New connections between brain cells form in clusters during learning

New connections between brain cells emerge in clusters in the brain as animals learn to perform a new task, according to a study published in Nature on February 19 (advance online publication). Led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the study reveals details of how brain circuits are rewired during the formation of new motor memories.

The researchers studied mice as they learned new behaviors, such as reaching through a slot to get a seed. They observed changes in the motor cortex, the brain layer that controls muscle movements, during the learning process. Specifically, they followed the growth of new "dendritic spines," structures that form the connections (synapses) between nerve cells.

"For the first time we are able to observe the spatial distribution of new synapses related to the encoding of memory," said Yi Zuo, assistant professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz and corresponding author of the paper.

In a previous study, Zuo and others documented the rapid growth of new dendritic spines on pyramidal neurons in the motor cortex during the learning process. These spines form synapses where the pyramidal neurons receive input from other brain regions involved in motor memories and muscle movements. In the new study, first author Min Fu, a postdoctoral researcher in Zuo's lab, analyzed the spatial distribution of the newly formed synapses.

Initial results of the spatial analysis showed that one third of the newly formed synapses were located next to another new synapse. These clustered synapses tended to form over the course of a few days during the learning period, when the mouse was repeatedly performing the new behavior. Compared to non-clustered counterparts, the clustered synapses were more likely to persist through the learning sessions and after training stopped.

In addition, the researchers found that after formation of the second spine in a cluster, the first spine grew larger. The size of the spine head correlates with the strength of the synapse. "We found that formation of a second connection is correlated with a strengthening of the first connection, which suggests that they are likely to be involved in the same circuitry," Zuo said. "The clustering of synapses may serve to magnify the strength of the connections."

Another part of the study also supported the idea that the clustered synapses are involved in neural circuits specific to the task being learned. The researchers studied mice trained first in one task and then in a different task. Instead of grabbing a seed, the mice had to learn how to handle a piece of capellini pasta. Both tasks induced the formation of clustered spines, but spines formed during the learning of different tasks did not cluster together.

The researchers also looked at mice that were challenged with new motor tasks every day, but did not repeat the same task over and over like the ones trained in seed-grabbing or capellini-handling. These mice also grew lots of new dendritic spines, but few of the new spines were clustered.

"Repetitive activation of the same cortical circuit is really important in learning a new task," Zuo said. "But what is the optimal frequency of repetition? Ultimately, by studying the relationship between synapse formation and learning, we want to find out the best way to induce new memories."

The study used mice that had been genetically altered to make a fluorescent protein within certain neurons in the motor cortex. The researchers used a special microscopy technique (two-photon microscopy) to obtain images of those neurons near the surface of the brain. The noninvasive imaging technique enabled them to view changes in individual brain cells of the mice before, during, and after learning a new behavior.

Provided by University of California - Santa Cruz

"New connections between brain cells form in clusters during learning." February 19th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-brain-cells-clusters.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Nodding disease confounds experts, kills children

Patrick Anywar, 14, lies curled up naked in a Ugandan village's dust and midday heat, struggling to look up at his younger brother and sister playing in front of the family home.

After a minute's effort to face his siblings, Anywar's head slumps onto his chest and his emaciated body is gripped by convulsions.

Anywar is one of more than 3,000 children in northern Uganda who are suffering from a debilitating mystery ailment known as nodding disease, which has touched almost every family in the village of Tumangu.

For several years, scientists have tried and failed to determine the cause of the illness, which locals say has killed hundreds of youngsters.

What they do know is that the disease affects only children and gradually devastates its victims through debilitating seizures, stunted growth, wasted limbs, mental disabilities and sometimes starvation.

Anywar's mother, Rugina Abwoyo, has already lost one son, named Watmon, to the disease in 2010. Now she says she can do little but watch on helplessly as another child slips away.

"Before, he was walking and running like other children, but now someone always has to stay home to look after him," Abwoyo told AFP. "The disease is terrible -- it does not let him drink or eat by himself."

Walking along footpaths cut through the sorghum plantations, Joe Otto, a volunteer health worker, explains how nodding disease has ravaged Tumangu, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) north of the capital Kampala.

"780 people are living in this village, and we have 97 cases of the disease. It has affected almost every family," Otto, 54, told AFP.

Whenever sporadic deliveries of medicine arrive at the local health centre several kilometres away, Otto pedals his bicycle to fetch the drugs. But he knows that they only offer a short-term solution.

"We are giving out drugs for epilepsy, like carbamazepine, but this disease is different from epilepsy," Otto said.

Instead, as the disease has torn through their community, local residents have moved from fear to a grim acceptance, Otto says.

"We started saying that the patient who had died was the one who had been cured, because finally they were at rest from this painful disease," Otto said.

'We hope that our youngest can be saved'

Scientists are trying to find a cure: since 2010, researchers ranging from epidemiologists to environmental experts, neurologists, toxicologists and psychiatrists have carried out a range of tests.

Investigations have looked at possible links between the disease and everything from a parasite that causes river blindness, to malnutrition and the after-effects of a civil war that ravaged northern Uganda for decades.

"We looked at all this, but unfortunately we were not able to pinpoint any significant contributing or risk factors," said Miriam Nanyunja, disease control and prevention officer at the World Health Organisation in Kampala.

"The search for the causative agent is still ongoing," she added.

Often the results have thrown up more questions than answers. Scientists do not know if the disease is linked to similar outbreaks in neighbouring South Sudan and Tanzania.

Efforts continue to understand if the disease is still spreading or has peaked -- and why it is seems confined only to certain communities.

Last month, after pressure from lawmakers from affected areas, Uganda's health ministry produced an emergency response plan to try to identify and control the disease.

However, Nanyunja says that while the search for the cause and a possible cure goes on, for now, doctors can only focus on trying to alleviate the symptoms.

"There are many diseases that we continue to treat symptomatically, without knowing the exact cause," Nanyunja said.

But for Patrick Anywar, any attempts to curb or cure the disease may come too late.

"We are hoping that the doctors work very hard to get the cure for this disease," his mother Abwoyo says.

"There is no future for us as so many children have already been affected, but we hope that our youngest can be saved."

(c) 2012 AFP

"Nodding disease confounds experts, kills children." February 18th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-disease-confounds-experts-children.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Before they can speak, babies make friends: study

This file illustration photo shows two babies playing. Babies still too small to speak know how to make jokes and form friendships, say researchers at an Australian university who have spent two years filming the behaviour of young children.

Babies still too small to speak know how to make jokes and form friendships, say researchers at an Australian university who have spent two years filming the behaviour of young children.

Academics at Charles Sturt University are studying how children interact with other infants while in childcare using footage obtained from tiny cameras strapped to their heads.

The study affords a "baby's eye view" of the world in which even simple objects such as spoons appear oversized, said Jennifer Sumsion, foundation professor of early childhood at the university.

But it also shows that children aged from six months to 18 months use sophisticated but subtle non-verbal means to make friends and make each other laugh.

"We were very, very surprised to see just how sophisticated they were in terms of their social skills, their helping skills, in making sure they were inviting other children to be part of their group," Sumsion told AFP.

Sumsion said babies interacted with each other by making eye contact and with hand gestures and humour.

They used "little social games that you wouldn't necessarily see unless you were looking very closely", she said.

Examples of this included children pretending to hand another child a toy, only to snatch it away at the last minute, or babies sitting close to each other in highchairs playfully switching their drink bottles around.

In another instance caught on camera, a one-year-old girl tried to comfort a baby when she was frightened by gently placing a piece of see-through fabric over her so she could see out but feel protected.

The researchers, who analysed the baby-cam footage alongside other video shot of the children at the same time, did not force the babies to wear the cameras and they were only attached for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

They hope the research will shed light on the secret world of babies and their experience in childcare.

"What surprised us though was the games that they were playing with each other, even at that age. It's really very positive to see," Sumsion said.

(c) 2012 AFP

"Before they can speak, babies make friends: study." February 18th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-babies-friends.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

A new EEG shows how brain tracts are formed

In the past few years, researchers at the University of Helsinki have made several breakthroughs in discovering how the brain of preterm babies work, in developing treatments to protect the brain, and in developing research methods suitable for hospital use.

Each year, the brains of hundreds of Finnish children, and therefore their future lives, are at risk due to premature birth or intrapartum asphyxia. The brain is a sensitive organ, and merely keeping the baby alive is not enough to save the brain. The latest scientific achievements offer significant improvements in the brain health and lives of infants.

"When developing brain treatment, a key challenge is to find ways to study and monitor the well-being of the brain in the neonatal intensive care unit environment," says Sampsa Vanhatalo, Docent of Pediatric Clinical Neurophysiology.

The R & D work carried out in the basic neurobiology laboratory in the University of Helsinki has provided a whole new level of insight into the electrical activity of the brain in newborns. Now we know that many previously unexplained brain events seen in an EEG are essential for the development and maturation of the brain in premature babies, Dr. Vanhatalo states.

These findings have provided an opportunity to develop monitoring devices to monitor the well-being of infant brains during ICU treatment. The University of Helsinki and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH) have attracted considerable international attention for their novel EEG techniques that enable exceptionally precise measurement of EEG in premature infants.

"These dense array EEG caps and the related full-band EEG (FbEEG) that we have developed have disclosed crucial forms of newborn brain activity that have so far been overlooked. We have also developed a method to study sensory functions of premature babies when the tracts are still in the process of forming in the brain and the yield of a traditional neurological examination is still negligible," explains Dr. Vanhatalo.

The research work carried out in Helsinki has been adapted elsewhere in the world with exceptional speed: the largest device manufacturers are already offering FbEEG devices, and dense array EEG caps are already being manufactured industrially. These devices have been clinically approved in the EU (CE certificate) and in the USA (FDA).

"Multi-modal EEG analysis of newborns may help us to recognize the children in need of immediate care or neurological rehabilitation early on, as preterm babies. Today, often the diagnosis cannot be made until the child is a toddler. It is critical for the development and quality of a child's life that appropriate treatment and rehabilitation is started as soon as possible," says Dr. Vanhatalo.

In the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), Finnish researchers demonstrate the developed method and show how it can be applied safely and without disturbing other treatments in an NICU. JoVE is the only scientific journal in the world that publishes all its articles in both text and video format.

Provided by University of Helsinki

"A new EEG shows how brain tracts are formed." February 18th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-eeg-brain-tracts.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

FIVE WAYS TO BECOME TRULY EFFICIENT

Finding enough time in the day to get everything done tends to be an impossible task. Increasing one’s efficiency is the best way to ensure that everything gets completed. Find out how you can become truly effective here!

INC suggests…

1. Set Daily Goals. One of the best ways to ramp up your efficiency is to set daily goals. Each morning, before your work day begins, make a list of the top things that you want or need to accomplish during the work day. Rank them in order of importance. Depending upon how long each task will take you, your list may contain two items or ten.  Once constructed, use the list as your guide to keep you focused throughout the day to work towards completing those goals. Keep the list readily accessible and in plain sight on your workspace so that it will act as a constant reminder for those tasks that you want to complete in a given day. As you complete each of your predetermined objectives, check them off. If you do not complete a given goal, move it forward into the next day. This simple task of setting and monitoring daily goals is amazingly effective at increasing your productivity.

2. Delegate. If you are in a position to delegate make sure to do so. Too often we are saddled with a belief that we are the only person that can do a specific task or do it well enough. Throughout my career I have been particularly afflicted with this mistaken belief. There was a time in my career that I would type all of my own letters even though I had a secretary whose job it was to handle this task for me. I would think, it is going to take me longer to explain to her what needs to go into the letter than it would if I just go ahead and write it myself, which I then proceeded to do.

Learning to delegate is an acquired art form, one everyone should try to master. Believing that a task cannot be delegated is truly more about control issues and less about whether or not it truly can be assigned to someone else. Why spend two hours on a task yourself if instead through crafting 10 minutes of detailed instructions, you can delegate the project to another? Accordingly, if you have someone to whom you can delegate, learn how to delegate and learn how to do it well.

3. Let the Phone Ring. Let E-mails go Unanswered. You’re in the middle of solving an issue relating to one of your goals for the day. The phone rings. You answer. On the other end of the phone is someone who needs to speak with you about something that is important but not related to the task at hand. The conversation only lasts three minutes and then ends. However, when you go to pick up where you left off you need to quickly review where you were, get your brain back on track and then finally pick up and keep moving on the same.

Do not assume that picking up that quick call only cost you three minutes of being off task. It cost you your focus, the three minutes, and ultimately the review time of thinking about where you left off and the time it takes to re-engage your brain on the specific project you were working on before you were interrupted. All in all that three minute call, depending upon the complexity of the issues being dealt with, may cost you six, seven, even 10 minutes!

If your job allows, keep focused. Turn the phone (off?) ringer volume down so as not to disturb you or simply do not answer the same if the caller on the caller id is not calling about an urgent matter. You would be amazed at how simply allowing callers to leave a voice mail and then responding later in the day, in bulk, to all of your messages can truly amplify your efficiency.

However, it doesn’t have to end there. The same policy should be employed in regard to e-mails. How many e-mails do you really get that need to be viewed or read almost instantaneously? So don’t. Let them sit. They’ll still be there when you complete the task at hand. Like your calls just designate a time during the day, or two if you prefer, to answer all of your e-mails. Once again, by not allowing these constant interruptions
,
the efficiency with which you can accomplish the goals on your list will be increased exponentially.

4. Close the Door. The phone and e-mails are not the only distractions in modern office life. Your co-workers can really drag down your efficiency as well. Back when I worked in a large law firm in Washington, D.C. I would routinely need to go see one of the head partners in his big corner office. Almost without exception every time I walked into his office he would sigh, roll his eyes, and growl “Yes, what is it?” For the first year or so I worked there I simply chalked it up to the fact that he was personality-challenged and sadistically enjoyed degrading others, in other words, a lawyer. But one day I was standing down the hall from his office and it hit me as to why he was consistently grumpy. I was not the only associate that was constantly demanding attention from the big cheese. While I stood there speaking with other lawyers in the hallway I witnessed a veritable conga line of associate attorneys strolling through his office to ask him questions here, decisions there. No wonder he was so upset every time I would come into his office. Although I did not realize it, someone else had been in there two minutes before and again five minutes before that. If the man had seven minutes in a row to think to himself and get his own work done he would consider it a good day.

Why do I mention all of this? If you have the capability,  sometimes you just need to close the door. If you work in an open workspace, hang a sign. Open-door policies are great, but they can often lead to an erosion of efficiency that is disturbing. Don’t be afraid to shut the door and politely let people know this is my efficient time. If they need to speak with you they can come back later or, better yet, set up daily pre-scheduled times in which they will have your undivided attention. By moving away from constant interruptions you will be able to stay on task and, consequently, move more efficiently through the goals you set every day.

5. Facebook, Twitter, and Instant Messaging. The secret time killers. Let’s say you spend 10 minutes on Facebook a day. For the majority of us that is being conservative. Let’s further say you use Twitter. Chalk up another 10 minutes. By the way, did you IM any of your friends today while at work? Come on, you know you did. Maybe the wife or the hubby had a funny story to share with you or Madonna just announced her latest concert dates and everyone had to BUZZ each other over it. Another ten minutes. So how much did we spend? Ten minutes? Twenty? Thirty? Wrong. It was more like 130 hours. Over three 40-hour work weeks.

Huh? You might be asking yourself. What you talkin’ about Willis?

It’s simple. If you spend 30 minutes a day on social media and instant messaging that adds up to two and a half hours per week. There are 52 weeks in a year. Fifty-two times two and a half is 130 hours. One hundred and thirty hours equates to over three 40-hour work weeks you are spending on social media and chatting online per year. It’s like a whole other vacation.

Is this overly dramatic? Maybe a little. But recognize what spending time on these sites does to your productivity. Thirty minutes a day, on average, equates to a loss of up to three plus weeks of work per year. So if you are just spending 10 minutes a day doing the same, that’s like one entire lost week of work. Wow.

I’m not saying don’t do it. I am just saying recognize how the numbers add up. Once you see how they do, if you want to ramp up your efficiency limit the social chats to only designated times during the day when you are already taking a break. Trust me, that wicked awesome zinger you’ve been waiting to post on Facebook can wait.

Get more great tips from INC!

'Don't do drugs!' Man with half a head explains how he got bizarre injury after crashing car while stoned

• Carlos 'Halfy' Rodriguez lost a large portion of his brain and skull after flying through his car's windscreen and landing on his head
• Speaking out for the first time, many thought that his appearance was fake - until now
• 'That is why it is not good drinking and driving, or drugs and driving. It is no good kids,' he warns.
• But despite his anti-drugs stance it appears he still continues to smoke cannabis every day

By Martin Robinson

A bad boy who was left with half a head following a dramatic accident has spoken out for the first time - blaming his astonishing appearance on a drink and drugs binge.

Carlos 'Halfy' Rodriguez, who also goes by the name Sosa, lost a large portion of his brain and skull in a crash after flying through his car's windscreen and landing head-first on the road.

In a new video he has used his appearance and story to warn others not to drink and take drugs.

Doctors were forced to cut away large amounts of flesh and bone to help him survive and he has since been able to continue his life in Miami, Florida.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Incredible: From side on the damage caused by his crash is obvious

Both sides: 'Halfy' as he is now known, shows his skull to camera in this new video

Warning: Carlos admits that he was on drink and drugs while driving and warns others not to do the same

From the front: Carlos speaks to camera for the first time and from this angle the damage to his head is not clear

'I was barred out on drugs. I was driving and I hit a pole and flew out the front window and landed on my head,' he said in a new warning message on You Tube.

Showing his head to camera he added: 'And this is how the old boy has come out. That is why it is not good drinking and driving or drugness (sic) and driving. It is no good kids.'

According to the German tabloid Bild he had the accident aged 14.

'I was with a cousin and a friend stole the car, there was a near-fatal car accident. As the speed was too fast we lost control of the car and crashed,' he said.

Mr Rodriguez shot to fame two years ago after he was was arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitution.

Miami Police had problems with their paperwork and his forms contained no name and simply the description 'half a head'.  

Infamous: Police released these mind-bending mugshots 18 months ago, and many believed them fake

His mugshots, showing his missing forehead and battered skull, spread across the world online but many thought that it was a hoax.

However this new video has proved that he and his extreme injuries exist.

Bad boy: 'Halfy' still smokes drugs, despite his warning to others

But despite his serious message to stay away from narcotics, it appears that he is yet to change his ways after admitting he still smokes a lot of drugs.

Survivor: British teenager Ben Maycock was lucky to be alive after a brutal hammer attack left him a huge dent in his skull

In a bizarre tirade he also accuses American President Barrack Obama of doing the same.

'This is what I do daily: burn a stake,' which is slang for a joint.

'Obama is the President of ya'll United States and he smokes. (Expletive) has the whole White House growing.

'Then why can't I smoke me a blunt?'.

'Halfy' is not the only person to survive with half a head, as several other Britons have done the same.

Teenager Ben Maycock was lucky to be alive after a brutal hammer attack left him a huge dent in his skull in 2010.

The vicious assault left Ben's head shattered - and doctors had to hack away huge chunks in a battle to save his life.

Medics at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, doubted Ben would survive his horrific injuries, and told his grief-stricken mum to prepare for the worst, but incredibly, he survived.

Video at the website
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2102461/Man-half-head-Carlos-Halfy-Rodriguez-explains-got-bizarre-injury.html#ixzz1msTTvNo0

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

பாஸிடிவ்

பெரியப்பாவிற்கு முன்பு நாங்கள் வைத்த பட்டப் பெயர் ''பாஸிடிவ்''. ''எதையும்''பாஸிடிவா'' பாருடா எத்தனை மோசமான சூழ்நிலையிலும் ஒரு ''பாஸிடிவ்'' அம்சம்இருக்கும். அதிலே கவனம் வை நீ ஜெயிச்சிடலாம்'' என்று அடிக்கடி சொல்வார். ''அரண்மனை மாதிரி வீடு, ஆறு காரு, ஏக்கர் கணக்கில் பூமி, ஏகப்பட்ட காசு, இதெல்லாம் இருக்கும்போது அவர் வேணும்னா இப்படிப் பேசலாம். நம்மள மாதிரி அடிமட்டத்தில் இருந்துகிட்டுத் தினசரி வாழ்க்கையில போராடிட்டு இருக்கிறவனுக்குத் தான்கஷ்டம்னா என்னான்னு தெரியும். ஜெயிக்க வேண்டாம், சமாளிக்கறதே பெரிய விஷயம்'' என்றுஅண்ணன் அவர் போனவுடன் கிண்டலடிப்பான். அவன் சொன்னதிலும் யதார்த்தம் இருந்தது. எது எப்படியோ? எனக்குச் சிறுவயதிலிருந்தே பெரியப்பா  ஹீரோ போலவே தெரிந்தார்.  தோற்றத்தில் ஒரு கம்பீரம், நடையில்ஒரு வேகம், எப்போதும் எதிலும் நல்லதையே பார்க்கும் ஒரு தனிப்பெரும் குணம் என எல்லாமாய்ச் சேர்ந்து அவரை ஒரு ஆதர்ஷ மனிதராக என் மனதில் ஆக்கியிருந்தன. வியாபாரத்தில் கொடி கட்டிப் பறந்த பெரியப்பாவிற்குக் கடந்த ஐந்துவருடங்களாக இறங்கு முகம். வீடு, கார், பூமி, சேர்த்த பணம் எல்லாம் போய் அண்ணன்சொன்ன அடிமட்டத்திற்கு அவரும் வந்துவிட்டார். திருமணமாகிப் பலவருடங்கள் கழித்துப்பிறந்ததால் அவரது ஒரே மகனும் தற்போது இன்ஜினியரிங் மூன்றாம் ஆண்டில்படிக்கிறான். அறுபது வயதில் அவர் மும்பையில் இருக்கும் தன் நண்பர் ஒருவர் ஹோட்டலில்மானேஜராக வேலை பார்த்து வருகிறார் என்றும் அவர் மிகச் சிறிய வாடகை வீட்டில் வசித்துவருகிறார் என்றும் கேள்விப்பட்டபோது எனக்கு மிகவும் வேதனையாக இருந்தது. அவர் மும்பைசென்ற பின் அவரை நேரில் பார்க்கச் சந்தர்ப்பம் கிடைக்கவில்லை. இப்போது ஆபீஸ் வேலைவிஷயமாக மும்பை வந்த எனக்கு அவரைப் பார்க்கவும், இப்போதும் அந்த ''பாசிடிவ்'' அணுகுமுறை அவரிடம் இருக்குமா என்று தெரிந்து கொள்ளவும் ஆர்வமாக இருந்தது. அந்தேரியில் அவர் வீட்டைக் கண்டுபிடிக்கச் சிறிது சிரமப்பட்டேன். கதவைத்திறந்து பெரியம்மா ''வாப்பா'' என்று ஆச்சரியத்துடன் வரவேற்றாள். பெரியம்மா கறுத்து, இளைத்திருந்தாள். பார்க்கப் பாவமாய் இருந்தது. ''பெரியப்பா இல்லையா?'' நான் கேட்டது உள்ளே பெரியப்பாவிற்குக் கேட்டிருக்க வேண்டும். ''வாடா.. உட்கார்'' என்றபடி உள்ளே இருந்து வந்தார். அன்று போலவே இன்றும் அவர் உற்சாகமாத்தான் தென்பட்டார். ஆனால், பெரியம்மா அப்படிச் சந்தோஷப்படும் மனநிலையில் இல்லை. பேசாமல் உள்ளேபோனாள். அவர்கள் மகன் எங்கோ வெளியே போயிருந்தான். பெரியப்பா வீட்டில் எல்லோரையும்விசாரித்தார். பொதுவாகச் சிறிது நேரம் பேசிக் கொண்டிருந்தோம். அரண்மனை போன்ற வீட்டில் அரசரைப் போல இருந்த பெரியப்பாவை இப்படியொருசூழ்நிலையில் பார்க்க எனக்கு மிகவும் கஷ்டமாகவும், ஜீரணிக்க முடியாமலும் இருந்தது.அதைக் குரல் கம்ம அவரிடம் சொல்லியே விட்டேன். பெரியப்பா அமைதியாகச் சொன்னார். ''கையை விட்டுப் போனதைப் பற்றியேநினைச்சுட்டிருந்தா இருக்கிறதோட அருமையை உணராமல் போயிடுவோம்டா. இப்பவும் நல்லாப்படிக்கிற மகன் இருக்கான். எனக்கு உழைக்கிற ஆரோக்கியம் இன்னமும் இருக்கு.அந்தேரியில் குறைஞ்ச வாடகையில் ஒரு வீடு கிடைச்சிருக்கு. சேர்த்து வைக்கக் காசுஇல்லாட்டியும் வாழ்க்கையை ஓட்டற அளவு வருமானம் இருக்கு. இப்படி ''இருக்கிற'' விஷயங்கள் இன்னமும் நிறைய இருக்கு'' பெரியம்மா காபியுடன் வந்தாள். ''உங்க தத்துவமெல்லாம் கொஞ்சம் நிறுத்துங்களேன். ஆரம்பத்தில் இருந்தே இல்லாமல் போறது வேறே... அனுபவிச்சு இழந்துட்டுக் கஷ்டப்படறது வேறே.. ஊம்.... எதுவும் நிரந்தரமில்லை!'' ''எதுவுமே நிரந்தரமில்லைன்னா நீ கஷ்டம்னு நினைக்கிற இது மாத்திரம்நிரந்தரமா என்ன? இதுவும் ஒரு நாள் மாறும். நீ என்னடா சொல்றே!'' என்றுபுன்சிரிப்புடன் என்னைக் கேட்டார். பிரமிப்புடன் தலையாட்டினேன் வெற்றியின் உச்சாணிக் கொம்பிலிருந்த போதுஇருந்த இடத்தைவிடப் பெரியப்பா என் மனதில் இன்னும் பல மடங்கு உயர்ந்தே போனார்.நிஜமாகவே பெரியப்பா ''பாசிடிவ்'' தான். ''ஆதலின் நிச்சயமாகத் துன்பத்துடன் இன்பம்இருக்கிறது. நிச்சயமாக துன்பத்துடன் இன்பம் இருக்கிறது.  ஒவ்வொருவருடைய வாழ்க்கையிலும்இன்பமும் துன்பமும் மாறி மாறித்தான் வரும் என்பதை பெரியப்பா நன்கு உணர்ந்தவராகஇருந்தார் என்பதை அனுபவசாலியான அவரது பதில் உணர்த்தியது.

Prati Shirdi

                          Prati- shirdi (Shirgav) is around 30-35 km from pune city, it is situated at Old Pune-mumbai Highway.
it is known by Prati shirdi. this is a very Huge & beautiful Temple. huge private parking is available there
there is very beautiful entrance is there. this temple built in only nine months, during this period people
experience sai babas Chamtkar for several times.it is replika of Sai Baba Mandir Shirdi.
Saibaba Mandir is built by Mr. Prakash K. Deole in 2003.Sai baba was very fames & gretest Saint in India, Sai means 
Sakshat Parmeshwar.people from all the comunity respect sai Baba. "Sabka Malik Ek" is the Favorite qoute of sai baba.
they took there Samadhi in 1918.

Mandir time-table of Daily Programs

Kakad Arti 5:15 am
Maha Abhishek 7:00am
Dopar Arti 12:00 Noon
Dhup Arti 6:15pm
Shej Arti 10:00 pm

Temple remains closed from 10:30pm to 5:00 am

Way to reach Prati Shirdi,Shirgaon

Pune(Swargate)--Chandni Chowk (Pune-Mumbai Highway)--- Mumbai-Pune highway --- Toll Naka near Somatane Phata --- Somatane Fata (Take left turn)


Address of Saibaba Mandir

Pratishirdi Shri Saibaba Mandir
Shirgaon, Somatane Fata, Taluka Maval,
Dist Pune 
Tel no: 021142-281468, 021142-231213