**Story of Appreciation**

This is a powerful message in our modern society.

We seemed to have lost our bearing & our sense of direction.
**Story of Appreciation**


One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research,

 never had a year when he did not score.
The director asked,

"Did you obtain any scholarships in school?"

the youth answered "none".
The director asked,

 " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"

The youth answered,

"My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.
The director asked,

 " Where did your mother work?"

The youth answered,

 "My mother worked as clothes cleaner.

The director requested the youth to show his hands.

The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.
The director asked,

 " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"

The youth answered,

"Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books.

Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.
The director said,

"I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.*

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.
The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.
This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.
After finishing the cleaning of his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.
That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.
Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.
The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked:

" Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"
The youth answered,

 " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'
The Director asked,

 " please tell me your feelings."
The youth said,

 

Number 1,

 I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today.

 

Number 2,

 by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.

 

Number 3,

I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said,

" This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.
Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.
A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality"and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts.

 

When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others.

 

For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement.

 

He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*
You can let your kid live in a big house, give him a Driver & Car for going around, Eat a Good Meal, learn Piano, Watch a Big Screen TV. But when you are Cutting Grass, please let them experience it. After a Meal, let them Wash their Plates and Bowls together with their Brothers and Sisters. Tell them to Travel in Public Bus, It is not because you do not have Money for Car or to Hire a Maid, but it is because you want to Love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will Grow Grey, same as the Mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done. 
You would have forwarded many mails to many and many of them would have back mailed you too...but try and forward this story to as many as possible...this may change somebody's fate...

Study: Facebook profile beats IQ test in predicting job performance

Can a person's Facebook profile reveal what kind of employee he or she might be? The answer is yes, and with unnerving accuracy, according to a new paper published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

And if you are smugly thinking to yourself, "I've carefully wiped my Facebook page of any incriminating photos, comments and wall posts," - well, it turns out you may still not have hidden your true nature from future employers: On a rating scale that examines key personality attributes that indicate future job success, you might get rated high in conscientiousness and possibly low on extroversion.

Other things a prospective employer might be able to glean from your Facebook profile is openness to new experiences (vacation pictures from a glacier off New Zealand), emotional stability (are your friends constantly offering you words of comfort?) and agreeableness (are you constantly arguing with "friends?").

In a series of two studies conducted by researchers at Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University, six people with experience in human resources were asked to rate a sample of 500 people in terms of key personality traits using only the sample group's Facebook pages as a guideline.

The raters were told to spend roughly five to 10 minutes with each person's Facebook page, and work on the project for no longer than one and a half hours per day to avoid fatigue. They were asked to rate members of the sample group on what is known as the "Big Five" personality traits, which includes extroversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness and openness to new experiences. High scores on these traits are generally accepted by human resources managers as an indication of future good job performance.

Members of the sample group were asked to give a self-evaluation and took an IQ test. In one study, researchers followed up with the employers of people in the sample group six months after their personality traits were rated, to ask questions about job performance.

The researchers found that the raters were generally in agreement about the personality traits expressed in the sample group's Facebook page, and that their ratings correlated strongly with self-rated personality traits. More importantly, they also found that the Facebook ratings were a more accurate way of predicting a person's job performance than an IQ test.

Although the study does suggest that looking at a job applicant's Facebook page can prove useful for employers, Donald Kluemper, the lead researcher on the study, said employers need to tread carefully here.

A Facebook page can provide a lot of information that it would be illegal for an employer to ask of a candidate in a phone interview. For instance, a person's gender, race, age and whether they have a disability might all be visible on that person's Facebook page.

Still, a 2011 study conducted by the social media service Reppler found that 90 percent of recruiters and hiring managers look at an applicant's Facebook page whether they should or not.

"This was an effort to provide some evidence that checking on a person's Facebook page might be valuable and might be useful," Kluemper said. "But I wouldn't go so far as to say that one study should be used as a reason to start using Facebook in hiring.

"Any other selection tool that is out there has been studied hundreds of thousands of times. Basically, there needs to be a lot more work done in this area."

(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times 
Distributed by MCT Information Services

"Study: Facebook profile beats IQ test in predicting job performance." March 2nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-facebook-profile-iq-job.html

Comment:
Just when did 'Emotional Stability' replace 'Neuroticism'???

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

'REST' is crucial for the timing of brain development

Researchers have just shown that the molecule REST acts as an adapter in stem cells, and hope that future studies of REST will contribute to the development of new types of treatments for diseases such as cancer.

Upon fertilisation, a single cell is formed when egg and sperm fuse. Our entire body, with more than 200 specialised cell types and billions of cells are formed from this single cell. It is a scientific mystery how the early stem cells know what cell type to become, but a precise timing of the process is crucial for correct development and function of our body. Researchers across the world chase knowledge about our stem cells, as this knowledge holds great promises for development of treatment against several major diseases. Researchers from BRIC, University of Copenhagen, have just shown that the molecule REST acts as an adapter in stem cells, coupling molecular on-off switches with neural genes and thereby times neuronal development.

"REST secure neuronal genes to be turned off in our stem cells until the correct time point in fetal life, where the molecule is lost and development of the nervous system begins. Our results are very important for the understanding of how genes are turned on and off during fetal development, but also relates to disease development such as cancer. Hopefully, our future studies of REST will contribute to the development of new types of treatments," says Associate Professor and Group Leader at BRIC, Klaus Hansen.

Genetic switches

All our cells contain the same DNA, yet they can develop into specialised cells with different shapes and functions. This ability is due to only selective genes being turned on in for example neuronal cells and other genes in liver cells and skin cells. Postdoc Nikolaj Dietrich from Klaus Hansen's laboratory has been the main driver of the investigation:

"Our results show that REST act as an adapter for the protein complexes called PRCs, connecting these complexes to neuronal genes. The PRCs are genetic switches turning off genes and therefore REST and the PRCs act in concert to shutdown neuronal genes. A similar mechanism has previously been described in fruit flies, but until now, no one has been able to identify such adapter-molecules in humans or other mammals. This has led to various biological hypotheses, but now we are able to show that this genetic mechanism has been conserved trough out evolution," says Nikolaj Dietrich.

Brain damage and brain tumors

REST and PRC are attached to neuronal genes in the early fetal stem cells, keeping neuronal genes turned off. During fetal development, REST disappears in cells that are determined to develop into neuronal cells, whereas the molecule is preserved in other cell types. REST is also preserved in special neuronal stem cells, ensuring that these cells maintain their stem cell properties. This is crucial if we experience damage to our nervous system later in life, as only the neuronal stem cells can repair the damage by giving rise to new neurons and thereby secure vital body functions. However, REST also appears to be associated with a higher risk of cancer:

"An increased amount of REST has been found in the brain tumor form called neuroblastoma. Some of our results indicate that REST may be involved in cancer, as the molecule can turn off some growth-inhibitory and cancer-protective genes called tumor suppressors. This possible action of REST is the focus of ongoing studies," says Nikolaj Dietrich.

More information: The results have just been published in the international scientific journal PLoS Genetics: REST-Mediated Recruitment of Polycomb Repressor Complexes in Mammalian Cells, Dietrich et al. March 1, 2012.

Provided by University of Copenhagen

"'REST' is crucial for the timing of brain development." March 2nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-rest-crucial-brain.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Study links spanking and genetics to childhood aggression

(Medical Xpress) -- A study co-authored by UT Dallas criminologist Dr.  J.C. Barnes shows that the risk of problem behavior during childhood — particularly for boys — is greatly increased if children have genetic predispositions for these behaviors and if they are spanked by their parents.

“We found that genetic factors affect which children display aggressive behavior, but we also found that genetic factors matter more when children were exposed to spanking as a disciplinary tactic,” said Barnes, an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.

The study titled, “Physical Punishment and Childhood Aggression: The Role of Gender and Gene–Environment Interplay,” was recently published in the journal Aggressive Behavior. The researchers examined data from children who were 9 months to 5 years old. The information was collected from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort.

Barnes said the researchers found a link between genetic predisposition and environmental influences — in this case, spanking — only in boys.

“It did not affect females,” he said. “Males who were spanked and had the highest genetic risks displayed the most aggressive behavior compared to other males.”

Acts of aggression included temper tantrums and disruptive behavior, for example. Barnes said the researchers have been studying childhood levels of aggression to see how and why  they are influenced by genetic risks. Genetic risk was measured by utilizing what is known as the twin methodology, a study design that allows for the comparison of twin concordance as a way to identify heritable influences on a trait.

The study’s findings could be an indicator of when interventions may be most beneficial, Barnes said.

“Since we’re tracing back to early childhood, which is a formative time, that suggests interventions could be targeted to that early time point in the life course,” he said. “The targeted intervention may be to reduce spanking across the board.”

Provided by University of Texas at Dallas

"Study links spanking and genetics to childhood aggression." March 2nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-links-spanking-genetics-childhood-aggression.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

ARE YOU A GOOD FIT FOR FREELANCING?

Do Women Make Better Independent Contractors?

One longtime female freelancer says women are better suited for the Gig Economy. Here are three reasons why.

“Am I to infer from your article that only women are contractors? A little sexist isn’t it?” the email read. “Surely it is not beyond the wit of a journalist to write an article without resorting to the clumsy she/he pc rubbish.”

That email came from a reader who read my first Gig Economy column earlier this month: “5 Traits Your Next Freelancer Must Have.” In the post, the proverbial “freelancer” was referred to as “she” or “her,” rather than “he” or “him.”

In fact, I hadn’t designated the generic independent contractor a female. As I informed my angry reader, my editor had done that. But the exchange got me thinking.

Are women better independent contractors than men? A few reasons why we might be:

1. We’re more empathetic.

Well, actually, it’s a little more complicated than that. Dr. William Ickes has been studying empathy for over two decades, and his findings are interesting. In “Where Is Women’s Intuition?” he recounts research studies in which he and his colleagues attempted to figure out which gender was more empathic. They stumbled upon an interesting twist: Men and women scored similarly when they were not aware they were being tested on empathy; however, when they knew they were being measured for empathy, the women scored higher. When the researchers tried different ways of motivating the men to be more empathetic, they finally hit on the right incentive: money.

Culturally, women are programmed to believe they excel at empathy. It’s a gender stereotype, yes, but many women try to live up to it nonetheless. As an independent contractor, it pays to be empathetic. It’s not about what you want. It’s about what the client wants. So women who are independent contractors know they have to think empathetically to win and keep clients. If they don’t, they’re out of a job.

Sure, men will rise to the occasion when it comes to your project—if you pay them enough. But women will do it because they think they’re supposed to—not because you overpaid them to do it.

2. We’re more creative.

According to a 2008 Pew Research Center survey—”Men or Women: Who’s the Better Leader?“—we certainly believe women are more creative than men. Sixty-four percent of Americans declared women more creative, and 11 percent declared men more creative.

My experience is that while both genders may have equal capacity to think creatively, it’s more culturally acceptable for women to employ their creativity than men. In my dealings with men in the last decade-plus I’ve worked as an independent contractor, I’ve found men are more likely to be direct, but women are more likely to offer multiple creative solutions to problems. Where men will fight—often effectively—for their vision, women are more likely to move into what I call “shape-shifter” mode, exploring various possible solutions to a challenge, rather than trying to drive one square peg through a round hole.

3. We’re more comfortable with the gig lifestyle.

Meet Freelance Fred, if you haven’t already. The meme pokes fun at the freelancer lifestyle and the impossibilities of managing people who don’t even put on pants before they go to work. Freelance Fred never gets off the couch, his desk is his laptop balanced on his knees, and he spends all his time cruising Reddit instead of getting anything done.

Continue reading this article at INC.com after the break!

 

SIX WAYS TO EASILY MONITOR YOUR INVESTMENTS

How to Track Your Investments

Two key parts of investing are how much money you contribute and how your investments perform. Tracking that performance will show you how much more money you need to put in to to hit your investing goals. But how important is monitoring your investment performance? Should it be done on an annual, quarterly, monthly, or weekly basis? Or should you just leave well enough alone and just keep investing your funds periodically?

Why You Should Track Your Investments

There are two great reasons to keep tabs on your investments, keeping the right balance of investments in your portfolio and tracking progress towards your goals.

Know When to Rebalance

It’s recommended that you rebalance your investments at least once per year to keep your asset allocation in line with your investment risk profile. Take the mix of stocks and bonds in your portfolio for example. If your goal is to have 70% of your investments in stocks and 30% in bonds, it won’t exactly be that amount every day. If stocks skyrocket, your balance might swing to 77% stocks and 23% bonds. Rebalancing is selling off some of the stock investments and reinvesting the dollars into bond investments to get back to a 70%/30% mix. If you don’t monitor your investments, you won’t know how badly your investments need rebalancing.

Track Progress Towards Your Investing Goals

Without knowing how your investments are performing, how can you track your progress toward your retirement goal? If you have a great stretch of years with large growth in your investments that puts you ahead of your goals you might decide to invest some of your retirement savings in something other than the stock market. On the other hand, if your investments have poor performance you might need to put more dollars in every year. If you aren’t tracking those investments you don’t know whether or not you need to adjust your investment strategy.

Why You Shouldn’t Monitor Your Investments

Keeping tabs on your investments is a great thing, but you can easily overdo it. Constantly monitoring your investments can be an emotional drain and can cause you to make rash decisions.

Emotional Reactions

The stock market and your portfolio are going to have regular ups and downs. Sometimes severe ups and downs. The worst thing you can do when your portfolio takes a serious change is to panic. If you are constantly monitoring your investments you are more apt to try and make constant changes. You are better served to set a steady course and not panic when things change drastically overnight.

So we’ve looked at the good and bad implications of keeping regular tabs on your investments, now we’ll talk about a few different ways to track your investments.

Investment Brokerage Firm

The easiest way to monitor your investments is through your brokerage firm or mutual fund company.  Since they hold your investments this requires the least amount of setup, they have a record of what you own and report on it.  Some fund companies make tracking tools available even if you don’t hold investments through them – for example the T Rowe Price Portfolio Manager.

Whether through paper statements or online, you should be able to get access to your short and long term performance through your brokerage account. Online access is obviously easier, but you have to be careful that you don’t become obsessed with checking it every single day. One nice thing about keeping your paper statements is that you can sit down with 12 months or even several years of statements and look back at how your money has performed.

Continue reading this email at MoneySmartLife.com after the break!

 

Violent relationships likely detrimental to good parenting

Couples who are married or living together will probably have more trouble parenting as a team if they have been violent toward one another during pregnancy, according to a team of psychologists.

"This finding is helpful because working as a parenting team, in what we call the co-parenting relationship, is a key influence on everything from mothers' postpartum depression to sensitive parenting to the children's emotional and social adjustment," said Mark E. Feinberg, research professor, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Penn State.

Researchers interviewed 156 expectant couples at three different times -- once before the baby was born, again about six months after the birth of the child and a final time, when the baby was approximately 13 months old. The interviews determined the degree of physical violence between couples prior to the birth of the baby and how well couples were able to act as a team while parenting, after the baby was born.

"The results suggest that working with couples to curtail or prevent violence in their relationships before the birth of their child may have positive implications for the development of co-parenting relationships after the child is born," said the researchers.

The researchers reported in the current issue of the Journal of Family Issues that 29.8 percent of mothers acted violently at least once in the past year, while 17.3 percent of fathers acted violently. Finding mothers to be more violent than fathers is not an uncommon discovery in average community samples, according to the researchers.

"In our sample it seemed to be the 'common couple' type of violence that occurred, not the controlling and severe abuse that people think of when they think of domestic violence," said Marni L. Kan, Ph.D. recipient in human development and family studies at Penn State, now a research psychologist with RTI International in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Common couple violence incidents are fairly high, especially for couples with young children, Feinberg said. This type of violence is characterized by actions like shoving, slapping and hitting and is usually not intended to control the partner but occurs out of frustration in the middle of an argument. Both partners are equally likely to participate in common couple violence.

"It is important to pay attention to prenatal violence and risk, because low levels of violence among couples may get worse with the stress of parenting small children," said Feinberg. "And there's a lot of overlap between couple violence and child maltreatment."

Only expectant couples were eligible to enroll in the study. Each individual completed a form that asked a series of questions about physical aggression and behavior in the couple's relationship -- such as, did you push or shove your partner? Did you choke your partner? Did you twist your partner's arm?

Questions were each answered with a frequency measure -- did this behavior happen zero times in the past year? Five times in the past year? More than 20 times in the past year?

The participants answered questions pertaining to both their own behavior and their partner's behavior.

After the child was born, participants filled out another survey that looked at the co-parental alliance. Participants were asked to rate whether statements were true for their relationship, such as, "My partner and I have the same goals for our child," "My relationship with my partner is stronger now than before we had a child," and "My partner does not trust my parenting abilities." The higher the score a couple received, the better they were determined to be at parenting as a team.

"A unique element of our research is that we included couples," said Kan. "A lot of research on violence focuses on female victims. Also, having both parents followed after the birth of the child is unique. Often the moms are reporting, but the dads don't have a say."

Provided by Pennsylvania State University

"Violent relationships likely detrimental to good parenting." March 2nd, 2012. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-violent-relationships-detrimental-good-parenting.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

தமிழின் சிறப்புணர்த்தும் அடைமொழிகள்.

1)அந்தமிழ்:- அம் + தமிழ் = அழகிய தமிழ் 2)அருந்தமிழ்:- அருமை + தமிழ் = அருமைபாடுடைய தமிழ் 3)அழகுதமிழ்:- எல்லாவகையிலும் அழகுநலம் மிக்க தமிழ் 4)அமுதத்தமிழ்:- அமுதம் போன்று வாழ்வளிக்கும் தமிழ் 5)அணித்தமிழ்:- அணிநலன்கள் அமைந்த தமிழ், தமிழினம் பெருமிதமுறும் அணியாக இலங்கும் தமிழ் 6)அன்னைத்தமிழ்:- நம் அன்னையாகவும் மொழிகளுக்கெல்லாம் அன்னையாகவும் விளங்கும் தமிழ் 7)இசைத்தமிழ்:- முத்தமிழில் ஒரு பிரிவு (இசை மொழியின் கூறாவது ஏனைய மொழிகளுக்கு இல்லாத சிறப்பு) 8)இயற்றமிழ்:- முத்தமிழின் மற்றொரு பிரிவு. ஆயகலை அறுபத்து நான்கும் அவற்றின் வழிவந்தனவும் உணர்த்தும் அறிவுநூல்கள் அடங்கியது 9)இன்றமிழ்:- இனிக்கும் தமிழ் (ஒலிக்க, உரைக்க, சிந்திக்க, செவிமடுக்க, எழுத, இசைக்க என எதற்கும் இனியது) 10)இன்பத் தமிழ்:- இன்பூட்டும் ஒலியமைப்பும் மொழியமைப்பும் இலக்கண இலக்கிய மரபும் கொண்டு, கற்பவர்க்கு எஞ்ஞான்றும் இன்பம் பயப்பது. 11)எந்தமிழ்:- எம் + தமிழ் (கால்டுவெல், போப்பு போன்ற பிறமொழிச் சான்றோரும், கற்றதும் ‘எந்தமிழ்’ என்று பெருமித உரிமை பாராட்டும் தமிழ்) 12)உகக்குந்தமிழ்:- மகிழ்ச்சியளிக்கும் தமிழ் 13)ஒண்டமிழ்:- ஒண்மை + தமிழ் (அறிவின் செறிவும் நுட்பமும் கொண்டு ஒளிதரும் தமிழ்) 14)கனித்தமிழ்:- கனிகள் போன்ற இயற்கைச் சுவையுடைய தமிழ் 15)கற்கண்டுத்தமிழ்:- கற்கண்டு கடிதாய் இருப்பினும் சுவைக்கச் சுவைக்கக் கரைந்து இனிமை தருவது போல, அடர்ந்து செறிந்த நிலையிலும் மாந்தமாந்த மேலும் மேலும் இன்பம் பயக்கும் தமிழ் 16)கன்னித் தமிழ்:- எந்நிலையிலும் தனித்தன்மை கெடாமலும் இளமைநலம் குன்றாமலும் விளங்கும் தமிழ் 17)சங்கத்தமிழ்:- மன்னர்களாலும் புலவர்களாலும் சங்கங்கள் அமைத்துப் போற்றி வளர்க்கப்பட்டத் தமிழ் 18)சுடர்தமிழ்:- அறிவுக்கும் உணர்வுக்கும் சுடர்தரும் தமிழ் 19)சுவைத்தமிழ்:- சொற்சுவை, பொருட்சுவை, கலைச்சுவை, கருத்துச்சுவை என எல்லாச் சுவையும் செறிந்தது 20)செந்தமிழ்:- செம்மை + தமிழ் = எல்லா வகையிலும் செம்மை உடையது         (செந்தமிழ் தகைமையால் அன்றே செந்தமிழ் எனப்பட்டது தமிழ்) 21)செழுந்தமிழ்:- செழுமை + தமிழ் – வளம் குன்றாத தமிழ் 22)தனித்தமிழ்:- தன்னேரிலாத தனித்தன்மை வாய்ந்த தமிழ் 23)தண்டமிழ்:- தண்மை + தமிழ் – குளிர்ச்சி நிறைந்தது 24)தாய்த்தமிழ்:- தமிழினத்தின் தாயாகவும் மொழிகளுக்கெல்லாம் தாயாகவும் மூலமாகவும் விளங்கும் தமிழ் 25)தீந்தமிழ்:- (தேன் > தேம் > தீம்) இனிமை நிறைந்த தமிழ் 26)தெய்வத்தமிழ்:- தெய்வத்தன்மை வாய்ந்தது 27)தேன்தமிழ்:- நாவுக்கும் செவிக்கும் சிந்தைக்கும் இனிமை பயக்கும் தமிழ் 28)பசுந்தமிழ்:- பசுமை + தமிழ் – என்றும் தொடந்து செழித்து வளரும் தமிழ் 29)பைந்தமிழ்:- பைம்மை + தமிழ் (பசுமை > பைம்மை) 30)பழந்தமிழ்:- பழமையும் தொடக்கமும் அறியாத தொன்மையுடைய தமிழ் 31)பாற்றமிழ்:- பால் + தமிழ் – பால் போன்று தூய்மையிலும் சுவையிலும் தன்மையிலும் இயற்கையானது 32)பாகுதமிழ்:- வெம்மையிலும் வெல்லம் உருகிப் பாகாகி மிகுசுவை தருவது போன்று, காய்தலிலும் கடிதலிலும் நயம் குறையாதது 33)நற்றமிழ்:- நன்மை + தமிழ் – இனிய, எளிய முறையில் எழுதவும் கற்கவும் பேசவும் கருவியாகி நன்மைகள் விளையத் துணைபுரிவது 34)நாடகத்தமிழ்:- முத்தமிழுள் ஒன்று – நாடகத்தின் மெய்ப்பாடுகளை நுட்பமாய் உணர்த்தும் சொல்வளமும் பொருள்வளமும் ஒலிநயமும் நிறைந்தது 35)மாத்தமிழ்:- மா – பெரிய – பெருமைமிக்க தமிழ் (மங்கலப் பொருளுணர்த்தும் உரிச்சொல் மா) 36)முத்தமிழ்:- இயல், இசை, நாடகம் என முத்திறம் கொண்டு அமைந்த தமிழ் 37)வண்டமிழ்:- வண்மை + தமிழ் (வளஞ்செறிந்த தமிழ்) 38)வளர்தமிழ்:- காலந்தொறும் வளர்ந்துகொண்டே வரும் தமிழ் தரவு: பேராசிரியர் முனைவர் இ.மறைமலை வாழ்த்துக்களுடன் தமிழச்சி

New high definition fiber tracking reveals damage caused by traumatic brain injury

A powerful new imaging technique called High Definition Fiber Tracking (HDFT) will allow doctors to clearly see for the first time neural connections broken by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other disorders, much like X-rays show a fractured bone, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh in a report published online today in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

In the report, the researchers describe the case of a 32-year-old man who wasn't wearing a helmet when his all-terrain vehicle crashed. Initially, his CT scans showed bleeding and swelling on the right side of the brain, which controls left-sided body movement. A week later, while the man was still in a coma, a conventional MRI scan showed brain bruising and swelling in the same area. When he awoke three weeks later, the man couldn't move his left leg, arm and hand.

"There are about 1.7 million cases of TBI in the country each year, and all too often conventional scans show no injury or show improvement over time even though the patient continues to struggle," said co-senior author and UPMC neurosurgeon David O. Okonkwo, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Neurological Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine. "Until now, we have had no objective way of identifying how the injury damaged the patient's brain tissue, predicting how the patient would fare, or planning rehabilitation to maximize the recovery."

HDFT might be able to provide those answers, said co-senior author Walter Schneider, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Pitt's Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC), who led the team that developed the technology. Data from sophisticated MRI scanners is processed through computer algorithms to reveal the wiring of the brain in vivid detail and to pinpoint breaks in the cables, called fiber tracts. Each tract contains millions of neuronal connections.

"In our experiments, HDFT has been able to identify disruptions in neural pathways with a clarity that no other method can see," Dr. Schneider said. "With it, we can virtually dissect 40 major fiber tracts in the brain to find damaged areas and quantify the proportion of fibers lost relative to the uninjured side of the brain or to the brains of healthy individuals. Now, we can clearly see breaks and identify which parts of the brain have lost connections."

HDFT scans of the study patient's brain were performed four and 10 months after he was injured; he also had another scan performed with current state-of the-art diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), an imaging modality that collects data points from 51 directions, while HDFT is based on data from 257 directions. For the latter, the injury site was compared to the healthy side of his brain, as well as to HDFT brain scans from six healthy individuals.

Only the HDFT scan identified a lesion in a motor fiber pathway of the brain that correlated with the patient's symptoms of left-sided weakness, including mostly intact fibers in the region controlling his left leg and extensive breaks in the region controlling his left hand. The patient eventually recovered movement in his left leg and arm by six months after the accident, but still could not use his wrist and fingers effectively 10 months later.

Memory loss, language problems, personality changes and other brain changes occur with TBI, which the researchers are exploring with HDFT in other research protocols.

UPMC neurosurgeons also have used the technology to supplement conventional imaging, noted Robert Friedlander, M.D., professor and chair, Department of Neurological Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine, and UPMC Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurobiology. He is not a member of this research study.

"I have used HDFT scans to map my approach to removing certain tumors and vascular abnormalities that lie in areas of the brain that cannot be reached without going through normal tissue," he said. "It shows me where significant functional pathways are relative to the lesion, so that I can make better decisions about which fiber tracts must be avoided and what might be an acceptable sacrifice to maintain the patient's best quality of life after surgery."

Dr. Okonkwo noted that the patient and his family were relieved to learn that there was evidence of brain damage to explain his ongoing difficulties. The team continues to evaluate and validate HDFT's utility as a brain imaging tool, so it is not yet routinely available.

"We have been wowed by the detailed, meaningful images we can get with this technology," Dr. Okonkwo said. "HDFT has the potential to be a game-changer in the way we handle TBI and other brain disorders."

Provided by University of Pittsburgh

"New high definition fiber tracking reveals damage caused by traumatic brain injury." March 2nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-high-definition-fiber-tracking-reveals.html

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Finding unseen damage of traumatic brain injury

March 2nd, 2012 in Neuroscience 
This undated handout artist rendering provided by the Schneider Lab, University of Pittsburgh shows an experimental type of scan showing damage to the brain’s nerve fibers after a traumatic brain injury. The yellow shows missing fibers on one side of the brain, as compared to the uninjured side in green, in a man left with limited use of his left arm and hand. The soldier on the fringes of an explosion. The survivor of a car wreck. The football player who took yet another skull-rattling hit. Too often, only time can tell when a traumatic brain injury will leave lasting harm _ there's no good way to diagnose the damage. Now scientists are testing a tool that promises to light up breaks that these injuries leave in the brain's wiring, much like X-rays show broken bones. (AP Photo/Schneider Lab, University of Pittsburgh)

The soldier on the fringes of an explosion. The survivor of a car wreck. The football player who took yet another skull-rattling hit. Too often, only time can tell when a traumatic brain injury will leave lasting harm - there's no good way to diagnose the damage.

Now scientists are testing a tool that lights up the breaks these injuries leave deep in the brain's wiring, much like X-rays show broken bones.

Research is just beginning in civilian and military patients to learn if this new kind of MRI-based test really could pinpoint their injuries and one day guide rehabilitation. It's an example of the hunt for better brain scans, maybe even a blood test, to finally tell when a blow to the head causes damage that today's standard testing simply can't see.

"We now have, for the first time, the ability to make visible these previously invisible wounds," says Walter Schneider of the University of Pittsburgh, who is leading development of the experimental scan. "If you cannot see or quantify the damage, it is hard to treat it."

About 1.7 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury, or TBI, in the U.S. each year. Some survivors suffer obvious disability, but most TBIs are concussions or other milder injuries that generally heal on their own. TBI also is a signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, affecting more than 200,000 soldiers by military estimates.

Not being able to see underlying damage leads to frustration for patients and doctors alike, says Dr. Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Some people experience memory loss, mood changes or other problems after what was deemed a mild concussion, only to have CT scans indicate nothing's wrong.

Repeated concussions raise the risk of developing permanent neurologic problems later in life, a concern highlighted when some retired football players sued the National Football League. But Koroshetz says there's no way to tell how much damage someone is accumulating, if the next blow "is really going to cause big trouble."

And with more serious head injuries, standard scans cannot see beyond bleeding or swelling to tell if the brain's connections are broken in a way it can't repair on its own.

"You can have a patient with severe swelling who goes on to have a normal recovery, and patients with severe swelling who go on to die," says Dr. David Okonkwo, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center neurosurgeon who is part of the research. Current testing "doesn't tell you what the consequence of that head injury is going to be."

Hence the increasing research into new options for diagnosing TBI. In a report published Friday in the Journal of Neurosurgery, Schneider's team describes one potential candidate, called high-definition fiber tracking.

Brain cells communicate with each other through a system of axons, or nerve fibers, that acts like a telephone network. They make up what's called the white matter of the brain, and run along fiber tracts, cable-like highways containing millions of connections.

The new scan processes high-powered MRIs through a special computer program to map major fiber tracts, painting them in vivid greens, yellows and purples that designate their different functions. Researchers look for breaks in the fibers that could slow, even stop, those nerve connections from doing their assigned job.

Daniel Stunkard of New Castle, Pa., is among the first 50 TBI patients in Pitt's testing. The 32-year-old spent three weeks in a coma after his all-terrain vehicle crashed in late 2010. CT and regular MRI scans showed only some bruising and swelling, unable to predict if he'd wake up and in what shape.

When Stunkard did awaken, he couldn't move his left leg, arm or hand. Doctors started rehabilitation in hopes of stimulating healing, and Okonkwo says the high-def fiber tracking predicted what happened. The scan found partial breaks in nerve fibers that control the leg and arm, and extensive damage to those controlling the hand. In six months, Stunkard was walking. He now has some arm motion. But he still can't use his hand, his fingers curled tightly into a ball. Okonkwo says those nerve fibers were too far gone for repair.

"They pretty much knew right off the bat that I was going to have problems," Stunkard says. "I'm glad they did tell me. I just wish the number (of missing fibers) had been a little better."

The new tool promises a much closer look at nerve fibers than is now possible through a technique called diffusion tensor imaging, says Dr. Rocco Armonda, a neurosurgeon at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

"It's like comparing your fuzzy screen black-and-white TV with a high-definition TV," he says.

Armonda soon will begin studying the high-def scan on soldiers being treated for TBI at Walter Reed, to see if its findings correlate with their injuries and recovery. It's work that could take years to prove.

Other attempts are in the pipeline. For example, the military is studying whether a souped-up kind of CT scan could help spot TBI by measuring changes in blood flow inside the brain. The National Institutes of Health is funding a search for substances that might leak into the bloodstream after a brain injury, allowing for a blood test that might at least tell "if a kid can go back to sports next week," Koroshetz says.

He cautions that just finding an abnormality doesn't mean it's to blame for someone's symptoms.

And however the hunt for better tests pans out, Walter Reed's Armonda says the bigger message is to take steps to protect your brain.

"What makes the biggest difference is everybody - little kids riding their bicycles, athletes playing sports, soldiers at war - is aware of TBI," he says.

©2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

"Finding unseen damage of traumatic brain injury." March 2nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-unseen-traumatic-brain-injury.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek