Resetting The Clock

 

“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.14)

The sun is such a central component of life on earth that man revolves his routine around its relative position. The demarcation of a day is based on the full cycle of a rise and set by the sun, and with that day comes the routine of work, leisure, play, interaction, travel, rest, eating, etc. Yet man doesn’t have to do things this way. After waking up in the morning, he could just continue on from the previous day, as if no time had passed, as if the calendar hadn’t rolled onto another day. The routine, though, brings regulation, and regulation brings the ability to achieve a larger stated objective through a methodical process. When that same methodology is applied to fulfilling life’s ultimate mission, that of achieving the perfect consciousness while quitting the body, the rising and setting of the sun turn into welcomed and anticipated events.

Imagine seeing a giant housing structure full of intricacy. There are many floors and rooms, and the layout is such that you can’t begin to imagine how someone thought up the architecture. But someone did indeed envision the plan, which they subsequently put into place through the work of engineers and builders. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, the project takes dedication and effort through many days, building little pieces here and there. In one way, forgetting about the big picture can be helpful, for by giving attention to tiny components that should fit perfectly well together, the mind doesn’t get overwhelmed about the length of the project. If someone were to tell us during youth that school would take twelve years to complete and we knew what that meant, we’d likely not want to attend.

Instead, we take one year at a time, focusing on advancing to the next grade. The same pattern is followed in any large scale project. In software application development, there are many complexities that need to be worked out. The enterprise application isn’t built in a day, but through building a solid codebase, adding routines, testing them, redesigning for efficiency and then retesting, eventually a solid program is completed.

According to the Vedas, the oldest scriptural tradition of the world, there is an Absolute Truth, an entity who is beyond duality. The world we live in is filled with polar opposites: heat and cold, light and darkness, success and failure, and birth and death. The Absolute Truth is the entity that is above these dichotomies. He is the same in birth and death, in heat and cold. The relative conditions don’t matter to Him because He is situated in complete knowledge and bliss. As His existence stretches the bounds of time and space, He is eternal.

The human form of body is meant for understanding that Absolute Truth. Indeed, the search for pleasure is rooted in the desire to associate with non-duality, though the feverish worker may not be aware of this fact. The bliss resulting from innovation in technology, from finishing a difficult project, or even from enjoying with friends and family is derived from the inherent relationship every living being has with the Absolute Truth.

The questions remain: how to connect with the Truth and where to find Him? How do we know that the Truth is a He? Doesn’t the masculine delineation make the Truth the opposite of something else, namely the feminine? If we have an opposite, isn’t that a duality? The Absolute Truth is referred to as a male because of its position of dominance. Mutually contradictory attributes must exist in the Supreme Person; otherwise the lack of features would indicate a defect. Man is looking for perfection in a worshipable figure, someone without defects. The daily stories in the news reveal this inner desire of man. A noted inventor, technologist, politician, athlete, or celebrity is propped up to “rock star” status and adored for their achievements. If they should fall, have a slip up, the same adoring media will punish them relentlessly, looking for any way possible to release their hatred.

The perfect being is known as God to most, but the Vedas provide many more names and descriptions for Him. Moreover, the Vedas say that the human brain cannot conceive of God on its own. Man must consult someone who knows the Truth from having both accepted the information from their own spiritual guide and from practicing the regulative principles of freedom. The highest form of religious practice is equated with freedom because through connection with the Absolute Truth, the duality of the phenomenal world ceases to be inhibiting. The sunlight shining bright in the eyes in the morning inhibits the ability to drive and to see what’s up ahead, but this doesn’t mean that the sunshine is bad. It all depends on how one uses the material elements. Through following the regulative principles of freedom, the material elements fulfill their proper purpose to the individual.

“One who can control his senses by practicing the regulated principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord and thus become free from all attachment and aversion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita

 

, 2.64)

And what purpose is that? Not surprisingly, it is to help the individual connect with God. The bona fide guru learned from his guru the principles of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service

 

. The guru’s chain of disciplic succession must originate with the Absolute Truth; otherwise the information presented will be based on mental speculation, which is flawed. The issue with following any regulative discipline is that the forces of material nature will operate all the same. If my goal is to lose weight, the enticements of sumptuous foods and late-night partying will get in the way of success. If my desire is to study for an important exam, then fatigue, inertia, and the allurements of relaxing without any pressures placed upon the mind can serve as wonderful distractions.

In bhakti practiced in a land conducive to illusion, the distractions are everywhere. The spirit soul has travelled through so many bodies in so many lifetimes that understanding the need for self-realization is rare enough. One who strives for understanding the position of the spirit soul, the essence of identity, is considered very fortunate. Once the sincere soul hears about the Absolute Truth and what’s required to connect with Him, they may accept the bhakti discipline in earnest, but the same past habits borne of attachment to use material elements for enjoyment in the absence of God’s association will still remain.

“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Lord Krishna

 

, Bg. 7.19)

In the pursuit for self-realization, for understanding the individual’s identity and how one is meant to be in God’s association, the repetition of days can be very helpful. In a life where one feels trapped, as if they are in a prison, the monotonous days can be too much to take. With the start of each new week, you have to go back to work, immerse yourself in the same arduous tasks from the previous week. The same goes for each new day. You have to shower, eat on time, do your chores, manage the home, keep family members happy, and follow so many other routine engagements just because another day has passed. The weekends and vacations are anticipated for the very reason that time loses its influence. The more the human mind can forget about the pressures that time brings, the more relaxed it will feel.

In bhakti, however, routine things that are monotonous can be turned around into pleasurable dependencies. The passage of time, the repetition of days, suddenly becomes a wonderful boon. The central component of the bhakti-yoga discipline is the chanting

 

 of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

 

”. The recommendation is that one chant this mantra for at least sixteen rounds a day on a set of japa beads. A japa mala consists of 108 beads, and chanting the mantra one time on each bead around the mala equates to one round. Therefore sixteen rounds means saying the mantra many, many times. Once finished with the daily routine, the same procedure must be repeated the next day, and the next, and so on.

But what if we didn’t have that routine, which is built on the passage of time as marked by the relative position of the sun? The opportunity for repeatedly reciting the holy name would go away. The chance to hear the sound of Krishna, which brings to mind the sweet vision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead smiling while holding His flute and giving that innocent glance that is both charming and inviting, would be missed. The most wonderful vision of the Supreme Lord in His form as Rama, holding a bow in His hands and waiting to defend and protect the innocent, receiving the service of Shri Hanuman

 

 and delighting in the company of Sita Devi

 

 and Lakshmana

 

, would remain far away from the mind.

Chanting is the foundation stone of bhakti-yoga, and it is meant to act as a springboard. From chanting comes hearing. From hearing comes the accumulation of thoughts, ideas for new ways to potentially connect with Krishna, the Supreme Absolute Truth. With other activities, such as visiting a temple, reading a book about Krishna, cooking nice food preparations and offering them to the Lord to become prasadam

 

, and singing along to kirtana songs, new aspects can be added to the routine.

From following a routine, habits develop. It is said that the habits one develops before they reach the age of thirty shape their behavior for the rest of their life. Therefore in the Vedic tradition, students are introduced to Krishna-bhakti as early as possible. There are other methods of self-realization, such as meditation, study of Vedanta, and fruitive work with the results renounced, but they each carry prerequisites. To meditate requires ideal conditions of peace and quiet, Vedanta study demands high intelligence, and fruitive work with detachment depends on knowledge of the impact of the work and the ability to carry out the functions properly.

All bhakti requires, however, is love. This love can be seen in even the child, so someone immature can take to chanting and dancing and be immersed in yoga. The aspect of spirituality that is applicable to the most number of people will be the best, and it will have God represented most fully. The holy name is non-different from Krishna, a truth proved by the fact that anyone can recite the holy name, even if they are unintelligent or unfamiliar with the principles of Vedic teachings.

From following bhakti, the dawn of each new day brings renewed hope, a chance to connect with Krishna again. The new day arrives without our desiring it, so this means that we will continue to get new opportunities in bhakti for as long as we shall so desire them. Just as the lotus flower opens at the sight of the splendorous sun, the sincere servant of the Supreme Lord wakes up every day with bright enthusiasm over their chance to tell their beloved just how much they love Him. At the end of life, that spiritual sunshine is met in His permanent home, with life’s mission fulfilled.

In Closing:

At rising of the bright sun we are glad,

But to repeat misery we are sad.

To man the sun is giver of light and heat,

But each day chores and tasks we must repeat.

Use the passing of days for your benefit,

So that best end you’ll meet after body to quit.

Daily chant maha-mantra rounds that are sixteen,

So that in your mind’s vision Krishna to be seen.

Take every day as giver of chance that is new,

To please the Lord of complexion dark blue.

Electricity Simplified via Simpa Networks

Paul Needham: Owning electricity

Paul Needham’s organization, Simpa Networks, makes solar energy available to the poor. By using a pay-as-you-go pricing structure modeled after mobile phone cards, Simpa gives its customers ownership of the electricity. Once the initial cost of the equipment is paid off, the device belongs to the customer and their electricity is free.

SUBMITTED BY PARVATHI MENON

This article was originally published on http://www.innovationalchemy.com/. Simpa Network has partned with SELCO, an India DM winner in 2011.

Simpa Networks has evolved a ‘Progressive Purchase‘ model for solar electricity, lighting up rural homes through a flexible payment option.  

The International Energy Agency estimates that about 1.5 billion people around the globe do NOT have access to electricity and 85% of these people live in rural areas.  In India,close to 40% of the country’s population still lives with limited access to grid electricity. This is not to say that rural India is in complete darkness. The up-front cost of procuring clean, affordable energy is high and so several parts of rural India rely on kerosene, charcoal and other forms of fuel that are easier to access and in local purchase terms, cheaper. The existence of these alternatives indicates that people have the ability to pay for energy, but it needs to be in a format and amount that they can access. Regular energy sources have not been able to find ways to fit this need yet. Simpa Networks leverages this insight into the rural market to find a way to fit within the ‘ability to pay’.

“Customers pay up to $1000 over 8-10 years for kerosene lanterns why not capture what the customer is willing to pay and give them a cleaner alternative?”says co-founder Michael Macharg.

Based in Bangalore, Simpa Networks aims to develop affordable energy solutions for the poor. Their product makes solar electricity accessible and affordable to the rural and under served consumer through their innovative pricing system called ‘Progressive Purchase’.

---

Simpa Networks has developed a metered solar energy system that generates electricity and can be installed in any rural home. The system can be purchased for a small upfront cost and can be recharged (through local agents via SMS) according to usage. If the meter runs out, it switches off and comes back on once the user has paid for a recharge (recharge amounts vary from 50-500 rupees). But the real proposition is that as the user recharges the system, he or she is slowly paying to own the system. Once enough recharges have been made (across a period of approximately 3-5 years), the system unlocks and produces solar power for free.

What’s enabling adoption?

Flexibility. One of the reasons rural India relies on kerosene is that it appears cheaper since the user can pay only what he or she can afford, and buy based on money at hand. Simpa recognizes that rural incomes are irregular and applies this insight to their product pricing; the cost of electricity generated by the solar panels is the same as buying kerosene lamps. The ability to pay for clean electricity in small doses and the added bonus of eventually owning a solar panel that generates free power is what makes this product especially remarkable and innovative.

What are the challenges?

Need to create and build distribution and service channels into the targeted markets. Finding the right local partners to help distribute the solar panels into rural homes is a challenge. Right now, Simpa partners with SELCO India to take their product into villages and reach the rural population in Karnataka; and will need to find similar dedicated partners in other geographies to expand and scale up. The system also potentially requires routine maintenance. Servicing and employing an efficient workforce of partners to execute this maintenance is also a challenge that the Simpa team is looking to work through.

Impact – current and potential

Simpa Networks was incorporated in India in mid 2011 and have conducted their first round of pilot testing in Karnataka. They have a Sales agreement with SELCO India to sell 1000 solar home systems in 2012, growing to 5000 + systems through SELCO and other distributors in 2013. By 2014 they aim to have sold 25,000 solar home systems demonstrating a clear model and scale approach.

Paul Needham co-founder elaborates on the Simpa Business model. Watch him speak at Poptech 2011 (Video).

Products, services and business models that can help bring cheaper, more user friendly, clean energy into homes and work spaces across India is going to be a huge opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs alike. Its early days yet, but enterprises such as Simpa Networks are doing some critical experiments in this direction and the insights from their learning and growth in this market will form the basis for a lot of development in this industry.

Follow Parvathi Menon on Twitter @parvathimenon and Innovation Alchemy @innovalchemy for regular updates.

What To Give

“O Prabhu, you fulfill all desires and give the four fruits of existence. Understanding that, I am fearful of what I could possibly give to you.” (Janaki Mangala, 22) tumha prabhu pūrana kāma cāri phaladāyaka | tehiṃ teṃ būjhata kāju ḍarau munidāyaka || Just imagine being the wealthiest person in the world, capable of going into any area and taking property because of your ability. Then picture coming up to someone else and telling them that you can’t give them anything valuable. Your statement isn’t one based on sentiment and it is not rooted in a deficiency in ability. Rather, the person you’re speaking to is the one who can give you anything that you really desire, anything important to you. Though they outwardly have nothing, their wealth is more valuable than anything else, so it is impossible to repay them when they are kind enough to bestow benedictions upon you. Such a scene was present in the city of Ayodhya many thousands of years ago, but the acknowledged wealthy party in this scenario, the king Dasharatha, was able to provide the exalted sage Vishvamitra something invaluable. That gift is the most cherished item for every single person, and the fact that Dasharatha would voluntarily part with it for a moment only enhances his wonderful stature. Who is Maharaja Dasharatha? The ancient kings of the world were concentrated in the area today known as India. Not that their influence was confined locally; they were addressed by such names as Mahipati and Bhupati, which mean “lord of earth”. The names weren’t assigned out of sentiment either. The kings had control over the entire earth, through either personal supervision or the influence of their many proxies. There were other kingdoms headed by other leaders, but the main king would have a recognized supremacy. “The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku.” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.1) With that firm authority came great responsibility. King Dasharatha and those rulers appearing before him in the family upheld virtue. Maharaja Ikshvaku set the standard for good governance, having heard the truths of the Bhagavad-gita from his father Manu. Manu heard it from Vivasvan, who heard it from Shri Krishna, the original speaker of the Gita. The Bhagavad-gita is a song containing the essence of Vedic teachings, the true meaning of life and the ultimate philosophy to guide mankind’s behavior. How can we make qualitative comparisons between philosophies? How do we determine if one philosophy is better than another? The more the philosophy tackles the root issue of life, especially with respect to identity, the more valuable it will be. For instance, if we read a book on how to succeed in business, it will only benefit us if we identify with businessmen. The same goes for cookbooks, marriage counseling, and instruction on how to be a good life partner. Sometimes even philosophies that seem larger in scope get mistaken to be guiding philosophies on life. The Constitution of the United States of America is a nice example in this regard. A document formed off of compromise and aimed to rebuke the perceived harsh treatment from the past government, the Constitution serves as the foundation of the American government. Some revere the Constitution and its principles so much that they refer to the document as their “Bible”, which is a stunning admission. For something other than the original Bible to be considered the guiding philosophy on life indicates that the Bible is either misunderstood or deficient in its ability to guide behavior. Religion in the true definition is not based merely on sentiment. It is a science which has laws that cannot be denied. Just as it would be silly to say that we believe or don’t believe in the law of gravity, to deny the existence of spirit and its position transcendental to the material nature can only be a sign of ignorance. Documents like the Constitution negate behavior that is considered harmful from governing bodies, championing the concept of freedom and its benefit to society. At the same time, tyranny, oppression and those acts of government which are shunned by the founders of the United States are the very result of freedom. Without an exercise of freedom, we cannot get any outcome in behavior. Therefore freedom itself cannot be the answer to life’s problems. The Bhagavad-gita addresses all of these issues, as it puts forth the ultimate philosophy on life, the primary guiding principle. It is said that the Vedas, the system of spirituality instituted by Shri Krishna, are the root of the tree of material existence. This means that every philosophy, existing past, present or future, is derived from the Vedas. Lord Krishna is the head of Vedic philosophy, and since He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His original system of religion is meant for connecting the living entities with their most preferred destination. Thus every rule presented by Vedic philosophy, including the recommendations given to kings, is intended to carry the living entity further along towards the ideal destination of the Supreme Lord’s company. A king like Dasharatha knew the governing principles, how to guide human behavior properly. Freedom is wonderful, but if it is misused you get chaos and misery. A document only limiting the actions of government will not provide man the guidance that he so desperately wants. History is filled with tyrannical regimes who killed millions of people to meet the demands of their brutal leaders. This could only occur because of the soul’s inclination to serve. Even with full freedom, with no restrictions on action, the living being will have a desire to offer some service. Vedic philosophy does not overlook the service issue. Rather, the tendency towards service is completely embraced, with every member of society given an object of service that matches their body’s inherent qualities. The pious ruler implements these matches to keep safe what is known as the varnashrama-dharma system. Because of their fidelity to the Vedas and the nature of the work they had to perform, the pious kings like Dasharatha were in possession of so much wealth. They distributed charity, but only to the brahmanas, the priestly class of men who were voluntarily living by austerity. One such austere brahmana was Vishvamitra, who visited King Dasharatha’s palace one time. The king could give away in charity pretty much anything valuable to a brahmana, even if they didn’t specifically ask. All special occasions were marked by the donation of such things as gold, cows and jewelry to brahmanas, who thus didn’t have a hard time surviving despite not specifically working for a living. The priests engaged in sacrifice, penance, austerity, learning the Vedas, teaching the Vedas, and giving instruction to society and its leaders. Since they were so busy providing valuable instruction, they didn’t have time to earn a living through fruitive activity. King Dasharatha was so pleased to have Vishvamitra visit him and bless his family that he offered the above referenced sincere words of praise. The sage could grant any desire, including the four fruits of a human existence: religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and ultimate salvation. As this combination of rewards is difficult to come by, one is considered very fortunate to get all of them. If Vishvamitra, who had no possessions, could provide this to the king, what could Dasharatha possibly give in return? This imbalance instilled some trepidation in the king, for perhaps the brahmana would ask for something that he couldn’t give. If that were the case, it would be a shameful stain on the Ikshvaku line that Dasharatha belonged to. The king must always give the bona fide brahmanas whatever they want, for why else do they rule the earth? If the most intelligent and munificent members of society are not pleased and protected, how can the king say that he is doing a good job? Fortunately for the king, Vishvamitra would ask for something that he could give. Nevertheless, the request tore at the heart of the pious ruler. Vishvamitra wanted protection while living in the forests. Some night-rangers were causing a disturbance, and rather than exhaust his spiritual merits by casting curses on them, Vishvamitra thought it would be better to have expert fighters guarding him for a while. Did the sage ask for the most experienced fighter in Ayodhya? Did he ask Dasharatha for his most capable man who had proven his fighting ability in the past? Oddly enough, Vishvamitra asked for the king’s eldest son Rama to be his escort. This was strange because Rama was still a young boy, who barely had signs of maturity on His face. We know this from the accounts of one of the attacking night-rangers. “At the time, there were not yet visible any signs of manhood on the boy’s beautiful face, which was dark-blue in complexion and had an all-auspicious gaze. Rama had a gold chain round His neck, a small tuft of hair on His head, wore only one piece of clothing, and held a bow in His hands.” (Maricha speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 38.14) Rama was Dasharatha’s most prized possession, his favorite person in the world. The king would have to agree to the sage’s request though, so Rama went with Vishvamitra, with Rama’s younger brotherLakshmana following along. Lakshmana would never do anything without Rama, so strong was the love he had for his elder brother. While in the forest, Vishvamitra would get attacked by a night-ranger named Maricha during a time of sacrifice. Though Rama was so young, Vishvamitra’s intuition would prove correct, as Dasharatha’s eldest son would unhesitatingly string His bow and pierce Maricha with an arrow. The blow was so fierce that the night-ranger was thrown many miles away into an ocean. Shri Rama was none other than the Supreme Lord, appearing on earth to enact pastimes and rid the world of the influence of Maricha’s clan, which was concentrated on the island of Lanka at the time. Dasharatha sacrificed his most beloved son, and for that kindness his stature as the most wonderful king would increase even more. Through Vishvamitra, Rama and Lakshmana would make it to the famous bow sacrifice held in the kingdom of Videha. There Rama would win the hand of Sita Devi, King Janaka’s daughter, in marriage. Thus it can be said that Dasharatha’s love for the brahmanas acted as a catalyst for the eventual meeting of the divine couple, Sita and Rama, the savior of the fallen souls. In Closing: Picture a person who has everything, For no wealth is he at all longing. Then to another admits that nothing can give, For how to repay knowledge on how to live? This situation long time ago occurred for real, Vishvamitra king’s son for a moment wanted to steal. To brahmanas Dasharatha never could say no, So with Vishvamitra eldest son Rama did go. Lakshmana, devoted brother took with Him, In Janakpur hand of Sita Devi to win.

Man Alive Without a Heart and No Pulse!

The continuous-flow device consists of 2 turbine-like blood pumps implanted to replace the 2 sides of the patient's removed heart. These 2 pumps act as a man-made substitute for the natural heart. The left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) used are manufactured by Thoratec Corporation (Pleasanton, Calif.) and were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in January 2010 for assisting the failing left ventricle (the heart's main pumping chamber) in patients suffering from terminal heart failure.

Prior to using the device on Lewis, the researchers had first experimented with it on 38 calves at their animal research facility. Today, a calf named Abigail resides at the facility with one of their devices and no pulse.

However, aside from listening to the machine itself, the lack of pulse makes it hard to tell if a patient is alive or dead. According to the institute, even EKG machines would register a person using the new heart as dead.

The device (Courtesy The Texas Heart Institute):

Posted by JacobSloan                                                                                          

 Perhaps in the future, we’ll spend our youth — i.e. the first hundred or so years of our lives — with a heart and a pulse, and our next couple hundred without them. DesignTaxi writes:

Two doctors from the Texas Heart Institute successfully replaced a dying man’s heart with a device—proving that it is possible for your body to be kept alive without a heart, or a pulse.

The turbine-like device, that are simple whirling rotors, developed by the doctors does not beat like a heart, rather provides a ‘continuous flow’ like a garden hose.

If you listened with a stethoscope, you wouldn’t hear a heartbeat. If you examined [the] arteries, there’s no pulse. Hooked up to an EKG, [he'd] be flat-lined.”

Early exercise beats diseases

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

"We think...more activity for children and more physical education in school could really help set them up for better health later in life." Image: CEFutcher/iStockphoto New research suggests exercise early in life could fend off diabetes and heart disease, even for those predisposed to such diseases. The study by Victoria University’s Professor Glenn McConell and Melbourne University’s Associate Professor Mary Wlodek tested whether exercise could ‘reprogram’ rats with a predisposition to diabetes and heart disease due to being born underweight. “Those born small are programmed for a higher chance of disease later in life because of their underdeveloped heart and pancreas, but we think you can reprogram yourself by exercising early in life,” Professor McConell said. In the trials on rats born small, those that exercised from five to nine weeks of age showed a smallimprovement in organ function at the end of that month, but remarkably, six months later their organs were the same as the healthy control group. Another group of born small rats were not exercised and showed no improvement. Professor McConell said a nine-week old rat correlated roughly with a five-year-old child and a six-month-old rat with a young adult person. “We think this means more activity for children and more physical education in school could really help set them up for better health later in life and even help those predisposed to diabetes and heart disease to re-program themselves in time to avoid it,” he said. He said trials were now planned with sheep; a larger mammal model with more similar hormones to humans than rats. He said they would eventually like to try it on humans. The study titled ‘Short-term exercise training early in life restores deficits in pancreatic β-cell mass associated with growth restriction in adult male rats’ was published recently in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. The study was made possible by National Health and Medical Research Council funding. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Global warming could kill off snails

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

"The majority of current global warming research is mistakenly driven by air temperature which does not reflect the body temperature of most animals." Image: marekuliasz/iStockphoto Climate change models must be reworked in a bid to save some of the world’s smallest and slimiest creatures from extinction, a Flinders University PhD candidate warns. Biological Sciences postgraduate student Coraline Chapperon says any future policies for global warming must consider mobile organisms on rocky beaches – such as snails – and their capacity to survive the predicted rise in extreme conditions such as heatwaves. She said the majority of current global warming research is mistakenly driven by air temperature which does not reflect the body temperature of most animals. “A lot of current global warming research uses air temperature as a proxy for animal body temperature – so if it’s 31 degrees at the beach they’d say all the animals at the beach are 31 degrees but that’s not the case,” Ms Chapperon said. “Even the same rock surface varies in temperature at a very small spatial scale at one time which is more pertinent to the biology and ecology of intertidal animals than air temperature,” she said. “As such, we need to consider factors like rock temperature and the individual physiology and behaviour of animals in our climate change models, and look at it on a much smaller scale.” To prove how crucial individual animal body temperatures are to global warming policies, Ms Chapperon has spent the past three years investigating the temperature and behaviour of snails and their ability to cope in extreme conditions. As part of her research she took a series of thermal images of marine snails and rocks in two topographically different habitats, a rock platform and a boulder field, over the course of a summer and autumn at Marino Rocks to quantify variances in body temperature and snail behaviour. She found that temperatures between microhabitats separated by just a few centimetres, such as crevices and underneath rocks, actually varied more than habitats separated by up to 250 metres, and that rock and snail temperatures were strongly connected, suggesting snail body temperatures are largely determined by the temperatures of the rocks they are crawling on. Ms Chapperon said that while snails have limited physiological abilities to adapt any further to climate as they have already reached the upper limit of their “thermal tolerance window”, her research suggests they may be able to modify their actions in order to survive locally. However, she said more research was needed to determine whether these “thermoregulatory behaviours” could actually buffer the warming climate. “Despite their limited physiological abilities, snails have certain behavioural qualities that help them cool down when it is warm, such as aggregating or moving underneath rocks. “But this is a relatively unknown area of research and that’s why further studies are needed to see whether their ability to find refuge in cooler microhabitats could compensate for their lack of physiological ability.” Ms Chapperon’s snail studies have earned her one of Flinders Best Student Paper Awards, a new initiative which aims to showcase excellence in student research across the University. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Climate ups risk of toxic harm

CRC CARE

A leading scientist has warned that climate change could expose Australians to greater risks from toxic contamination. Increased flooding could release contaminants previously regarded as secure into groundwater, rivers, oceans, the food supply and the atmosphere, the director of the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment, Professor Ravi Naidu, said. “Most of our urban landfills contain highly toxic substances from past decades – and were designed for the climatic conditions at the time. These have now changed, with the risk of bigger and more frequent floods, droughts, heat and acidity releasing substances we thought were gone for good,” he says. Professor Naidu is inviting Federal, state, and Environmental Protection Agencies to rethink nationwide contamination and cleanup policy in light of the risk that yesterday’s poisons could be remobilised in our environment. “The floods in Queensland and northern NSW illustrate how things are changing – and how we can no longer count on toxic disposal systems designed half a century or more ago to work as well in future under changed climate conditions,” he says. “From now on all landfills and contaminated sites will need better flood protection upstream and high-tech contamination barriers downstream to filter the groundwater that leaches out of them, and remove the heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons and organic toxins it contains.”  Other contaminated land containment systems such as cover systems, stabilisation, etc could also be adversely impacted by climate change via factors such as wet-dry and freeze-thaw cycles. Professor Naidu says that climate change also brings increased urgency to the task of rehabilitating contaminated lands. “Where you have a large area of contaminated land, it is often very hard for plants or soil microbes to regrow, leading to reduced carbon sequestration, which adds to climate change. Researchers are currently working on specially-adapted trees, grasses and soil microbes, which can be used to recover these sites, devastated by historic industrial and mining activities – but there is a need to speed up national efforts to adopt such solutions, he adds. Another form of contamination likely to accelerate under climate change is acidification. “Acid rain produced by the industrial release of sulphur dioxide from coal-fired power stations into the atmosphere is poisoning lakes, forests, and soils in the northern hemisphere. When soils become more acidic, they can release toxic heavy metals as well as carbon. “At the same time, the carbon dioxide we release when we use vehicles or fossil-fuelled electricity is increasing acidity in the world’s oceans and endangering their food chains,” Prof. Naidu explains. “There are engineering solutions to these problems, which involve trapping the gases before they enter the atmosphere and disposing of them safely – but they are costly and must be adopted universally.” These issues illustrate how climate change can affect the total toxic load delivered to society in its food, water and environment and the importance of acting in a timely fashion to prevent this from happening. “People often regard contamination as a local issue, and contaminants as things which tend to stay in one place or where they are put. “This is no longer the case. Man-made contamination by toxic organic chemicals and metals is already swirling around the planet in air, water and wildlife – and there is a risk that the changes unleashed by climate change will mobilise even more,” Prof. Naidu warns. “Containment of contaminants is critical in the sustainable management of legacy contaminants. It is not yet time to be alarmed – but we should be concerned. And we should certainly begin to think about the solutions.” He says Australian industries, including the mining, energy, and agriculture sectors, are world leaders in developing and implementing environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions to contamination issues. “If Australia makes an early start in overcoming these unforseen impacts of climate change it will also position us as a world leader and exporter of clean, green solutions for a changing world. It will not only be healthy – it will also be profitable and create jobs.” Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Why the middle finger has such a slow connection

Each part of the body has its own nerve cell area in the brain -- we therefore have a map of our bodies in our heads. The functional significance of these maps is largely unclear. What effects they can have is now shown by Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany) neuroscientists through reaction time measurements combined with learning experiments and "computational modeling." They have been able to demonstrate that inhibitory influences of neighboring "finger nerve cells" affect the reaction time of a finger.

The fingers on the outside – i.e. the thumb and little finger - therefore react faster than the middle finger, which is exposed to the "cross fire" of two neighbours on each side. Through targeted learning, this speed handicap can be compensated. The working group led by PD Dr. Hubert Dinse (Neural Plasticity Lab at the Institute for Neuroral Computation) report in the current issue of PNAS.

The researchers set subjects a simple task to measure the speed of decision: they showed them an image on a monitor that represented all ten fingers. If one of the fingers was marked, the subjects were to press a corresponding key as quickly as possible with that finger. The thumb and little finger were the fastest. The middle finger brought up the rear. "You might think that this has anatomical reasons or depends on the exercise" said Dr Dinse, "but we were able to rule that out through further tests. In principle, each finger is able to react equally quickly. Only in the selection task, the middle finger is at a distinct disadvantage."

To explain their observations, the researchers used computer simulations based on a so-called mean-field model. It is especially suited for modelling large neuronal networks in the brain. For these simulations, each individual finger is represented by a group of nerve cells, which are arranged in the form of a topographic map of the fingers based on the actual conditions in the somatosensory cortex of the brain. "Adjacent fingers are adjacent in the brain too, and thus also in the simulation", explained Dr. Dinse. The communication of the nerve cells amongst themselves is organised so that the nerve cells interact through mutual excitation and inhibition.

The computer simulations showed that the longer reaction time of the middle finger in a multiple choice task is a consequence of the fact that the middle finger is within the inhibition range of the two adjacent fingers. The thumb and little finger on the other hand only receive an inhibitory effect of comparable strength from one adjacent finger each. "In other words, the high level of inhibition received by the nerve cells of the middle fingers mean that it takes longer for the excitement to build up – they therefore react more slowly" said Dr. Dinse.

From the results of the computer simulation it can be concluded that weaker inhibition from the neighbouring fingers would shorten the reaction time of the middle finger. This would require a so-termed plastic change in the brain – a specialty of the Neural Plasticity Lab, which has been studying the development of learning protocols that induce such changes for years. One such protocol is the repeated stimulation of certain nerve cell groups, which the laboratory has already used in many experiments. "If, for example, you stimulate one finger electrically or by means of vibration for two to three hours, then its representation in the brain changes" explained Dr. Dinse. The result is an improvement in the sense of touch and a measurable reduction of the inhibitory processes in this brain area. This also results in the enlargement of the representation of the finger stimulated.

The Bochum researchers then conducted a second experiment in which the middle finger of the right hand was subjected to such stimulation. The result was a significant shortening of the reaction time of this finger in the selection task. "This finding confirms our prediction" Dr. Dinse summed up. Thus, for the first time, Bochum's researchers have established a direct link between the so-called lateral inhibitory processes and decision making processes. They have shown that learning processes that change the cortical maps can have far-reaching implications not only for simple discrimination tasks, but also for decision processes that were previously attributed to the so-called "higher" cortical areas.

More information: Claudia Wilimzig, Patrick Ragert, and Hubert R. Dinse. Cortical topography of intracortical inhibition influences the speed of decision making, PNAS (2012), doi/10.1073/pnas.1114250109

Provided by Ruhr-University Bochum

"Why the middle finger has such a slow connection." February 7th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-middle-finger.html

 

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Parkinson's disease: Study of live human neurons reveals the disease's genetic origins

Parkinson's disease researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease, which afflicts at least 500,000 Americans and for which there is no cure.

The results are published in the current issue of Nature Communications.

The UB findings reveal potential new drug targets for the disease as well as a screening platform for discovering new treatments that might mimic the protective functions of parkin. UB has applied for patent protection on the screening platform.

"This is the first time that human dopamine neurons have ever been generated from Parkinson's disease patients with parkin mutations," says Jian Feng, PhD, professor of physiology and biophysics in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the study's lead author.

As the first study of human neurons affected by parkin, the UB research overcomes a major roadblock in research on Parkinson's disease and on neurological diseases in general.

The problem has been that human neurons live in a complex network in the brain and thus are off-limits to invasive studies, Feng explains.

"Before this, we didn't even think about being able to study the disease in human neurons," he says. "The brain is so fully integrated. It's impossible to obtain live human neurons to study."

But studying human neurons is critical in Parkinson's disease, Feng explains, because animal models that lack the parkin gene do not develop the disease; thus, human neurons are thought to have "unique vulnerabilities."

"Our large brains may use more dopamine to support the neural computation needed for bipedal movement, compared to quadrupedal movement of almost all other animals," he says.

Since in 2007, when Japanese researchers announced they had converted human cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that could then be converted to nearly any cells in the body, mimicking embryonic stem cells, Feng and his UB colleagues saw their enormous potential. They have been working on it ever since.

"This new technology was a game-changer for Parkinson's disease and for other neurological diseases," says Feng. "It finally allowed us to obtain the material we needed to study this disease."

The current paper is the fruition of the UB team's ability to "reverse engineer" human neurons from human skin cells taken from four subjects: two with a rare type of Parkinson's disease in which the parkin mutation is the cause of their disease and two healthy subjects who served as controls.

"Once parkin is mutated, it can no longer precisely control the action of dopamine, which supports the neural computation required for our movement," says Feng.

The UB team also found that parkin mutations prevent it from tightly controlling the production of monoamine oxidase (MAO), which catalyzes dopamine oxidation.

"Normally, parkin makes sure that MAO, which can be toxic, is expressed at a very low level so that dopamine oxidation is under control," Feng explains. "But we found that when parkin is mutated, that regulation is gone, so MAO is expressed at a much higher level. The nerve cells from our Parkinson's patients had much higher levels of MAO expression than those from our controls. We suggest in our study that it might be possible to design a new class of drugs that would dial down the expression level of MAO."

He notes that one of the drugs currently used to treat Parkinson's disease inhibits the enzymatic activity of MAO and has been shown in clinical trials to slow down the progression of the disease.

Parkinson's disease is caused by the death of dopamine neurons. In the vast majority of cases, the reason for this is unknown, Feng explains. But in 10 percent of Parkinson's cases, the disease is caused by mutations of genes, such as parkin: the subjects with Parkinson's in the UB study had this rare form of the disease.

"We found that a key reason for the death of dopamine neurons is oxidative stress due to the overproduction of MAO," explains Feng. "But before the death of the neurons, the precise action of dopamine in supporting neural computation is disrupted by parkin mutations. This paper provides the first clues about what the parkin gene is doing in healthy controls and what it fails to achieve in Parkinson's patients."

He noted in this study that these defects are reversed by delivering the normal parkin gene into the patients' neurons, thus offering hope that these neurons may be used as a screening platform for discovering new drug candidates that could mimic the protective functions of parkin and potentially even lead to a cure for Parkinson's.

While the parkin mutations are only responsible for a small percentage of Parkinson's cases, Feng notes that understanding how parkin works is relevant to all Parkinson's patients. His ongoing research on sporadic Parkinson's disease, in which the cause is unknown, also points to the same direction.

Provided by University at Buffalo

"Parkinson's disease: Study of live human neurons reveals the disease's genetic origins." February 7th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-parkinson-disease-human-neurons-reveals.html

 

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Shri Sai Baba Ji - Sangkat Haran Shri Sai Baba (Real Stories)

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Brains of addicts are inherently abnormal: study

Drug addicts have inherited abnormalities in some parts of the brain which interfere with impulse control, said a British study published on Thursday.

Previous research has pointed to these differences, but it was unclear if they resulted from the ravages of addiction or if they were there beforehand to predispose a person to drug abuse.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge compared the brains of addicts to their non-addicted siblings as well as to healthy, unrelated volunteers and found that the siblings shared many of the same weaknesses in their brains.

That indicates that the brain vulnerabilities had a family origin, though somehow the siblings of addicts -- either due to environmental factors or other differences in brain structure -- were able to resist addiction.

"Presumably, the siblings must have some other resilience factors that counteract the familial vulnerability to drug dependence," said the study led by Karen Ersche of the University of Cambridge, published in the journal Science.

"An individual's predisposition to become addicted to stimulant drugs may be mediated by brain abnormalities linked to impaired self-control."

Researchers tested 50 biological sibling pairs, in which one was addicted to drugs and the other one had no history of chronic drug abuse. They also tested 50 healthy, unrelated pairs of people as a control group.

The tests involved measuring how well they could control their impulses in a stop-signal reaction time test that assesses how quickly a person can switch from following one set of instructions to another.

Addicts are known to have poor impulse control.

The researchers found that the sibling pairs -- even the non-addicts -- fared significantly worse on the test than the healthy volunteers.

Brain scans showed that the siblings shared some of the same weaknesses in the frontal lobe and its connections to the basal ganglia, which mediates motor, cognition and behavior.

In an accompanying Perspective article, Nora Volkow and Ruben Baler of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse said that knowing more about brain circuitry could help understand and treat other "impaired control" disorders, like obesity, pathological gambling, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

"Several childhood and adolescent interventions can improve executive function and self-control," though more study is needed to see how such work may or may not impact the brain, they wrote.

More information: http://www.science … 601.abstract

(c) 2012 AFP

"Brains of addicts are inherently abnormal: study." February 2nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-brains-addicts-inherently-abnormal.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek