only a split-second behind."

The bionic leg is the result of a seven-year research effort at the Vanderbilt Center for Intelligent Mechatronics, directed by Michael Goldfarb, the H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The project was initially funded by a seed grant from the National Science Foundation, followed by a development grant from the National Institutes of Health. Key aspects of the design have been patented by the university, which has granted exclusive rights to develop the prosthesis to Freedom Innovations, a leading developer and manufacturer of lower limb prosthetic devices.

"With our latest model, we have validated our hypothesis that the right technology was available to make a lower-limb prosthetic with powered knee and ankle joints," said Goldfarb. "Our device illustrates the progress we are making at integrating man and machine."

The Vanderbilt prosthesis is designed for daily life. It makes it substantially easier for an amputee to walk, sit, stand, and go up and down stairs and ramps. Studies have shown that users equipped with the device naturally walk 25 percent faster on level surfaces than when they use passive lower-limb prosthetics. That is because it takes users 30 to 40 percent less of their own energy to operate.

"Going up and down slopes is one of the hardest things to do with a conventional leg," said Hutto. "So I have to be conscious of where I go because I can get very tired walking up and down slopes. But that won't be a problem with the powered leg because it goes up and down slopes almost like a natural leg."

Recent technological advances have allowed the Vanderbilt engineers to produce a device that weighs about nine pounds -- less than most human lower legs -- and can operate for three days of normal activity, or 13 to 14 kilometers of continuous walking, on a single charge. They have also dramatically reduced the amount of noise that the latest model makes, although it is slightly louder than they would like.

One of the latest capabilities that the engineers have added is an anti-stumble routine. If the leg senses that its user is starting to stumble, it will lift up the leg to clear any obstruction and plant the foot on the floor.

In order to incorporate all the improvements, the prosthetic's hardware design has gone through seven versions and its electronics board has been redone 15 times.

According to Goldfarb, it was tough to make the prosthetic light and quiet enough. In particular, it was difficult to fit the powerful motors and drive train that they needed into the volume available. The biggest technical challenge, however, was to develop the control system.

"As you add greater capability, you are also adding greater liability," he said. "Not only does the controller have to perform individual operations reliability, but it has to perform several operations at the same time and not get confused."

The Center for Intelligent Mechatronics is also developing an anthropomorphic prosthetic arm project and an advanced exoskeleton to aid in physical therapy.

KANNE PAPPA -- SATHIYA MUTHIRAI -- VIJAYAKUMARI -NAMBIAR

KANNE PAPPA --- THENDRALIL AADAI MINNA -- K R VIJAYA

Tms and KJ Yesudas has Sing this song.TMS has more manly voice~Unakkaga ...

Even TMS sing the later part of song,his voice is nice&good.Sirkali voic...

Researchers reveal a new mechanism of genomic instability

"Using E. coli cells, researchers show how collisions between major gene expression lead to chromosomal breaks."  

by Biomechanics

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have discovered the cellular mechanisms that normally generate chromosomal breaks in bacteria such as E. coli. The study's findings are published in the August 18 issue of the journal Cell. 

"This study provides a new explanation on how bacteria generate mutations and adapt to stressors like antibiotics. The study is quite unusual as it touches on several different fields of molecular biology at the same time: replication, transcription, translation and DNA repair," said Evgeny Nudler, PhD, The Julie Wilson Anderson Professor of Biochemistry, in the Department of Biochemistry at NYU School of Medicine and co-author of the study. 

The study examines the collision of three major cellular moving "machines": replisome – a protein complex responsible for DNA synthesis, RNA polymerase – an enzyme responsible for RNA synthesis, and ribosome – a molecular structure responsible for protein synthesis. Collisions between replisome and RNA polymerase occur frequently in cells because the two machineries share the same DNA track, but the speed of the replisome is much faster than that of RNA polymerase. However, the consequences of such collisions remained unknown. 

Researchers designed an experimental system to directly monitor co-directional and head-on collisions between the replisome and RNA polymerase in living cells under various conditions of growth. 

Researchers found co-directional collisions lead to DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) or mutations. Importantly, however, such DSBs appear only if the replisome collides with backtracked RNA polymerase. 

Backtracking, or backward sliding of RNA polymerase along RNA and DNA, is an intrinsic property of all cellular RNA polymerases from bacteria to humans. Multiple anti-backtracking mechanisms that employ various transcription factors exist in bacteria and nucleus-containing cells, including human cells. 

Researchers demonstrated that the cooperation between translating ribosomes and RNA polymerase is central in the maintenance of genomic stability because it prevents backtracking. 

The implication of these findings is significant as the ribosome is the primary sensor of cellular metabolism and stress. It has been well established that stress-induced mutagenesis is activated in response to adverse conditions, such as starvation or antibiotics. The development of mutations depends on error-prone DSB repair, which accelerates adaptation to environmental changes, such as acquisition of resistance to antibiotics. In this respect, the backtracking-based mechanism of DSB may account for stress-driven evolution in bacteria. 

"Because the organization of replisomes and RNA polymerase is preserved in evolution, the phenomena of backtracking-driven genome instability for E.coli could occur in other organisms as well. It may potentially explain, for example, some cases of chromosomal fragility associated with certain human diseases," said Dr. Nudler.

Research shows boys reach sexual maturity younger and younger

Posted by Biomechanism 

Boys are maturing physically earlier than ever before. The age of sexual maturity has been decreasing by about 2.5 months each decade at least since the middle of the 18th century. Joshua Goldstein, director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock (MPIDR), has used mortality data to prove this trend, which until now was difficult to decipher. What had already been established for girls now seems to also be true for boys: the time period during which young people are sexually mature but socially not yet considered adults is expanding.

“The reason for earlier maturity for boys, as with girls, is probably because nutrition and disease environments are getting more favourable for it,” says demographer Joshua Goldstein. It has long been documented by medical records that girls are experiencing their first menstruation earlier and earlier. But comparable data analysis for boys did not exist. Goldstein resolved this gap by studying demographic data related to mortality. When male hormone production during puberty reaches a maximum level the probability of dying jumps up. This phenomenon, called the “accident hump”, exists in almost all societies and is statistically well documented.

Goldstein discovered that the maximum mortality value of the accident hump shifted to earlier age by 2.5 months for each decade since the mid-1700s, or just over two years per century. Accordingly, the age of boys’ sexual maturity decreased at the same rate. Essentially, the data showed that the age of sexual maturity is getting younger and younger since the accident hump is occurring earlier and earlier. (Research included data for Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain and Italy. Since 1950 the data is no longer clear but indicates stagnation.) The maximum of the accident hump occurs in the late phase of puberty, after males reach reproductive capability and their voice changes.

When boys get physically mature they take more risks and the risk of death increases

The accident hump, which also exists among male apes, occurs because young men participate in particularly risky behaviour when the release of the hormone testosterone reaches its maximum. Dangerous and reckless shows of strength, negligence, and a high propensity to violence lead to an increased number of fatal accidents. The probability remains low, but the rate jumps up considerably (see graphic).

In respect to the developmental stage of the body “being 18 today is like being 22 in 1800″ says Joshua Goldstein. He sees the main causes as better nutrition and an improved resilience against diseases. Because the decline began long before the intervention of the automobile (accompanied by a high risk of accident) it appears that the shift in age of maturity is biological, and not related to technological advancements or social activities. When the use of automobiles or guns became common no significant effect on the data could be seen.

Albeit giving evidence for the age shift only indirectly via mortality data, Joshua Goldstein underlines the importance of its biological meaning:  “Researchers see for the first time how females and males have been equally responsive to changes in the environment.”

The onset of biological versus social adulthood is drifting apart

“The biological and social phases in the lives of young people are drifting apart ever stronger”, says Josh Goldstein. “While adolescents become adults earlier in a biological sense, they reach adulthood later regarding their social and economic roles.” Life cycle research shows that for more than half a century the age at which people marry, have children, start their careers and become financially independent from their parents continues to rise.

According to Joshua Goldstein, this doesn’t only extend the period of physical adulthood during which young people do not yet have children. “Important decisions in life are being made with an increasing distance from the recklessness of youth.” The demographer points out that it remains unclear whether the “high-risk phase” of adolescence becomes more dangerous for males because it starts earlier. While younger men are less mentally and socially mature, parents also tend to supervise their children more closely when they are younger.

Maternal fat has negative impact on embryo development

Posted by Biomechanism 

Exposing eggs to high levels of saturated fatty acids – as commonly found in the ovaries of obese women and those with Type II diabetes – compromises the development of the embryo, according to new research published in PLoS ONE.

The study – by researchers from Antwerp, Hull, and Madrid – found that embryos resulting from cattle eggs exposed to high levels of fatty acids had fewer cells, altered gene expression and altered metabolic activity, all indicators of reduced viability.

Although the work was carried out using eggs from cows, the findings could help to explain why women suffering from metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes struggle to conceive. Patients in this group tend to metabolise more of their stored fat, resulting in higher levels of fatty acids being present within the ovary, which research has already shown to be toxic for the growing eggs before ovulation.

Lead researcher, Professor Jo Leroy from the University of Antwerp, says: “In cows we can induce very similar metabolic disorders leading to reduced fertility in these animals and compromised egg quality in particular. This is one of the reasons that bovine eggs are a very interesting model for human reproductive research.”

Co-researcher, Dr Roger Sturmey, from the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School, says: “Our findings add further weight to the public health recommendations which emphasise the importance of women being a healthy weight before starting a pregnancy.”

Professor Leroy adds: “We know from our previous research that high levels of fatty acids can affect the development of eggs in the ovary, but this is the first time we’ve been able to follow through to show a negative impact on the surviving embryo.”

University of Antwerp PhD student, Veerle Van Hoeck, funded by FWO-Flanders and the EU Cost Gemini Action FA0702, tested the embryos eight days after fertilisation, when they had developed into what are known as blastocysts, containing around 70 to 100 cells. One of the key indicators of embryo viability is metabolic activity, calculated through analysis of what the embryo consumes from its environment and what it releases back out.

“The most viable embryos, those most likely to result in a successful pregnancy, have a ‘quieter’, less active metabolism, particularly in relation to amino acids,” explains Dr Sturmey. “Where eggs were exposed to high levels of fatty acids, the resulting embryos showed increased amino acid metabolism and altered consumption of oxygen, glucose and lactate – all of which indicates impaired metabolic regulation and reduced viability.”

“These embryos also showed increased expression of specific genes which are linked to cellular stress,” adds Professor Leroy. “And although the higher fatty acid levels didn’t stop eggs developing to the two-cell stage, there was a notable reduction in those able to develop into blastocysts.”

The researchers are now applying for further funding to take their findings into a clinical setting and to investigate whether exposing eggs to high levels of fatty acids can also lead to post natal effects.

Maunam

Maunam “Chaitanya Mahaprabhu recommends, kirtaniyah sada harih: one should go on chanting the glories of the Lord twenty-four hours a day. There is no question of becoming mauna, or silent.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.9.46 Purport) The prescription given by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the preacher incarnation of Godhead who kindly roamed the sacred land of Bharatavarsha around five hundred years ago, is that everyone should chant the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, as often as possible and with as many accompanying people as possible, to gain spiritual enlightenment and salvation. The benefits derived from fruitive activity with detachment, study of Vedanta philosophy, disengagement from any type of work, and mystic yoga come more easily through the chanting process. Yet there was more to this recommendation than just finding a way back to God. The sankirtana-yajna, the most recommended sacrifice for the people living in the dark age of Kali, is the best way to keep the individual occupied throughout the day. Other methods of religion may come close, but they don’t carry the same property. An active person stays away from the mode of ignorance and has an easier time coping with life. Moreover, an active person who can steadily ascend the planes of consciousness to the spiritual level will be even better situated. The secret in sankirtana is that there is simultaneous elevation, detachment and happiness, with the individual not remaining idle for even a second. Why is it harmful to remain inactive? Don’t we need our rest? To gain a better understanding, let’s work through a hypothetical scenario that most of us have dreamed about at one time or another. If an off-day is approaching, one free of obligations pertaining to school or work, where we don’t have to wake up at a certain time, falling asleep at night becomes a more involved task. After all, if it is “fun time”, what need is there for stopping? The relief from pressure results in a late night of having fun, whatever that “fun” may be. The next morning is where things get interesting. As Newton famously said, “a body at rest stays at rest”, after sleeping for so long during the night, it’s very difficult to break out of the comfortable state and get out of bed in the morning. On a typical day, there is a certain time that one must arise; otherwise they will not meet their obligations for the day. But what if we don’t have anywhere to go and nothing to do? This lack of pressure would be viewed as a good thing, no? So, we end up staying in bed a lot longer in the morning. Maybe we just lie there or we turn on the television to watch some of our favorite prerecorded programs. Let’s extend the example out for the entire day. There is no responsibility whatsoever; we can do whatever we want. The body is telling us to remain in bed, so let’s go with that. The body in this case is simply the messenger for the senses, which constantly pull us in every which direction. Let’s say that we spend the entire day in bed watching television. Will this be beneficial or harmful to us in the long run? Will our state of mind be better at the end of the day or worse? This pattern of behavior is almost never beneficial to the psyche. Why? Even minus the pressures and obligations, the individual soul, the instigator for activity, has a desire to perform work. The soul has an active propensity, which must manifest in one way or another. The consciousness indicates the primary desires of the soul, and since consciousness is even active while we sleep, we see that the soul and its active propensity always have an influence. What’s interesting is that on days where we have to work or study for long hours, we probably feel much better at night. The ego is buoyed by a sense of accomplishment, thus the resting period at night is considered well-deserved. A day of silence and inactivity, on the other hand, doesn’t really lead to anything. At best, the body and mind get some rest, but the soul is left wandering for an active engagement, something to fill its time and meet its desire for service. Precisely because of these concerns, good parents try to keep their children as active as possible. Children have much more energy than adults, so if that enthusiasm can be guided in the proper direction, the levels of productivity can be very high. Adults would have great difficulty attending classes during the same hours that children do, but since they are young, kids can handle the rigors of school placed upon them. Even when they leave school to go home, children are given homework to complete and extracurricular activities to take part in. A lazy child sitting in front of the television all day will not mature very well. Moreover, they will be more prone to despondency, lack of motivation, and depression. These same principles carry over to the realm of spirituality, where the spirit soul seeks a higher engagement, one that transcends the temporary enjoyments and pursuits already encountered in material life. Interestingly enough, the superiority of an active lifestyle over a sedentary one can be scientifically explained. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, reveal that material life is governed by three modes: goodness, passion and ignorance. Every body type assumed by a soul is made up of a specific combination of these modes, and hence the resulting activities also fall into these three categories. Laziness and inactivity belong to the mode of ignorance, which is also known as the mode of darkness. Not surprisingly, this is considered the lowest of the three modes and thus one that should be avoided. Ignorance is never beneficial towards advancement, so in spiritual life it leads to degradation of the consciousness. “O son of Bharata, the mode of ignorance causes the delusion of all living entities. The result of this mode is madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.8) Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and origin of Vedic wisdom, kindly reveals in the Bhagavad-gita that a person’s future destination is determined by their consciousness at the time of death. We see that young children are not uniform in their behavioral characteristics. Some are naturally drawn towards music, while others are quick to pick up talking and socializing. These inherent qualities are determined by past karma, or fruitive activity. With every action performed on the material plane comes a commensurate reaction. Karma can be stopped when the activities adopted are of the purely spiritual variety, wherein the soul tries to understand its constitutional position and what type of behavior that encompasses. With respect to karma, the mode of ignorance is the most detrimental. The development of consciousness ceases when one is constantly sleeping and drawn towards inactivity. Moreover, at the time of death, the gift awaiting the departing soul is demotion to a lower species, one more conducive to the types of activities the lazy person wants. Fervent activity seeking a fruitive gain belongs to the mode of passion. Therefore passion is considered better than ignorance, for at least there will not be demotion to a lower species. Moreover, the individual remains fully engaged and thus avoids permanent depression. The harm with activity in passion, however, is that it results in a neutral state. One of the reasons why people take to spirituality is that they grow tired of the same things repeatedly occurring in life. After securing a nice job and family, the bewildered spirit soul may ask, “Is this all there is to life? Is there not anything else?” With young children, deciphering the repeating patterns in behavior and enjoyment is difficult. A child’s life is constantly changing; nothing remains steady. Each new year is always different from the previous. But in adulthood, not only can the days repeat, but so can the years. A mature adult can live the exact same year over and over again. This is what results with life in the mode of passion. Even at the time of death, the body awarded for the next life is of the same type; thus causing the cycle to repeat again. “That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all existences, undivided in the divided, is knowledge in the mode of goodness.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.20) When there is interest in getting out of the cycle of passion, enjoyment, pain and further pleasure seeking, the mode of goodness is accepted. The mode of goodness represents the most basic level of spirituality, wherein one understands that they are not their body. The soul exists eternally, and it has an active propensity. When the spark of energy finds activities aimed at understanding the equality shared amongst all life forms, the resulting behavior falls into the mode of goodness. There is still action in goodness, but everything follows the guidelines of scripture. For instance, instead of giving in charity for a specific purpose or to gain acclaim in society, money is donated to worthy persons and without any expectation of reciprocation. Instead of ignoring the existence of God and just going about your life, regular sacrifices are performed which help increase one’s God consciousness. By following the mode of goodness, the spirit soul can ascend to a heavenly planet in the afterlife, where the level of material enjoyment is much higher. To fully transcend karma, one has to rise above even the mode of goodness. To accomplish this there are many recommended activities, all of which fall into the spiritual category. As consciousness is the main factor in determining an individual’s future, if it can remain tied to something non-material, something fully spiritual, the future reward will bear the same properties. Since material life is fully binding and fuels the engine of reincarnation, there may be the temptation to simply renounce activity. In this respect, one can chant the sacred syllable om, which is an impersonal representation of the Absolute Truth, go off to a distant mountain and not talk to anyone. Just meditate all day, live on next to nothing, and have hardly any interaction with the outside world. If one can think of Brahman, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, at the time of death, they can merge into a light of transcendence, wherein individuality is lost, but so is the chance at rebirth. The Vaishnavas, devotees of Lord Vishnu, who is the personal form of the Supreme Lord, do not recommend this path of maunam, or complete silence. For starters, taking to mystic yoga, meditation, or secluded chanting of om is especially difficult in this age. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna details some of the requirements necessary for successfully practicing mystic yoga. The yogi has to find a secluded place, sit in a proper posture for a long time, and remain completely celibate. Nowhere does Krishna say that one should follow this yoga system for an hour a day and then do whatever they want the rest of the time. Rather, yoga is always a way of life, a way to link the individual soul with the Supersoul, or God’s expansion residing within the heart next to the individual soul. The sankirtana path recommended by Lord Chaitanya falls into the category of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. In this engagement, the soul remains fully active, never once settling for complete silence as a way of life. This doesn’t mean that one flies around from city to city to see the sites and catch the latest shows. Rather, the aim is to always glorify Krishna and His names. This is the main business of the soul anyway. In the absence of God consciousness, people will take to praising others they deem to be extraordinary or talented. And when there is no one to praise, the propensity gets flipped and results in hatred. One day the news media is praising someone and the next they are tar-and-feathering the same person. With Krishna, the divine qualities are always present and so is the worthiness of worship. Therefore the living entity’s original position is that of servant of God. Since bhakti-yoga matches the natural propensity for service to the Lord, it is the highest engagement one can take up. With chanting the holy names of the Lord, the consciousness remains tied to God for a considerable period of time. Afterwards, the devotional mentality remains, as the consciousness becomes altered through the process. Therefore in bhakti one can be singing, dancing, cooking, eating, sitting silently, travelling, talking, or doing so many other things, while remaining in yoga the entire time. The same can’t be said of any other discipline of spirituality. If we are supposed to love God, we might as well do it all the time. From the rising and setting of the sun comes the tendency to divide up the different responsibilities each day and assign a specific time for them. “Okay, this time is set aside for enjoyment, this time for work, and this time for religion.” Since Krishna is our best friend, it is ideal if we set aside the entire day for enjoying His association. As the holy name is not different from the person it addresses, simply reciting the word “Krishna” at any time can bring us the association of the beautiful darling of Vrindavana, who always holds a flute in His hands and wears a peacock feather in His hair. Through sankirtana, others get to hear the holy name as well. Thus the Vaishnava ensures that through their own dedication to self-realization other sincere souls can also find their true calling in life. Even if there is nothing to do on a certain day, one can chant for hours on end. If there are friends around, a small sankirtana party can be formed. The maha-mantra is very powerful in this regard. It can be recited over and over again, sung in many different tunes, and remembered repeatedly within the mind without any exhaustion whatsoever. The chanting recommendation passed down by Lord Chaitanya and His followers is not meant to be a punishment. If a student acts up during class, the teacher may ask them to write a specific statement of contrition over and over again on the blackboard. The punishment is meant to act as a deterrent for future deviant behavior. The words of the sentence written out many times will hopefully sink in with the student and keep them from repeating the same behavior in the future. Though sitting in front of a deity and chanting the names of Krishna and Rama may seem like a forced punishment, a way to keep the soul away from the dangerous behavior of the mode of ignorance and the futile efforts of the mode of passion, the activity is actually the most beneficial in steering us in the right direction. The active propensity of the soul gets used for the proper purpose, and what results is full enlightenment and a desire to love so powerful that no one can stop it. For giving us this most potent method of spiritual practice we are forever indebted to Lord Chaitanya. He is Krishna Himself, so anyone who remembers Him before, during and after their chanting will gain His divine favor.

இதய நோய்களை தடுக்கும் ஆலிவ்

நமது தோலின் மேல்பகுதி எபிடெர்மிஸ், அடிப்பகுதி ஹைப்போடெர்மிஸ், மையப் பகுதி டெர்மிஸ் என்று அழைக்கப்படுகிறது. மூன்று அடுக்கும் சீராக பணிபுரிந்தால்தான் அழகிய, ஆரோக்கியமான தோல் நமக்கு கிட்டும். நாம் தற்சமயம் பயன்படுத்தும் அழகு சாதனப்பொருட்கள், களிம்புகள், முகப்பூச்சு மருந்துகள் தோலின் மூன்று அடுக்கு வரை ஊடுருவுவதில்லை. அதனால்தான் விலையுயர்ந்த களிம்புகளை பயன்படுத்தினாலும் பூரண பலன் கிடைப்பதில்லை. சாதாரணமான தோலை அழகாக புத்துணர்ச்சியுடனும் மினுமினுப்புடனும் திகழச்செய்து ஒரு புதிய மாற்றத்தை ஏற்படுத்தும் அற்புத மூலிகைதான் ஆலிவ். இதன் இலை மேற்புறம் கரும் பச்சை வண்ணத்திலும் அடிப்புறம் வெளிர் பச்சை நிறத்திலும் இருக்கும். கனியின் நடுவில் கடினமான விதையும் சுற்றி திடமான சதைப் பகுதியும் இருக்கும். கனிகள் உருண்டை, நீளுருண்டை எனப் பலவடிவில் இருக்கும்.காய் பச்சை நிறத்திலும், கனிந்த பின் பழுப்பு, சிவப்பு அல்லது கறுப்பு நிறத்திலுமிருக்கும். இலைகளில் எண்ணெய்ச் சத்து அதிகம். ஓலியா யுரோபியா என்ற தாவரவியல் பெயர்கொண்ட ஓலியேசியே குடும்பத்தைச் சார்ந்த மரங்களின் பழக்கொட்டைகளே ஆலிவ் விதை. இவற்றிலிருந்து எடுக்கப் படும் எண்ணெய் ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் என்றும் மேற்கத்திய மருத்துவத்திலும், சைத்தூன் எண்ணெய் என்று இந்திய மருத்துவத்திலும் அழைக்கப்படுகிறது. செயல்திறன் மிக்க வேதிப்பொருட்கள்: ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயில் ஓலிரோசைடு, ஒலிரோபின், ஒலினோலிக் அமிலம், லிவ்டியோலின், எபிஜெனின் பிளேவனாய்டுகள், பால்மிட்டிக் மற்றும் ஸ்டீரிக் அமிலங்கள் பெருமளவு காணப்படுகின்றன. திரவத் தங்கம்: ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் சருமத்திற்கு வெண்மையும், கேசத்திற்கு போஷாக்கும் அளிக்கிறது. ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயில் வைட்டமின்களும், தாது உப்புகளும் அடங்கியுள்ளன. ஆன்டி ஆக்ஸிடென்டல், புரதம், கார்போஹைட்ரேட், கொழுப்பு அமிலங்கள், நார்ச்சத்துகள், காணப்படுகின்றன. கால்சியம், பாஸ்பரஸ், பொட்டாசியம், இரும்பு, மெக்னீசியம், பொட்டாசியம், துத்தநாகம், செலினியம் போன்றவை உள்ளன. வைட்டமின் பி 1,2,3,5,6 ப்ரோ வைட்டமின் ஏ பீட்டா கரோட்டீன், வைட்டமின் ஈ. கே, போன்றவை இதில் அதிகம் காணப்படுகிறது. இதன் காரணமாகவே ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் திரவத்தங்கம் என்று மதிக்கப்படுகிறது. தோலினை மினுமினுப்பாக்கும்: இவை தோலில் ஹைப்போடெர்மிஸ் வரை ஊடுருவி, தோலின் அனைத்து அடுக்குகளையும் பளபளப்பாகவும் வழுவழுப்பாகவும் வைத்திருப்பதுடன் தசைக்கும் தோலுக்கும் இடையே வறட்சி ஏற்படாமல் பாதுகாக்கிறது. 100மிலி ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயில் ஏறத்தாழ 20 கிராம் ஒமேகா 6 கொழுப்பு அமிலங்களும், 12மிகி வைட்டமின் ஈ, 62 மைக்ரோகிராம் வைட்டமின் கே காணப்படுகிறது. குளிக்கும்பொழுது இளவெந்நீரில் 10மிலி ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் மற்றும் சில சொட்டுகள் லேவண்டர் எண்ணெய் கலந்து குளிக்கலாம். குழந்தைகளுக்கும் குளிப்பாட்டலாம். உள்ளங்கை கடினம் மாற ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயையும் சீனியையும் கலந்து உள்ளங்கையில் 10 நிமிடங்கள் தேய்த்து பின் கழுவ மென்மையடையும். ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய், விளக்கெண்ணெய், தேன், முட்டை வெண்கரு மற்றும் ரோஸ்மேரி எண்ணெய் ஆகியவற்றை நன்கு கலந்து முகம் மற்றும் தோல் வறட்சி உள்ள பகுதிகளில் தடவி 15 நிமிடங்கள் கழித்து இளஞ்சூடான நீரில் கழுவிவர வறட்சி நீங்குவதுடன், தோலும் மென்மையாகும். ரோமங்களை நீக்கியபின் முகம் மற்றும் தோலில் ஏற்படும் ஒவ்வாமை நீங்க அந்த இடங்களில் ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் மற்றும் நகச்சொத்தை நீங்க ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயுடன் எலுமிச்சை சாறு கலந்து தடவி வரலாம். ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயை முடி நுனியில் தோன்றும் வெடிப்பில் தடவலாம். மார்பகப் புற்றுநோயைத் தடுக்கும்: தூய்மையான ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயில் காணப்படும் பாலிஃபீனால், மார்பகப் புற்றுநோயை வராமல் தடுப்பதுடன், மார்பகப் புற்றுநோய் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு குணப்படுத்துவதற்கும் உதவும் என்று கண்டறியப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்த பாலிஃபீனால் மார்பகப் புற்றுநோய் செல்களை அழிக்கும் தன்மை கொண்டதாக உள்ளது என்று கண்டறியப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் ஐசிஓ அமைப்பும், கிரனடா பல்கலைக்கழகமும் இணைந்து நடத்திய ஆய்வு முடிவு இதனைத் தெரிவித்துள்ளது. ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயில் இருந்து பிரித்து வடிகட்டப்பட்டு பின்னர் திடப் பொருளாக்கப்பட்டதைக் கொண்டு நடத்திய ஆய்வில் மார்பகப் புற்றுநோயை தடுக்கும் ஆற்றம் இருப்பது தெரியவந்துள்ளது. எனவே மார்பகப் புற்றுநோய் வராமல் இருக்கவும், அந்நோய் உள்ளவர்கள் அதில் இருந்து நிவாரணம் பெறவும், ஆலிவ் எண்ணெயை உபயோகிக்கலாம். இதயநோயை தடுக்கும்: இதயத்துக்கு ஏற்ற மிகச்சிறந்த எண்ணெய் என்றால் ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய்யைத்தான்(Oilve Oil) சொல்ல வேண்டும். உலக அளவில் மேலை நாடுகளில் இதயத்துக்கு ஏற்ற சிறந்த சமையல் எண்ணெய்யாக ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய்தான் கருதப்படுகிறது. இந்த எண்ணெய்யைச் சமையலுக்குப் பயன்படுத்தும் மேலை நாடுகளில் இதய நோய்களின் தாக்கம் மிகமிகக்குறைவாக இருப்பதாக பலவகையான ஆய்வு முடிவுகள் உறுதி செய்துள்ளன. ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டில் நடந்த ஆராய்ச்சியில், ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் பயன்படுத்தினால் புற்றுநோய் மட்டுமின்றி இதய நோய், ரத்த தமனி பாதிப்பு ஆகியவற்றையும் தவிர்க்கலாம் என்று கண்டறியப்பட்டுள்ளது. தினம் ஒரு தேக்கரண்டி ஆலிவ் எண்ணெய் வாரம் ஒருநாள் உட்கொண்டுவர இதயநோய் வருவதை தடுக்கலாம் என ஆய்வுகள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன. உணவு சாப்பிடுவதற்கு அரை மணி நேரத்திற்கு முன்னதாக தினசரி அரை டீஸ்பூன் ஆலிவ் எண்ணையைச் சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால், ரத்தக் குழாயில் கொழுப்பு படியாமல் தடுக்கலாம்.

எய்ட்ஸ் நோயை குணப்படுத்த விரைவில் தடுப்பூசி: ஆய்வாளர்கள் தகவல்

எய்ட்ஸ் நோயை குணப்படுத்த இதுவரை மருந்து கண்டுபிடிக்கப்படவில்லை. இது தொடர்பாக மருத்துவ அதிகாரிகள் பல்வேறு வித ஆராய்ச்சியில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர். இப்போது நம்பிக்கை தரும் வகையில் விஞ்ஞானிகள் ஒரு தகவல் வெளியிட்டுள்ளனர். விரைவில் எய்ட்ஸ் நோயை கட்டுப்படுத்த தடுப்பூசியை உருவாக்கி விடுவோம் என்று அறிவித்துள்ளனர். மனிதன் உடலில் இயற்கையாகவே நோய் எதிர்ப்பு சக்திகள் உள்ளன. இதில் அதிக திறன் கொண்ட 17 மூலக்கூறுகளை விஞ்ஞானிகள் கண்டுபிடித்துள்ளனர். இதை மேலும் மேம்படுத்துவதன் மூலம் எய்ட்ஸ் நோயையும் மனிதர்களுக்கு ஏற்படாமல் தடுத்து விடலாம் என்று அவர்கள் கூறியுள்ளனர். எனவே இந்த மூலக்கூறுகளை மேலும் வீரியமாக்க தடுப்பூசி மருந்தை உருவாக்கி வருகின்றனர். விரைவில் இந்த மருந்து கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டு பயன்பாட்டுக்கு கொண்டுவரப்படும் என்று அவர்கள் நம்பிக்கை தெரிவித்துள்ளனர். இதனால் எய்ட்ஸ் நோயை முன்கூட்டியே தடுத்து முற்றிலும் விரட்டிவிடலாம் என்று அவர்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர். இந்த தகவல் மருத்துவ அறிக்கை ஒன்றில் வெளியிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Molecular meet and greet

Posted by Biomechanism

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered that structural elements in the cell play a crucial role in organising the motion of cell-surface receptors. These proteins enable cells to receive signals from other parts of the organism.

This discovery, published in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal Cell, fills a fundamental gap in the understanding of how cells relate to biochemical signals, including pharmaceuticals, and could have profound implications for drug development and the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

The findings are already prompting the design of a new lecture on cell signaling in one basic biochemistry course at HMS.

“We found that the way the receptors are organized in the membrane and the way they move around are controlled by the cytoskeleton,” said Khuloud Jaqaman, instructor in the Department of Systems Biology at HMS and first author of the study. This dynamic organization promotes signaling function by encouraging receptors to cluster, even if briefly, she said.

Jaqaman and Gaudenz Danuser, HMS professor of cell biology, working with Sergio Grinstein from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as well as colleagues at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, studied the motion of CD36, a receptor in human macrophages, a type of white blood cell that plays a role in the immune response. CD36 detects oxidized LDL (oxLDL), a lipoprotein implicated in atherosclerosis.

Receptors are like the antennas in a cell’s communication system with the world outside their membrane. The cytoskeleton, which includes a fine meshwork of actin fibers and an array of radiating microtubules, gives the cell its shape.

Like many receptors, CD36 can’t work alone; a group of receptors must cluster together to send a signal into the cell. Until now, very little was known about how those functional groups of receptors formed. The cell and receptors were thought to wait “at rest” until a chemical signal happened to appear, causing receptors to coalesce.

This study reveals a much more dynamic “before” picture, with structures that precondition the cell to respond to signals. The researchers say that their work clearly demonstrates how “resting” receptor movements are functionally relevant to the transmission of signals into the cell.

Grinstein, a senior scientist at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children whose interests include understanding how macrophages work, approached Danuser for imaging and analysis expertise. Grinstein wanted to study CD36 at the single-molecule level in live cells and in real time under a microscope.

Using an automated particle-tracking algorithm she had developed to overcome the challenges of imaging such minute, complex interactions, Jaqaman analyzed these single-molecule movies to dissect the receptor behavior and its regulation.

The movies reveal three kinds of motion by the receptors, which are sensitive to strands of the cytoskeleton’s actin meshwork adjacent to the cell surface. As receptors roam about, they bump into these strands, slowing, stopping or changing direction. Some wander freely about the surface of the cell. Others become temporarily stuck inside a pocket of the mesh, as if trapped in a cage. Finally, some of the receptors travel linear paths.

These paths follow elongated “corridors” alongside the cell’s microtubules, another part of the cell’s cytoskeleton, radiating in more-or-less straight lines from the nucleus.

How the corridors form remains a mystery. The researchers suspect that they emerge from interactions between microtubules and actin, which remove actin strands from the path of the receptors.

In these narrow corridors free of actin strands, receptors scurry to and fro with more freedom, regularly bumping into one another, forming clusters that stick together fleetingly and then drift apart.

The researches suspected that these pre-formed clusters aid in signaling, so to test that theory, they disrupted the cytoskeleton. Sure enough, when the corridors disappeared, the cell no longer responded effectively to oxLDL.

Jaqaman compares the receptors in linear paths to people in the hallway of an office building. “People in the hallway are much more likely to bump into and chat with colleagues than people who stay in their offices all day, like receptors trapped in actin cages, or people wandering around the city, like receptors wandering freely around the cell surface,” she says.

Jaqaman and Danuser stress that the mechanical nature of these structures—and how they relate to the cell’s chemical and mechanical environment—may be key to understanding how healthy and unhealthy cells function, replicate and grow. For example, it is well known, they said, that tumors are mechanically stiffer than normal tissues. In one provocative scenario, Danuser speculates that the broad variation in the mechanical properties between cancer tissues in different patients may be a key reason for the variable success of cancer chemotherapies that target cell-surface receptors.

“While most current research focuses on the study of oncogenes and tumor suppressors, it might be just the intrinsic change in cancer-tissue mechanics that leads to the change of signaling,” Danuser said. “I think we absolutely have to look into that.”

Cancer stem cells made, not born

Posted by Biomechanism

In cancer, tumors aren’t uniform: they are more like complex societies, each with a unique balance of cancer cell types playing different roles. Understanding this “social structure” of tumors is critical for treatment decisions in the clinic because different cell types may be sensitive to different drugs. A common theory is that tumors are a hierarchical society, in which all cancer cells descend from special self-renewing cancer stem cells. This view predicts that killing the cancer stem cells might suffice to wipe out a cancer.
New findings by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Whitehead Institute, however, point to a much more decentralized society, with cancer cells able to interconvert between different types. These results have potential implications for the treatment of tumors, in particular, that attacking cancer stem cells alone may not be enough to fight cancer.
The research, which appears in the August 19 issue of Cell, was led by Broad director and senior author Eric Lander and first author Piyush Gupta, a Whitehead Institute member and assistant professor of biology at MIT who conducted this work as a postdoctoral researcher in Lander’s lab. The research combines experimental evidence and mathematical modeling to show how cancers maintain their unique cellular balance.
The common view is that tumors have cancer stem cells that behave like stem cells in normal development – at the top of a hierarchy of cell types, giving rise to both more cancer stem cells and daughter cells of other types. “The notion is that the only way stem cells occur is by self-renewal. Our work says that analogy may be wrong,” said Lander.
The new work suggests an alternative possibility: that cancer cells are not fixed at all, but that, at any given point in time, they exist in one of several phenotypic “states” and those states can interconvert. In comparison to the traditional one-way hierarchy of cancer stem cells, in this new alternate model, more differentiated non-stem cells can revert to being stem-like cells. “That’s not a hierarchical society at all,” Lander said. “Cells aren’t born into a medieval guild; they can change jobs.”
Working with cancer cell lines cultured in the laboratory, scientists had observed that just as solid cancers tend towards certain proportions of cell states, cell lines in vitro also settled into a balance, or equilibrium. “We wanted to understand how cancer cells stably maintain characteristic proportions of these different states for extended periods of time,” said Gupta. A better understanding of the mechanisms controlling that equilibrium could give a clearer picture of the nature of cancer at a cellular level.
To characterize how cancer maintains cellular equilibrium, the researchers studied two different breast cancer cell lines and examined three different cell states that were similar to normal breast epithelial cell types, known as basal, luminal, and stem-like.
The team sorted the different cell types from each other and then grew their relatively pure populations for six days. Remarkably, each of the three populations quickly returned to the same equilibrium – and populations of non-stem cells generated new stem-like cells. “Even when you sort relatively pure populations, you quickly get back the same balance,” said Lander.
The return to equilibrium proportions happens so rapidly that it cannot be due to different growth rates of the different cell types, but must instead be due to cells changing their state.
The authors showed that the process can be modeled – and accurately predicted – using a mathematical tool called a Markov model, in which cells change their states independently of one another. Although the process is completely decentralized, it quickly returns to the same equilibrium.
Surprisingly, the model predicted that non-stem cells can convert into stem-like cells. The team then showed experimentally that stem-like cells indeed arise quickly in the sorted subpopulations. In contrast with the traditional one-way view of cancer stem cells, the findings provide strong evidence for the alternate view of cancer cells and cancer stem cells as flexible entities that can change state.
The model also provides a quantitative framework to help predict the effects of genetic perturbations, potential therapeutic interventions, or other external pressures on populations of cancer cells.
The researchers now have to test whether tumor cells growing in patients show those same properties, as well as to understand the cellular mechanisms by which cells can change their states.
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Written by Leah Eisenstadt, Broad Institute
Paper cited: Gupta PB et al. Stochastic state transitions give rise to phenotypic equilibrium in populations of cancer cells. Cell. August 19, 2011. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.07.026

Scientist identifies gene that exacerbates risk factors for heart disease and diabetes

Posted by Biomechanism

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has discovered how a gene known as SIRT3 contributes to a suite of health problems sweeping across America, offering new insight into how to combat these potentially fatal conditions.

SIRT3 is a major mitochondrial NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylase playing important roles in regulating mitochondrial metabolism and energy production and has been linked to the beneficial effects of exercise and caloric restriction. SIRT3 is emerging as a potential therapeutic target to treat metabolic and neurological diseases. Photo credit: 3dciencia

In a paper being published today in Molecular Cell, Gladstone Senior Investigator Eric Verdin, MD, describes how SIRT3, when switched off, accelerates the build-up of fats throughout the body. This can lead to obesity, high blood pressure and a decreased ability to process sugar—the combination of which is known as the “metabolic syndrome.” Metabolic syndrome significantly increases one’s risk for developing heart disease and diabetes.
“Estimates indicate that one-third of Americans have the metabolic syndrome, and more develop it each year,” said Warner Greene, MD, PhD, who directs virology and immunology research at Gladstone, a leading and independent biomedical-research organization. Dr. Greene is also a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), with which Gladstone is affiliated. “By showing how the absence of SIRT3 can exacerbate obesity, Dr. Verdin’s group offers important clues concerning new ways to alleviate the symptoms of this American epidemic.”
To better understand the origins of obesity and this associated syndrome, Dr. Verdin and his colleagues deactivated, or turned off, the SIRT3 gene in laboratory mice. They then fed the mice a high-fat diet and observed the animals’ response at a molecular level.
Normally, SIRT3 sets off a complex chain of events to transform fat into energy at the cellular level. But deleting the SIRT3 gene disrupted this chain, and fat deposits weren’t broken down as they should have been.
Dr. Verdin further found that prolonged intake of a high-fat diet, even in normal mice, can itself reduce the activity of the enzyme produced by SIRT3—an enzyme his laboratory originally discovered. The reduction in enzyme activity, in turn, leads to further fat build-up in places such as the bloodstream and liver. Over time, this build-up can lead to obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance.
Dr. Verdin and his colleagues also analyzed the SIRT3 genes of 8,000 Finnish men. This analysis pinpointed a single SIRT3 gene mutation in 30% of the men. When present, the mutation reduced SIRT3 activity and increased risk for developing the metabolic syndrome.
“Finding a SIRT3 gene mutation linked to metabolic syndrome is a big step towards developing treatments for this increasingly common collection of obesity-related illnesses,” said Dr. Verdin, who is also a UCSF professor of medicine. “In the future, we hope to examine whether increasing SIRT3 activity can help decrease the symptoms of metabolic syndrome. We are also working to identify new drugs that can enhance the SIRT3 enzyme. Such drugs could be used in the future to stem the tide of the metabolic syndrome and its many complications.”
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Other scientists who participated in the research at Gladstone include Matthew D. Hirschey, Tadahiro Shimazu, Carrie A. Grueter, Amy M. Collins, Bjoern Schwer and Robert V. Farese, Jr. Funding came from a wide variety of organizations including the Sandler Foundation, the Elison Medical Foundation, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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The Demise of Third Worldism

Revolts in the Middle East and North Africa have torn this sorry ideology to shreds.

By FABIO RAFAEL FIALLO

The globalization of the international economy and this winter's Arab revolts mark the demise, each in a different domain, of an ideological stance that flourished in the third quarter of the previous century. "Third Worldism," which rose out of decolonization and the triumph of Marxist revolutions in developing countries, is the belief or pretense that the economic and political interests of poor nations are in variance and contradiction to those of rich nations—specifically those with Western values and modes of living.
On the economic front, Third Worldism based its rationale on the theory of "unequal exchange," according to which trade between developed and developing nations are detrimental to the latter: Developing countries' exports—which 40 years ago consisted largely of raw materials and other primary commodities—were allegedly underpriced, and foreign investment was deemed a means of exploiting emerging markets' natural endowments and labor markets. Such commercial relationships, Third Worldism further posited, were the main cause of economic backwardness in developing countries. To overcome this state of affairs, Third Worldist "experts" in academic circles and international organizations advised developing countries to foster trade among themselves ("collective self-reliance" was the name given to that endeavor) and to pursue an inward-oriented industrialization through protectionist barriers against imported manufactured goods.
This kind of economic autarky found its counterpart on the political front in the principle of "self-determination." Developing countries, it was argued, were in fundamentally different cultural settings than the countries that had colonized them. They had the right and the need to look for political norms that suited their specific conditions and levels of development, instead of adopting the liberal, multiparty, democratic models that prevailed in the West.
In practice, self-determination soon became an expedient for newly established despots to strengthen and perpetuate their wrongdoings. The world's Maos, Castros, Gadhafis and Mugabes claimed to incarnate the interests of their nations. The citizens under their whips were relegated to the category of "masses," with the duty simply to implement their masters' orders. Whoever attempted to disagree was accused of being a "mercenary" paid by foreign powers. Dissent was tantamount to treason.
This fashionable brand of Third-World "self-determination" left First-World leaders with only one politically correct choice: Sit down, keep quiet and let the dictators—er, "nationalist liberators"—continue to smother free expression and hunt, imprison, torture and murder their opposition. The alternative—to be accused of interfering in the domestic affairs of sovereign developing nations—was just too unpalatable.

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Nikita Khrushchev with Fidel Castro at the U.N. General Assembly, 1960.

Before the turn of the millennium, trade globalization came to disprove the economic foundations of Third Worldism: One after the other, developing countries realized that protectionism had led them only to poverty, and that they had far more to gain from participating fully in international commerce. Many thus decided to overhaul their macroeconomic policies, privatize inefficient state enterprises and open their markets to foreign capital and to the technology that comes with it. Thanks to that change of paradigm, a large number of these countries have become formidable competitors in international markets for manufactured goods.
But the political pillar of Third Worldism remained. Tyrants' abuse of the principle of "self-determination" has been contested since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In international forums, proposals were put forward to institute the "right to interfere," which has since become the "responsibility to protect" populations from flagrant human-rights violations; in June 1990, in the city of La Baule, French President François Mitterrand promised that France would tailor her support for African regimes to their willingness to foster political freedom and economic efficiency. Former U.S. President George W. Bush later pushed his "freedom agenda," which emphasized democracy promotion as an essential ingredient of American foreign policy.
All these initiatives tried to combat the notion that "self-determination" should serve as a subterfuge for unaccountable autocrats to perpetuate their reigns. But Third World despots (and like-minded intellectuals) argued that such initiatives had no roots or legitimacy in developing nations' cultures. The Middle East was their prime example of a region where representative democracy had never prospered and had not even been sought.
Cue this winter's revolts, which have torn this sorry argument to pieces. In the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Tripoli and practically everywhere else in the region, men and women have risked their lives to show that they are not "masses," but individuals who want and have the right to choose and debate their governance. To my knowledge these protesters have not burned a single effigy of Uncle Sam or Israeli flag as their rulers have intermittently teleprompted them to do over the years. Instead their fury has been directed at those actually responsible for their decades-long suffering. Meanwhile Libyan rebels called on the outside world—and notably the West—for help in overthrowing Moammar Gadhafi. And this is not even the first time the people of North Africa or the Middle East have requested our support: In 2009, the streets of Iran rang with protesters' chorus of "Obama! Obama! Are you with them or are you with us?"
Whatever the outcome in Libya, Egypt or Tunisia—or Bahrain or Syria for that matter—don't expect the yearning for true self-determination to subside. These people have now glimpsed freedom, and they aren't likely to forget it and revert to their status quo ante. Fighting for liberty creates an unyielding addiction. Poland's Solidarity was smashed and forced underground in 1981, but eight years later the Berlin Wall fell and by 1990 Lech Walesa was president. North Africa and the Middle East are going through a period not unlike that in Eastern Europe in the 1980s: Sooner or later freedom will have the final say.
But what has been buried in the adventures and misadventures of today's revolts is that whatever legitimacy was left in the ideology of Third Worldism is now gone. Those statesmen and intellectuals who have fought this moment for years will pay dearly before history, but it has now arrived: By refusing to be governed any longer by despots, and showing that they have democratic aspirations similar to the rest of the world's, the Arab people have finally killed Third Worldism.
Mr. Fiallo is a Dominican-born economist, writer and retired U.N. official. His latest publication, "Ternes Eclats" or "Dimmed Lights," (L'Harmattan, 2009) presents a critique of international organizations.