Truth

All of us are taught this basic value very early in our lives. Our parents and teachers stressed on the need and importance of being truthful. Some of us were even punished for deviating from the path. And, although we know this value well and even preach it to and expect it from others, we sometimes indulge in falsehood. In today�s world, there are very rare people who show a strong commitment to truth. Most of us lie without batting an eyelid.

Why do we lie? If we think deeply the reasons for lying are not many. It is mostly prompted by a sense of selfishness and a desire for obtaining something that we would otherwise lose. Some of the major reasons for us to lie are given below:
a. We lie to cover up our mistakes / failures / dishonesty
b. We lie to mislead others whom we distrust
c. We lie to protect ourselves
d. We lie to realise our desires
e. We lie for fun

Every lie that we utter adds to the negative Karma that we accumulate. Not only will lies boomerang on us but we will need to use more lies to cover previous ones. When we do get caught, as we eventually will, we stand to lose a lot in terms of trust and credibility. On the other hand, we will derive a lot of spiritual strength by resorting to truthfulness. It will form a protective sheath around us. We can overcome fear with truth.

If there is a strong will to be truthful it can easily be achieved. It starts with a deep sense of commitment to living a life of truth. We can overcome the urge to utter falsehood if:
a. We lead an honest and upright life
b. We seek nothing and accept everything
c. We have absolute trust and faith in God

Resolve now to be truthful henceforth!!

Austerity of speech consists of speaking truthfully and beneficially and in avoiding speech that offends 
- Bhagavad Gita

Only sacred thoughts can lead to sacred speech. The tongue has been given to man to speak the truth, to be sweet to others, to praise the Divine and enjoy bliss from such sacred speech 
� Lord Buddha

Always tell the truth. Then you'll never have to remember what you said the last time. 
- Sam Rayburn

It does not require many words to speak the truth. 
- Chief Joseph 

courtesy:values for life.

Natural Concentration

“The mystic (yogi) tries to concentrate upon the Supersoul by controlling the senses from all other engagements, and thus he ultimately attains samadhi. A devotee more easily attains samadhi, or trance, by constantly remembering the Lord's personal feature along with His holy name, fame, pastimes, etc. Therefore, the concentration of the mystic yogi and that of the devotee are not on the same level. The concentration of the mystic is mechanical, whereas that of the pure devotee is natural in pure love and spontaneous affection.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.9.39 Purport) When learning a new skill, there is the mechanical approach, wherein one accepts certain tools and tricks and then tries to implement them through steady practice. This method is helpful considering the difficulty of the skill being learned, but for the person who is naturally prone to such behavior there is not a problem at all. In many instances the person providing the instruction developed the technique through their own ability and then only after the fact performed some review to decipher the specific mechanics that went into their technique. In a similar manner, there is a way to reach the highest end of divine trance, or samadhi, through a mechanical method, but the natural approach is always more effective and easier to implement. Those who practice the latter method are so immersed in blissful thoughts of the divine that they don’t even know they are trying for samadhi. Picture an expert ice hockey player, who can shoot the puck up to 100 miles per hour. Perhaps in their youth they were taught the proper skating technique and how to put weight into the shot, but nevertheless, not every professional hockey player has a hard shot. The bending of the stick and the right timing of skating and backswing all go into the perfect shot that is both fast and accurate. Those with a hard shot can try teaching their technique to others, but likely their own ability was developed naturally. It was already within them, so they figured out how to extract it on their own, without following a mechanical approach aimed at reaching the future end. For the spirit soul trapped in a cycle of birth and death, some instruction is required in order to find the highest end. This is because by default the animal instincts take over. Leave a child to play for the rest of their lives and they will never learn anything. That’s why during the critical early years, when the child is willing to listen to parents, education is imposed. Without some sort of discipline, the hyperactive senses of the child would run wild, causing them to be spoiled and grow up to have a difficult time coping with life. In the larger scheme, the living entity in general is prone towards eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Divine trance is on the opposite end of the spectrum. It occurs when the aforementioned activities take a back seat, when they are done as a matter of fact rather than a matter of pleasure. This shouldn’t be that difficult to understand, for if we have a higher engagement, we will only eat what is required to maintain the body. Sleep will be a necessary evil, not something we truly relish. Mating and defense also take on a minimal role, for the mind will be focused on something else. There are two pathways towards samadhi. One is mechanical. It involves some sort of austerity, with the senses controlled through niyama, or regulation. There are also breathing exercises, sitting postures, and specific meditation techniques that further purify consciousness and reduce the influence of the senses, which are likened to serpents with deadly fangs. The mechanical route essentially removes those fangs. The mechanical approach is appealing because there is no sectarian designation. No one is going to hell if they don’t practice yoga, and neither are they dedicating their worship to a distinct figure of a specific tradition. If they will recite any name at all for the divine, it will be the impersonal sound representation of the Absolute Truth, om. Find a peaceful spot, sit quietly, chant om for a while, and then go back to what you were doing. It is this last piece that causes the whole system to break down. Meditational yoga is introduced in the Vedas, which come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord is known as Brahman, and since it lacks opportunity for personal interaction, those who try to connect with it find the path very difficult. Meditation on Brahman is meant to be a full-time engagement, not something that you do for five minutes a day. Think of it in terms of exercise. If I spent one hour in the gym each day but then ate without control the rest of the time, what good will my exercise do? In the same manner, if the yogi follows the dictates of the senses for the majority of the day, their yoga practice will not do much for them. Therefore it is not surprising that the mechanical process aimed at finding samadhi has degraded to the point that just the extraneous health benefits are now sought. Forget the spiritual component, do yoga so that your body’s internals will be in balance, so that you can enjoy your life of sense gratification even more. The natural process is much more beneficial. It is known as bhakti-yoga because it involves love directed at the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are mechanical components to it in the beginning, but in the stage of maturation there is no conscious thought given to practicing any type of discipline. Rather, the devotee connected to God almost spits at the thought of practicing yoga, for the term implies that there is some benefit the devotee is trying to acquire. It’s like a friend going up to you and complimenting you on your parenting abilities, how you are doing a good job raising your kids. For the good parent, there is no specific reward sought for dedicating your life to protecting your child. You’re not in it for the attention or the pat on the back; the dedication comes naturally. The path of devotion ideally leads to a point where the worship of God takes place spontaneously, throughout the day. One can be cooking, cleaning, watching television, or even driving and still be in samadhi by thinking of the forms, pastimes and names of the Supreme Lord, who is addressed as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness. Like an iron rod that eventually turns into fire upon steady contact with a scorching flame, the devotee eventually becomes completely spiritualized through enough contact with the personal aspect of the Lord. That same Krishna descended to earth some five thousand years ago and spent a significant amount of time engaged in delightful pastimes in the farm community of Vrindavana. As time passed, Krishna had to depart for the neighboring town of Mathura, leaving the cowherd women, the gopis, most affected by the separation. Shortly after He left, Krishna sent His cousin Uddhava to deliver them a message. Uddhava looked just like Krishna, so at first glance the gopis thought that maybe Krishna was returning to them. When it came time for Uddhava to speak, the gopis were more interested in Krishna’s welfare than the message He had given. Through Uddhava, Krishna told the gopis that they were the topmost yogis. They had abandoned attachment to their husbands, friends and family in favor of loving the Lord, and for this there was no way Krishna could repay them. He declared that they were exemplary devotees, and that they should be proud of their exalted position. This is some lofty praise. If your aim is to be a mystic that reaches the samadhi stage, this news confirms that your yoga practice is going very well. Ironically, the gopis did not like this message. Granted, they loved hearing Krishna’s words and the chance to think about Him, but they paid no attention to the descriptions of yoga. What did they care if they were practicing yoga? They just wanted to know if Krishna remembered them and those moonlit nights in the forest when they all danced together. Did He miss them? Was He happy as a king? Was He ever going to come back? Uddhava was overwhelmed with appreciation for the gopis and their behavior. Though the gopis didn’t know it, they were exhibiting all the signs of samadhi, the goal for the mystic yogi. Because they only wanted to think about Krishna and love Him, they had no need for the mechanical processes of yoga, nor hearing about how they were practicing mysticism so well by concentrating on Krishna. Through their reaction to Krishna’s message, the gopis showed that the Lord was indeed correct about their position as the greatest yogis. The simplest method of yoga and the most effective are one and the same. Regularly chanting, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, reignites the devotional flame that is inside all of us. This sacred mantra also addresses the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord, whom the gopis represent as well. Therefore “Hare Krishna” calls both the author of the message delivered by Uddhava and the recipients. The underlying request with the perfect prayer that is the maha-mantra is to have the ability to practice devotion spontaneously, to be immersed in blissful thoughts of the delight of Vrindavana, the life and soul of the gopis, and the author of everything good that ever was, is, and will be in the future. With a humble request made at the feet of the object of yoga, the need for the mechanical path goes away, as it becomes unappealing at the same time. The devotional path is always superior because it directly leads to Krishna, whose association is most cherished. In Closing: By following yoga’s mechanical process, One can surely reach a point of success. The forced restraint and practice gives chance, To reach position of full divine trance. But in reaching pleasure no need for force, Divine love charters simpler and better course. Just think of Krishna always like gopis did, Shyamasundara from their minds couldn’t rid. Their supreme standing messenger Uddhava could tell, Their hearts and minds to Krishna the gopis did sell.

Cancer proteins' bond exposed

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Share on print A fractal design that resembles the molecular structure of a protein. Using the Australian Synchrotron, the researchers worked out how two human proteins involved in cancer cells work together. Image: fabiofs/iStockphoto Researchers at The University of Western Australia and the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) have revealed a ground-breaking new molecular structure formed by two human proteins involved in turning genes on and off in cancer. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, reveals a tight embrace between the proteins NONO and PSPC1 that explains for the first time how they work together inside cancer cells. The combination of structural biology studies carried out at the Australian Synchrotron (Clayton, VIC) and high-resolution microscopy studies carried out at WAIMR, explains not only how the proteins can act together but also where in the cell they act. Lead author Professor Charlie Bond, from UWA's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said that while previous studies had shown the importance of these proteins to cells and cancers, this is the first time researchers had a picture of what they look like. "Proteins in our cells are like very tiny machines," Professor Bond said.  "In order to understand how they work and develop drugs against them, we have to magnify them.  By combining microscopy and a sophisticated technique called crystallography, we have been able to observe the detailed atomic structure of NONO and PSPC1, and their location in the cell." Co-author Dr Archa Fox, from WAIMR, added, "This is an important finding because it is the first step towards developing drugs that could change the way these proteins work. However, more work is required to show how they might be targeted by new cancer drugs." The proteins NONO and PSPC1 are found in a part of the human cell called a paraspeckle, discovered by Dr Fox in 2001.  The work relied heavily on contributions from UWA PhD student Daniel Passon and research fellow Mihwa Lee, who were able to access the Australian Synchrotron's world-class Macromolecular Crystallography and Small-angle X-ray Scattering facilities. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Insulin-maker transplant improved

GARVAN INSTITUTE

Share on print Australian scientists have identified one way of making a frustratingly tricky transplant – of insulin-producing ‘islets of Langerhans’ into patients with Type 1 diabetes – more successful. The islets of Langerhans are the part of the pancreas that produce insulin.  A Sydney team, part of the Commonwealth-funded Australian Islet Transplant Consortium formed in 2006, has found that islets are severely handicapped from the outset. They are full of inflammatory molecules before they ever reach their mark, much like stressed or damaged tissue. Associate Professor Shane Grey and Drs Mark Cowley and Anita Weinberg, from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, detailed the ‘molecular signatures’ of islets that were transplanted into 15 recipients as part of a 5-year clinical trial spanning Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Their findings, published online in Cell Transplantation, used the latest sequencing technologies to identify inflammatory signatures. A very large initiative overall, the Sydney arm of the Consortium alone has operated with 5 teams: one team isolated islets; a second undertook transplants; a third monitored the patient’s quality of life afterwards; a fourth monitored the liver; and the Garvan group compared gene signatures of grafts with patient outcomes, seeing what constituted a ‘good’ or a ‘poor’ graft. “The importance of our finding in the context of the whole process of transplantation – which is very complex – is that it tells us the grafts we are using are not at ground zero,” said Associate Professor Grey. “They’re like little smoking guns we’re sending into patients, either doomed to fail, or have only partial success.” “Islets are easier to manipulate than patients' immune systems, and this finding will help us establish targets for therapy. In other words, we have the potential to treat islets with anti-inflammatory compounds prior to transplantation.” “This should have a marked effect on the success of transplants – currently at 80% survival after a year and 10-15 % survival after 5 years – not nearly the same success rates as other organ transplants.” Since the 1960s, when pioneering anatomist Dr Paul Lacy first implanted islets into rodents, islet transplantation has offered a compelling yet elusive, treatment for diabetes. Decades of work led to very limited success, until a great leap forward a Canadian team brought to transplantation practices in 2000 – known as the ‘Edmonton Protocol’. The work of the Edmonton team showed that recipients need many islets for the procedure to be effective – normally the islets from up to 3 whole human pancreases. This compounds the difficulty as donors are in limited supply, the pancreas has to be removed quickly after death, islets must be isolated within a matter of hours after that, and they happen to be intrinsically fragile. “Until now, the state of islets used in transplantation has not been well understood, and this gives us better insight into what has been happening,” said Grey. “And while progress has been a little slow, at least those patients who are prone to lethal glycaemic unawareness – in other words, likely to lapse into hypoglycaemic comas and die – have been helped by transplants. Even when the grafts fail, in that they stop producing insulin, for some unknown reason the patients appear to remain protected against these lethal comas.” To show the importance of their findings, the group compared the difference between transplanting ‘pristine’ islets into mice and transplanting islets with an ‘inflammatory signature’. As expected, the mice fared much better with the ‘good’ grafts. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Rare disease origins revealed

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Share on print Machado-Joseph Disease is most prevalent in Australia's Northern Territory, where the neurodegenerative disorder affects people from as young as 10 years old. Image: GaryRadler/iStockphoto Knowledge of a disease prevalent among Northern Territory Indigenous communities has been overhauled thanks to research contributed by the University of Sydney's Garth Nicholson. "This advance in our understanding of the origins of Machado-Joseph Disease in Australia will hopefully contribute to the development of a cure of this debilitating condition which affects people from as young as 10 years old," said Associate Professor Nicholson from the ANZAC Institute at the University. Machado-Joseph Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which causes a progressive deterioration of muscle control and coordination. The world's highest known incidence of the disease occurs in Indigenous people of Groote Eylandt and Yirrkala in the Northern Territory. "Elsewhere the disease has only been seen rarely and nearly always in populations from East Asia or the Azores, a Portuguese autonomous zone in the North Atlantic," Associate Professor Nicholson said. Until now the prevailing theory has been that the disease was passed to Indigenous populations in Australia by Macassan traders who were in contact with Portuguese colonies and travelled to Australia in the 16th century and 17th century. By comparing blood samples from sufferers worldwide, recent international research, published in the Archives of Neurology, contradicts this theory. Instead of being associated with versions of the disease originating from Portugal, the Australian version of the disease is related to those from Japan, India and Taiwan. "We believe the Australian variant of the disease has a common ancestor, dating back 7000 years, with those seen in the Asian region," said Professor Nicholson who conducted the research on the Groote Eylandt community. Machado-Joseph Disease currently affects an estimated 50 people in the Northern Territory with another 500 family members at risk. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Opening the brain to new treatments

A researchers uses an MRI machine to guide the focus ultrasound used to disrupt specific areas of the blood-brain barrier. Credit: © The Journal of Visualized Experiments

One of the trickiest parts of treating brain conditions is the blood brain barrier, a blockade of cells that prevent both harmful toxins and helpful pharmaceuticals from getting to the body's control center. But, a technique published in JoVE, uses an MRI machine to guide the use of microbubbles and focused ultrasound to help drugs enter the brain, which may open new treatment avenues for devastating conditions like Alzheimer's and brain cancers.

"It's getting close to the point where this could be done safely in humans," said paper-author Meaghan O'Reilly, "there is a push towards applications."

The current method of disrupting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is by using osmotic agents such as mannitol, which suck the water out of the cells that form the barrier, causing the gaps between them to get bigger. Unfortunately, this method opens large areas of the barrier, leaving the brain exposed to toxins.

The benefit of the microbubble technique is that it can be used on a very small area of the BBB. The microbubbles, made of lipids (fats) and gas, are injected into the blood stream. When focused ultrasound is applied, the bubbles expand and contract. It is thought that the force of the movement in the bubbles causes the cells that form the BBB to temporarily separate, which allows drugs to reach the brain.

"Microbubble technology has been around for years, though its applications have mostly been as contrast agents for diagnostic ultrasound," said JoVE Editorial Director, Dr. Beth Hovey. "This newer approach, using ultrasound to help the bubbles permeablize the blood brain barrier, will hopefully allow for better treatment of diseases within the brain."

In this method, O'Reilly and her colleagues use the MRI machine to ensure that the barrier opens, and they can also time how long it takes for it to close, which will be important for when the technique is used on patients.

O'Reilly chose to publish the technique in JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, to help other scientists learn the method.

JoVE is the first and only peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed science journal to publish all of its content in both text and video format.

"The ability of focused ultrasound combined with microbubbles to disrupt the blood brain barrier has been known for over a decade. However, because the actual technique can be challenging— there are critical steps involved— the video article fills a gap in the literature that is a major hindrance to people getting into the field," she said.

More information: The article will be published on March 13 and can be viewed here: http://www.jove.co … -a-rat-model

Provided by The Journal of Visualized Experiments

"Opening the brain to new treatments." March 13th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brain-treatments.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Just 60 seconds of combat impairs memory

Just 60 seconds of all-out physical exertion in a threatening situation can seriously damage the memories of those involved for many details of the incident, according to a new study of police officers.

Police officers, witnesses and victims of crime suffer loss of memory, recognition and awareness of their environment if they have had to use bursts of physical energy in a combative encounter, according to scientists.

Researchers, led by Dr Lorraine Hope of the University of Portsmouth, found that less than 60 seconds of all-out exertion, as might happen when an officer is forced to chase-down a fleeing suspect or engage in a physical battle with a resistant criminal, can seriously impair their ability to remember details of the incident – or even identify the person who was involved. Even officers in top condition are not immune to the rapid drain of physical prowess and cognitive faculties resulting from sustained hand-to-hand combat.

The findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, are a stark warning to police officers, police chiefs and the courts, according to Dr Hope, a Reader in applied cognitive psychology of the university's Department of Psychology.

She said: "Police officers are often expected to remember in detail who said what and how many blows were received or given in the midst of physical struggle or shortly afterwards. The results of our tests indicate it may be very difficult for them to do this.

"As exhaustion takes over, cognitive resources tend to diminish. The ability to fully shift attention is inhibited, so even potentially relevant information might not be attended to. Ultimately, memory is determined by what we can process and attend to.

"The legal system puts a great deal of emphasis on witness accounts, particularly those of professional witnesses like police officers. Investigators and courts need to understand that an officer who cannot provide details about an encounter where physical exertion has played a role is not necessarily being deceptive or uncooperative. An officer's memory errors or omissions after an intense physical struggle should not unjustly affect his or her credibility."

The research, conducted on police officers in Winnipeg, Canada was coordinated and funded by the Force Science Institute. The research team in Canada included Dr Lorraine Hope (University of Portsmouth), Dr Bill Lewinski (Force Science Institute) and specialists from the Metropolitan Police in the UK.

Researchers recruited 52 officer volunteers (42 males, 10 females), with an average of eight years on the job. All officers were fit and healthy and engaged in regular exercise.

During an initial briefing, the officers were given background information about a recent spate of armed robberies in the city. The briefing included details of how the robberies were conducted and witness descriptions of the perpetrators. Half of the officers then engaged in a full-force physical attack on a 300lb hanging water bag and the others (a control group) were assigned as observers. Officers selected their own "assault movements" on the bag attack — punches, kicks, and/or palm, elbow, and knee strikes—and were verbally encouraged by a trainer during the task. They continued the assault on the bag until they no longer had strength to keep going or until they were breathless and struggling to continue.

The next part of the test required the officers to approach a trailer that a "known criminal" was suspected of occupying. On entering the trailer, the officer found themselves in a realistic living area where a number of weapons, including an M16 carbine, a revolver, a sawn-off shotgun and a large kitchen knife were visible. After a short delay, the "target individual" emerged from another room and shouted aggressively at the officer to get out of his property. The individual was not armed, but several of the weapons were within easy reach.

Dr Hope found those who had been asked to exert themselves physically remembered less about the target individual and made more recall errors compared to the control group of observers. The officers who had been exerted also recalled less about the initial briefing information and what they did report was less accurate. Officers who had been exerted also reported less about an individual they encountered incidentally while en route to the trailer. While more than 90 per cent of non-exerted observers were able to recall at least one descriptive item about him, barely one-third of exerted officers remembered seeing him at all.

Everyone remembered seeing the angry suspect in the trailer, but non-exerted observers provided a significantly more detailed description of him and made half as many errors in recall as those who were exhausted. These observers were also twice as likely to correctly identify the suspect from a line-up.

However, another striking aspect of the findings showed that exerted officers were able to register threat cues in the environment to the same degree at non-exerted officers.

These new findings reveal that although exerted officers were able to pay attention to the threatening aspects of the scene, their ability to then process other aspects of the interaction was affected. As a result of this, some information may only have been processed weakly or not at all – resulting in an impaired memory for many details of the encounter.

Provided by Association for Psychological Science

"Just 60 seconds of combat impairs memory." March 13th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-seconds-combat-impairs-memory.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Sai Katha - Shri Sai Baba Ka Adbhut Avatar

சுஜாதாவின் பத்துக் கட்டளைகள்… (கண்டிப்பாக படிக்கவும் !!!)

1. ஒன்றின் மேல் நம்பிக்கை வேண்டும், ஏதாவது ஒன்று. உதாரணம் கடவுள், இயற்கை, உழைப்பு, வெற்றி இப்படி எதாவது… நம்பிக்கை நங்கூரம் போல. கேள்வி கேட்காத நம்பிக்கை. கேள்வி கேட்பது சிலவேளை இம்சை. நவீன விஞ்ஞானம் அதிகப்படியாகக் கேள்வி கேட்டு இப்போது தவித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

2. அப்பா, அம்மா இரண்டு பேரும் வேலை சொல்வது பல சமயங்களில் கடுப்பாக இருக்கும். ஒருமாறுதலுக்கு அவர்கள் சொல்வதைச் செய்து பாருங்கள். அவர்கள் கேட்பது உங்களால் செய்யக் கூடியதாகவே இருக்கும். பொடிநடையாகப் போய் நூறு கிராம் காப்பி பவுடர் (அ) ரேஷன் கார்டு புதுப்பித்தல் இப்படிதான் இருக்கும்.

3. மூன்று மணிக்குத் துவங்கும் மாட்டனி போகாதீர்கள். க்ளாஸ் கட்பண்ண வேண்டி வரும். தலைவலி வரும். காசு விரயம். வீட்டுக்குப் போனதும் பொய் சொல்வதற்கு ரொம்ப ஞாபக சக்தி வேண்டும். இந்த உபத்திரத்துக்கு உண்மையைச் சொல்லிவிடுவது சுலபம். இளமைக்காலம், ஒளிக் கீற்றைப் போல் மிகவும் குறைந்த காலம், அதை க்யூ வரிசைகளிலும் குறைபட்ட தலைவர்களுக்காகவும் விரயம் செய்யாதீர்கள்.

4. நான்கு பக்கமாவது ஒரு நாளைக்குப் பொது விஷயங்களைப் படியுங்கள். பொது விஷயங்கள் என்றால் கதை, சினிமா, காதல் இல்லாதவை. உதாரணம் – யோக்கியமான செய்தித்தாள், மற்ற பேரைப் பற்றிக் கவலைப்படும் பத்திரிகைகள் அல்லது லைப்ரரியிருந்து ஒரு புத்தகம்.

5. ஐந்து ரூபாய் சம்பாதித்துப் பாருங்கள். சொந்தமாக உங்கள் உழைப்பில், முயற்சியில், யோக்கியமாக, மனச்சாட்சி உறுத்தாமல். அடுத்த முறை அப்பாவிடம் ஆயிரம் ரூபாய்க்கு ஷர்ட், சுடிதார் கேட்கும் முன்.

6. இந்தச் தகவல்களை படிக்கும் நிலைமை பெற்ற நீங்கள் இந்திய சனத்தொகையின் மேல்தட்டு ஆறு சதவிகித மக்களில் ஒருவர். அன்றாடம் சோற்றுக்காக அலையும், வசதியில்லாத கோடிக்கணக்கான மக்களைத் தினம் ஒரு முறை எண்ணிப் பாருங்கள்.

7. வாரத்தின் ஏழாவது தினமான ஞாயிறன்று என்ன செய்தாலும் காதல் பிஸினஸ் வேண்டாம். காதலுக்கு ரொம்பச் செலவாகும். மனம், வாக்கு, காயம்(உடல்), எல்லாவற்றையும் ஆக்கிரமிக்கும் தீ அது. பொய் நிறையச் சொல்ல வேண்டும். வினோதமான இடங்களில் காத்திருக்க வேண்டும். இந்த வயதில் நாசமாய்ப்போன படிப்புத்தான் உங்களுக்கு முக்கியம்.குறிப்பு: பெண்களை சைட் அடிப்பதும், கலாட்டா பண்ணுவதும், அவர்களுக்கு கர்சீப் முதலியன ரோடிலிருந்து பொறுக்கிக் கொடுப்பதும், உபத்திரமில்லாத கவிதைகள் எழுதுவதும், காதலோடு சேர்த்தியில்லை.

8.எட்டு முறை மைதானத்தை சுற்றி ஓடினால் எந்தச் சீதோஷ்ணமாக இருந்தாலும் நெற்றி வியர்வை அரும்பும். எதாவது தேகப் பயிற்சி செய்யவும். கடிகாரத்துக்குச் சாவி கொடுப்பதோ சீட்டாடுவதோ தேகப் பயிற்சி ஆகாது. எதையாவது தூக்குங்கள், எதையாவது வீசி எறியுங்கள். உங்கள் உடலில் ஊறும் உற்சாகத்துக்கு ஓர் ஆரோக்கியமான வடிகால் தேவை. ராத்திரி சரியாக தூக்கம் வரும். கன்னா பின்னா எண்ணங்கள் தவிர்க்கப்படும். ஒழுங்காக சாப்பிடத்தோன்றும். பொதுவாகவே சந்தோஷமாக இருக்கும்.

9. ஒன்பது மணிக்குள் வீட்டுக்கு வரவும். மிஞ்சிப் போனால் ஒன்பது மணி இரண்டு நிமிடம். ஒரு மணி நேரம் பாடம் அல்லது புத்தகம் படிக்கலாம்.

10. படுக்கப் போகும் முன் பத்து நிமிஷமாவது அம்மா, அப்பா, அண்ணன், தங்கை யாருடனாவது பேசவும் (பேசுவது என்று சொன்னவுடன் காதலியுடன் என்று நினைக்க வேண்டாம், நான் சொன்னது குடும்பத்தினருடன் மட்டும்). எதாவது ஒரு அறுவை ஜோக் அல்லது காலேஜில் நடந்த நிகழ்வுகள். சப்ஜெக்ட் முக்கியமில்லை. பேசுவது தான்.

இந்த பத்தில் தினம் ஒன்று என்று முயற்சி செய்து தான் பாருங்களேன்...

Correcting human mitochondrial mutations

 by Biomechanism 

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Researchers at the UCLA stem cell center and the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and pathology and laboratory medicine have identified, for the first time, a generic way to correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA by targeting corrective RNAs, a finding with implications for treating a host of mitochondrial diseases.

Mutations in the human mitochondrial genome are implicated in neuromuscular diseases, metabolic defects and aging. There currently are no methods to successfully repair or compensate for these mutations, said study co-senior author Dr. Michael Teitell, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

Between 1,000 and 4,000 children per year in the United States are born with a mitochondrial disease and up to one in 4,000 children in the U.S. will develop a mitochondrial disease by the age of 10, according to Mito Action, a nonprofit organization supporting research into mitochondrial diseases. In adults, many diseases of aging have been associated with defects of mitochondrial function, including diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

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“I think this is a finding that could change the field,” Teitell said. “We’ve been looking to do this for a long time and we had a very reasoned approach, but some key steps were missing. Now we have developed this method and the next step is to show that what we can do in human cell lines with mutant mitochondria can translate into animal models and, ultimately, into humans.”

The study appears March 12, 2012 in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The current study builds on previous work published in 2010 in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, in which Teitell, Carla Koehler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a Broad Stem Cell Research Center scientist, and their team uncovered a role for an essential protein that acts to shuttle RNA into the mitochondria, the energy-producing “power plant” of a cell.

Mitochondria are described as cellular power plants because they generate most of the energy supply within a cell. In addition to supplying energy, mitochondria also are involved in a broad range of other cellular processes including signaling, differentiation, death, control of the cell cycle and growth.

The import of nucleus-encoded small RNAs into mitochondria is essential for the replication, transcription and translation of the mitochondrial genome, but the mechanisms that deliver RNA into mitochondria have remained poorly understood.

The study in Cell outlined a new role for a protein called polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPASE) in regulating the import of RNA into mitochondria. Reducing the expression of PNPASE decreased RNA import, which impaired the processing of mitochondrial genome-encoded RNAs. Reduced RNA processing inhibited the translation of proteins required to maintain the mitochondrial electron transport chain that consumes oxygen during cell respiration to produce energy. With reduced PNPASE, unprocessed mitochondrial-encoded RNAs accumulated, protein translation was inhibited and energy production was compromised, leading to stalled cell growth.

The findings from the current study provide a form of gene therapy for mitochondria by compensating for mutations that cause a wide range of diseases, said study co-senior author Koehler.

“This opens up new avenues to understand and develop therapies for mitochondrial diseases,” Koehler said. “This has the potential to have a really big impact. We just have to get it to the next step.”

Gene therapy is often used to express proteins that can treat the cause of a variety of diseases. In this case, post-doctoral fellow Geng Wang developed a strategy to target and import specific RNA molecules encoded in the nucleus into the mitochondria and, once there, to express proteins needed to repair mitochondrial gene mutations.

First, the research team had to figure out a way to stabilize the reparative RNA so that it was transported out of the nucleus and then localized to the mitochondrial outer membrane. This was accomplished by engineering an export sequence to direct the RNA to the mitochondrion. Once the RNA was in the vicinity of the transport machinery on the mitochondrial surface, then a second transport sequence was required to direct the RNA into the targeted organelle. With these two modifications, a broad spectrum of RNAs were targeted to and imported into the mitochondria, where they functioned to repair defects in mitochondrial respiration and energy production in two different cell line models of human mitochondrial disease.

“This study indicates that a wide range of RNAs can be targeted to mitochondria by appending a targeting sequence that interacts with PNPASE, with or without a mitochondrial localization sequence, to provide an exciting, general approach for overcoming mitochondrial genetic disorders,” the study states.

Going forward, Teitell and Koehler will test their new method in small animal models to determine whether they can fix a mitochondrial defect as it occurs in a whole organism. One potential use for the new method would also be to repair mitochondrial defects in reprogrammed, embryonic or adult-type stem cells for use in regenerative medicine therapies.

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The one-year study was supported by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA. 

Courtesy University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences 

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