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Sunday, September 11, 2011

கடவுள் இருப்பதற்கு இதோ ஆதாரம். இந்து மத வரலாற்று தொடர்



இந்து மத வரலாற்று தொடர்...தொடருகிறது.
 குருஜியின் அருளாசியுடன்...

 
கடவுள் இருப்பது உண்மை என்பதை உலகத்தை வைத்து சைவ சித்தாந்திகள்  நிருபிக்க முயன்றிருக்கிறார்கள் .  பானை ஒன்று இருக்கிறது என்றால் அதை செய்தவனும் இருக்க வேண்டும் அதே போன்று உலகம் இருக்கிறது. என்றால் அதைபடைத்தவனும் இருந்தே ஆகவேண்டும். ஒரு பானைஎப்படி தன்னைத் தானே உருவாக்கி கொள்ள முடியாதோ அதேபோலவே உலகமும்,  தன்னைத் தானே படைத்துக் கொள்ள முடியாது.  

உலகம் தன்னைத்தான் உருவாக்கி கொள்ளவில்லை என்றாலும்,  அது என்றோ ஒருநாள் உருவானது அல்ல. என்றுமே காலகாலமாக அது இருந்து வருகிறது.  என்றும் வாதிக்க முடியாது.  காரணம் என்னவென்றால் உலகம் என்பது பல பகுதிகளால் ஆனது.  பல கூறுகள் உடைய எந்த பொருளும்.  தானாகவே சேர்ந்து கொள்ள முடியாது.  அப்படி சேரும் என்பதற்கே எந்த அனுபவ சான்றுகளும் இல்லை. பல பகுதிகளாக கிடப்பதை ஒன்று சேர்க்க ஒரு ஆள் வேண்டும்.  

உதாரணமாக ஒரு குடையில் துணிஇரும்புமரம்என்று பகுதிகள் பல உண்டுஇவற்றை ஒருவன் தனது அறிவை பயன்படுத்தி சேர்த்தால் தான் அது குடையாகும். அதே போன்றுதான் உலகமும் பலபல பகுதிகளாக கிடக்கிறது.  அதை ஒன்றுபடுத்தி உருவாக்க ஒரு சக்திவேண்டும். அந்த சக்திதான்  இறைவனாகும்.  என்று சைவ சித்தாந்திகள் இறைவனின் இருப்பை நிலைநிறுத்த முயன்றிருக்கிறார்கள்.


உலகம் எப்போதுமே இருந்து வரும் பொருள் என்று கொண்டால் அதற்கு அழிவு என்பது இல்லை என்பதாக கருத வேண்டும்.  ஆனால் நாம் அப்படி அழியாத் தன்மையோடு உலகை பார்க்கவில்லை.  .பூமியில் உள்ள ஒவ்வொரு துளியும்அணுவும் ஒவ்வொருவிநாடியில் மாறிக்கொண்டேயும் அழிந்துகொண்டேயும் புதிதாக உருவாகிகொண்டேயும்வருகிறது. அழிந்தும் தோன்றியும் மாற்றம் அடைந்து கொண்டே இருக்கும் ஒரு பொருள் என்றும் நிலைத்திருந்தது என்பதை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியாது.  எனவும் சைவசித்தாந்திகள் கருதினர். 

அதே நேரம் வேறொரு உதாரணத்தையும்,  அவர்கள் காட்டி கடவுளை நிருபிக்கமுயன்றார்கள்.  ஆத்மாக்கள் பிறப்பதும். சுக துக்கங்களை அனுபவிப்பதும் அவரவரின் கர்மாவே ஆகும்.  என்பதை எல்லா இந்துக்களும் ஒப்புக் கொள்கிறார்கள்.அதுமட்டுமல்ல கடவுளே இல்லை என்று வாதிடும் ஜைனர்களும்,  பவுத்தர்களும் கர்மாவை உண்மையென்றெ நம்புகிறார்கள்.  அப்படிப்பட்ட கர்மா ஆத்மாவை தானக தேடி அடைய முடியாது.  கர்மாவிற்கு தானாக முடிவு எடுக்கும் அறிவு உண்டு என்றால் பலவிதமான சிக்கல்கள் மிகுந்ததாகி குழப்பங்களே மிஞ்சும்,  அதனால் இந்த ஆத்மாவின் கர்மாவை இதனோடு இணைக்கவேண்டும். என்று முடிவெடுப்பதற்கு ஒருவன் தேவை.  அவனே இறைவன்.  

ஆகவே உலகை
  படைப்பதற்கும்கர்மாவை நெறிப்படுத்துவதற்கும் தானாக எதுவும் ஆகாது.  அதற்கு ஆண்டவன் என்பவன் நிச்சயம் தேவை என்று சைவ சித்தாந்தம் வாதிடுகிறது. 

 ஒரு பானையை பார்த்தவுடன் அதை செய்தவன் கண்முன்னே இல்லாவிடட்டாலும் அப்படிஒருவன் இருக்கவேண்டும் என்று நம்மனம் நம்பிக்கை கொள்கிறது.  இதே போலவேகாட்சிக்கு புலனாகாமல் கடவுள் இருந்தாலும் அவரை இருப்பவர் என்றுஏற்றுக்கொள்வதில் எந்த தவறும் இல்லை என்று சைவ சித்தாந்திகள் கூற்றின்அடிப்படையாகும். இதற்கு மாறுபாடான கருத்துக்களும்இருக்கிறது.  அவற்றையும் தெரிந்து கொண்டால் தான் நமது ஞானம் என்பது பூர்த்தியானதாக இருக்கும். உலகம் என்பது உண்மையாக இருக்கிறது என்றால்தான் அந்த உலகை படைத்தவனும்,  இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று நம்பவேண்டியது இருக்கிறது.  உலகம் என்பதேஇல்லையென்றால் அதை படைத்தவன் தேவையே இல்லையல்லவா?
ஆனால் உலகம் இருக்கிறது என்பதற்கு என்ன ஆதாரம்   இருக்கிறது.  நமதுகண்களுக்கே தெரிகிறது என்பது மட்டும்தானே ஆதாரம்.  ஆனால் நமது கண்கள்காட்டும் காட்சிகள் அனைத்துமே உண்மையானதுதானா?  சத்தியமானதுதானா?  என்றுபார்த்தால் பல நேரங்களில் நமது கண்கள் இருப்பதை இல்லாமலும்,  இல்லாததைஇருப்பதாகவும் காட்டி பொய்யான பல சித்திரங்களை உருவாக்குகிறது. இப்படிபுலன்கள் உருவாக்கும் பொய்சித்திரங்களை நம்பி பலமுறை நாம் ஏமாந்துஇருக்கிறறோம்.  இத்தகைய நம்பகத்தன்மை இல்லாத புலன் உலகம் இருக்கிறது என்று காட்டுவதை எப்படி நம்ப இயலும்? ஆகவே புலக்காட்சிசந்தேகம் எனும்போது உலகத்தின் இருப்பும் சந்தேகமாகி விடுகிறது.  சந்தேகமான ஒரு பொருளை உருவாக்க கடவுள் எதற்குஎனவே கடவுள் என்பது தேவையில்லாத பொருள்,  என சிலர் கருதுகிறார்கள்.  இக்கருத்தை மேலோட்டாமாக பார்க்கும் போது அதில் உண்மை இருப்பது போல் நமக்கு தோன்றும்.  ஆனால் நமது அறிவை உள்முகமாக திருப்பி சிந்தனை செய்தால் எது உண்மை என்பது நன்கு புலப்படும்.

 புலன்கள் எல்லா நேரமும் உள்ளதை உள்ளபடிகாட்டவில்லை என்பது உண்மைதான்.  என்பதற்காக உலகமே பொய் என்று வாதிடுவது அறிவுடைமை ஆகாது. உலகத்தை மாயை என்று கூறும் சங்கர வேதாந்திகள் கூட அது ஆகாயத்தாமரை போலவோ மலடி மகன் போலவோ முற்றிலுமாக இல்லாதது அல்ல என்பதைஒப்புக்கொள்கிறார்கள்.  புலன்கள் நம்பகத்தன்மை அற்றது என வாதிடும் இம்மானுவேல் காண்ட் போன்றமேலைநாட்டு தத்துவஞானிகள் கூட அவைகள் எதையோகாட்டுகின்றன என்பதை மறுக்கவில்லை. எனவே உலகத்தை ஒரு மாயா தோற்றம் என்றுவைத்துக்கொண்டால் கூட அந்த தோற்றத்தை தோற்றுவிக்க ஒருவன் வேண்டும்.  ஆகையால் எந்த வகையில் பார்த்தாலும்.  இறைவன் ஒருவன் இருப்பது தெளிவாகும்.   

சரி உலகம் உண்மையென்றும்கடவுள் இருக்கிறார் என்றும் வைத்துக் கொள்வோம். அப்படி வைத்துக் கொண்டால் கடவுள் ஏன் இந்த உலகத்தை படைத்தார்.  அதனால் அவருக்கு என்ன லாபம்?  என்ற கேள்வி அடுத்ததாக எழும்புவது இயற்கை.  இதற்கு சைவ சித்தாந்திகள் நல்ல பதிலை தருகிறார்கள். உலகம் படைக்கப்பட்டு ஒரு காலகட்டத்தில் முற்றிலுமாக அழிக்கப்பட்டுவிடுகிறது.  இதேபோன்று ஆத்மாகள் படைக்கப்பட்டு,  முற்றிலுமாக இல்லாத வகையில் அழிக்கப்படுவது இல்லை. காலகாலமாக இறைவனைப் போல் நித்தியமாக இருக்கின்ற ஆத்மாக்கள் ஜனனமரணம் எடுத்து தனது நிலையை சுத்திகரித்து இறைவனோடு கலப்பதற்கு உலகம் என்பது நிச்சயம் தேவை.  எனவே உயிர்கள் பிறவி பெருங்கடலை கடப்பதற்கு கடவுள்உலகத்தை படைத்துள்ளார்.  என்பது சித்தாந்திகளின் அறிவார்ந்த பதில்களாகும்.

உயிர்களை கரையேற்றுவதற்கு இறைவன் உலகத்தை படைத்திருக்கிறான் என்றால் அப்படிப்பட்ட இறைவனின் இயல்புகள் என்னவாக இருக்கும் என்பது நமக்குள் எழும்அடுத்த கேள்வியாகும்.  அதற்கு சைவம் இறைவன் என்பவன் சத்சித் ஆனந்தம் என்ற மூன்று இயல்பாக இருக்கிறான் என்ற பதிலை தருகிறது.  சத் என்றால் உண்மையான பொருள்என்று அர்த்தம் சித் என்றால் தானே இயங்குதல் என்பது பொருளாகும்.  ஆனந்தம் என்றால் உண்மையே வடிவாய் தானே இயங்கி தன்னையும்,  மற்ற அனைத்தையும்,  இன்பமாக வைத்துக் கொள்ளுதல் என்பது பொருளாகும். 

ஆகவே இறைவன் இந்த மூன்று இயல்பாக இருக்கிறான் என்பது சித்தாந்தம் கூறுவதை அனுபவ 
 அறிவு நிச்சயமாக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளும்.   
 சைவ சித்தாந்தத்தின் கடவுள் கருத்தை இதுவரை சுருக்கமாக பார்த்தோம்.  இந்து மதத்தை தவிர உலகில் உள்ள வேறு எந்த மதத்திலும் இத்தகைய வினாக்கள் எழுப்பி அறிவு பூர்வமான பதில்களை கொடுக்கும் வழக்கமில்லை.  ஏன்சில மதங்களில்கேள்விகள் கேட்பதற்கே அனுமதி இல்லை. அறிவுக்கு பொருந்தி வரக்கூடிய சகல விஷயங்களையும்  இந்து மதம் தனக்குள் கொண்டிருந்தாலும்.  அது தன்னைவிளம்பர படுத்திக் கொள்ள விரும்வில்லை என்பதனால் அரைகுறையாக மற்ற மதங்கள் தாங்களே அறிவின் சிகரம் என்று குதியாட்டம் போடுகிறது.  


 நாம் நம்மை அலங்காரப் படுத்திக் கொள்ள விரும்பவில்லை என்றாலும் கூட சுத்தமாக இருப்பது தவறு என்று யாரும்சொல்லிவிட முடியாது.  மற்றவர்கள் நம்மை முட்டாள்கள்என்றே பட்டம் கட்டாமல் இருப்பதற்காகவது நமது அறிவு விஷயங்களை வெளிப்படுத்த வேண்டும். சைவ சமயத்தில் இன்னும் பல பிரிவுகள் இருக்கிறதென்று ஆரம்பத்திலேயேபார்த்தோம். அந்த பிரிவுகளின் அனைத்து சிந்தனைகளையும் வரும் அத்தியாயங்களில் ஆழமாக சிந்திப்போம்.  அப்படி செய்தால்தான் இந்து மதத்தின் உண்மை வடிவை முழுமையாக தரிசிக்கலாம். 
மேலும் பயணிப்போம் நண்பர்களே.....இந்து மத வரலாற்றை தொடர்ந்து....அன்புடன் கே எம் தர்மா...

Irish Blessing!!!


His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools

and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.'

'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.

'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.

'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.

'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, 


the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill .. His son's name?

Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like nobody's watching.

Sing like nobody's listening.

Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

It's National Friendship Week Send this to everyone you consider A FRIEND.

Pass this on, and brighten some one's day.

AN IRISH FRIENDSHIP WISH: You had better send this back!! Good Luck!

I hope it works...

May there always be work for your hands to do;

May your purse always hold a coin or two;

May the sun always shine on your windowpane;

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;

May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

and may you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows your'e dead..

OK, this is what you have to do.... Send this to all of your friends.





































Antibodies Target Cancer's Insides




sn-antibodies.jpg
Inside job. When mice with cancer cells that had green fluorescent protein inside them were given antibodies to GFP, they developed fewer lung tumors than control mice did(left).
Credit: Ke Guo et al., Science Translational Medicine, 3 (7 September 2011)
Researchers may have found a way to get inside cancer's head—or at least its body. The cancer cell has been long believed to be impermeable to antibodies that could target it for destruction. But a new study suggests that some antibodies can get through after all, potentially opening up a vast new array of cancer therapies.
When a foreign virus or bacterium enters the body, immune cells start cranking out antibodies, which latch onto the invaders, signaling the immune system to dispatch them. Antibodies can also be used to treat cancer: for example, the breast cancer drug Herceptin is an antibody that targets the HER2 receptor, a protein on the surface of breast tumor cells that spurs cell growth. However, researchers haven't tried to develop drugs against cancer proteins within cells because they thought antibodies were too large to pass through the membrane of most cell types.
The new study defies that conventional wisdom. Cancer biologist Qi Zeng of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore and collaborators first injected mice with cancer cells so that tumors would begin to form. Two days later, they began injecting the mice twice a week with antibodies to one of two proteins found inside the cancer cells: PRL-3 or mT. Over 17 days, the antibody-treated mice lost weight more slowly and developed fewer metastatic tumors than control mice.
The Singapore team also tried a different strategy: Before giving the mice cancer, they injected either PRL-3 or mT so that their immune system would make its own antibodies against these proteins. That vaccine-style treatment slowed the spread of cancer and, in one experiment, extended the mice's life span by 20%, the team reports today in Science Translational Medicine.
Using antibodies to target intracellular cancer proteins could "expand the scope for tailor-made cancer therapy as well as usher in a new era of tailor-made cancer vaccines," Zeng says. Her team acknowledges, however, that it has not figured out how the treatment works. One possibility is that some of the targeted proteins inside the cancer cells are somehow transported to the surface of the cells, and, as with Herceptin, antibodies latch on and trigger the immune system to kill the cancer cells. Or the antibodies could get into the cancer cells and cause them to self-destruct, as has been observed with some autoimmune diseases.
Immunologist Mark Smyth of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, is skeptical that the antibodies are really slipping inside cancer cells. The results "are quite heretical in terms of what we know about immunology," he says. Still, cancer researcher Michel Tremblay of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who studies PRL-3 and related proteins, says the study shows promise. The work is "exciting" because it suggests a more specific way of targeting these internal cellular proteins than so-called small-molecule drugs, he says, which haven't worked well so far.

NASA Launches Mission to Study Moon From Crust to Core


NASA's GRAIL spacecraft successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 9:08 EDT (6:08 PDT) on Sept. 10, 2011. As depicted in the artist's concept on the right, the twin spacecraft, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B will work in tandem to study the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Thom Baur, United Launch Alliance)

Science Daily — NASA's twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:08 a.m. EDT (6:08 a.m. PDT) Saturday, Sept. 10, to study the moon in unprecedented detail.












"If there was ever any doubt that Florida's Space Coast would continue to be open for business, that thought was drowned out by the roar of today's GRAIL launch," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "GRAIL and many other exciting upcoming missions make clear that NASA is taking its next big leap into deep space exploration, and the space industry continues to provide the jobs and workers needed to support this critical effort."
GRAIL-A is scheduled to reach the moon on New Year's Eve 2011, while GRAIL-B will arrive New Year's Day 2012. The two solar-powered spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits around the moon to measure its gravity field. GRAIL will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.
The spacecraft were launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. GRAIL mission controllers acquired a signal from GRAIL-A at 10:29 a.m. EDT (7:29 a.m. PDT). GRAIL-B's signal was received eight minutes later. The telemetry downlinked from both spacecraft indicates they have deployed their solar panels and are operating as expected.
"Our GRAIL twins have Earth in their rearview mirrors and the moon in their sights," said David Lehman, GRAIL project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The mission team is ready to test, analyze and fine-tune our spacecraft over the next three-and-a-half months on our journey to lunar orbit."
The straight-line distance from Earth to the moon is approximately 250,000 miles (402,336 kilometers). NASA's Apollo moon crews needed approximately three days to cover that distance. However, each spacecraft will take approximately 3.5 months and cover more than 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers) to arrive. This low-energy trajectory results in the longer travel time. The size of the launch vehicle allows more time for spacecraft check-out and time to update plans for lunar operations. The science collection phase for GRAIL is expected to last 82 days.
"Since the earliest humans looked skyward, they have been fascinated by the moon," said GRAIL principal investigator Maria Zuber from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "GRAIL will take lunar exploration to a new level, providing an unprecedented characterization of the moon's interior that will advance understanding of how the moon formed and evolved."
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the GRAIL mission. It is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft. Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
For more information about GRAIL, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/grail and http://grail.nasa.gov


Birth Control Pills Affect Memory, Researchers Find



Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details. (Credit: © Hamiza Bakirci / Fotolia)
Science Daily  — Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details.












She stressed that the medications did not damage memory. "It's a change in the type of information they remember, not a deficit.""What's most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory," UCI graduate researcher Shawn Nielsen said. "There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide."
The change makes sense, said Nielsen, who works with neurobiologist Larry Cahill, because contraceptives suppress sex hormones such as estrogen and progesterone to prevent pregnancy. Those hormones were previously linked to women's strong "left brain" memory by Cahill's research group.
"This new finding may be surprising to some, but it's a natural outgrowth of the research we've been doing on sex differences for 10 years," Cahill said.
A neurobiologist not involved in the latest work agreed it was a logical and intriguing next step in the examination of memory differences between the sexes. Like any research, she added, it would be important to validate it further.
"Larry Cahill is already well known for his phenomenal research linking sex to memory," said Pauline Maki, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who specializes in memory and brain functioning. "The fact that women on oral contraceptives remembered different elements of a story tells us that estrogen has an influence on how women remember emotional events."
In the study, groups of women either on the contraceptive or experiencing natural hormonal cycles were shown photographs of a mother, her son, and a car accident. The audio narrative differed; some in each group were told the car had hit a curb, while others were told the car had hit the boy and critically injured him.
One week later, all were given surprise tests about what they recalled. Women using hormonal contraceptives for as little as one month remembered more clearly the main steps in the traumatic event -- that there had been an accident, that the boy had been rushed to the hospital, that doctors worked to save his life and successfully reattached both his feet, for instance.
Women not using them remembered more details, such as a fire hydrant next to the car.
Nielsen and fellow researcher Nicole Ertman agreed the findings could help lead to fuller answers about why women experience post-traumatic stress syndrome more frequently than men, and how men remember differently than women. Men typically rely more on right-hemisphere brain activity to encode memory. They retain the gist of things better than details. Women on the pill, who have lower levels of hormones associated with female reproduction, may remember emotional events similarly to men. Nielsen plans to do her doctoral thesis on whether hormones affect the retention of details.
The work, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, appears in the September issue of the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Additional authors include Cahill and UCI undergraduate research assistant Yasmeen Lakhani.

Employment opportunities for educated young women. Jordan—thinkEQUAL

A new project in Jordan is getting young women graduates into the market place.

BEAUTIFUL AQUA TOWER OF CHICAGO






Researchers find process that clears cholesterol and could reverse major cause of heart attack


Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) have discovered that an ancient pathway called autophagy also mobilizes and exports cholesterol from cells. 

A team led by Yves Marcel, PhD, Director of the HDL Biology Laboratory, UOHI, has shown that autophagy, a pathway preserved during evolution, functions to engulf and digest cholesterol accumulated in artery walls. This process facilitates the removal of cholesterol and may provide an entirely new target to reverse atherosclerosis, the main cause of heart attack and stroke. 

Cholesterol accumulates in the walls of arteries leading to atherosclerosis, also known as narrowing of arteries and which causes blockages and reduces blood flow to the heart. This often culminates in heart attacks and strokes. 

The autophagy pathway, which means self-digestion, developed early in single-cell organisms to allow the clearance of accumulated dysfunctional molecules. "The finding that autophagy also functions to digest and liberate cholesterol from cells and the fact that we know this pathway is regulated offers hope for the development of new drugs that could activate export of cholesterol the walls of arteries," said Marcel. 

"There is an urgent need to understand how cholesterol accumulation in arteries can be reversed," said researcher Mireille Ouimet, who was a major contributor to the study. 

Details of the research were published online earlier this summer in the journal Cell Metabolism (Cell Metab. 2011: 13(6):655-67) and illustrate how cholesterol buildup itself triggers autophagy, facilitating the release of cholesterol for transport back to the liver for elimination from the body. 

It is possible that some patients with CAD have an impaired ability to clear arterial cholesterol by the autophagy pathway, said Marcel. 

Marcel's work lends a greater understanding to the underlying biochemical complexities involving cholesterol. Cholesterol is important to cell structure. Problems arise when too much cholesterol is deposited inside the walls of the coronary artery – the origins of coronary artery disease (CAD). Researchers now are investigating how this process is involved in the development of atherosclerosis, a step that could help experts in cardiovascular medicine understand and find a new way to halt the progression of heart disease. 

Marcel's research career has focused on lipoproteins – the biochemical mechanism to transport cholesterol and fats through the body. In 1997, he received the highest medal of honour by the Royal Society of Canada for his contribution to medical science including research related to pathways for polyunsaturated fatty acids. This was the McLaughlin Medal, considered one of the country's most prestigious tributes for research excellence.

Exercising Freedom




Shrimati Radharani“We often pray to Radharani because She is the pleasure potency of Krishna. The very word ‘Krishna’ means all-attractive, but Radharani is so great that She attracts Krishna. If Krishna is always attractive to everyone, and Radharani is attractive to Krishna, how can we imagine the position of Shrimati Radharani?” (Shrila Prabhupada, Elevation to Krishna Consciousness, Ch 5)
What is the purpose to our existence? Why must we continually suffer, day after day, with so many troubles? Even when there is happiness found in the steadiness of creature comforts, there is the constant fear that everything will be taken away. When things are lost, the past worries are validated and the overall enjoyment going forward is suddenly hampered as well. Therefore if we are miserable both when we have things and when we don’t, when will there be a peaceful condition? The philosophy of the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, is that the many living entities, the autonomous beings roaming this and many other lands, have an existence to provide pleasure to the fountainhead of all energies, the Supreme Lord, who is known as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness. As attractive as Krishna is, those who make use of their constitutional position to always act in His service become even more attractive, for they are capable of catching the Lord’s eye.
Lord KrishnaThe total number of living entities is impossible to count, or even fathom. Just think of all the different bugs and insects that appear on a summer night to come and disrupt your barbecue or your peaceful conversation in the backyard. Then think of all the ants and worms resting within the ground. Every life form that has autonomous movement, birth, death, growth, decay, etc. has a spirit soul inside. Therefore such entities are referred to as life forms, and though their specific outward functions may vary, they are all linked to the Supreme Lord. Even if we pay them no attention, it doesn’t mean that such beings are not related to God. For instance, the broker feverishly making trades on the floor of the stock exchange is not really concerned with the outside world. The fact that there are millions of children attending school at the same time trying to get an education does not appear on the passionate worker’s radar. Yet, just because we don’t contemplate certain things doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. No matter the level of intelligence or the body type assumed, every form of life is attached to the Supreme Lord.
Vedic information reveals that the spirit soul is the essence of identity. While the outer coverings may have different appearances, the properties of spirit do not change. We are all one, as we are all the same, fighting for one cause. When we walk into a room and see people dressed differently, the outfits mask the fact that every person is inherently the same. One person may be overweight, while another is skinny, but deep down they have a heart that keeps beating to maintain their life force. The Vedic angle of vision extends this perspective to all spheres of life. The eyes of the scriptures can see both the microscopic and the gigantic. The texts have the written sense perceptions and thoughts of great sages of the past, who documented both the activities and teachings of the Supreme Person when He was kind enough to present them to a notable personality. Thus simply by taking shelter of these great works, studying them under someone who knows the meanings behind the different verses, one can acquire a flawless vision.
In the absence of this instruction, we will require a lifetime’s worth of experiences just to learn that everyone is the same. It is seen that in closed communities where there is not much diversity, ignorance of other cultures and races is rampant. The practice of racism is sternly rebuked, but it is merely a viewpoint based on ignorance. A person who sees with the weakest eyes, a vision so impure that it can barely detect anything noticeable, thinks that one particular race is superior to another. Through enough exposure, sobriety of thought, and accumulation of sense perceptions, however, a better angle of vision can be acquired.
“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste] .” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 5.18)
Lord Krishna with cowIn this area the Vedas have already done the work for us. Simply by accepting its wisdom through what is known as the descending process of knowledge acquisition, we can begin to see things clearly immediately. The first instruction taught to students of the Vedic tradition is aham brahmasmi, which means “I am Brahman.” Brahman as a concept is very important because it immediately explains the equality shared between every type of life. The dog, cat, dog-eater, cow, learned sage, business tycoon, and even the ant are the same in quality. That quality is that they are Brahman, or pure spirit. Without attaining realization of Brahman, the most extended outlook reached by the mind will remain limited.
What do we mean by this? Take the common practice of nationalism. One who is born in a particular land becomes proud of their nation and the people that live in it. But we know that we had no control over the circumstances of our birth. We had so little control that we can’t even remember emerging from the womb of our mother. We only know that we were born in a particular place because of what people tell us. From this we see that there is every chance of being born in some other land. If we maintain our identity from our country of origin, the identity is one that could easily change.
Another way to understand the same concept is to pretend that we’re preparing our favorite dish. In this example, let’s say we’re making homemade pizza. For the pizza to come out right, we need a nice oven, one that can evenly distribute the heat necessary for the dough to cook and the cheese to melt. Is there a difference between the pizza cooked in the oven in the upstairs kitchen and the one baked in the downstairs kitchen? What if both ovens are identical? Would we ever refer to one pizza as being a downstairs pizza and the other as an upstairs pizza?
Obviously the quality of the oven and the resulting outcome are what matter, not necessarily the geographic location of where the baking took place. Similarly, it is the makeup of the spirit soul that counts; and the Vedas tell us that every instance of life is considered Brahman, or pure spirit. The question remains, “What does this gain us? What if I do know Brahman? What then am I supposed to do with that information?” Aside from being able to view everything properly, the realization of Brahman is meant to serve as a launching pad to another stage of realization, one that is in line with the constitutional position of the spirit soul.
“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.54)
Lord KrishnaLord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita that one who reaches the brahma-bhutah platform, the stage of understanding the individual’s true position as pure spirit, no longer hankers and laments. In that peaceful condition they take up bhakti, or devotion to God. If I know that I am pure spirit and not the temporary manifestation of matter surrounding my soul, I will be in a better position to judge everyone else and handle what life has to offer. The peace, tranquility, and evenness of emotion under pressure that I was so desperately seeking come through learning about Brahman and the equality of every individual spiritual fragment.
Activity does not stop here, however. The real business of the spirit soul is to please God. At this point the cogent question may be raised, “If we are supposed to serve God, why are we put into different bodies that are forced to suffer the effects of material nature? Why do we even have to undergo self-realization? Can’t God just remove our obstacles and let us serve Him?” Since the constitutional position of the soul is to be a loving servant of God, for that position to really make a difference, to take on its potency, there must be freedom in the exercise of service. The exaggerated viewpoint is to take God as being the supreme scientist and the living entities as sort of cloned creatures, “mini-frankensteins” if you will, resulting from an experiment that went awry. The intent of the scientist was to make autonomous entities that would act in the interests of the creator, but the experiment went horribly wrong.
This analogy can’t apply to Krishna, though. The living entities are His fragmental sparks, and they do have independence in their actions, but we are never capable of becoming stronger than Krishna, nor can we ever meet with total destruction. Based on the exercise of freedom, we are placed under the care of a specific energy. In the material land, the governing agent is maya, or illusion. In this respect our deference to maya is completely by choice, similar to how when a person plays a video game they agree to subject themselves to the rules and the obstacles that must be faced. The enjoyment in maya’s realm is short-lived, for gains acquired in a body that is destined for destruction cannot last forever.
Lord KrishnaOn the other hand, when freedom is exercised in favor of serving Krishna, the ruling agent becomes the spiritual energy, which is under the direct purview of the Lord. This is why devotional service, or bhakti-yoga, is considered the eternal engagement of the soul. Why would we want to live under the dictates of an energy that is not even autonomous in its own right? Material nature works under Krishna’s direction, but in an impersonal way. On the other hand, the spiritual energy is directly guided by Krishna; therefore it is always superior.
The constitutional position, by definition, brings great pleasure to the spirit soul. If Krishna were to force us to remain in the spiritual world with Him against our will, what pleasure would there be for Him? How would He gain satisfaction from exercising His domineering power over everyone? If you are God, you don’t need anything to validate Your supremacy or position of power. Rather, time is spent only in enjoying, having fun if you will. If you see pictures of Krishna, He is always happy. He is the very essence of ananda, or bliss. If He needs to punish someone, He’ll expand into a non-different form or He’ll order one of His energies acting under His direction to take care of the task, but Krishna Himself is always in full pleasure.
What is the source of Krishna’s pleasure? The Vedas describe the Lord as being atmarama, so He is in need of nothing. Though He is self-satisfied, the association of one particular person gives Him so much pleasure that He can’t even imagine how wonderful that person is. Shrimati Radharani, the eternal consort of Lord Krishna, is the topmost servant, the expansion of spiritual energy that never deviates from their constitutional position. She is so exalted that she enthralls Krishna at every second, showing what it means to take to bhakti and remain deferent to the reason for our existence.
Shrimati RadharaniThe rebellious spirit in us may raise some objections at this point. “I never asked to be created for Krishna’s pleasure. Why do I have to engage in something I don’t want to do?” The fact is that the serving principle is active within every single form of life. When service to Krishna is neglected, other entities and objects will be given favor. Since none of these target beneficiaries are all-attractive, the serving propensity will not bring the results that it should. Simply through following the example of Shrimati Radharani, honoring her, worshiping her, and asking her to bestow bhakti upon us, our real position can slowly and surely be reawakened.
To honor both Radha and Krishna, the sincere spiritualist seeking accompanying transcendental enlightenment regularly chants, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and thinks of their beloved divine pair standing together, always in each other’s company. Radharani is so nice that she doesn’t keep Krishna for herself. Rather, she is always looking for people to recommend to Krishna, for Him to spread His personal mercy upon even more sincere souls. Radha is not stingy in this regard. She would take the entire world back to the spiritual land in a second, provided that this was the desire of everyone. The purpose to our existence is to try to love Krishna just as much as Radha does. Though that is not possible, by remembering her sweet behavior and her undying devotion to Krishna, our reinstatement in the eternal pastimes of the Lord can take place very soon, giving us the boon of our existence and the ability to understand transcendental subject matters.
Radha and KrishnaIn Closing:
From Radharani’s devotion one thing is clear,
That to Shri Krishna, no one is more dear.
Expansion of the Lord’s energy is she,
Keeping Him happy, acts as His pleasure potency.
Spirit souls wandering the universe,
Are found in many species that are diverse.
Yet essence of identity is the soul,
At its core, lover of God is its role.
Follow the example of Krishna’s treasure,
Up to her standard of devotion yourself measure.
You will always fail in this regard, for she is the best,
From Her ability to love, Radha stands above the rest.
Though she is the Lord’s beloved and always by His side,
The glories of humble devotees in Krishna does she confide.
Therefore Their names do we go on chanting,
Fruit of existence for us is awaiting.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Jackass 3 - Scott Palmer jumps from plane with no chute

Travis Pastrana Skydives without a Parachute

Neuroscientists produce guide for ultrasound use to treat brain disorders in clinical emergencies

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The discovery that low-intensity, pulsed ultrasound can be used to noninvasively stimulate intact brain circuits holds promise for engineering rapid-response medical devices. The team that made that discovery, led by William “Jamie” Tyler, an assistant professor with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has now produced an in-depth article detailing this approach, which may one day lead to first-line therapies in combating life-threatening epileptic seizures.
Status epilepticus is a condition in which the brain is in a state of persistent seizure and which, if not halted, can lead to Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). But, as the recent article by Tyler and colleagues shows, ultrasonic neuromodulation does not necessarily need to be focused to attenuate epileptic seizures, meaning that it can be quickly applied in neurocritical care situations.
“Imagine a device like an automatic external defibrillator except for the brain,” said first author Yusuf Tufail, who is now a postdoctoral associate at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences.
Published in the September issue of Nature Protocols, the article, “Ultrasonic Neuromodulation by Brain Stimulation with Transcranial Ultrasound,” provides a guide for the further development and clinical application of ultrasonic neuromodulation. The authors — Yusuf Tufail, Anna Yoshihiro, and Monica M. Li of Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences; Sandipan Pati of Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz.; and corresponding author Tyler — also published their earlier research into the feasibility of this approach in Neuron in 2010.
Ultrasound is an acoustic wave occurring at frequencies exceeding the range of human hearing. Uses range from food processing to communication and include medical imaging. Tyler and his research group have spent several years developing noninvasive methods for brain stimulation employing low-intensity, low-frequency (LILFU) ultrasound. “Much of our time had been spent on understanding the biological effects of LILFU on intact brain circuits and how to control neural activity using LILFU,” Tyler said.
The team has observed that the mechanical bioeffects of ultrasound are indeed capable of stimulating neuronal activity, meaning that ultrasound could join other therapies for neurological disorders — namely, implanted electrodes, such as those used in deep-brain stimulation, and external magnetic stimulators used for transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, major depression, and dystonia. The major advantage of using ultrasound for brain stimulation is that it can confer spatial resolution at millimeter precision while being focused through the skull to deep-brain regions without the need for invasive brain surgery, Tyler said.
“We have also shown that ultrasound can be used to stimulate synaptic transmission between groups of neurons within the brain in a manner similar to conventional implanted stimulating electrodes without generating significant heating of the brain tissue,” said Tyler.
“Further studies are required to fully elucidate the many potential mechanisms underlying the ability of ultrasound to stimulate neuronal activity in the intact brain,” the article states. However, while using ultrasound for brain stimulation represents a powerful new tool for clinical neuroscience, there are potential concerns, since high-intensity ultrasound is also capable of destroying biological tissues, the researchers write.
The article reports that ultrasound has been used for many hours across many weeks, “stimulating cellular circuits in the living brain without producing damage in mice as assessed with cellular, histological, ultrastructural, and behavioral methods.” The researchers added a note of caution: “Additional investigations across animal species and dosage levels are required, however, before the safety can be fully ascertained.”
Caption: Jamie Tyler, assistant professor with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, is developing noninvasive brain stimulation therapies. Credit: Virginia Tech
Moving this technology forward will require scientists, engineers, and physicians spanning many disciplines. The impetus for the Nature Protocolsarticle is to disseminate basic methods for conducting ultrasonic neuromodulation. “There is a major need for increased open communication among engineers designing ultrasound-based medical devices, neuroscientists studying the core biological effects of ultrasound, and clinicians implementing ultrasound for therapeutic interventions,” said Tyler.
The Nature Protocols article poses specific questions needing to be addressed, such as how ultrasound affects neurons on a molecular and cellular level, how to correct for impedance mismatches between skin and skull interfaces, and the need for characterizing safety across different exposure times, applications, and disease states.
The research reported in the article provides the provocative demonstration that ultrasonic neuromodulation is capable of attenuating seizure activity during pharmacologically induced status epilepticus in rodents. “While other research groups have reported that focused ultrasound can modulate seizure activity in the brain, the approaches used in those earlier studies require timely preparations and the implementation of MRI to focus the ultrasound in an approach known as magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound,” said Tyler. “Our findings show that clinicians may not need to take such complicated, costly, and time-consuming approaches to treating patients in critical situations.”