Macro Photography Work

ஐஸ்கிரீம் சாப்பிடுவதால் ஏற்படும் நன்மைகள்

ஐஸ்கிரீம் என்றால் பிடிக்காத ஆட்களே இல்லை இருக்க மாட்டார்கள். ஆனால் பிடிக்கும் என்று அதிகமாக சாப்பிட்டால் உடல் எடை தான் அதிகரிக்கும். ஆகவே கட்டுப்பாட்டோடு அதை சாப்பிட வேண்டும். சில தாய்மார்கள் தங்கள் குழந்தைகளை அதிகமாக ஐஸ்கிரீம் சாப்பிட விடமாட்டார்கள். இதற்கு காரணம் ஐஸ்கிரீம் சாப்பிட்டால் பல் சொத்தையாகி விடும் அல்லது சளி பிடிக்கும் என்பதால். ஆனால் ஐஸ்கிரீமை சாப்பிட்டால் பல நன்மைகளும் இருக்கிறது. 1. ஐஸ்கிரீமில் கால்சியம் அதிகமாக இருக்கிறது. எப்படியென்றால் ஐஸ்கிரீமை பால் கொண்டு செய்வதால் தான். இதை சாப்பிடுவதால் எலும்புகள் வலுவடைவதோடு, உடலுக்கு சக்தியையும் தருகிறது. 2. ஐஸ்கிரீமில் கால்சியம் அதிகம் நிறைந்திருப்பதால் அது பற்களை பாதுகாப்பதுடன், ஈறுகளும் நன்கு வலுவடைகிறது. 3. சொக்லேட் ஐஸ்கிரீம் உடலுக்கு மிகவும் சிறந்தது. பொதுவாக சொக்லேட் சாப்பிட்டால் இதயத்திற்கு நல்லது. அதிலும் சொக்லேட் ஐஸ்கிரீம் சாப்பிட்டால் இதயத்தில் ஏதேனும் பிரச்சனை இருந்தாலும் சரியாகிவிடும். 4. ஒரு கரண்டி ஐஸ்கிரீமில் வைட்டமின் ஏ, டி, கே மற்றும் பி12 ஆகியவை உள்ளது. ஆகவே இதை சாப்பிட்டால் பார்வைக் கோளாறு, சிறுநீரக கோளாறு போன்றவை சரியாகும். மேலும் உடலில் ரத்த ஓட்டம் சீராக இருக்கும். இதிலுள்ள வைட்டமின் பி12 நினைவு ஆற்றலை அதிகப்படுத்தும். 5. ஐஸ்கிரீமில் உடலுக்கு தேவையான புரோட்டீன் இருக்கிறது. இதனால் உடலுக்கு தினமும் தேவை, ஏனென்றால் உடலில் உள்ள தசைத் திசுவை தினமும் சரிசெய்ய தேவைப்படுகிறது. 6. சில ஐஸ்கிரீமானது கொழுப்பு குறைவாக உள்ள பாலாடையால் ஆனது. இப்படிப்பட்ட ஐஸ்கிரீம் உடலுக்கு மிகவும் ஆரோக்கியமானது. ஆகவே ஐஸ்கிரீம் சாப்பிட்டால் உடலுக்கு எவ்வளவு நல்லது என்று புரிந்து கொண்டீர்களா, ஐஸ்கிரீமை சாப்பிடலாம். ஆனால் அளவுக்கு அதிகமாக சாப்பிட வேண்டாம். தினமும் சாப்பிட முடியவில்லை என்றாலும், வாரத்திற்கு ஒரு முறையாவது சாப்பிடுங்கள். இதனால் உடலானது ஆரோக்கியமாக இருக்கும்.

THE IN AND OUTS OF BEGINNING A STARTUP

Do You Have What it Takes to Start a Business?

I knew exactly when it was time for me to consider entrepreneurship — right after I got canned from a company to whom I dedicated over a decade of my life. Yep, after helping a company grow from $30 million to $6 billion, we were sold to the highest bidder and the downsizing began. Within a few months, I found myself collecting unemployment. Two years later, the same thing happened again! I was sick of not being in charge of my own destiny. It was time think about being my own boss.

If I can make more money sitting behind my MacBook Air at my local coffee shop in two hours than I used to make in a week, why wouldn’t I? Well, I can, if I’m smart about it and I think differently about the way I’m working. Also, I’m working for myself, not for “the man.” Sure, entrepreneurship is an incredibly appealing concept. You are your own boss, you determine your compensation, and set your own schedule. Sounds like a dream job, huh? Well, it can be, or it can be an absolute nightmare. Trust me, I know.

I’m not saying I’m the world’s most successful entrepreneur. I’m not — not yet, anyway. I’ve tried my hand at this before and failed miserably. The timing was wrong, I tried something I just wasn’t good at, I wasn’t passionate about the work, I didn’t have the right help, and the timing was horrible. I have learned from my mistakes and over the next few weeks and months I want to share some of my wisdom with you, in hopes you don’t fall victim to some of the same pitfalls.

If you are considering launching a business of your own and pursuing this particular chapter of the American Dream, you need to figure out if you have what it takes to start a business. Hopefully, the timing is right, you have a good idea, and you have considered the obvious questions. But, I feel the following three questions must each be answered with a resounding “yes” before you give up that steady paycheck.

1. Have you discovered your passion?
I worked for years doing something I thought I was passionate about before my life pretty much fell apart and I ended up with what I thought was the crappiest job of my life. Sometimes I even wonder why I went to college. Sorry Mom and Dad, but I’m sure you’ve wondered why you spent all that money, as well. Nevertheless, I found myself getting close to climbing toward the top of the proverbial hill of 40, a failed marriage tumbling behind me, self-employed into poverty, and having to take a retail job making less money than I had ever made in my life. Looking back, that job working for Apple was just what I needed. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was doing what I was put on this earth to do. I had always been good at my job, but at Apple, I was awesome. When you love what you do, it shines through and people are drawn to your passion.

2. Are you resilient?
Maybe life has dealt you a few bad hands. Maybe you’ve had some great ideas that were shot down or just turned out to less than brilliant. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, this is one tough world full of rejection and disappointment. You have to have a thick skin, stay focused, and see through the storm. A good captain will navigate the brutal seas in the darkest of nights and stay ahead of schedule on the calm and sunny days.

Be prepared, because in the world of entrepreneurship, you are going to have some failures, you are going to face some unfathomed obstacles, and you will have to be resilient. Stay flexible, be nimble, and always be willing to learn. Never stop learning.

3. Do you have any help?
Don’t try to start a business alone. It doesn’t work. You need help.

Find someone you can trust, someone who has a good head on their shoulders, and most importunely, someone who shares your passion. Remember, it’s that passion that will drive you and attract others to do business with you. Be careful who you decide to go into business with, however. It seems obvious, but get things in writing, use contracts, get an attorney involved in the creation of the business. Just be smart and professional.

Please don’t forget, it’s okay to ask for help. Some of the most successful people I know are the most helpful. They realize they wouldn’t be where they are in life without a little help along the way. Successful people want to help, so let them.

In upcoming posts, I’m going to talk more about what it takes to turn an idea into a business, how to build the right team, and just how important it is to be able to sell. I look forward to hearing from you and connecting with you.

 

THE ONE TRAIT EVERY CEO MUST HAVE

Charisma Is Not Enough. Great Leaders Execute

Unlike charisma, which is in your genes and dictated by your personality, you can learn strong execution skills. Here’s what I mean.

Over the years, whenever and wherever I’ve asked a group of students, executives, or academics to list the five most important attributes of leadership, charisma always makes the list.

The 19th-century sociologist Max Weber greatly emphasized the importance of charisma. For him, charisma was a deeply rooted personality trait that enabled individuals to attract others by the sheer power of their dramatic presence. When you are in a crowd listening to a charismatic leader, what do you tell yourself? In your semi-deification of the charismatic leader, you may engage in self-exclusion. The message you tell yourself is, “It ain’t me,” and by the cultural glorification of charisma, society tells most people, “It ain’t you.”

Implicitly or explicitly, many leadership experts maintain that your dramatic presence and the power of your personality are essential to your success as a leader. But I ask you to look around. The fact that some charismatic people are leaders doesn’t mean that charisma is the litmus test of leadership. As Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Dwight Eisenhower, as well as many others show, leaders are defined by their actions and ability to execute, not only on their charismatic personality.

For all the debates and discussion, reflection and counter-reflection about leadership, it’s pretty straightforward. Leaders aren’t remembered because of their dreams, aspirations, or intentions. They are remembered because of their accomplishments. They are remembered because they took ideas and made them concrete.

As an entrepreneur, as a leader, as a person with drive and ambition, what you care about is moving from potential to execution and that means moving an agenda. Charisma and vision may get you in the door, they may even get you elected, but in the final analysis, leadership is about execution.

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

 

FOOL-PROOF METHOD TO SAVE A DYING BUSINESS

This salon consultant has saved many a dying business. Find out how she is able to take severely indebted companies and turn them into the money makers that they once were. Get her method here!

Entrepreneur shares…

If you don’t like the atmosphere at your business, a recent episode of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover offers a primer on how to turn it around. If you don’t know the Bravo reality show’s star, Tabatha Coffey, she’s an edgy, black-clad, white-blonde, brutally frank Aussie salon-business consultant who overhauls failing shops.

Coffey puts the reality in reality TV. She doesn’t care whose feathers get ruffled if she can fix a dying business. In the episode I caught, she arrives at Earth Moon Sun, a salon in upscale Western Springs, Ill, that’s fallen $500,000 in debt. Owner Janeen Nufer has floundered since her sister and business partner, who led the hairstylist team, left her flat.

Since then, the atmosphere devolved radically. Employees and managers shout across the salon and berate each other. Workers eat while talking on the phone to customers, belch at the front desk, and drink on the job. Unsurprisingly, customers come in. . . but they don’t come back.

Here’s how Coffey turned around this sorry scenario and helped instill a culture of professionalism and respect:

• Document the problem. Before arriving at the salon, Coffey spent a day taping the workers on hidden camera, and sent in secret-shopper customers who came back unhappy with their haircuts. Confronted with the evidence of the problems in the salon, Nufer was receptive to new ideas to turn things around.
• Get over the past. Nufer hadn’t moved on after her sister left the business. She’d never hired a new hairstyling manager, leaving the salon floundering artistically and in terms of training. Coffey takes Nufer to the beach to scream and vent her anger and sadness over this betrayal. Then, it’s time to move forward.
• Freshen up. If your place of business looks grotty, it’s easy for civility to go out the window. A quick facelift that adds warmer colors and a few new furniture pieces have workers instantly feeling happier to show up to the salon.
• Get out from behind the desk. Nufer’s general manager, Nicole, is a big problem that Coffey identifies immediately. She’s not really managing the employees or making sure customers’ needs are met, preferring to hide in the back office doing paperwork while everything goes to heck. Coffey pulls her on to the salon floor and tries to get her involved in operations, but Nicole isn’t interested.
• Take a break. At one point, Coffee sends workers home for a couple of days to think about how they’ve been acting and to learn new skills. The break from the work grind gives everyone a chance to reflect on how they could change their behavior.
• Boost training. One haircutter is a disaster, unconfident and unresponsive to customer’s feedback. With Coffey’s encouragement, the employee is moved to an assistant position and off the haircutting floor, then signed up for more training to improve her skills.
• Model the behavior you want. Coffey has Nufer lead the staff in rounding up all the liquor and pouring it out. When they go out to cut hair for a fashion show, Coffey cautions her to set the tone by making sure she’s polite and talks softly to staff. Employees immediately pick up on the vibe.
• Have the guts to cut the deadwood. Every worker in the salon hates Nicole, and Coffey feels Nufer is in a co-dependent relationship with her manager. At one point, Nicole even cuts off all Nufer’s sentences and finishes them for her. A few weeks after Coffey departs, Nufer finally musters the courage to get rid of her.

Get more information at Entrepreneur!

 

Shirdi Sai Baba Wish Fulfillment Prayer

Shirdi Sai Baba Wish Fulfillment Prayer.
Perform this prayer for five days and make a wish. 
After five days, share this Wish Fulfillment Prayer with five people.
May Shirdi Sai Baba fulfill all your wishes.

Paper Scissor & Hard Work

Paper Lace Hina Aoyama  
The work of the artist looks airy and light, as a weak breeze in the first ray of sun. For the work she does not need anything other than the usual paper and scissors. It's just an incredible example of jewelry and art.

Hina Aoyama (Hina Aoyama) was born in the Japanese city of Yokohama, but now lives and works in Paris. Fragile works of art in the form of delicate butterflies or flowery lace letters affect its accuracy.

According to the artist herself, the creation of one job can take several hours to a whole week of hard work. Hina tries to mix different techniques to emphasize your own style in the genre of paper art. And it looks like she has it already is.

Small scissors, paper, talent and hard hard work - these are the main tools Hina Aoyama. The artist and designer from Japan, living in France, and this is where it creates its own extraordinary, delicate, very delicate work. Hina cut from paper drawings, texts and glues them to the fabric, or glass. It would seem that even a child can cope with scissors, but to create such works of art by virtue of an adult is not for everyone. Every detail, every curve is evident, one wrong move and everything you need to redo the work.

THE DARK SIDE OF LATA MANGESHKAR

Lata Mangeshkar a great Artist.....
She has a voice that mesmerize us for decades...

But, Lataji has done some mistakes in her life for which we cannot call her a great human being...
Though it does not Matter to Lataji..
But Fact Remains Fact..

This video includes her negative life story featuring her bad nautures, her rivalry & her personal relationships..
She had also personal relationship with the former director Asit Sen, but due to absence of 100 proof we cannot display it....

SONGS INCLUDED IN THIS VIDEO :

Oh re Majhi (Bandini) by SD BURMAN.

Dil leke daga (Naya Daur) by MD.RAFI.

Aapse maine meri jaan... & Aaiye Merbann by Asha Bhosle.

Na tum hamein jano by Suman Kalyanpur

Jai Santoshi Maa by Usha Mangeshkar

Om Jai Lakhsmi Mata by Anuradha Paudwal

Kaanta Laga by Lata Mangeshkar


Watch the video & say ur comments & also watchout for more videos on other videos on Indian Music.

Ear delivers sound information to brain in surprisingly organized fashion: study

Light microscope image of a bushy neuron in the cochlear nucleus, with a glass microelectrode for recording electrical activity inside the cell. The cell is about 12 micrometers in diameter. New research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows that the synapses onto these cells are sorted according to their plasticity. Credit: Dr. L. Pliss

The brain receives information from the ear in a surprisingly orderly fashion, according to a University at Buffalo study scheduled to appear June 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The research focuses on a section of the brain called the cochlear nucleus, the first way-station in the brain for information coming from the ear. In particular, the study examined tiny biological structures called synapses that transmit signals from the auditory nerve to the cochlear nucleus.

The major finding: The synapses in question are not grouped randomly. Instead, like orchestra musicians sitting in their own sections, the synapses are bundled together by a key trait: plasticity.

Plasticity relates to how quickly a synapse runs down the supply of neurotransmitter it uses to send signals, and plasticity can affect a synapse's sensitivity to different qualities of sound. Synapses that unleash supplies rapidly may provide good information on when a sound began, while synapses that release neurotransmitter at a more frugal pace may provide better clues on traits like timbre that persist over the duration of a sound.

UB Associate Professor Matthew Xu-Friedman, who led the study, said the findings raise new questions about the physiology of hearing. The research shows that synapses in the cochlear nucleus are arranged by plasticity, but doesn't yet explain why this arrangement is beneficial, he said.

"It's clearly important, because the synapses are sorted based on this. What we don't know is why," said Xu-Friedman, a member of UB's Department of Biological Sciences. "If you look inside a file cabinet and find all these pieces of paper together, you know it's important that they're together, but you may not know why."

In the study, Xu-Friedman and Research Assistant Professor Hua Yang used brain slices from mice to study about 20 cells in the cochlear nucleus called bushy cells, which receive information from synapses attached to auditory nerve fibers.

The experiments revealed that each bushy cell was linked to a network of synapses with similar plasticity. This means that bushy cells themselves may become specialized, developing unique sensitivities to particular characteristics of a sound, Xu-Friedman said.

The study hints that the cochlear nucleus may not be the only part of the brain where synapses are organized by plasticity. The researchers observed the phenomenon in the excitatory synapses of the cerebellum as well.

"One reason this may not have been noticed before is that measuring the plasticity of two different synapses onto one cell is technically quite difficult," Xu-Friedman said.

Provided by University at Buffalo

"Ear delivers sound information to brain in surprisingly organized fashion: study." June 5th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ear-brain-surprisingly-fashion.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

 

Real Self-Interest

“I had turned my mind away from sense gratification and instead did service for meeting spiritual interests. But now seeing them [Rama and Lakshmana] I knowingly want to seek out selfish interests.” (Janaki Mangala, 45) biṣaya bimukha mana mora sei paramāratha | inhahiṃ dekhi bhayo magana jāni baḍa svāratha || In the Shrimad Bhagavatam, the crown-jewel of Vedic literature, there is a statement by Prahlada Maharaja relating to the self-interest of every human being. Artha refers to profit or interest, and it can be of two kinds. First there are the selfish desires, those things we want for our body as it is currently constituted. Then there are the spiritual interests, desires to be met in the afterlife, after we have exited our current body. Though typically a distinction is made between the two types of interest, Prahlada kindly notes that one’s self-interest can actually be met by going towards Vishnu, the Supreme Lord. In that endeavor there is no question of a difference between the interests of the self in the present world and the assets accumulated for the afterlife. “Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Vishnu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.”  (Prahlada Maharaja, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.31) A distinction is only seen because there is a supposed difference in behavior guided by the particular state of mind. With focus on svartha, or self-interest, there is so much work to be done. If my selfish interest is to be wealthy, I will purchase some land and try to either flip it for a higher price or have tenants to pay the monthly bills. Another pathway towards wealth is owning your own business, providing a good or service to society for a fee that enables you to earn a profit. These interests are selfish, as they only relate to the present body, which is destined for destruction. To use another example, let’s say that you are in your senior year of college. You know that you will be graduating and moving on to the real world of working at the end of the year, so your focus isn’t so much on school anymore. The real self-interest is in preparing yourself for graduation and then working after that, but you instead foolishly concentrate only on the right now, the present. Because of this you take your self-interest to be partying and drinking with your friends, night after night. In the short term you will feel pleasure, but the behavior isn’t wise because your identity as a graduating college student will expire very shortly. Once that identity leaves, the partying you did previously will not help you going forward. Svartha as a whole suffers from the same defect, namely the changing of identity. Therefore the Vedas put emphasis on paramartha, or supreme profit. These are the interests relating to the afterlife, where one heads after the present life completes. To acquire unselfish, spiritual merits one has to turn their back on the things presently constituting svartha. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending are activities of the animals that the human being follows as well. Nevertheless, they do not meet the higher interests of the living entity, so with proper instruction one can learn to indulge in them as little as possible. In this way paramartha generally equates to renunciation. Give up those things which don’t relate to your true identity as a spirit soul, who is beyond the temporary manifestations of matter. To meet paramartha, follow the Vedic rituals and regulations, live by austerity, don’t get too attached to anything of the phenomenal world, and then be Brahman realized. Brahman is the Absolute Truth. It is pure spirit, a giant collection of energy of which we are part. Every living entity is a spark of Brahman, so they are eternal, blissful and knowledgeable by constitution, though the current collection of material elements inhibits that position from rising to a fully active state. Though he was the ruler of Mithila, King Janaka was solely focused on paramartha. He had renounced the pursuit for selfish interests in favor of abiding by dharma. He was an adept yogi, capable of withdrawing the mind from the objects of the senses. Even though he was renounced and focused on paramartha, he still exhibited model behavior by taking care of his occupational duties. He managed his kingdom very well, and when his eldest daughter reached the proper age, he arranged for her marriage. In the kshatriya community, it is quite common for marriages to be determined by a show of dexterity or bravery. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, married over sixteen thousand wives during His time on earth, and almost every one of them were won through a contest or a kidnap-style arrangement. A warrior must fight, just as a general must have a mission to lead. If these opportunities for action are absent, the titles don’t mean anything. The kings of the past would welcome any opportunity to show their fighting prowess. From the father’s side, if he could see a young man showing off his strength in battle, he would take it as a sign that his daughter would be protected by him. Janaka held a contest for lifting an extremely heavy bow. The winner would show that they were the strongest man in the world. They would prove their ability to protect Sita Devi, the beloved daughter of the king. Though he was renounced from the world, Janaka still held high affection for his beloved daughter, whom he had found one day while ploughing a field. She was a baby at the time, and Janaka took her in and raised her as his daughter. Now it was time to give her away. We got a hint of the true meaning of svartha when Janaka held affection for Sita upon seeing her for the first time, and in the above referenced verse from the Janaki Mangala, we are again reminded of that meaning. Lord Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana came to Janaka’s city to witness the festivities. They were accompanying the exalted Vishvamitra Muni through the forests. When Janaka saw the two brothers, he couldn’t believe how beautiful they were. “Who are their parents? They must be an ocean of purity. These boys are unbelievably beautiful and I can’t stop looking at them.” In the above referenced verse, which is both insightful and humorous, Janaka remarks on how he had previously given up sense gratification in favor of chasing paramartha, but now he was only interested in seeking selfish-interest to a large degree by looking at these youths. Yet from the instruction of Prahlada Maharaja, we see that Janaka was actually not breaking from his previous position. Because Shri Rama is Vishnu Himself and Lakshmana the Lord’s eternal servant, harboring affection for them does fulfill paramartha. Since they appeared in a world where the general pursuit is for selfish interests, Janaka thought that appreciating their beauty and wanting to soak in the visual nectar over and over again was a selfish desire. In the arena of bhakti, becoming selfish actually equates to happiness both in the present and future. The self-interest of the living entity is met by immersing oneself in the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord. One can hear about these qualities, chant mantras describing them, or witness them personally as Janaka did. Suddenly, the great king’s renunciation went out the window. No more strict austerity, penance, and sacrifice for worrying about merits that may or may not arrive in the afterlife. His focused shifted to the here and now, looking at God and His younger brother while they were in front of him. Should one be interested only in paramartha, the steps they take to secure it nevertheless purifies them and makes them eligible for witnessing the same beauty that Janaka saw. But with worship of Vishnu you don’t have to wait until the afterlife to enjoy the benefits. The spirit soul is constitutionally situated to be a lover of God, so that love can be released at any moment and at any stage in life. Both selfish and unselfish merits exhaust after a certain period of time, but harboring a loving attachment for God only brings more opportunities for service in the future. Seeing Rama and Lakshmana, Janaka developed a strong affection for them, and though he thought he had fallen back into the world of material association, he actually started his real service to God. His dispassion made him pure and his attention to dharma made him respected and worthy of spiritual merits, but it was his love for Sita that brought Rama and Lakshmana to his kingdom. It would be his love for the Supreme Lord that would make him famous throughout history, as he is still celebrated and honored to this day for his devotion. In Closing: Prahlada Maharaja says man does not know, That his real self-interest is to Vishnu’s realm to go. Svartha for sense gratification to acquire, Paramartha for spiritual realm to aspire. But in bhakti-yoga no such distinction, For devotional service is desired condition. With worldly life King Janaka thought he was done, But changed when seeing visitors who had come. Rama and Lakshmana, of beauty one couldn’t believe. From attachment to them real self-interest receive.

Magnetic stimulation to improve visual perception

(Medical Xpress) -- Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), an international team led by French researchers from the Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau (CNRS) has succeeded in enhancing the visual abilities of a group of healthy subjects. Following stimulation of an area of the brain's right hemisphere involved in perceptual awareness and in orienting spatial attention, the subjects appeared more likely to perceive a target appearing on a screen. This work, published in the journal PLoS ONE, could lead to the development of novel rehabilitation techniques for certain visual disorders. In addition, it could help improve the performance of individuals whose tasks require very high precision.

TMS is a non-invasive technique that consists in sending a magnetic pulse into a given area of the brain. This results in an activation of the cortical neurons located within the range of the magnetic field, which modifies their activity in a painless and temporary manner. For several years, scientists have been looking at the possibility of using this technique to enhance certain brain functions in healthy subjects.

In this respect, the team led by Antoni Valero-Cabré has carried out research involving the stimulation of a region of the right cerebral hemisphere known as the frontal eye field. Strictly speaking, this is not a primary visual area but it participates in the planning of ocular movements and the orientation of each individual's attention in the visual space. In a first experiment, a group of healthy subjects tried to distinguish a very low contrast target appearing on a screen for just 30 ms. In some of the tests, the subjects received a magnetic pulse lasting between 80 and 140 ms on this frontal region before the target appeared. The researchers found that the success rate was higher when using TMS. The visual sensitivity of healthy subjects was temporarily increased by around 12%. In a second experiment, the subjects were shown a fleeting visual cue indicating the spot where the target could appear. In this configuration, the enhancement of visual sensitivity, which remained of the same order, was only apparent when the cue indicated the correct location of the target.

Although cerebral functions such as conscious vision are highly optimized in healthy adults, these results show that there is a significant margin for improvement, which can be “enhanced” by TMS. This technique could be tested for the rehabilitation of patients suffering from cortical damage, due for example to a cardiovascular accident, and for that of patients with retinal disorders. The second experiment suggests that rehabilitation based on both TMS and visual cues could be more selective than the use of stimulation alone. The researchers want to further explore this possibility using repetitive TMS, which, in this case, could make it possible to obtain long-lasting modification of cerebral activity.

Furthermore, according to the researchers, TMS could be used in the near future to increase the attentional abilities of individuals performing tasks that require good visual skills.

More information: Manipulation of pre-target activity on the right Frontal Eye Field enhances conscious visual perception in humans. Lorena Chanes, Ana B. Chica, Romain Quentin, Antoni Valero-Cabré. PLoS ONE. 15 May 2012.

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"Magnetic stimulation to improve visual perception." June 5th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-magnetic-visual-perception.html

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Telephone therapy retains more patients than face-to-face sessions and improves depression

Phoning it in is more effective than the therapist's couch when it comes to keeping patients in psychotherapy. New Northwestern Medicine research shows patients who had therapy sessions provided over the phone were more likely to complete 18 weeks of treatment than those who had face-to-face sessions.

The study, published in the June 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first large trial to compare the benefits of face-to-face and telephone therapy. Phone therapy is a rapidly growing trend among therapists. About 85 percent of psychologists now deliver some of their services over the phone because competing demands, transportation time and other problems make it difficult for many patients to get to their offices.

"Now therapists can make house calls," said David Mohr, the lead author and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Our study found psychotherapy conveniently provided by telephone to patients wherever they are is effective and reduces dropout. This suggests these services now should be covered by insurance."

While telephone therapy was as effective as face-to-face sessions in reducing depression during treatment, the improvement ebbed slightly six months after treatment ended compared to face-to-face therapy.

The randomized control trial included 325 primary care patients with major depressive disorder. The results showed 20.9 percent of patients who had cognitive behavioral therapy over the phone dropped out compared to 32.7 percent for face-to-face therapy. Patients in both therapies showed equally good improvement in their depression when treatment ended. Six months after treatment ended, all patients remained much improved. However, patients who had the telephone therapy scored three points higher on a depression scale than those who had face-to-face sessions.

"The three point difference is of questionable clinical significance but it raises the question whether some individuals are at risk of worsening after treatment with telephone therapy compared to face-to-face," Mohr said.

It may be that the slight worsening seen in the telephone therapy after the end of treatment was because patients who had more mental health difficulties and who would have dropped out of face-to-face sessions were retained in telephone therapy, Mohr noted. Thus, this may not be a real finding.

"But we can't rule out the possibility that it may be true and there is something about face-to-face treatment that creates better results for some people," Mohr said. "The physical presence of the therapist may be therapeutic in a way that helps some patients maintain their improvement in mood. There may be a unique quality about the human contact that increases resilience and maintains the skills learned to manage depression after treatment has ended."

Mohr said he hopes the study results will encourage insurance providers including Medicare to reimburse telephone therapy sessions, which many companies currently don't cover.

"There is good reason to reimburse these sessions," Mohr said. "Many people can't get to a therapist's office, but they want to talk to someone. Telephone therapy is highly effective and offers a solution to people with depression who otherwise would be left out." This is particularly true for disabled people or those who live where care is unavailable, such as in rural areas, he noted.

Research shows people prefer talk therapy to antidepressant medication, but many quickly drop out of treatment or don't follow up on a referral from their primary care physicians, likely the result of obstacles that prevent them from getting to the therapist's office.

More information: JAMA. 2012;307[21]:2278-2285. 

Provided by Northwestern University

"Telephone therapy retains more patients than face-to-face sessions and improves depression." June 5th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-therapy-retains-patients-face-to-face-sessions.html

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Restricted food intake a predictor of increased suicide attempts in Body Dysmorphic Disorder patients

Rhode Island Hospital and Auburn University researchers found a link between restrictive food intake, or excessive dieting, and an increase in suicide attempts in people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). The study focused on the acquired capability of suicide, which is one component of Joiner's (2005) interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and is comprised of physical pain tolerance and lowered fear of death. The paper is published in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, and is now available online in advance of print.

BDD is a common, often severe, and under-recognized body image disorder. People with BDD experience distressing or impairing preoccupations with perceived flaws in their appearance and are obsessed with the belief that something is wrong with how they look, when in reality they look normal. More than 75 percent of people with BDD feel life is not worth living or think about suicide in their lifetime, and approximately 25 percent have a history of a suicide attempt.

Authors Tracy K. Witte, Ph.D., of Auburn University, Elizabeth R. Didie, Ph.D., a psychologist in the department of psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital, and Katharine A. Phillips, M.D., director of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Program at Rhode Island Hospital examined the association of suicide attempts with physically painful BDD-related behaviors, including restrictive food intake, excessive exercise, BDD-related cosmetic surgery, compulsive skin picking, and physical self-mutilation.

The study found that BDD-related restrictive food intake was associated with more than double the number of suicide attempts, but was not associated with suicide ideation; and that those with a history of BDD-related excessive exercise had less than half the number of suicide attempts as those without such a history. The study also found that none of the other variables indicating exposure to painful and provocative experiences, such as BDD-related cosmetic surgery and compulsive skin picking, were significant predictors of suicide attempts.

Because restriction of food intake can be physically painful, the researchers theorize that a person who is capable of enduring the physical discomfort of caloric restriction may be more capable of enduring the physical discomfort required in order to inflict self-harm. They theorize that severe restriction of food intake that results in long-standing physical discomfort would predict capability for suicide, whereas more moderate dieting behaviors would have less of a relationship (if any).

"Significantly limiting food intake can be physically painful," Phillips said. "It goes against our natural instincts to feed our bodies and respond to the physical pain that comes with extreme hunger. The results of this study suggest the importance of assessing individuals with BDD for restrictive eating behaviors to identify suicide risk, even if they have not previously been diagnosed with an eating disorder."

The study included interviews with 200 individuals (68.5 percent women) between the ages of 14 and 64 who had a lifetime diagnosis of BDD. The main criterion variable was the participants' number of past suicide attempts, which ranged from 0 to 25 in the study group. Additionally, 78 percent of the study group had a history of suicide-related ideation. The study only included examination of suicide attempts, not deaths by suicide.

"While some of the other BDD-related behaviors may seem outwardly more painful – such as undergoing repeated cosmetic procedures, or compulsive skin picking, the level of pain associated with excessive dieting could significantly increase a person's pain tolerance," Didie said. "This study suggests that those who are capable of enduring such physical discomfort and pain from restrictive eating also may be capable of enduring the physical discomfort required to inflict self harm."

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"Restricted food intake a predictor of increased suicide attempts in Body Dysmorphic Disorder patients." June 5th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-restricted-food-intake-predictor-suicide.html

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Anxious girls' brains work harder

This electrode cap was worn by participants in a Michigan State University psychology study that suggests anxious girls' brains work harder than boys'. Credit: Michigan State University

In a discovery that could help in the identification and treatment of anxiety disorders, Michigan State University scientists say the brains of anxious girls work much harder than those of boys.

The finding stems from an experiment in which college students performed a relatively simple task while their brain activity was measured by an electrode cap. Only girls who identified themselves as particularly anxious or big worriers recorded high brain activity when they made mistakes during the task.

Jason Moser, lead investigator on the project, said the findings may ultimately help mental health professionals determine which girls may be prone to anxiety problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.

"This may help predict the development of anxiety issues later in life for girls," said Moser, assistant professor of psychology. "It's one more piece of the puzzle for us to figure out why women in general have more anxiety disorders."

The study, reported in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, is the first to measure the correlation between worrying and error-related brain responses in the sexes using a scientifically viable sample (79 female students, 70 males).

Participants were asked to identify the middle letter in a series of five-letter groups on a computer screen. Sometimes the middle letter was the same as the other four ("FFFFF") while sometimes it was different ("EEFEE"). Afterward they filled out questionnaires about how much they worry.

Although the worrisome female subjects performed about the same as the males on simple portions of the task, their brains had to work harder at it. Then, as the test became more difficult, the anxious females performed worse, suggesting worrying got in the way of completing the task, Moser said.

"Anxious girls' brains have to work harder to perform tasks because they have distracting thoughts and worries," Moser said. "As a result their brains are being kind of burned out by thinking so much, which might set them up for difficulties in school. We already know that anxious kids – and especially anxious girls – have a harder time in some academic subjects such as math."

Currently Moser and other MSU researchers are investigating whether estrogen, a hormone more common in women, may be to blame for the increased brain response. Estrogen is known to affect the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in learning and processing mistakes in the front part of the brain.

"This may end up reflecting hormone differences between men and women," Moser said.

In addition to traditional therapies for anxiety, Moser said other ways to potentially reduce worry and improve focus include journaling – or "writing your worries down in a journal rather than letting them stick in your head" – and doing "brain games" designed to improve memory and concentration.

Provided by Michigan State University

"Anxious girls' brains work harder." June 5th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-anxious-girls-brains-harder.html

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‎#### BABASAHEB DR. AMBEDKAR on Gandhi and Jinnah ####

‎#### BABASAHEB DR. AMBEDKAR on Gandhi and Jinnah #### I can give only my impressions of them, for what they are worth. The first thing that strikes me is that it would be difficult to find two persons who would rival them for their colossal egotism, to whom personal ascendancy is everything and the cause of the country a mere counter on the table. They have made Indian politics a matter of personal feud. Consequences have no terror for them ; indeed they do not occur to them until they happen. When they do happen they either forget the cause, or if they remember it, they overlook it with a complacency which saves them from any remorse. They choose to stand on a pedestal of splendid isolation. They wall themselves off from their equals. They prefer to open themselves to their inferiors. They are very unhappy at and impatient of criticism, but are very happy to be fawned upon by flunkeys. Both have developed a wonderful stagecraft and arrange things in such a way that they are always in the limelight wherever they go. Each of course claims to be supreme. If supremacy was their only claim, it would be a small wonder. In addition to supremacy each claims infallibility for himself. Pius IX during whose sacred regime as Pope the issue of infallibility was raging said— ” Before I was Pope I believed in Papal infallibility, now I feel it.” This is exactly the attitude of the two leaders whom Providence—may I say in his unguarded moments—has appointed to lead us. source: SECTION VIII, Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah. Vol-I, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches