Dancing towers, Dubai, by Zaha Hadid

Here is a comprehensive set of images of the Dancing Towers development in Business Bay, Dubai, designed by Zaha Hadid.

The project was launched last year and, when complete, will consist of three interlinking towers containing offices, apartments and a hotel.

The towers, which share a single podium, will form the centrepiece of the Business Bay development.

Below is a statement from the architect:

–

Architectural Project Narrative

Designing an Icon

Zaha Hadid's design for the Dancing Towers confirms the role of Business Bay Development at the forefront of Dubai 's rapidly changing future. The three towers rise above the creek and project themselves as icons for the surrounding developments and the gulf region.

The tower's striking design creates a new presence that punctures the skyline with a powerful, recognisable silhouette. The fluid character of the towers is generated through an intrinsically dynamic composition of volumes.

The towers are inter-twinned to share programmatic elements and rotate to maximize the views from the site towards the creek and neighbouring developments.

The design quality of the towers to act as a symbol and icon extends beyond their scale and location. These qualities are derived from the boldness of the architectural concept, from the 'choreographed' movement that combines the three towers in one overall gesture and 'weaves' with a series of public spaces through the podium, the bridges and the landscape beyond.

Context

In the future, there will become a silhouette of towers, whose pinnacles will represent the hearts of the new districts within the greater metropolitan area of Dubai .

On the ground, the Business Bay development site will become stitched into the enlarged metropolitan area's proposed extended road and infrastructure network. The new pedestrian routes and roads passing under and around the Towers development will extend across the creek, bringing people directly from Sheikh Zayed Road via a grid of major and minor thoroughfares and boulevards.

Connectivity and Public Space

The site is composed by 4 different parts: (A) central circular plot, (B) an elongated park plot, (C) the surface of the creek on axis of plot A and (D) a rectangular plot across the creek at the west margin.

Connectivity between these parts becomes therefore central to the project; in order to produce an articulated design that encompasses both the scale and the different qualities of each of the parts, transforming them into a coherent scheme.

The circular shape of the plot and attached vehicular circulation layout creates a barrier of vehicular traffic around the site, generating an island that detaches the plot from the waterfront promenade.

By incorporating the design of two new link bridges and a new ground the project effectively multiplies the potential and connectivity of the site, linking the park at the East - via the towers with the water's edge at the West margin of the creek.

The site's spectacular location at the waterfront engages the project in the continuous promenade that links through the whole development. By converting the semi-circular road into a tunnel next to the waterfront the proposal releases the ground surface to the pedestrian, significantly enlarging the public space of the promenade. The podium addresses the waterfront by extending it's landscape across and inducing pedestrian movement into the promenade at ground level.

The enclosed bridges allow for people to walk from one point to the other in a comfortable shaded environment. During the summer the bridges would be fully air conditioned. During the winter they would be opened and operate with natural cross ventilation.

The bridge across the creek has a double deck that allows for two different uses: one fast - crossing the creek aided by escalators and travelators, and the other slow with the possibility of having a restaurants and shops on it's wider section. We envisage plot D as a landing building attached to the bridge, programmed with leisure or entertainment activities.

This 'habitable' bridge, with it's prominent location at the centre of the creek' - it's own programme and design - will undoubtedly establish itself as an icon in it's own right: a destination for Dubai , attracting local public and foreign tourists alike.

The bridge to the east, links the park (B) with the retail podium and the Offices' tower. The design of the park carefully knits the built environment with nature. The proposed soft landscape and water features create a more intimate atmosphere, with a terrace of restaurants and bars embedded at the end of the bridge.

The creek waterside promenade and the park promenade address the water elements in two different scales of intervention. The creek public promenade offers the public broad views and vistas. The park provides a more intimate scale surrounded by the trees. The two interventions enrich the overall development by creating a diversity of spaces that allow for multiple uses and different ambiances.

In the proposal a new ground is created with a raised landscape, additional levels that contain programme underneath. Under the great arch formed by the merging of the Residential and the Hotel towers, this canyon - like arch space extends linking the two sides of the site and breaking the perimeter circulation. Arrival at the Hotel drop-off is done under the arch and plaza - townscape, with reception and concierge services, lounge area, as well as bars and restaurants underneath.

This canyon - like space between the towers has a seamless character, connecting the landscape around the podium, with a proposed network of pedestrian paths weaving around the base of the three towers and the podium various entrances and drop-offs. In the interior, the canyon links the two cores of the Hotel with the podium.

Programme

Programming of public and private life is an active tool to inject life into the space, integrating new layers of activity and landscape, creating a network of synergetic uses that can develop a new urban ecology.

The programme was addressed as a whole with the three towers corresponding directly to the three main functions: offices, hotel and residential. Together, the towers generate a critical mass of sustainable programmatic relationships.

The towers share a common base / podium, designed as a materialized shadow of the towers and programmed with retail, restaurants and amenities that support the demand from the tower's population. The podium also contains peripheral functions of the Hotel like the Banquet Hall complex and all the residential car parking.

Under the podium 4 levels of basement accommodate all the necessary heavy back of house / servicing programme, underground technical and plant rooms and car parking for the Retail and Hotel (1st basement) and for the Offices (remaining 3 basements).

The podium terraces / rooftops create outdoor spaces for leisure and recreation, featuring public swimming pools, spa, sports areas and esplanade restaurants. The textured landscape quality of these terraces creates a new ground that interconnects between the towers.

The three towers are conjoined two by two, the Offices and the Hotel at the base and the Hotel and the Residential at the top. Through these adjacencies, the towers are strategically organized in a symbiotic relation, sharing certain segments of the programme.

On the 7th level, the floor plates of the Hotel and the Office towers merge creating a link to the Hotel Business Centre (part of the Offices tower) with meeting rooms, office facilities and services for guests.

The Residential tower shares a core with the hotel, enabling all the back of house / servicing spine to be combined. At 38th level, where the floor plates merge, the apartment residents can share some of the collective programme of the Hotel, like the indoor swimming pool and other amenities.

At the top of the Hotel, 65th Level, the three towers share a panoramic restaurant with breathtaking views over the creek, Business Bay Development area, Burj Dubai downtown, and the Gulf beyond.

The advantage of conjoining the three towers in one organism, resides in the fact that the development can be lived in a full day cycle: anchored in it's residential population, it reaches the peak of activity during office hours and it mutates through the diversity of the ever-changing population of the hotel.

The heterogeneous population mix creates a cosmopolitan urban environment, constantly energized and renovated through it's own life.

Which mobile would you like....All About Nokia - History

 
Year 2008
 
Nokia 6600Slide

 
         
Nokia E71

 
Nokia N96
 

 
 
Year 2009
 
Nokia 5800 – Music Xpress
 
 

 

 
Expecting on Year 2010
 
Nokia N97


 

The Emerging Race to Cure HIV Infections

1. Jon Cohen

Four years after Timothy Ray Brown received bone-marrow transplants to fight leukemia, the most sophisticated labs in the world cannot find any trace in his body of the HIV that had infected him for 12 years. Brown is the only living human, a growing consensus contends, to be cured. Brown's treatment clearly does not offer a road map for many others. After all, the expensive, complex, and risky transplant only made sense because Brown was dying from leukemia. Nor is it clear exactly which components of the extensive transplant regimen cleared the virus from his body. But Brown's case has moved the much-ridiculed idea of curing HIV onto the most scientifically solid ground it has yet occupied, say leading AIDS researchers. Brown's case showed for the first time that it is possible to rid the body of the virus—even from the minuscule reservoirs where the virus can hide out for years, evading both the immune system and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). His astonishing turnaround also raised hopes that other, more practical drugs and immune system modulators might find and destroy every last bit of virus—or at least reduce it to such low levels that people no longer need ARVs.

Special Classes for Women and Men

Special Classes for Women and Men

 

 I think we all deserve a laugh sometime, how about now?

 

 

CLASSES FOR WOMEN Training courses are now available for women on the following subjects: Topic 1. Silence, the Final Frontier:  Where No Woman Has Gone Before   Topic 2. The Undiscovered Side of Banking:  Making Deposits   Topic 3. Parties:  Going Without New Outfits   Topic 4. Bathroom Etiquette:  Men Need Space in the Bathroom Cabinet Too   Topic 5. Communication Skills- I :  Tears - The Last Resort, not the First   Topic 6. Communication Skills- ii :  Getting What you Want Without Nagging   Topic 7. Driving a Car Safely:  A Skill You CAN Acquire   Topic 8. Telephone Skills:  How to Hang Up   Topic 9. Classic Footwear:  Wearing Shoes You Already Have   Topic 10. Oil and Petrol:  Your Car Needs Both   NEW EVENING CLASSES FOR MEN

 

ALL ARE WELCOME!

OPEN TO MEN ONLY!

 

Note:

Due to the complexity and level of difficulty of their contents,

Each course will accept a maximum of eight participants each.

 

Topic 1.

How to fill ice-cube trays.
 Step by step with slide presentation.

 

Topic 2.

Toilet paper rolls: do they grow on the holders?
 Round-table discussion.

 

Topic 3.

Differences between the laundry basket and the floor.
 Pictures and explanatory graphics.

 

Topic 4.

Learning how to find things, starting with looking in the right place

Instead of turning the house upside down while screaming.
 Open forum.

 

Topic 5.

Health watch: bringing her flowers is not harmful to your health.
 Graphics and audio tape.

 

Topic 6.

Real men ask for directions when lost.
 Real-life testimonials.

 

Topic 7.

Is it genetically impossible to sit quietly as she parallel parks?
 Driving simulation.

 

Topic 8.

Learning to live: basic differences between mother and wife.
 Online class and role playing.

 

Topic 9.

How to be the ideal shopping companion.
 Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques.

 

Topic 10.

How to fight cerebral atrophy: remembering birthdays, anniversaries,

Other important dates and calling when you're going to be late.
Cerebral shock therapy sessions

The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Memory for Positively and Negatively Valenced Stimuli

The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Memory for Positively and Negatively Valenced Stimuli

Hugo J. E. M. Alberts¹ and Roy Thewissen²

(1)	Department of Clinical and Psychological Science, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands

(2)	SeeTrue Mindfulness Training, Maastricht, The Netherlands

 

Hugo J. E. M. Alberts
Email: h.alberts@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Published online: 8 February 2011

Abstract  

A core component of mindfulness is non-judgmental observation of internal and external stimuli. The present study investigated the effect of mindfulness on memory for emotional stimuli. Participants were exposed to a brief mindfulness intervention and subsequently performed a verbal learning test consisting of positive, neutral, and negative words. Control participants received no intervention and directly performed the verbal learning test. After 20 min, participants recalled as many words as possible. Participants in the mindfulness condition remembered a significantly lower proportion of negative words compared to control participants. No differences between both groups were observed for the proportion of remembered positive words. These findings suggest that memory processes may be a potential mechanism underlying the link between mindfulness and subjective well-being.

Keywords  Mindfulness – Memory – Recall – Bias – Well-being

---

Introduction

Mindfulness has been conceptualized as “the non-judgmental observation of the ongoing stream of internal and external stimuli as they arise” Baer (2003, p. 125). Mounting evidence suggests a clear unidirectional link between mindfulness and positive subjective experience. For instance, a study by Frewen et al. (2007) showed that higher levels of dispositional mindfulness were related to fewer negative automatic thoughts. In addition, mood and affective processes have been found to improve after participation in mindfulness-based stress reduction programs (Nyklícek and Kuijpers 2008; see also Brown and Ryan 2003). Today, the vast majority studies on mindfulness are field studies with clinical populations including individuals with eating, mood, anxiety, or personality disorders (Bach and Hayes 2002; Campbell-Sills et al. 2006; Levit et al. 2004). Although these studies demonstrate the benefits of mindfulness-based practice, relatively little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the effects of mindfulness on well-being. A potential mechanism underlying this effect may be the alteration of memory for emotional information. Rather than focusing on ways to alter or avoid stimuli, the emphasis in mindfulness is on allowance and acceptance, thereby changing one’s relationship to stimuli. Mindfulness draws on the ability to remain aware, irrespective of the apparent valence of states or stimuli, which may alter their impact on memory. The present study was designed to address the effect of mindful awareness on memory for positively and negatively valenced stimuli, using a laboratory setting.

In general, people tend to recognize a greater proportion of emotional information than emotionally neutral information (for a review, see Buchanan and Adolphs 2002; Hamann 2001). At a neural level, this finding has been associated with activity of the amygdala and related limbic areas. Previous studies reveal that activity in the amygdala is significantly greater for positive and negative stimuli (relative to neutral stimuli), which implies that emotional, but not neutral, stimuli are processed by the amygdala (Garavan et al. 2001; Hamann and Mao 2002). In line with this, depressed individuals have been found to have superior recall of negative, compared with positive, information (Matt et al. 1992), a finding that has been related to dysfunctional amygdala activity (Drevets et al. 2002). For instance, a neuroimaging study by Siegle et al. (2007) found that depressive patients, compared with health control participants, showed hyperactivity of the amygdala when exposed to emotional stimuli.

So far, to our knowledge, no studies have directly addressed the link between mindfulness and memory processes. Recently, however, a study by Way et al. (2010) on the neural relationship between mindfulness and depression provided indirect evidence for a possible impact of mindfulness on memory. This study revealed that amygdala reactivity was positively related to depressive symptomatology and negatively correlated with dispositional mindfulness. When exposed to emotional stimuli, participants high in trait mindfulness showed relatively low amygdala reactivity. Given the fact that people tend to recognize emotional information better than emotionally neutral information, which has been linked to greater activity of the amygdala, the findings of Way et al. (2010) may imply that the reduced amygdala reactivity in mindfulness during exposure to emotional stimuli may attenuate the enhanced memory effect for emotional stimuli.

Moreover, from a more cognitive perspective, it seems plausible that mindful awareness can influence memory for emotional events. According to interactive cognitive subsystems (ICS) model (Teasdale and Barnard 1993), it is the explicit encoding of the emotional aspects of to-be-remembered stimuli that is responsible for emotional memory biases. Congruent with this assumption, a study by Ridout et al. (2009) revealed that, when the explicit processing of the emotional content of stimuli was reduced, no memory biases were observed. In this study, depressed individuals were exposed to a series of photographs consisting of emotional faces and were instructed to identify the gender (non-emotional encoding) of the individuals featured in the photographs. The results showed that, when this instruction was given, the consistently demonstrated enhanced memory effect for sad faces among this group was not observed. Likewise, mindful awareness may also reduce explicit processing of the emotional content of stimuli. Mindfulness is characterized by awareness without evaluation or judgment. In case of emotionally valenced stimuli, the absence of a negative or positive judgment may reduce the subjectively experienced negativity or positivity of a stimulus. Consequently, the previously discussed enhanced memory effect for emotional stimuli (Buchanan and Adolphs 2002; Hamann 2001) may be less pronounced when people are in a mindful mode of experiencing.

In order to test this prediction, participants were exposed to a brief mindfulness intervention and subsequently performed a verbal learning test consisting of positive, neutral, and negative words. Control participants did not receive this intervention and directly performed the verbal learning test. After 20 min, all participants were requested to recall as many words as possible.

Source: Springer [Open Access Paper]
http://www.springerlink.com/content/d747650225032854/fulltext.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

I control therefore I am: chimps self-aware, says study

That Goering was a wonderful husband and father does not exclude him from being evil.  Is your idea that before one can be classified as Evil,that the person must be evil in every aspect of his life?  If this were the case even the Germans would not have supported him.  These despots must show some semblance of normality in order to seduce others into their way of thinking.  Take Manson as an example.  Hitler's main priority was not wealth, although he did organize for the great european artworks to be stored until his final glory.  That America provided qudos and refuge for these refuse german scientists is an indightment on their own morality, as is the refuge provided by the Red Cross and the Vatican for these monsters who lived out their lives in comfort in South America.

That the german medicos carried out experiments in itself perhaps understandable, but they carried them out without any anaesthesia is not only evil, but verging on necromancy.  Their victims were live human guinea pigs.

Hitler was driven by an ego maniac belief in eugenics and a total misrepresentation of what HPB said on races.  He believed the Aryans to be Germans, when in fact she herself stated that the Aryans were composed of Hindu, Ario-semites, Iranians, Celts, Teutons, and for which she has since been labelled a racist.

Serial Killers do not kill for money they kill for power and revenge, which is what Hitler did, but on a far grander scale.

Cass 

 

RKS:I was pointing out the flaw in assuming that someone who does evil is necessarily 'evil to the core', so to speak, a point which you seem to be well on top of.

 

One should never allow, say, Hitler's genial nature outside of politics to mitigate his crimes.  Indeed, a person that does act much the same in all domains is probably insane.

 

In the USA, communism and everything associated with it was deemed to be evil.  That means that they rejected even the good ideas that the communists had and reject any initiative that can be linked to communism eg universal healthcare.  This is simply a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face and is the exact opposite to the behaviour we would anticipate from an enlightened being.

 

One's evil acts and general behaviour are separate, that is the point.  We should not judge their evil acts in the light of their otherwise genial character and likewise, we should not judge their actions outside of the evil in light of the acts committed ~ they are separate.

 

In doing this we would not be as surprised to find the smiley faced helpful neighbour to be responsible for serial murder because we don't assume that evil in one domain necessarily means evil in all domains.  But many (most?) people fall into this trap and when the majority are deluded in this way then the door is open for the next Hitler to rise to power.

 

Robert

Tiny variation in one gene may have led to crucial changes in human brain

On the left, the occipital region of a normal human brain is circled. On the right, the same area of the brain of a subject with mutation of LAMC3 gene is smooth, and lacks normal folds and convolutions. Credit: courtesy of Yale University
The human brain has yet to explain the origin of one its defining features – the deep fissures and convolutions that increase its surface area and allow for rational and abstract thoughts.
An international collaboration of scientists from the Yale School of Medicine and Turkey may have discovered humanity's beneficiary – a tiny variation within a single gene that determines the formation of brain convolutions – they report online May 15 in the journal Nature Genetics.
A genetic analysis of a Turkish patient whose brain lacks the characteristic convolutions in part of his cerebral cortex revealed that the deformity was caused by the deletion of two genetic letters from 3 billion in the human genetic alphabet. Similar variations of the same gene, called laminin gamma3 (LAMC3), were discovered in two other patients with similar abnormalities.
"The demonstration of the fundamental role of this gene in human brain development affords us a step closer to solve the mystery of the crown jewel of creation, the cerebral cortex," said Murat Gunel, senior author of the paper and the Nixdorff-German Professor of Neurosurgery, co-director of the Neurogenetics Program and professor of genetics and neurobiology at Yale.
The folding of the brain is seen only in mammals with larger brains, such as dolphins and apes, and is most pronounced in humans. These fissures expand the surface area of the cerebral cortex and allow for complex thought and reasoning without taking up more space in the skull. Such foldings aren't seen in mammals such as rodents or other animals. Despite the importance of these foldings, no one has been able to explain how the brain manages to create them. The LAMC3 gene – involved in cell adhesion that plays a key role in embryonic development – may be crucial to the process.
An analysis of the gene shows that it is expressed during the embryonic period that is vital to the formation of dendrites, which form synapses or connections between brain cells. "Although the same gene is present in lower organisms with smooth brains such as mice, somehow over time, it has evolved to gain novel functions that are fundamental for human occipital cortex formation and its mutation leads to the loss of surface convolutions, a hallmark of the human brain," Gunel said.
Provided by Yale University
"Tiny variation in one gene may have led to crucial changes in human brain." May 15th, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-tiny-variation-gene-crucial-human.html
Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Morning Motivation

 

When I woke up this morning lying in bed,

I was asking myself;

What are some of the secrets of success in life?

 

 

I found the answer right there,

in my very room.

 

 

 

AND NOT TO FORGET,

 

 

THE CARPET  SAID...

KNEEL DOWN AND PRAY.

Carry a Heart that Never Hates.

Carry a Smile that Never Fades.

Carry a Touch that Never Hurts..

HAVE A  PURPOSEFUL DAY

 

'God Blesses Us To Be A Blessing Unto Others'

 

அள்ள அள்ளப் பணம் வர எந்த மந்திரம் ஜெபிக்கலாம் ?

விநாயகரின் மூல மந்திரம்
ஓம் ஸ்ரீம் ஹ்ரீம் க்லீம் க்லெளம் கங்கணபதயே
வரவரத ஸ்ர்வ ஜனம்மே வசமினய ஸ்வாஹா
இருபத்தெட்டு அட்சரங்களை உடைய இம்மந்திரம் பலவிதமான சக்திகளையும், சித்திகளையும் அளிக்கவல்லது.செல்வம், பூமி, ஆகர்ஷணம், வசியம், குண்டலி வின்யாசம் முதலிய அனேக சித்திகள் இம்மந்திர ஜபத்தால் கைகூடும்.

அருகம்புல், தாமரை, வில்வதளம், செவ்வரளி போன்ற நறுமணம் உடைய புஷ்பங்களால் விநாயகரை பூஜை செய்தால் செல்வச் செழிப்பும் ஞானவளமும் கைகூடும். செல்வத்திறவுகோலாக இம்மந்திர உபாசனை நிகழ்ந்து வந்துள்ளது.

கணபதியை மட்டும் வழிபடுபவர்கள் கணபதி உபாசகர்கள் என அழைக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். கர்ண வழிபாடு என்று இதைக் கூறுவர். கணபதி உபாசகர்கள் கருப்பு, நீலம் போன்ற வண்ண ஆடைகளை அணிவதைத் தவிர்க்க வேண்டும்.சிவப்பு, பொன் வண்ண உடைகள் மிகவும் ஏற்றவை. துளசியை இவர்கள் கிள்ளக் கூடாது.துளசியை விநாயகருக்கு அணிவிக்கக்கூடாது.

கணபதி மந்திரங்களை பிரம்ம முகூர்த்த வேளை எனப்படும் அதிகாலை 4.30 முதல் 6.00க்குள் ஜபிப்பது மிக நன்று என கணேச உத்தர தாயினி உபநிஷத்தில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

விநாயகரை தேய்பிறை சதுர்த்தி தோறும் வழிபடுவது சங்கடகர சதுர்த்தி என்று வழங்கப்படும்.அதுவும் அந்நாளில் வன்னிமரத்தடியில் வழிபடுவது மிக நன்று. மாசி மாதம் வரும் சதுர்த்தி செவ்வாய்க்கிழமையன்று(தகுந்த ஜோதிடரை அணுகி உரிய நாளை அறிக) துவங்கி ஓராண்டு சங்கடஹர சதுர்த்தியை மாதந்தோறும் பின்பற்றிவர வேண்டும்.இதனை செவ்வாய்க் கிரக அதிபதி பின்பற்றினார்.



வன்னிமர விநாயகருக்கு அரிசி போடுவதன் மூலம் , நீங்கள் ஏழரை சனி, அஷ்டமச் சனி இலிருந்து தப்பிக்கலாம். இதைப் பற்றி நாம் ஏற்கனவே கூறியிருந்தோம். 

உச்சிஷ்ட கணபதி மந்திரம்

ஓம் நமோ பகவதே ஏகதம்ஷ்ட்ராய
ஹஸ்தி முகாய,லம்போதராய
உச்சிஷ்ட மகாத்மனே ஆம் ஹ்ரேம் ஹ்ரீம்
கம் கேகே ஸ்வாஹா

வேப்பங்குச்சி, ஊமத்தம்பூ,நெய் இவைகளால் இவருக்கு ஹோமம் செய்ய வேண்டும்.


கடன் தீர கணபதி மந்திரம்

ஓம் கணேசருணம் சிந்தி வரேண்யம் ஹீம் பட்ஸ்வாஹா
ஹே பார்வதி புத்ரா ருணம் நாசம் கரோதுமே
ஸ்ரீம் ஹ்ரீம் க்லீம் அபீஷ்ட சித்திம்மே தேஹி சரணாகத வத்ஸல
பக்த்யா ஸமர்ப்பயே துப்யம் ஸ்வாஹா
ஸ்ரீசக்ரேசாய ஸ்ரீமகா கணபதயே ஸ்வாஹா

கருங்காலி குச்சியால் கணபதி ஹோமம் செய்ய எவ்வளவு பெரியளவில் கடன் இருந்தாலும் அது மிக விரைவாக தீர்ந்துவிடும்.

மஹாஹஸ்தி விநாயகர்

பெரிய துதிக்கையை உடைய இவர் பெரும் தனத்தை (அதாவது கோடிக்கணக்கில் ரூபாய்களாக) அள்ளி வீசுபவராக இருக்கிறார்.
அப்படி நமக்க இவரது அருள் கிடைக்க பின்வரும் மந்திரத்தை லட்ச உருவேற்றினால் போதும்.நமது பாவங்களும் தீரும்.செல்வமும் ஞானமும் நமக்குக் கிடைத்துவிடும்.

ஓம் ஆதூன இந்த்ர க்ஷீமந்தம் சித்ரம் க்ராபம் ஸ்ங்க்ருபாய
மஹாஹஸ்தி தக்ஷ்ணேன

வாஞ்சா கல்பலதா கணபதி

நமது சகல விருப்பங்களையும் அள்ளி வழங்குவதால் இவருக்கு வாஞ்சை கணபதி என்ற பெயர் ஏற்பட்டது.

பின்வரும் மந்திரம் 100 கோடி சூரியனுக்குச் சமமானதாகும். தகுந்த குரு உபதேசம் மூலமாக இந்த மந்திரத்தை தினமும் ஜபித்துவரவும். நீங்கள் நினைத்ததெல்லாம் நிறைவேறும்.
ஓம் ஸ்ரீம் ஹ்ரீம் க்லீம் க்லெளம் கம்
ஐம் கஏஈ லஹ்ரீம்
தத்ஸவிதர் வரேண்யம் கணபதயே
க்லீம் ஹஸகஸல ஹ்ரீம் பர்க்கோ தேவஸ்யதீமஹீ
வரவரத சவு ஸஹல ஹ்ரீம்
த்யோயோநப்ர சோதயாத்
ஸர்வ ஜனம்மே வசமானய ஸ்வாஹா

Read more: http://www.livingextra.com/2011/02/blog-post_03.html#ixzz1MX0PlLnG

Global energy savings begin at home (Science Alert)

Global energy savings begin at home (Science Alert)

கனவை அறிவோமா ? படித்தது

1)  சிலர் கனவை கறுப்புவெள்ளையில் மாத்திரமே காணமுடியும் தெரியுமா ?
அவர்கள்   கனவு காண்பதில் மட்டும்  வண்ணக் குருடு உள்ளவர்கள் 
சுமார் 12 % மக்கள் காணும்   கனவில்  வண்ணக்  குருடு  உள்ளவர்களாம் .
ஆனால் 1915 ---1950  வரை பெரும்பாலானவர்கள் கருப்பு வெள்ளையில் தான் கனவு கண்டனராம் .
அப்போது கலர் டீ வீ , மற்றும் கலர் படங்கள் இல்லாது தான் காரணமாக இருக்கும் என நினைக்கிறார்கள் .
வெளிப்புற நகழ்வுகள் எப்படி நம் கனவைப் பாதிக்கிறது பார்த்தீர்களா ?

நான் பெரும்பாலும்  படுத்துக்கொண்டே படித்துக் கொண்டு அப்படியே சிறிது நேரம் தூங்குவேன் ,
பிறகு மீண்டும் படிப்பேன் அப்போதெல்லாம் மூக்குக் கண்ணாடியை கழற்றாமலே
தூங்குவதைப் பார்த்து என்மனைவி வினவும்( அதட்டும்  )  போதெல்லாம் ,கண்ணாடி  இல்லாமல் காணும் கனவெல்லாம்
தெளிவாகத் தெரிய மாடேன் என்கிறது என்று நகைச்சுவை
அடிப்பதுண்டு .ஆனால் அதிலும் ஒரு உண்மை இருக்கிறது

2)  நாம் காணும் கனவில் வரும் நபர்கள் எல்லாம் நிஜ மனிதர்களாம் .என்றோ நாம் நேரில்  கண்டவர்களைத்தான் நமது கனவிலும் வரமுடியுமாம் .
நமது மூளைக்கு புதியமுகங்களைக் கனவுக்காக உருவாக்க முடியாதாம் .
எனவே பார்க்கும் நபர்கள் உங்கள் நண்பர்களோ அல்லாது அறிமுகம் இல்லாதவர்களோ இருக்கலாம் .
சிலரை நேற்று பார்த்திருக்கலாம் சிலரை பத்தாண்டுக்கு முன் கூடப் பார்த்திருக்கலாம் .
ஆனால் அவர்கள் கலவையாக ஒன்றாக வருவார்கள் .ஆனால் அனைவரும் நிஜ முகமே .

3) நாம் காணும் கனவில் பெரும்பாலானவை நமக்கு நினைவில் இருப்பதில்லை .
சுமார் 95 %  கனவுகள் நமக்கு மறந்து போகின்றன . நாம் கனவு காணும் போது நமது மூலையில் நினைவுகளை நீண்டகால நினைவுகளாக மாற்றக்கூடிய ரசாயனம் சுரப்பதில்லை . குறுகியகால நினைவு மட்டுமே சாத்தியம் .ஆனாலும் சிலகனவுகள்  தப்பிப  பிழைத்து விடுகின்றன . ஆனாலும் அவை பெரும்பாலும் சரியாக இருப்பதில்லை . அதை சேமிக்க ஒரே வழி ,விழித்த உடனேயே எதிலாவது எழுதி வைத்து விடுவதுதான் .

4) ஆண்கள் காணும் கனவுகளில் பெரும்பாலும் ஆண்களே அதிகம் வருவார்களாம்
அவர்களின்  கனவுகளில்   70 %     ஆண்களே இடம் பெறுகிறார்களாம் .பெண்களின் கனவுகளில் சரிசமமாக ஆண்களும் பெண்களும் இடம் பெறுகிறார்களாம் .இவ்வாறு சொல்லப்படுகிறது. மெய்யான்னு  சொன்னாத்தான் தெரியும்


5) கனவு காண தூக்கம் அவசியமா என்றால் இல்லை .
நாம் தூங்கும்போது மட்டும் கனவு காண்பதில்லை.
நம்மை மறந்து ஓய்வு நிலையில்  சிறிதளவு விழிப்புடன் இருக்கும்போதுகூட
ஏதோ காட்சிகள் நம் முன் விரிகின்றன. திடீரென ஏதோ கனவு கண்டோமே என்று திடுக்கிட்டு விழிக்கிறோம்.  கனவு என்று கூறுவதா காட்சி என்று கூறுவதா ?

6) தூங்கும் போது இரண்டு மணி நேரமாவது அயர்ந்து தூங்கும் போது கனவு காண்கிறோம் .
அதில் நாலு முதல் ஏழு கனவுகள் நிச்சயம் உண்டு ஆனால் மூலையில் நினைவுக்கு வேண்டிய ரசாயனம் சுரக்காததால் நாம்   கலப்படமாக குழப்பமாக நினைவு கூறுகிறோம் .

7) கனவில் காட்சிகள் மாத்திரம் நடப்பதில்லை கூடவே உணர்ச்சிகளும் கலந்தே நிகழ்கின்றன
காட்சிகளுடன் உணர்வும் சேர்வதால் ஒரு த்ரீ டீ படம் பார்த்தது போல் மனம்
தடுமாறுகிறது .

8) சங்கக் காலத்தில் இருந்து பாடல்களில் கனவு பற்றி குறிப்பு இருக்கிறது அதை பற்றி தமிழர்கள்  நுணுக்கி ஆய்ந்திருக்கிறார்கள் .

ஒன்று மட்டும் நிச்சயம் நான் காணும் அத்தனை கனவுகளிலும் நாம் தான் கதாநாயகன்
நம்மைப்பற்றியே ,நம்மை சுற்றியே  அத்தனையும்.

கனவுகளுடன்
ஜெ. ஸ்டாலின்

Ergonomic Video

As time goes by, it gets tougher to 'just remember this'

As time goes by, it gets tougher to 'just remember this'

May 13th, 2011 in Neuroscience
The older we get, the more difficulty we seem to have remembering things. We reassure ourselves that our brains' "hard drives" are too full to handle the new information that comes in daily. But a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist suggests that our aging brains are unable to process this information as "new" because the brain pathways leading to the hippocampus become degraded over time. As a result, our brains cannot accurately "file" new information. It's something we just accept: the fact that the older we get, the more difficulty we seem to have remembering things. We can leave our cars in the same parking lot each morning, but unless we park in the same space each and every day, it's a challenge eight hours later to recall whether we left the SUV in the second or fifth row. Or, we can be introduced to new colleagues at a meeting and will have forgotten their names before the handshake is over. We shrug and nervously reassure ourselves that our brains' "hard drives" are just too full to handle the barrage of new information that comes in daily.
According to a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist, however, the real trouble is that our aging brains are unable to process this information as "new" because the brain pathways leading to the hippocampus -- the area of the brain that stores memories -- become degraded over time. As a result, our brains cannot accurately "file" new information (like where we left the car that particular morning), and confusion results.
"Our research uses brain imaging techniques that investigate both the brain's functional and structural integrity to demonstrate that age is associated with a reduction in the hippocampus's ability to do its job, and this is related to the reduced input it is getting from the rest of the brain," said Michael Yassa, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in Johns Hopkins' Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. "As we get older, we are much more susceptible to 'interference' from older memories than we are when we are younger."
In other words, when faced with an experience similar to what it has encountered before, such as parking the car, our brain tends to recall old information it already has stored instead of filing new information and being able to retrieve that. The result? You can't find your car immediately and find yourself wandering the parking lot.
"Maybe this is also why we tend to reminisce so much more as we get older: because it is easier to recall old memories than make new ones," Yassa speculated.
The study appears in the May 9 Early Online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Yassa and his team used MRI scans to observe the brains of 40 healthy young college students and older adults, ages 60 to 80, while these participants viewed pictures of everyday objects such as pineapples, test tubes and tractors and classified each -- by pressing a button -- as either "indoor" or "outdoor." (The team used three kinds of MRI scans in the study: structural MRI scans, which detect structural abnormalities; functional MRI scans, which document how hard various regions of the brain work during tasks; and diffusion MRIs, which monitor how well different regions of the brain communicate by tracking the movement of water molecules along pathways.)
Some of the pictures were similar but not identical, and others were markedly different. The team used functional MRI to watch the hippocampus when participants saw items that were exactly the same or slightly different to ascertain how this region of the brain classified that item: as familiar or not.
"Pictures had to be very distinct from each other for an older person's hippocampus to correctly classify them as new. The more similar the pictures were, the more the older person's hippocampus struggled to do this. A young person's hippocampus, on the other hand, treated all of these similar pictures as new," Yassa explained.
Later, the participants viewed a series of completely new pictures (all different) and again were asked to classify them as either "indoor" or "outdoor." A few minutes later, the researchers presented the participants with the new set of pictures and asked whether each item was "old," "new" or "similar."
"The 'similar' response was the critical response for us, because it let us know that participants could distinguish between similar items and knew that they're not identical to the ones they'd seen before," Yassa said. "We found that older adults tended to have fewer 'similar' responses and more 'old' responses instead, indicating that they could not distinguish between similar items."
Yassa said that this inability among older adults to recognize information as "similar" to something they had seen recently is linked to what is known as the "perforant pathway," which directs input from the rest of the brain into the hippocampus. The more degraded the pathway, the less likely the hippocampus is to store similar memories as distinct from old memories.
"We are now closer to understanding some of the mechanisms that underlie memory loss with increasing age," Yassa said. "These results have possible practical ramifications in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, because the hippocampus is one of the places that deteriorate very early in the course of that disease."
The team's next step would be to conduct clinical trials in early Alzheimer's disease patients using the mechanisms that they have isolated as a way to measure the efficacy of therapeutic medications.
"Basically, we will now be able to investigate the effect of a drug on hippocampal function and pathway integrity," he said. "If the drug slows down pathway degradation and hippocampal dysfunction, it's possible that it could delay the onset of Alzheimer's by five to 10 years, which may be enough for a large proportion of older adults to not get the disease at all. This would be a huge breakthrough in the field."
More information: http://www.pnas.or … 5/1101567108
Provided by Johns Hopkins University
"As time goes by, it gets tougher to 'just remember this'." May 13th, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-tougher.html
Comment:
When you first arrive at the old folks home you wear a name tag to benefit others...later, it is to benefit you.
Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Without gene patents people will die

By Anna Lavelle A bill, known as the 'Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) Bill 2010' was introduced to the Senate late last year and immediately referred to a new Senate Inquiry. The Bill's contents have escalated concerns about this long-running and complex debate. If the legislative amendment is progressed in its current form, researchers, industry and the legal fraternity have grave concerns that it would have far-reaching and unintended consequences for patient access to novel therapies, tests, vaccines, and even medical devices. Moving way beyond the banning of patents for genes, the Bill's impact will also be felt across diverse sectors of the Australian community including those focused on agriculture and animal productionand health, the development of high-yield crops, solutions to climate change and bioremediation. Undeniably the hope of every Australian would be for a world-class health system that provided timely, safe and cost-effective access to essential treatments and life-enhancing medicines and technologies. Yet these hopes will be crushed by the Bill, as it will discourage innovation and investment in scientific and medical R&D in this country and thereby diminish or deny access to the longed-for cures and treatments for illness and disease. AusBiotech is working to demonstrate the consequences and effects of a ban on the patenting of genes and other biological materials to governments, parliamentarians, policy-makers and the general public. The Amendment would exclude from patentability "biological materials…whether isolated or purified or not and however made, which are identical or substantially identical to such materials as they exist in nature." Sponsors and supporters of the Bill claim that its purpose is to "advance medical and scientific research and…cure human illness and disease…by enabling free and unfettered access to biological materials…"but we challenge how that can be possible. While no doubt well intentioned, we believe the Bill has missed the fundamental point. The exclusion of biological materials from patentable subject matter will not address the concerns being expressed by the Australian community. For example, patient access to the BRCA diagnostic test (or to any other potentially-life changing test for that matter) will not be improved by banning patents on biological materials because the patent for the test itself will still exist. In Australia today naturally-occurring phenomena such as genes are already considered discoveries, not inventions, and therefore are not patentable subject matter. Yet we are perplexed by the suggested amendments to the Patents Act 1990, which is already crystal clear on the point that the mere identification of a new gene is not sufficient to secure a patent. The existing law requires patent applicants to provide substantive evidence about their technology in support of its novelty, utility and inventiveness. Without reservation, we are in favour of the rigorous and consistent application of the existing law, in relation to all technologies, to ensure the continued distinction between discovery and invention. We are also supportive of ongoing review and legislative amendment to ensure that Australian industry and researchers have a set of clear rules to guide them as they strive to innovate. We fully support the ongoing work of IP Australia to introduce amendments to the Patents Act 1990 to enshrine an explicit research use exemption thereby allowing research, IP protection, innovation and commercialisation activities in Australia to continue a beneficial coexistence. AusBiotech believes that the proposed Bill to prohibit the patenting of genes and biological materials will not address any of the expressed concerns. Should the Bill proceed in its current form, it will cause many more problems than any issues that are currently real or perceived, because a lack of patents will lead to a lack of innovation and to a lack of novel, potentially life-altering products that are simply never developed. There is little evidence to support claims that gene patents stifle research or that there is currently anything other than free and unfettered access to biological materials among the Australian research community. A recent study concluded that of 381 scientists surveyed, none had had their work stopped by the existence of third-party patents, only about 1 per cent had a delay or were required to modify their work, and those that had been required to pay a fee to access patented technologies reported a modest charge in the range of US$1-100. In the specific case of the Myriad gene patents (and the exercise of said patent rights to which much of the controversy around this issue can be traced back), there have been over 5,500 BRCA1 primary sequence publications in the 12 or so years since the patent was granted in Australia. With no fewer than 49 Australian research organisations having contributed to this total, it is disingenuous for claims to be made that the existence of the patents has stifled national or international research in this field of endeavor. Patents are important parts of the package that Australian innovators use to attract critical funding to progress early research through to the proof-of-concept stage. Similarly, granted patents in key markets will inform a commercial decision to invest significant amounts of money in a technology development plan. Since the Australian Government is not in the business of spending the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to translate inventions from 'bench to bedside' we rely here on corporations and VCs to invest and take the risks to develop and commercialise novel medicines and diagnostic technologies. We envisage that the Bill will lead to a reduction in research commercialisation with the direct consequence of fewer innovative products reaching the Australian community. If this Bill does become law, Australians will be denied the improved access to health care that stimulated the debate in the first place.

Desk job ups bowel cancer risk

Desk job ups bowel cancer risk

Western Australian Institute for Medical Research Sedentary behaviour by professionals may increase the risk of distal colon and rectal cancer. Image: sdominick/iStockphoto Long term office workers may have cause for concern after a researcher at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) found that employees who work for 10 years or more behind a desk, have an increased risk of bowel cancer. Terry Boyle, who is a PhD student at the University of WA, said the research suggested sedentary behaviour by professionals such as accountants or computing professionals may increase the risk of cancers of the distal colon and rectum. Jobs were categorised into five groups ranging from sedentary to light activity (teachers, hairdressers), medium (mechanics, nurses), heavy (plumbers, farmers) and very heavy (miners, firefighters). The estimated effects of sedentary work on the risk of cancers of the proximal colon, distal colon and rectum were analysed. The two year study involving men and women aged between 40 and 79 included a total of 918 cases and 1,021 controls who participated in a population-based case-control study of bowel cancer in Western Australia. Data was collected on lifestyle, physical activity and job history. The study was a collaboration between WAIMR and the UWA School of Population Health. Compared with employees who did not spend any time in a sedentary occupation, study participants who spent 10 or more years working at a desk had almost twice the risk of distal colon (the left side of the colon) cancer and a 44 percent increased risk of rectal (the final portion of the large intestine) cancer. Long term office workers may have cause for concern after a researcher at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) found that employees who work for 10 years or more behind a desk, have an increased risk of bowel cancer. Terry Boyle, who is a PhD student at the University of WA, said the research suggested sedentary behaviour by professionals such as accountants or computing professionals may increase the risk of cancers of the distal colon and rectum. Jobs were categorised into five groups ranging from sedentary to light activity (teachers, hairdressers), medium (mechanics, nurses), heavy (plumbers, farmers) and very heavy (miners, firefighters). The estimated effects of sedentary work on the risk of cancers of the proximal colon, distal colon and rectum were analysed. The two year study involving men and women aged between 40 and 79 included a total of 918 cases and 1,021 controls who participated in a population-based case-control study of bowel cancer in Western Australia. Data was collected on lifestyle, physical activity and job history. The study was a collaboration between WAIMR and the UWA School of Population Health. Compared with employees who did not spend any time in a sedentary occupation, study participants who spent 10 or more years working at a desk had almost twice the risk of distal colon (the left side of the colon) cancer and a 44 percent increased risk of rectal (the final portion of the large intestine) cancer. Sedentary work was not associated with the risk of proximal colon cancer (the right side of the colon). The findings were independent of recreational physical activity, and the increased risk was seen even among sedentary workers who did a lot of physical activity outside of the workplace, Mr Boyle said. "Sedentary behaviour appears to be an important risk factor for many chronic diseases," he said. "It's important that office workers try to stand and take a break from sitting every 30 minutes, and do things like get up from their chairs and walk down the corridor to talk to colleagues rather than sending an email or making a phone call." "It's also best not to have a printer in the office, so that a short walk is required." The study has been published in prestigious international journal, the American Journal of Epidemiology.

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Aanaimuganthan aran (Vinayakar songs )by Dr. Seerkazhi Govindarajan.