Standing Out

“(Hanuman did not see Sita) who (in Lanka) was like a crescent moon having its outline blurred, like a streak of gold covered by dust, like an injury left by an arrow (a scar), or like a series of clouds broken up by the wind.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 5.26)

avyaktarekhāmiva candrarekhāṃ |
pāmsupradigdhāmiva hemarekhām |
kśataprarūḍhāmiva bāṇarekhāṃ |
vāyuprabhinnāmiva megharekśām || 

To find success In his search for Sita Shri Hanuman would have to go by certain features as clues. He had not met the divine princess up until this time, and to properly identify her he had to go off of her qualities described to him and also her presumed current state of mind. Having met the lord of his life breath, Shri Rama, Hanuman knew that anyone who would ever be separated from His company would be in a troublesome situation. If a lover is forced to leave the side of their beloved, it is natural for them to feel distressed. When the mind is constantly focused on one object, on meeting this object’s needs and putting a smile on its face, and then that object of affection is suddenly removed from the vision, the living being will have nothing to do but lament. Bearing this in mind, Hanuman knew what signs to look for. He was searching for the most beautiful princess in the world, whose irradiant beauty and grace were now somewhat covered up by her tremendous grief.

Wouldn’t this be a difficult task? For starters, how many of us are always happy? What area could we travel through where we’d find everyone either completely miserable or fully satisfied? In Hanuman’s case, the job was made easier by the fact that the women residing in the location he was searching were well-dressed and enjoying the pleasures of home life. The land where Sita had been taken was called Lanka, and it was the capital of the vilest Rakshasa community of the world. A Rakshasa is a sort of human-like species that is more prone to sinful activity than ordinary human beings. A sin is anything that goes against the law codes of shastra, or scripture. These edicts are not put into place to punish or to make others suffer, but rather to ensure that everyone can live together peacefully, remain happy, and continue on a steady march towards a purified consciousness. When the mind is fixed on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at the time of death, the cycle of birth and death immediately ceases.

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)

We get more than one life to live? Just as the measurement of our lifetime gets divided up into smaller units such as days, weeks, months, and years to make things easier to analyze, the infinite duration of the soul’s existence is grouped into units of time based on its residence in various body types. To make this easier to understand, let’s say that we didn’t even know what a “day” was. We consider a day to have passed when we wake up each morning, but this is an entirely relative delineation, for what if we stayed awake the entire night? Does not a day pass then? Even the calendar is subjective, for it operates on the movement of the sun, which means that any person could take any point in time and use that as their starting point instead of the regular calendar days. Just as not every person lives for only one day, the soul does not remain in a specific body type forever. The soul’s qualities of knowledge, eternality and bliss are always present; it’s just that in the conditioned state of being awareness of these features remains lost. Through instruction from the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India and the original set of law codes to be followed by the human society, steps can be taken that allow the soul to break free of the cycle of birth and death and thus achieve a spiritual body that is permanent in its existence.

The relevance of sin shouldn’t be too difficult to understand. The rules of the highway are meant to ensure the safety of all drivers. Running through a stop sign or a red light is considered sinful because it goes against the established law codes and it leads to a negative condition. If one person runs a red light, the crossing traffic that has a green light is immediately put into danger. Adherence to the rules, or piety, is followed for a purpose. Similarly, the restrictions onillicit sex life, gambling, intoxication and meat eating are present to allow the consciousness of the individual to fully develop. When dissociated from the Supreme Person, the entity most of the world refers to as God, the individual consciousness is left to seek out sense pleasures, which constantly suggest the breaking of the laws of regulated spiritual life. Just as running the red light has negative consequences, so does the flaunting of the laws of God.

The most obvious detriment to sinful activity is the fuel it adds to reincarnation. With material desires driven by lust, anger and greed, the soul remains tied to material bodies, i.e. forms which are temporary in their existence. When something is temporary, it automatically becomes the cause of lamentation. This may be a little difficult to understand, but if we review the cycles of different experiences undergone in life, we’ll see that this is entirely true. For instance, when a new child is born there is great celebration, elation and expectation. The child’s early years are especially enjoyed by the parents. The child is the final piece of the puzzle to family life, which acts as a support system ensuring that comfort and security are always there.

“For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.27)

Life in a particular form of body is not permanent, however. Though the soul remains in existence forever, its temporary coverings do not. Therefore the elation that comes with birth is automatically coupled with the sadness that comes at death. When there is birth, there must be death. When there is the creation of something temporary, there must be the sadness that results from its destruction. In this way material desires are ultimately the source of misery and thus should be avoided. By following the principles of spiritual life passed down by the Vedas and their followers, one doesn’t even need to know the ins and outs of matter and the illusory component of material nature. Just following the instructions keeps one on the straightened path.

The Rakshasas so flaunted the principles of dharma that they took their sinful way of life to be the right way. This is akin to thinking that stopping at a red light is sinful and that going through it is pious. In their community the Rakshasas especially enjoyed eating human flesh and drinking wine. Why was Hanuman traversing through such an area, especially considering that he is today famously known as Lord Rama’s greatest devotee? Rama is an incarnation of Godhead who roamed the earth many thousands of years ago in the guise of a warrior prince. When His wife Sita Devi was taken away from Him behind His back, He enlisted the help of a band of Vanaras, or human-like monkeys, residing in the forest of Kishkindha.

Sita had been taken to Lanka, where the leader of the Rakshasas, Ravana, tried his best to win her over. But just as Rama was an incarnation ofLord Vishnu, Sita was an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, Vishnu’s wife in the spiritual world. Hence she never desires to even look at any man except her husband. Hanuman was the most capable of the Vanaras in so many different categories of ability, with his most outstanding feature being his eagerness to please Rama. He was fully committed to finding Sita, handing to her Rama’s ring, and returning the information of her whereabouts to Rama and the monkeys back in Kishkindha.

After infiltrating Lanka, Hanuman scoured through the streets in a form that went unnoticed by others. He saw all sorts of beautiful women engaged in different activities. The common trait shared by all of them was happiness through association with their beloveds. They were all enjoying the company of their Rakshasa husbands in some way or another. Hanuman thus understood that he had yet to find Sita. There was no way she would be enjoying with anyone else. Plus, none of these women could classify as the most beautiful in the world, nor were they capable of fully enchanting Shri Rama’s mind. Just as Sita always thinks of Rama, the Lord always thinks of her happiness and welfare.

In the above referenced verse from the Ramayana, we get a few more details of Sita’s distinguishing features at the time, clues that Hanuman could use to identify her. It is said that Sita shone like a crescent moon that had a blurred outline. Lord Rama, having a dark complexion, was often compared to the dark raincloud, and since Sita was fair-skinned, she was often compared to lightning, that which is white in color. Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother, was sometimes described in the same way. When Rama and Lakshmana would walk together in the forest, the onlookers would compare the scene to a dark raincloud coupled with streaks of lightning walking through. In this respect, the comparison to the crescent moon is very appropriate. The moon shines bright in the sky and is noticed very easily because of the contrast to the darkness of night. Similarly, Hanuman was in a region ruled by the mode of ignorance, the level of material activity which has the least deference to piety. Sita would be the moon that stood out in the dark city of Lanka, but her brightness wouldn’t be complete, as her sadness due to separation from Rama would blur her outline.

Sita’s appearance in Lanka would also be like that of a scar on the body. If we get mosquito bites in the summertime or get a prominent injury on the body that leaves a scar, the marks are distinguishable. If someone were to see us, they would immediately ask what had happened. “How did you get that injury? Are you okay?” Comparing Sita’s presence in Lanka to a scar is very appropriate because she would certainly stand out. Hanuman knew that none of the women he had seen thus far could be the princess of Videha, Rama’s beloved, because their features weren’t noteworthy. Sita would also be a wound that ultimately would prove fatal to all the sinful residents of Lanka, and especially Ravana. Though Rama would later march to the city with the Vanaras and do away with the Rakshasas, Sita would actually be the real cause of Ravana’s demise. If he had not unlawfully taken her away from her religiously wedded husband, none of the resulting destruction would have taken place.

Sita would also appear like a streak of a series of clouds that had been swept away by the wind. When there are lots of clouds in the sky, it is difficult to distinguish which ones are which. On an overcast day, it doesn’t even appear as if there are many clouds in the sky; just one giant streak of covering to shield the sunlight. When the clouds part, however, due to the force of the wind, some streaks are left, allowing certain areas of the sky to be noticed. Sita could be recognized in the same way in Lanka.

These clues helped Hanuman continue ahead, for he was not happy to have not found Sita yet. He knew she wouldn’t be in a good condition, but since she was Rama’s wife, Hanuman was very eager to meet her. When it comes to achieving perfection in consciousness, just the mere desire to seek out God and His pleasure is enough to secure liberation. What then to speak of those who actually follow through on their desires and make bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, their way of life? With a sincere desire to serve comes the helping hand of God. Without the hankering to connect with pure spirit, adherence to dharma and the accumulation of spiritual knowledge can only take us so far.

In this respect the solution to life’s problems is very simple. Just chant, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” as often as possible and hear about the glories of divine figures like Shri Hanuman and Sita Devi. Just as Sita’s presence was distinct in the thick cloud of darkness that was Lanka, Hanuman and his acts always remain resplendent and superior to the activities of any mundane figure or hero. Whoever is fortunate enough to hear of Hanuman and honor him just once will have the seed of devotional service planted within them. When that seed, which is anxiously awaiting growth into a full blown tree, is regularly watered through devotional acts such as hearing, chanting and remembering, the return to the spiritual world is guaranteed.

In Closing:

Hanuman was desperate to meet her soon,

Sita, who looked like the indistinct crescent moon.

Natural brilliance hidden by her sadness,

Like dust covering streak of gold and its brilliance.

Injury from an arrow leaves on the body a scar,

Sita looked similar, though Hanuman not found her thus far.

In Lanka, strong were the forces of darkness,

Residents mistook their sin for righteousness.

Thus Sita, wife of Rama, would certainly stand out,

Her location, to please his lord, Hanuman must find out.

Discover her he would, ultimately to find victory,

Etched his place in the Ramayana, heartwarming story.

That Hanuman in his search for Sita we remember,

Consciousness thus saved from maya’s forces that blur.

Fruit of happiness in following piety in mood of bhakti,

Live happily thinking of Shri Rama and Sita Devi.

Software Development Life Cycle

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) refers to a methodology with clearly defined processes for creating high-quality software. in detail, the SDLC methodology focuses on the following phases of software development:

1. Requirement analysis
2. Planning
3. Software design such as architectural design
4. Software development
5. Testing
6. Deployment

This article will explain how SDLC works, dive deeper in each of the phases, and provide you with examples to get a better understanding of each phase.

Definition of SDLC

SDLC or the Software Development Life Cycle is a process that produces software with the highest quality and lowest cost in the shortest time possible. SDLC provides a well-structured flow of phases that help an organization to quickly produce high-quality software which is well-tested and ready for production use.

The SDLC involves six phases as explained in the introduction. Popular SDLC models include the waterfall model, spiral model, and Agile model.

So, how does the Software Development Life Cycle work?

How SDLC Works

SDLC works by lowering the cost of software development while simultaneously improving quality and shortening production time. SDLC achieves these apparently divergent goals by following a plan that removes the typical pitfalls of software development projects. That plan starts by evaluating existing systems for deficiencies.

Next, it defines the requirements of the new system. It then creates the software through the stages of analysis, planning, design, development, testing, and deployment. By anticipating costly mistakes like failing to ask the end-user or client for feedback, SLDC can eliminate redundant rework and after-the-fact fixes.

It’s also important to know that there is a strong focus on the testing phase. As the SDLC is a repetitive methodology, you have to ensure code quality at every cycle. Many organizations tend to spend few efforts on testing while a stronger focus on testing can save them a lot of rework, time, and money. Be smart and write the right types of tests.
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The Island

நடிகை சுஜாதாவின் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு

நடிகை சுஜாதாவின் மறைவு தென்னிந்திய திரைப்படத்துறைக்குப் பேரிழப்பாகும் என்பதை திரைப்படத்துறை ரசிகர்கள் நிச்சயம் ஏற்றுக் கொள்வார்கள்.58 வயதான சுஜாதா 06-‍‍‍04-௨011 அன்று சென்னையில் உள்ள அவரது இல்லத்தில் காலமானார்.

இனி அவரது வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு பற்றிப் பார்ப்போம்.

1950 களில் கேரளாவில் இருந்து யாழ்ப்பாணம் வந்த  மலையாள ஆசிரியர் சுஜாதாவின் தந்தையான மேனன் ஆவார்.இவரது தந்தையான ஆசிரியர் மேனன் அவர்கள் சிறந்த  விலங்கியல் ஆசிரியராகத் திகழ்ந்தார். இவர் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் உள்ள தெல்லிப்பளை மகாஜனாக் கல்லூரியில் கல்வி கற்பித்தார்.இவர் தனது குடும்பத்தினரோடு தெல்லிப்பளையில் வசித்தார்.

இவரது மகளான நடிகை சுஜாதா 1952ம் ஆண்டு மார்கழி மாதம் 10ம் திகதி யாழ்ப்பாணம் தெல்லிப்பளையில் பிறந்தார்.

சுஜாதா தனது 14ம் வயதில் பெற்றோருடன் கேரளாவிற்குத் திரும்பிச் சென்று அங்கே தனது கல்வியைத் தொடர்ந்தார்.

நடிகை சுஜாதாவை ஜோசி பிரகாஷ் என்பவர் தான் முதன் முதலாக மேடை நாடகமான பொலிஸ் ஸ்டேசனில் நடிக்க வைத்தது மட்டுமல்ல, திரையுலகத்திற்கும் அறிமுகப்படுத்தினார்.இவரது கணவரின் பெயர் ஜெயகர்.சஜித் என்ற  மகனுக்கும்  திவ்யா என்ற  மகளுக்கும் இவர் தாயாவார்.டூ கல்யான் (1968) என்ற இந்திப்படத்திலும், தபாஷ்வினி என்ற மலையாளப் படத்திலும் இவர் முதலில் தோன்றினாலும் ஏர்ணாம்குளம் ஜங்சன் என்ற மலையாளப்படத்தில் நடித்த பொது தான் கே.பாலசந்தரின் கண்களில் பட்டார்.1974 இல் பிரபல இயக்குனரான கே.பாலசந்தர் எடுத்த அவள் ஒரு தொடர்கதை என்ற படம் தான் சுஜாதாவை சிறந்த ஒரு நடிகையாகத் தமிழ் திரையுலகில் இனம் காட்டியது. எம்.எஸ்.விஸ்வநாதனின் இசையமைப்பில் வெளிவந்த இந்தப்படத்தில் சுஜாதாவுடன் கமல்ஹாசன், சிறி பிரியா , விஜயகுமார் ஆகியோர் நடித்திருந்தனர்.1976 இல் வெளிவந்த இளையராஜாவின் பாடல் மூலம் மேலும் இவரது புகழ் ஓங்கியது. மீண்டும் இவர் 1977 இல் கே.பாலசந்தரின் அவர்கள் படத்தில் ரஜினிகாந்த்,கமல்ஹாசன் ஆகியோரோடு அணு என்ற பாத்திரமேற்று நடித்துப் புகழ் பெற்றார்.

அன்றைய பிரபல தமிழ் திரைப்படத்துறை நடிகர்களான சிவாஜி கணேசன் ,ரஜினிகாந்த்,கமல்ஹாசன் ஆகியோரோடு கதாநாயகியாக நடித்த பெருமை இவருக்கு உரியது.இவர் தமிழ்,மலையாளம், தெலுங்கு, கன்னடம், இந்திப்படங்களிலும்

நடித்திருக்கிறார். அக்னி நாகேஸ்வரராவ்,சோபன் பாபு,சிரஞ்சீவி ,கிருஷ்ணா,மோகன்பாபு, போன்றவர்களோடும் வேற்று மொழிப் படங்களில் நடித்திருக்கின்றார்.

அமரர் நடிகை சுஜாதா அவர்கள் சுமார் 150 படங்கள் நடித் திருப்பதாகத் தெரிய வருகின்றது.இதில் சுமார் 50இற்கு மேற்பட்ட தமிழ்ப் படங்களும் அடங்கும்.இவர் நடித்த கடல் மீன்,அந்தமான் காதலி,விதி,கோசில் காளை, புனர் ஜென்மம்,உன்னை நான் சந்தித்தேன் போன்ற படங்கள் பலராலும் பாராட்டப் பட்டன.

இவர்   நடித்த கடைசி ப்படம் தெலுங்கில் வெளிவந்த நாகர் யுனாவின் படமான ஸ்ரீ ராம ராசு(2006) என்பதாகும்.இவரது கடைசி தமிழ்ப் படம் வரலாறு (2004) ஆகும்.இவர் தனது சிறந்த நடிப்பிற்காக தமிழக அரசின் கலைமாமணி,மற்றும் நந்தி விருது போன்றவற்றைப் பெற்றவர் என்பதும் குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Light from Galaxy Clusters Confirms General Theory of Relativity

Until now, the gravitational redshift has only been tested with experiments and observations in relation to distances here on Earth and about the solar system. With the new research, the theory has been tested on a cosmological scale for the first time by analyzing galaxies in galaxy clusters in the distant universe. It is a huge scale, which is 1,022 times greater (ten thousand billion times larger than the laboratory test). The observed data confirm Einstein's general theory of relativity. (Credit: Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute)

Science Daily  — All observations in astronomy are based on light (electromagnetic radiation) emitted from stars and galaxies and, according to the general theory of relativity, the light will be affected by gravity. At the same time all interpretations in astronomy are based on the correctness of the theory of relatively. Still, it has been difficult to accurately test Einstein's theory of gravity on scales larger than the solar system. Now astrophysicists at the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute have managed to measure how the light is affected by gravity on its way out of galaxy clusters. The observations confirm the theoretical predictions.

Observations of large distances in the universe are based on redshift measurements. In this phenomenon, the wavelength of the light from distant galaxies is shifted more and more towards the red with greater distance. The redshift indicates how much the universe has expanded from when the light left until it was measured on Earth. Furthermore, according to Einstein's general theory of relativity, the light and thus the redshift is also affected by the gravity from large masses like galaxy clusters and causes a gravitational redshift of the light. But the gravitational influence on light has never been measured on a cosmological scale.

The results have been published in the scientific journal, Nature.

"It is really wonderful. We live in an era with the technological ability to actually measure such phenomena as cosmological gravitational redshift," says astrophysicist Radek Wojtak, Dark Cosmology Centre under the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

Galaxy clusters in the searchlight

Radek Wojtak and colleagues Steen Hansen and Jens Hjorth have analysed light measurements from galaxies in approximately 8,000 galaxy clusters. Galaxy clusters are accumulations of thousands of galaxies, held together by their own gravity. This gravity affects the light being sent out into space from the galaxies.

The researchers have studied the galaxies lying in the middle of the galaxy clusters and those lying on the periphery and measured the wavelengths of the light.

"We could measure small differences in the redshift of the galaxies and see that the light from galaxies in the middle of a cluster had to 'crawl' out through the gravitational field, while it was easier for the light from the outlying galaxies to emerge," explains Radek Wojtak.

Then he measured the entire galaxy cluster's total mass and with that got the gravitational potential. By using the general theory of relativity he could now calculate the gravitational redshift for the different locations of the galaxies.

"It turned out that the theoretical calculations of the gravitational redshift based on the general theory of relativity was in complete agreement with the astronomical observations. Our analysis of observations of galaxy clusters show that the redshift of the light is proportionally offset in relation to the gravitational influence from the galaxy cluster's gravity. In that way our observations confirm the theory of relativity," explains Radek Wojtak.

New light on the dark universe

The discovery has significance for the phenomena in the universe that researchers are working to unravel. It is the mysterious dark universe -- dark matter and dark energy.

In addition to the visible celestial bodies like stars, planets and galaxies, the universe consists of a large amount of matter, which researchers can work out that it must be there, but which cannot be observed as it neither emits nor reflects light. It is invisible and is therefore called dark matter. No one knows what dark matter is, but they know what the mass and thus the gravity must be. The new results for gravitational redshift do not change the researchers' modelling for the presence of dark matter.

Another of the main components of the universe is dark energy, which according to the theoretical models acts like a kind of vacuum that causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. According to the calculations, which are based on Einstein's theory of relativity, dark energy constitutes 72 percent of the structure of the universe. Many alternative theories try to explain the accelerating expansion without dark energy.

Theory tested on a large scale

"Now the general theory of relativity has been tested on a cosmological scale and this confirms that the general theory of relativity works and that means that there is a strong indication for the presence of dark energy," explains Radek Wojtak.

The new gravitation results thus contribute a new piece of insight to the understanding of the hidden, dark universe and provide a greater understanding of the nature of the visible universe.

Hide-And-Seek: Altered HIV Can't Evade Immune System

Science Daily  — Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a significant hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments.

Typically, when the body's immune system cells encounter a virus, they send out an alarm by releasing chemicals called interferons to alert the rest of the body to the presence of a viral infection. When the immune cells encounter HIV, however, they release too many interferons, become overwhelmed and shut down the subsequent virus-fighting response.

"Something about the HIV virus turns down the immune response, rather than triggering it, making it a tough target for vaccine development," says David Graham, PhD, assistant professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology and medicine. "We now seem to have a way to sidestep this barrier," he adds.

The researchers had learned from other studies that when human immune cells (white blood cells) are depleted of cholesterol, HIV can no longer infect them. It turns out the coat that surrounds and protects the HIV viral genome is also rich in cholesterol, leading the Johns Hopkins team to test whether viruses lacking cholesterol could still infect cells.

The researchers treated HIV with a chemical to remove cholesterol from the viral coat. Then they introduced the cholesterol-diminished or regular HIV to human immune cells growing in culture dishes and measured how the cells responded. The cells exposed to cholesterol-diminished HIV didn't release any initial-response interferons, whereas those exposed to regular HIV did.

"The altered HIV doesn't overwhelm the system and instead triggers the innate immune response to kick in like with any first virus encounter," says Graham.

Next, the researchers checked to see if cholesterol-diminished HIV activates so-called adaptive immune responses -- the responses that help the body remember specific pathogens long-term so the body develops immunity and counters future infections. To do this, they put regular HIV or cholesterol-diminished HIV into blood samples containing all the cells needed for an adaptive immune response.

More specifically, they tested blood samples from people with previous exposure to HIV to see if their blood could mount an adaptive immune response. Blood samples were used from 10 HIV-positive people and 10 people repeatedly exposed to HIV who weren't infected. The researchers didn't expect the HIV-positive blood to respond to either version of HIV because of the severely damaged immune systems of HIV patients. However, when cholesterol-diminished HIV was introduced to the non-infected HIV blood in a tube, the adaptive immune response cells reacted against the virus. By altering the virus, explains Graham, the researchers were able to reawaken the immune system's response against HIV and negate HIV's immunosuppressive properties.

"In addition to vaccine applications, this study opens the door to developing drugs that attack the HIV viral coat as an adjunct therapy to promote immune system detection of the virus," says Graham.

This research was supported by funds from the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health.

Contributors to the research include David Graham and Veronica Aquino of The Johns Hopkins University; Adriano Boasso, Caroline Royle and Spyridon Doumazos of Imperial College; Mara Biasin, Luca Piacentini, Barbara Tavano and Mario Clerici of Università degli Studi di Milano; Dietmar Fuchs of Innsbruck Medical University; Francesco Mazzotta and Sergio Lo Caputo of Ospedale S. M. Annunziata and Gene Shearer of the National Cancer Institute.

Pigeon 'Milk' Contains Antioxidants and Immune-Enhancing Proteins

Pigeon and chick. (Credit: Dr. Tamsyn Crowley)

Science Daily — Production of crop milk, a secretion from the crops of parent birds, is rare among birds and, apart from pigeons, is only found in flamingos and male emperor penguins. Essential for the growth and development of the young pigeon squab, pigeon 'milk' is produced by both parents from fluid-filled cells lining the crop that are rich in fat and protein.

Researchers from CSIRO Livestock Industries and Deakin University, Australia, compared the global gene expression profiles of the crops of four 'lactating' and four 'non-lactating' female pigeons. As the pigeon genome has not yet been sequenced, they used a chicken microarray to find the genes involved. Genes predominantly over-expressed in 'lactating' birds were those involved in stimulating cell growth, producing antioxidants and in immune response. They also found genes associated with triglyceride fat production, suggesting the fat in the 'milk' is derived from the pigeon's liver.

Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Genomics uses new technology to study the genes and proteins involved in pigeon 'milk' production and shows that pigeon 'milk' contains antioxidants and immune-enhancing proteins.

Lead author, Meagan Gillespie, says, "It is possible that if antioxidant and immune proteins are present in pigeon 'milk', they are directly enhancing the immune system of the developing squab as well as protecting the parental crop tissue." She continues, "This study has provided a snap-shot view of some of the processes occurring when 'lactation' in the pigeon crop is well established. Due to the unusual nature of 'lactation' in the pigeon it would be interesting to investigate the early stages of the differentiation and development of the crop in preparation for 'milk' production to further ascertain gene expression patterns that characterize crop development and 'lactation' in the pigeon."

She concludes, "This mechanism is an interesting example of the evolution of a system with analogies to mammalian lactation, as pigeon 'milk' fulfills a similar function to mammalian milk."

Women Have Stronger Immune Systems Than Men -- And It's All Down to X-Chromosome Related microRNA

Science Daily  — As anyone familiar with the phrase 'man-flu' will know women consider themselves to be the more robust side of the species when it comes to health and illness. Now new research published in BioEssays, seems to support the idea. The research focuses on the role of MicroRNAs encoded on the X chromosome to explain why women have stronger immune systems to men and are less likely to develop cancer.

"Statistics show that in humans, as with other mammals, females live longer than males and are more able to fight off shock episodes from sepsis, infection or trauma," said Libert. "We believe this is due to the X chromosome, which in humans contains 10% of all micro RNAs detected so far in the genome. The roles of many remain unknown, but several X chromosome-located strands of microRNA have important functions in immunity and cancer."

The research, led by Dr Claude Libert from Ghent University in Belgium, focused on MicroRNA, tiny strains of ribonucleic acid which alongside DNA and proteins, make up the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life.

Dr Libert's team proposes that the biological mechanisms of the X chromosome have a strong impact on an individual's genes, known as genetic imprinting, which gives an immunological advantage to females. To develop their hypothesis the team produced a detailed map of all described microRNAs which have a role in immune functions and cancer in both human and mouse X chromosomes.

"We believe this immunological advantage is due to the silencing of X-linked genes by these microRNAs," said Libert. "Gene silencing and inactivation skewing are known mechanisms which affect X-linked genes and may influence X-linked microRNAs in the same way."

This genetic silencing leaves males at an immunological disadvantage as a male has only one X-chromosome. The Y-Chomosone contains fewer genes so if the genes involved in immunity are silenced maternally the male is left with no compensating genetic information.

"How this unique form of genetic inheritance influences X-chromosone linked microRNAs will be a challenge for researchers for years to come," concluded Libert, "not only from an evolutionary point of view, but also for scientists investigating the causes and cures of disease.

New Technique Maps Twin Faces of Smallest Janus Nanoparticles

A Janus nanoparticle. (Credit: Deborah Brewington / Vanderbilt University)

Science Daily  — New drug delivery systems, solar cells, industrial catalysts and video displays are among the potential applications of special particles that possess two chemically distinct sides. These particles are named after the two-faced Roman god Janus and their twin chemical faces allow them to form novel structures and new materials.

Now, a team of Vanderbilt chemists has overcome this obstacle by developing the first method that can rapidly and accurately map the chemical properties of the smallest of these Janus nanoparticles.
However, as scientists have reduced the size of Janus particles down to a few nanometers in diameter -- about the size of individual proteins, which has the greatest potential for drug therapy -- their efforts have been hampered because they haven't had a way to accurately map the surfaces of the particles that they produce. This uncertainty has made it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these particles for various applications and to improve the methods researchers are using to produce them.

The results, published online this month in the German chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, address a major obstacle that has slowed the development and application of the smallest Janus nanoparticles.

The fact that Janus particles have two chemically distinct faces makes them potentially more valuable than chemically uniform particles. For example, one face can hold onto drug molecules while the other is coated with linker molecules that bind to the target cells. This advantage is greater when the different surfaces are cleanly separated into hemispheres than when the two types of surfaces are intermixed.

For larger nanoparticles (with sizes above 10 nanometers), researchers can use existing methods, such as scanning electron microscopy, to map their surface composition. This has helped researchers improve their manufacturing methods so they can produce cleanly segregated Janus particles. However, conventional methods do not work at sizes below 10 nanometers.

The Vanderbilt chemists -- Associate Professor David Cliffel, Assistant Professor John McLean, graduate student Kellen Harkness and Lecturer Andrzej Balinski -- took advantage of the capabilities of a state-of-the-art instrument called an ion mobility-mass spectrometer (IM-MS) that can simultaneously identify thousands of individual particles.

The team coated the surfaces of gold nanoparticles ranging in size from two to four nanometers with two different chemical compounds. Then they broke the nanoparticles down into clusters of four gold atoms and ran these fragments through the IM-MS.

Molecules from the two coatings were still attached to the clusters. So, by analyzing the resulting pattern, the chemists showed that they could distinguish between original nanoparticles where the two surface compounds were completely separated, those where they were randomly mixed and those that had an intermediate degree of separation.

"There is no other way to analyze structure at this scale except X-ray crystallography," said Cliffel, "and X-ray crystallography is extremely difficult and can take months to get a single structure."

"IM-MS isn't quite as precise as X-ray crystallography but it is extremely practical," added McLean, who has helped pioneer the new instrument's development. "It can provide structural information in a few seconds. Two years ago a commercial version became available so people who want to use it no longer have to build one for themselves."

The research was funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

How global warming could cause animals to shrink

 Biomechanism 

The way in which global warming causes many of the world’s organisms to shrink has been revealed by new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

Almost all cold-blooded organisms are affected by a phenomenon known as the ‘temperature-size rule’, which describes how individuals of the same species reach a smaller adult size when reared at warmer temperatures. But until now, scientists have not fully understood how these size changes take place.

Writing in the journal The American Naturalist, Dr Andrew Hirst and colleagues from Queen Mary’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences explore this unusual shrinking effect in more detail, and show conclusively how it occurs.

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, the study was carried out using data on marine planktonic copepods. These tiny crustaceans are the main animal plankton in the world’s oceans and are important grazers of smaller plankton and a food source for larger fish, birds and marine mammals.

By gathering together more than 40 years of research studying the effect of temperature on these organisms, their results show that growth rate (how fast mass is accumulated) and development rate (how fast an individual passes through its life stages) are consistently decoupled in a range of species, with development being more sensitive to temperature than growth.

Dr Hirst explains: “We’ve shown that growth and development increase at different rates as temperatures warm. The consequences are that at warmer temperatures a species grows faster but matures even faster still, resulting in them achieving a smaller adult size.

“Decoupling of these rates could have important consequences for individual species and ecosystems,” he added.

The team’s findings suggest that rates fundamental to all organisms (such as mortality, reproduction and feeding), may not change in synch with one another in a warming world. This could have profound implications for understanding how organisms work, and impact on entire food webs and the world’s ecosystems.

Although the team’s findings disagree with earlier assertions of many macro-ecologists, they clearly explain the smaller sizes associated with the ‘temperature-size rule’. They hope their work will help those investigating the potential impacts of climate change on the natural world.

How immune cells lead to cancer

AGENCY FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH

Scientists at A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) have shown for the first time that PMN-MDSC body’s immune system to combat cancer, a type of immune cell in the body that suppresses the immune response, can actually accelerate the growth and spread of cancerous tumours directly. This finding explains how inflammation, the body's natural defence mechanism when a tissue or an organ becomes affected, is linked to cancer progression. It also highlights the need for a careful reassessment of current cancer therapies that target the body’s immune system to combat cancer. Using a mouse model of melanoma, one of the most aggressive types of skin cancer, Benjamin Toh, an A*STAR scholar working under the supervision of Professor Jean-Pierre Abastado, a Principal Investigator of SIgN, discovered that the primary tumour first produces a unique protein “CXCL5”. CXCL5 specifically attracts the PMN-MDSC immune cells to the primary tumour, accelerating its growth. These PMN-MDSC immune cells also reactivate an innate cellular programme in early skin growth, which causes the cancer cells to detach and spread from the primary tumour to other parts of the body. However, this migratory ability is transient; migrating cancer cells can spontaneously lose their migratory potential and form a new tumour in another site.  Said Prof Abastado, “We are really excited because our finding is a clear mechanistic explanation for the long-recognized link between inflammation and cancer progression. It may have significant and far-reaching clinical implications in the way we treat cancer. This study will certainly prompt us to re-think about cancer therapies that aim at boosting the immune system.” This latest finding on the cancer cells’ transient migratory ability also reinforced the team’s earlier studies which showed that cancer cells can in fact detach and migrate away from the primary tumour at a very early stage, often before the primary tumour is even detected. This challenges the current theory that cancer progression is a linear process, where the developing cancer cell sequentially accumulates mutations that give it the ability to metastasize i.e. to migrate from the primary tumour and settle in a new site to establish a new tumour.  Prof Paola Castagnoli, Scientific Director of SIgN added, “This study has definitely opened a new area in cancer research where more specific therapeutic targets might be uncovered within our body’s immune system. It is such new knowledge discovered through fundamental research that we are able to find new strategies to combat complex clinical conditions like cancer with a more holistic and effective approach.” The research findings described in this news release can be found in the 27 Sept 2011 issue of PLoS Biology under the title, "Mesenchymal Transition and Dissemination of Cancer Cells is driven by Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells infiltrating the Primary Tumour” by Benjamin Toh, Xiaojie Wang, Jo Keeble, Wen Jing Sim, Karen Khoo, Wing-Cheong Wong, Masashi Kato, Armelle Prevost-Blondel, Jean-Paul Thiery and Jean-Pierre Abastado. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.