Every great advance in science has issued from
a new audacity of the imagination. - JOHN DEWEY
published weekly, issue 49, Monday June 29, 2009
"Do not be sad
To see your mind's sunset.
Behold the perfection splendour
Of your heart's sunrise."
Unless you tackle temptation
With firm and solid tactics,
Your life will not be able to project
Perfection light
Into your future day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Do not lose
Your last drop of purity,
For it has the capacity
To bring you back
To your matchless oneness heights
With your Beloved Supreme.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
You are wounded by a worry dart,
But God the Doctor will call on you
Only if you are going to give Him
A sweet little smile
As His Fee to cure you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
July 3, 2009
Retina is a very thin layer of tissue that lines the inner part of the eye. It is responsible for capturing the light rays that enter the eye. These light impulses are then sent to the brain for processing, via the optic nerve.
Retinopathy is a general term that refers to some form of non-inflammatory damage to the retina of the eye. Frequently, retinopathy is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease i.e. it is an eye condition that directly or indirectly results from a disease process in another part of the body. For e.g. diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness with ocular manifestations such as diabetic retinopathy and macular edema affecting up to 80% of those who have had the disease for 15 years or more.
Diabetic retinopathy: Patients with diabetes for approximately 15 years or more are more likely to develop eye problems such as cataracts and glaucoma, but the disease’s affect on the retina is the main threat to vision. The effect of diabetes on the retina is called diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is caused when the diabetes affects the circulatory system of the retina. In the earliest phase the arteries in the retina become weakened and leak, forming small, dot-like hemorrhages. These leaking vessels often lead to swelling or edema in the retina and decreased vision. In the next stage, due to leaking arteries, there is no proper blood circulation causing areas of the retina to become oxygen-deprived or ischemic. New, fragile, vessels develop as the circulatory system attempts to maintain adequate oxygen levels within the retina. Unfortunately, these delicate vessels hemorrhage easily. Blood may leak into the retina and vitreous, causing spots or floaters, along with decreased vision. In the later phases of the disease, continued abnormal vessel growth and scar tissue may cause serious problems such as retinal detachment and glaucoma.
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found that this inflammation and leakage is caused by an imbalance of two systems in the eye. To restore balance, they delivered the new compound to cells using nanoparticle technology. This new compound stopped the leakage, blocked inflammation and kept unwanted blood vessels from growing. Researchers are now testing the compound’s uses for cancer and age-related macular degeneration. According to Jay Ma, the principal investigator on the project this discovery is important in the light of the fact that even to this day there is no good treatment for retinopathy.
With the discovery of this new compound it is hoped that scientists can now develop new therapies such as eye drops to stop diabetic retinopathy, a disease which affects as many as five million Americans with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Source: http://www.ouhsc.edu/article-display.asp?idnum=1411 and http://www.stlukeseye.com/Conditions/DiabeticRetinopathy.asp
July 3, 2009
Giant magnetoresistance (GMR): Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is a quantum mechanical magnetoresistance effect observed in thin film structures composed of alternating ferromagnetic (ferromagnetic materials such as iron form permanent magnets and/or exhibit strong interactions with magnets) and nonmagnetic layers e.g. Fe/Cr/Fe. The effect manifests itself as a significant decrease (typically 10-80%) in electrical resistance in the presence of a magnetic field. In the absence of an external magnetic field, the direction of magnetization of adjacent ferromagnetic layers is antiparallel due to a weak anti-ferromagnetic coupling between layers. The result is high-resistance magnetic scattering as a result of electron spin. When an external magnetic field is applied, the magnetization of the adjacent ferromagnetic layers is parallel. The result is lower magnetic scattering, and lower resistance. The data read heads on modern high-density disk drives usually exploit a version of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect, which uses such layered structures for extremely sensitive magnetic field detectors.
Study of the behavior of nanoscale structures that sandwich thin layers of materials with differing magnetic properties
Arrays of nanoscale sandwiches composed of alternating ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic layers (e.g. Fe/Cr/Fe) can have unusual and valuable magnetic properties and have been the subjects of intense research. In such nanoscale sandwiches the magnetic direction of electrons, or “spins” of the thin layer of a ferromagnetic material tend to order themselves in the same direction whereas the magnetic direction of electrons, or “spins” of the antiferromagnetic layer tend to orient in opposite directions. By itself, the ferromagnetic layer will tend to magnetize in the direction of an externally imposed magnetic field. Also if the external field is reversed it will magnetize in the opposite direction. But in the presence of the antiferromagnetic layer the ferromagnetic layer magnetizes only in one preferred direction irrespective of the direction of the externally imposed magnetic field. Researchers refer to this as the pinning effect and consider it to be a short-range phenomenon as the influence of the antiferromagnetic layer is felt only a few tens of nanometers down into the ferromagnetic layer—verticallly. In a magnetoresistance read head, this preferred direction serves as a reference direction that the sensor uses in detecting changing field directions on the disk that it is “reading.”
Can the pinning effect be felt sideways?
In order to see if the pinning effect can be felt sideways scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Institute of Solid State Physics in Russia started with a thin ferromagnetic film covering a silicon wafer and then added on top a grid of antiferromagnetic strips about 10 nanometers thick and 10 micrometers wide, separated by gaps of about 100 micrometers. Using an instrument that provided real-time images of the magnetization within the grid structure, the team watched the grid structure as they increased and decreased the magnetic field surrounding it.
The researchers found that the ferromagnetic material directly under the grid lines showed the pinning effect which was as expected. This pinning effect extended for approximately tens of nanometers down into the ferromagnet right underneath the grid lines. What took the scientists by surprise was the fact that the uncovered ferromagnetic material in regions between the grid lines that are far removed from the antiferromagnetic material also showed the pinning effect. The scientists observed that this pinning effect extended to regions 50 micrometers away from the closest antiferromagnetic strip. This was at least 1,000 times further than was previously known to be possible.
Applications
The findings of these scientists may add new scientific challenges to the design and manufacture of future ultra-high density data storage devices. For example, NIST metallurgist Robert Shull says that engineers planning to build dense arrays of these structures onto a chip for high-performance memory or sensor devices will find interesting new scientific issues for investigation in optimizing how closely they can be packed without interfering with each other. According to Shull these arrays of nanoscale structures might be used in future data storage devices that would outdo even today’s astonishingly capacious microdrives because in principle the structures could be made even smaller than the minimum practical size for the magnetic islands that record data on hard disk drives.
The research team included Y.P. Kabanov, V.I. Nikitenko, O.A. Tikhomirov, W.F. Egelhoff, A.J. Shapiro and R.D. Shull.
Source: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2009_0630.htm#magnetism
July 1, 2009
Question: How can we perform all our responsibilities as artists?
Sri Chinmoy: We can perform all our responsibilities as artists if we see the life-inspiring and life-fulfilling supreme Artist inside all our responsibilities. If we take all our responsibilities as opportunities and not as heavy burdens, then whatever we offer to the world is undoubtedly a devoted and glorious work of art.
Question: Does humanity’s interest in the performing arts help the world’s progress?
Sri Chinmoy: Dance, theatre and music are meant to help the world’s progress. Aspiration is bound to be followed by realisation, and realisation is bound to be followed by manifestation. If the performers do everything with a divine attitude to inspire and elevate the audience in some way, then certainly it helps the audience’s progress. Otherwise, the wrong motive of the performers and the wrong motive of the audience cannot be of any help to the world’s progress. Again, the inspiration that the audience gets today must be expanded tomorrow to a higher and deeper truth, which we call aspiration.
Question: How can we remember that even the most menial action is a form of art?
Sri Chinmoy: You have to remember at each moment that you are not the doer you are only the instrument. While you are in the kitchen touching the stove, you have to feel that it is not you who is touching the stove; it is somebody within you who is touching the stove. Always you have to identify yourself with some inner reality, some higher reality, the thing that is really divine in you. Right now when you think of yourself, you immediately think of all your imperfections. But when you think of yourself, you have to think that somebody divine is operating in and through you, and that you are just an instrument. If you can feel this, then automatically the realisation of that somebody within you becomes yours. When you think of yourself as the representative or conscious channel of somebody who is all Wisdom and all Light, and that He is acting in and through you, then immediately you will see that everything you do and touch is leading you to your destined goal.
Otherwise, if you touch a material object which you consider undivine, and if you as an individual think of yourself as undivine, then there are two undivine, sick soldiers together. You have to feel that something within you is really strong, divine and beautiful, and that that very thing is utilising you to fulfil itself. If you become an expression or instrument of the divine within you, then everything that you touch or do will be a new discovery for you; everything will have new life for you at every moment. Your actions will not seem menial; they will not seem monotonous or mechanical. No, no, no! Each time you touch something you will give life to it and it will give new life to you. New inspiration, new life will enter into and flow out of whatever you touch. At that time you will be singing the song of ever-expanding life and ever-transcending life.
July 1, 2009
Stem cells: Stem cells are cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are characterized by the ability for self-renewal i.e. the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state and their capacity to differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types. The two broad types of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells that are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin or intestinal tissues. Through cell culture stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves.
Multipotent progenitor cells have the potential to give rise to cells from multiple, but a limited number of lineages. An example of a multipotent stem cell is the blood stem cell called hematopoietic cell that can develop into several types of blood cells, but cannot develop into brain cells or other types of cells.
Phenotype: A phenotype is any observable characteristic or trait of an organism: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties.
Neural stem cells: Neural stem cells (NSCs) are the self-renewing, multipotent cells (these cells can differentiate into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes) that generate the main phenotypes of the nervous system.
Ligand: In biochemistry, a ligand is a substance that is able to bind to and form a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. In a narrower sense, it is a signal triggering molecule binding to a biomolecule on a target protein called a receptor, by intermolecular forces such as ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals forces. When such binding occurs, the receptor goes into a conformational change which ordinarily initiates a cellular response. Ligand-induced changes in receptors result in physiological changes which constitute the biological activity of the ligands.
The Notch gene: The Notch gene was first noticed in a strain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that have notches apparent in their wingblades. Notch is present in all metazoans, and vertebrates possess four different notch receptors, referred to as NOTCH1, NOTCH2, NOTCH3, and NOTCH4. The Notch receptor is a single-pass transmembrane receptor protein. It is a hetero-oligomer composed of a large extracellular portion, which associates in a calcium-dependent, non-covalent interaction with a smaller piece of the Notch protein composed of a short extracellular region, a single transmembrane-pass, and a small intracellular region. It is the receptors of the Notch family that play a significant role in determining in which a neural stem cell is to differentiate.
New Developments
Biochemists of Goethe University Medical School have identified a soluble Notch inhibitor. This Notch inhibitor reduced the self-renewal potential of adult neural stem cells and stimulated the differentiation of these neural stem cells into neurons. Through their research work the scientists were able to identify the factors that determine when adult neural stem cells would stop self-renewal and start to differentiate into neurons.
The research team led by Mirko Schmidt and Ivan Dikic have identified the secreted protein EGFL7 (Epidermal Growth Factor-like domain 7) as a Notch inhibitor in adult neural stem cells. The scientists discovered that EGFL7 bound to the extracellular domains of Notch receptors and competed with known Notch ligands. The self-renewal potential of these adult neural stem cells depends on an intact interaction of the ligand Jagged1 and its receptor Notch1. Addition of EGFL7 blocked the essential interaction and reduced the division of neural stem cells. At the same time, EGFL7 stimulated the differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons.
In order to verify their findings in vivo, the researchers analyzed mouse brains and identified mature neurons as a source of EGFL7 in the adult brain. The distribution of these cells in the brain was biologically significant, as EGFL7 was absent from regions with high amounts of neural stem cells, e.g. the subventricular zone.
It is felt that the findings of this research work could have therapeutic potential especially in the treatment of cancer.
Source: http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ncb1896.html
June 30, 2009
(This talk was given by Sri Chinmoy at University of Oxford; Oxford, England on 11 June 1973)
Spirituality is our inner growth, inner evolution, inner achievement and inner fulfilment. The day we left the mineral kingdom, we started our spiritual journey. After passing through the plant kingdom, we entered into the animal kingdom and our evolution went faster. Then, from the animal kingdom, we entered into the human kingdom, and our evolution became conscious. Now, from the human kingdom, we are consciously, soulfully, devotedly, divinely and unconditionally trying to enter into the divine kingdom.
All of us here are seekers; we are all spiritual people. On the strength of my own realisation, I wish to say that all of us without exception are studying spirituality. There is no human being on earth who is not studying this subject at least a little. From this subject, everybody learns something according to his capacity or receptivity. There is nobody who has not learnt anything. Your learning will not be the same as mine, but that does not mean that you have not studied the subject as well as I have.
What have I learnt from spirituality? I have learnt only three things. Love of God is the first thing I have learnt. The second thing is self-discovery. And the third thing is the importance of doing first things first. Love of God. Self- discovery. First things first.
Love of God. Is there anybody who does not love God? No, not even an atheist. The atheist negates God. But, to me, his very negation is an act of God. And whatever he does love is God, because everything comes from God and is of God. Atheists and agnostics are all in the one boat that leads to the Destined Goal, though perhaps in spite of themselves. Love of God is oneness with the Universal Consciousness. Conscious oneness with the Universal Consciousness is conscious love of God. God is one; God is many. He is the tree; He is the branches, the leaves and the flowers. He is unity and multiplicity. When we look within, He is one; when we look without, He is many.
Self-discovery. What do we mean by self-discovery? Self-discovery is our recovery from ignorance-illness. When we are ill, we suffer for a while and then we get better, only to fall sick again. But self-discovery is our permanent recovery from the illness that is called ignorance.
Self-discovery is God-discovery. There is no difference between self-discovery and God-discovery. When you discover yourself, you feel in the inmost recesses of your heart your oneness with God—your inner Divinity, your inner Immortality, your inner Infinity, your inner Eternity, which are nothing other than God Himself. This realisation is not the sole monopoly of a spiritual Master. Everybody without exception can discover it. But when we make a conscious effort, when we pray consciously and devotedly, we come to realise God’s Light, Peace and Bliss infinitely faster than those who wallow in the pleasures of ignorance.
First things first. What is the first thing? The first thing in our lives should be God. Our first thought should be: “Let Thy Will be done.” When the finite consciously accepts the Infinite as its very own, the finite is blessed with liberation and perfection. When I say, “Let Thy Will be done,” it means I am consciously surrendering my lower existence to my higher existence. I can say that my feet are my lower existence and my heart is my higher existence. Both my heart and my feet are mine; they are both part and parcel of my existence. But my feet are in ignorance and my heart is bathing in the sea of Light and Wisdom. My heart can easily help and guide my feet if my feet are willing to surrender to their higher part, the heart. The feet must feel that now they are in ignorance, but when they enter into the heart, at that time they will be illumined.
I have to know that I embody the lowest and the highest. When I am in the highest, I am consciously one, inseparably one, with the Supreme Pilot. In that consciousness I represent Him, and one day I will become what He eternally is. My lowest part is ignorant, imperfect, undivine, hostile. But if I can remember that the highest part also is mine, then I will see nothing wrong in carrying the highest part to the lowest part with the message of liberation.
So to do the first thing first means to surrender our individual will to the Will of the Supreme, and then to feel that this surrender is the surrender of our lower existence to our higher existence. When we surrender our lower existence to our higher existence, we become the chosen instruments of the Absolute Supreme.
When it comes to studying the spiritual life, we find there are two students in us: the head and the heart. These two students have come to us to learn the higher wisdom, and we have to teach them both. But we have to know which of the two students has more learning capacity and which has less, which is more progressive and which is less progressive, which deserves more attention and which deserves less attention for the time being. Two students, the mind and the heart, have come to learn. The mind is the inferior student and the heart is the superior student. Unfortunately, the inferior one often creates problems for the superior one.
Our inner being is the teacher. It tells the mind-student, “You have learnt much, but your knowledge is only information and it is actually standing in your way. We always say that knowledge is our hope but, in your case, knowledge has become a veritable obstruction. You have absorbed too much knowledge. You do not know how to utilise it and you cannot digest it. So please, for God’s sake, unlearn. If you can unlearn it, then you will be in a position to learn something really useful from me, your inner being.”
Then our inner being tells the heart-student, “You have to learn only one thing: to give. Offer yourself, offer what you have and what you are. Empty yourself.” The heart immediately says, “I am ready. What I have right now is insecurity and ignorance. What I am is uncertainty. But I am ready to offer it all immediately. I will offer up all my insecurity, uncertainty and ignorance.”
The heart is ready and eager to surrender what it has and what it is, but the mind finds it very difficult to unlearn. What it has learnt is how to doubt. This is the most important thing to the mind. If the mind can doubt others, then it really feels that it has some wisdom. The moment I doubt you, I feel I have done something great. Here I have made my doubt a spiritual authority. But this kind of spiritual authority is nothing but slow poison. It kills our spiritual life. The heart, however, is just the opposite. Today it receives, tomorrow it achieves, the day after tomorrow it becomes and, finally, it realises what it eternally is.
There comes a time when the heart, out of its own inner spontaneous love for its brother, the mind, comes and knocks at the mind’s door. With tremendous reluctance, the mind opens its door and, to its wide astonishment, sees that the heart, its own brother, is fully illumined. There is not even an iota of darkness inside the heart. Then the mind asks the heart how it has accomplished this. It says, “You are also a part of the family. How is it that I see in you all illumination, all divinity? What is wrong with me that I am still ignorant and unillumined?”
The heart replies, “I listened to the dictates of the Inner Pilot. I did what the Inner Pilot asked me to do. In your case, the Inner Pilot asked you to unlearn. What you have learnt is not illumination. What you have discovered is not realisation. You have learnt and discovered information and, on the basis of this information, you have built a palace of obscurity and divided consciousness. You have always separated yourself from the rest of the world. You are not accepting my realisation as your very own. You do not claim me as your very own, but I accept you as my very own. I accept each and everyone as my very own. In your case, there is no oneness, but only separation. You do not run to the Light. Your goal is still a far cry. I listened to the Inner Pilot when He asked me to do something, and now I am all illumination.”
The mind thinks for some time, and then says, “All right. I will listen to you,” and it starts unlearning. First it unlearns doubt, then it unlearns fear, then it unlearns jealousy, then it unlearns the feelings of superiority and inferiority. All the things that divide and separate the mind from the whole, the mind consciously tries to unlearn. The mind chases away doubt; immediately faith grows. It chases away insecurity; immediately confidence dawns. It rejects all feelings of superiority and inferiority and embraces the feeling of oneness. Impurity leaves the mind and purity enters. The mind now accepts the light and thinks of its ultimate goal. The ultimate goal of the mind is illumination. The ultimate goal of the heart is liberation. When the two meet together on the way to their destination, they become inseparably one. Then perfection dawns, and man the seeker becomes the conscious representative of the Absolute Supreme on earth.
June 29, 2009
Cortex (or Cerebral cortex): The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It constitutes the outermost layer of the cerebrum. At the surface of the cerebral cortex is distributed the grey matter. Grey matter is formed by neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and both unmyelinated axons and myelinated axons), glial cells (astroglia and oligodendrocytes) and capillaries. The white matter below the grey matter of the cortex is formed predominantly by myelinated axons interconnecting different regions of the central nervous system. The human cerebral cortex is 2–4 mm (0.08–0.16 inches) thick.
Electrocorticography (ECoG) is the practice of using electrodes placed directly on the exposed surface of the brain to record electrical activity from the cerebral cortex. In order to access the cortex, a surgeon must first perform a craniotomy, removing a part of the skull to expose the brain surface. This procedure may be performed either under general anesthesia or under local anesthesia if patient interaction is required for functional cortical mapping. Electrodes are then surgically implanted on the surface of the cortex, with placement guided by the results of preoperative EEG (electroencephalography) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Electrodes may either be placed outside the dura mater (epidural) or under the dura mater (subdural). ECoG electrode arrays typically consist of sixteen sterile, disposable stainless steel, carbon tip, platinum, or gold ball electrodes, each mounted on a ball and socket joint for ease in positioning. These electrodes are attached to an overlying frame in a “crown” or “halo” configuration. The electrodes sit lightly on the cortical surface, and are designed with enough flexibility to ensure that normal movements of the brain do not cause injury. Individual electrodes are typically 5 mm in diameter. These brain-penetrating electrode arrays are used to help paralyzed people move a computer cursor, operate a robotic arm and communicate.
New Developments
Now researchers at the University of Utah have developed new microelectrodes that unlike ECoG electrode arrays do not penetrate the brain but sit on the brain and are able to detect brain signals controlling arm movements. The new kind of array is called a microECoG – because it involves tiny or “micro” versions of the much larger electrodes used for electrocorticography, or ECoG.
One of the researchers, assistant professor of bioengineering, Bradley Greger said, “The unique thing about this technology is that it provides lots of information out of the brain without having to put the electrodes into the brain. That lets neurosurgeons put this device under the skull but over brain areas where it would be risky to place penetrating electrodes: areas that control speech, memory and other cognitive functions.” For example, if the new array of microelectrodes are placed over the brain’s speech center in patients who cannot communicate because they are paralyzed by spinal injury, stroke, Lou Gehrig’s disease or other disorders, the electrodes would send speech signals to a computer that would convert the thoughts to audible words. In case of people who have lost a limb or are paralyzed, this device should allow a high level of control over a prosthetic limb or computer interface. It will enable amputees or people with severe paralysis to interact with their environment using a prosthetic arm or a computer interface that decodes signals from the brain.
But the researchers feel that it would take at least a few more years before this device can be actually used because more work is needed to refine computer software that interprets brain signals so they can be converted into actions, like moving an arm.
For their study the researchers obtained permission from two epilepsy patients (who were already having conventional ECoG electrodes placed on their brains) to allow them to place the microECoG electrode arrays at the same time (The microelectrodes were formed in grid-like arrays embedded in rubbery clear silicone.). Once they obtained the permission the researchers placed two identical microECoG electrode arrays, each with 16 microelectrodes arranged in a four-by-four square, in patient 1. Individual electrodes were spaced 1 millimeter apart (about one-25th of an inch). Patient 1 had the ECoG and microECoG implants for a few weeks. Months later, the second patient received one array containing about 30 electrodes, each 2 millimeters apart. This patient wore the electrode for several days.
In order to test how well the microelectrodes could detect nerve signals from the brain that control arm movements the two epilepsy patients were made to sat up in their hospital beds and use one arm to move a wireless computer “mouse” over a high-quality electronic draftsman’s tablet in front of them. The patients were told to reach their arm to one of two targets: one was forward to the left and the other was forward to the right. The patients’ arm movements were recorded on the tablet and fed into a computer, which also analyzed the signals coming from the microelectrodes placed on the area of each patient’s brain controlling arm and hand movement. The study showed that the microECoG electrodes could be used to distinguish brain signals ordering the arm to reach to the right or left, based on differences such as the power or amplitude of the brain waves.
The study also showed that the optimal spacing between electrodes is 2 to 3 millimeters.
According to the researchers once a more refined software was developed to decode brain signals detected by microECoG in real-time, it will be tested by asking severe epilepsy patients to control a “virtual reality arm” in a computer using their thoughts.
According to the leader of the research group, University of Utah neurosurgeon Paul A. House, the findings represent “a modest step” toward the use of the new microelectrodes in systems that convert the thoughts of amputees and paralyzed people into signals that control lifelike prosthetic limbs, computers or other devices to assist people with disabilities.
In addition to House and Greger the research team also included Spencer Kellis, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering; Kyle Thomson, a doctoral student in bioengineering; and Richard Brown, professor of electrical and computer engineering and dean of the university’s College of Engineering.
Source: http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062409-1
June 29, 2009
(This talk was given by Sri Chinmoy at Bristol University; Bristol, England on 30 November 1970)
What is permanent? What is impermanent?
What is permanent is reality. What is impermanent is non-reality.
Reality is the existence of light, in light and for light. Non-reality is the existence of night, in night and for night.
Reality’s parents are Divinity and Immortality. Non-reality’s parents are bondage and ignorance.
When we see the Divine Light, we feel happy. When we feel the Divine Light, we become strong. And when we grow into the Divine Light, our life becomes fruitful.
When we see the undivine night, we become weak, impotent. When we feel the undivine night, we feel sorry, we feel miserable. And when we grow into the undivine night, our life becomes meaningless, fruitless.
Illumining light and illumined light; darkening night and darkened night. Illumining light is the light that is within us. Illumined light is the light that is without us. Darkening night is the night that is before us. Darkened night is the night that is around us.
That which is real is permanent, and what is permanent is spiritual. What is spiritual? The life of the ever-transcending Beyond. But this life of the ever- transcending Beyond has to be manifested here on earth. This life is real; it is reality itself.
What is unspiritual? Let us use the term ‘material’. Something material is the wealth of the fleeting time.
Divine wealth and material wealth. Divine wealth is our inner aspiration. This aspiration is the song of Infinity, Eternity, and Immortality within us. Material wealth is desire. It is the cry for immediate and constant possession. When we try to possess, unfortunately we feel that we are already possessed. But when we try to see someone with our soul’s light, we feel that we are already liberated, and that he, too, is already liberated.
A thing permanent is divine. A thing impermanent is undivine. When divine wisdom dawns on earth, we will realise that an impermanent thing is useless.
Divinity and Immortality are within us. Immortality tells us what to do and Divinity tells us how to do it. Immortality tells us to listen to the dictates of our soul, which is a spark of the Supreme Light. It tells us to be always conscious of the Inner Pilot. Divinity tells us how we can do it. We can do it through a self-disciplined life, through dedication to a higher cause, through purification of our outer nature, and through undying and unreserved love for God.
Bondage and ignorance are the parents of night. Ignorance tells us what to do and bondage tells us how to do it. Ignorance tells us to destroy the world and bondage tells us how to do it—through cruelty and brutality, through unfair means.
A spiritual seeker tries to enter into the inmost recesses of his heart, and from there he tries to bring light to the fore. With the help of this light, he wants to grow into the breath of the permanent. Now, to grow into the breath of the permanent, what he needs is inner wisdom. What is this inner wisdom?
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, the Song Celestial, says to Arjuna, his divine instrument, “O Arjuna, a wise man is he who has mastery over the senses.” That is to say, when we conquer our senses, we enter into the realm of wisdom, where reality grows and divinity flows.
To enter into the world of wisdom we need constant love: love for truth, love for light. But right now we are fond of fleeting truth, fleeting light, fleeting possessions. The fleeting wealth that we have or cherish is terribly afraid of truth. It doubts truth and it fears God. But our divine wealth, aspiration, invokes truth and adores God. Each day we are seeing with our own eyes and feeling with our own heart the impermanence of the man-made world. The things that we create with our thoughts and the ideas that result from our actions do not last. This moment I have a thought and the next moment that thought is gone. Perhaps it gives me a result. This result lasts, again, for another fleeting second.
But there is something else which we call will-power: the soul’s will, the adamantine will of the soul. If we can exercise an iota of this will-power, then we will see that not only the action but also the result is an everlasting reality. In order to develop the will-power of the soul, we have to enter into the life of the Spirit. We have to have a self-disciplined life. A self-disciplined life does not mean the mortification of life or a conscious torture of life. A self-disciplined life means a life that needs the Light and wants to be guided by the Light, moulded and shaped by the Light. When the life is disciplined, we shall not act like animals. When the life is disciplined enough, the real divinity will grow. At that time we can say that God-realisation or self-discovery is our birthright, and in God-realisation we acquire the wisdom of the everlasting Truth.
It is not that one individual or some individuals are chosen to realise the highest Truth. No, far from it. Each individual is an instrument of God; but he has to be conscious. Right now he is not; he is unconscious. But when he prays, when he meditates, he automatically becomes a constant, conscious instrument of God. And he who becomes a conscious instrument of God hears in the very heart of the finite the message of the Infinite, and feels in the fleeting the Breath of the Eternal.
To think of God, to meditate on God constantly, is to live in God unreservedly. When we live in God constantly, soulfully, and unreservedly, God uncondition¬ally does everything for us. In infinite measure He offers His Light, Peace, and Bliss, and we grow into His very Image.
Here on earth the message of the permanent Truth, the Transcendental Truth has to be fulfilled, for God has chosen earth as His Field for Manifestation. The eternal Light has to be manifested here on earth and we, all of us, have to become conscious instruments of God. We can be so if we have the inner cry, and this inner cry has to be the cry of a child. When a child cries for his mother, the mother, no matter where she is, comes running to him. The child may be in the living room or in the kitchen, but the mother comes running to feed him.
Similarly, when we have the inner cry, the spontaneous cry for Light and Truth, God out of His infinite Bounty will show us the Light, and in that Light we will grow.
We shall fulfil God. While fulfilling God, we shall fulfil ourselves. Our only prayer to God is:
Lead us from the unreal to the Real. Lead us from darkness to Light. Lead us from death to Immortality, O Lord Supreme!
June 23, 2009
Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates can be classified into two groups, simple sugars and complex carbohydrates. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, are carbohydrates which can not be converted into smaller sugars by hydrolysis. When two or more monosaccharide units are connected to one another via a glycoside linkage into long chains or polymers, complex carbohydrates are formed. The right number of sugars in the chain is vital for them to work properly. Different types of carbohydrate polymers range from a few dozen sugars in some bacterial molecules to tens of thousands of sugar links in cellulose, a common plant material. So far it’s not clear how carbohydrate length is determined. Unlike some biological chains — such as DNA and proteins — that are built off a template that guides the length of the final product, carbohydrate-synthesizing enzymes work without templates.
Insight into a general mechanism for designing and building carbohydrates
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with components of tuberculosis bacterium, identified an unusual process by which the pathogen builds an important structural carbohydrate.
The research team included Laura Kiessling, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, graduate students John May and Rebecca Splain and postdoctoral fellow Christine Brotschi. In their study the team focused on an enzyme called GlfT2 that is responsible for building a critical carbohydrate component of the TB bacterial cell wall.
The researchers found that a small fatty component at the starting end binds to the enzyme and helps it track the length of the growing polymer. As the enzyme adds more and more sugar units to the opposite end, the chain becomes increasingly unwieldy.
If the chain gets too long, it gets hard to hold on to both of the ends, so the chain falls off the synthesizing enzyme forming a completed carbohydrate polymer. This mechanism of the fatty lipid that tethers the start of the polymer to the enzyme is called the “tethering” mechanism. Prof. Kiessling says, this mechanism may be common among other organisms as well. The researchers also believe that the enzymes responsible for building different types of carbohydrates exceed their comfort level at different points, leading to molecules of different prescribed lengths.
According to the researchers their study not only provides insight into a general mechanism for designing and building carbohydrates but also gives insight into developing new therapeutics against TB. For example the GlfT2 enzyme that is essential for bacterial survival and growth can now be targeted by potential treatment methods.
June 23, 2009
Gout: Gout is a disease that occurs when crystals of uric acid, in the form of monosodium urate, precipitate on the articular cartilage of joints, on tendons, and in the surrounding tissues. This generally occurs in people with elevated levels of uric acid in the bloodstream. Gout is characterized by excruciating, sudden, unexpected, burning pain, as well as swelling, redness, warmth, and stiffness in the affected joint. Gout usually attacks the big toe (approximately 75 percent of first attacks); however, it also can affect other joints such as the ankle, heel, instep, knee, wrist, elbow, fingers, or spine. The patient usually suffers from two sources of pain. The crystals inside the joint cause intense pain whenever the affected area is moved. The inflammation of the tissues around the joint causes the skin to swell, become tender & sore and causes intense pain if it is even slightly touched. For example, a blanket or even the lightest sheet draped over the affected area can cause extreme pain. Gout results from a combination of prolonged elevation of uric acid and overall acidity in the bloodstream. In isolation, neither elevated uric acid nor acidity is sufficient to cause gout. The high levels of uric acid in the blood are caused by protein rich foods. Gout is more common in affluent societies due to a diet rich in proteins, fat, and alcohol. However, gout can also be found in people among the poorer classes, who drink large quantities of alcohol, and whose food is insufficient in quantity and quality.
New Developments
Using frog egg cells genetically engineered with human DNA, scientists at Johns Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have established the role of the gene known as ABCG2 as a cause of gout. This discovery has lent support to the view that metabolic deficiencies, in addition to too much rich food and alcohol, are the cause for this type of arthritis.
Blood samples from 12,000 individuals (these individuals were participants of the Artherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study that was originally initiated two decades ago to examine the roots of heart disease.) were collected and analyzed for a variety of chemical elements, including uric acid. Subjects also reported whether they had ever been diagnosed with gout, enabling researchers to link information from DNA, uric acid levels and gout. By analyzing the connection between blood uric acid levels and genotypes, the researchers identified the ABCG2 gene and specifically a certain mutation of ABCG2 as a candidate for causing the joint inflammation and pain that are symptoms of gout.
How does ABCG2 gene regulate uric acid levels, and how its mutation leads to gout?
With the help of genetic engineering the researchers tried to figure out just how the human ABCG2 works to regulate uric acid levels, and how its mutation may lead to gout.
In their study the team first injected both normal and the mutant versions of the human ABCG2 gene into frog eggs which served as the live “factories” for producing the protein made by the gene. A couple of days later, after the egg cells produced lots of ABCG2 protein, the researchers bathed them in a radioactive-tagged uric acid bath.
Using the tag to identify and measure how much urate accumulated in the cells, the investigators then measured how quickly the urate left the cell. Comparing these so-called “efflux rates” to rates in control cells injected with the normal ABCG2, the scientists found that the cells with the mutant ABCG2 protein excreted uric acid at a rate just half of normal.
Based on their study the researchers have drawn the conclusion that the ABCG2 protein is vital for transporting urate out of cells. According to the researchers the ABCG2 protein is located in the kidney at a location where urate exretion takes place. They suggest that a lack of efficiency in removing urate from the blood leads to its increased concentration and crystallization. In humans, these crystals get caught in joint tissues, leading to painful inflammation.
Michael Kottgen, M.D., at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said, “Instead of trying to limit urate production — the major current approach to gout treatment — newer treatments could focus on getting urate out of the bloodstream. We anticipate that activation of ABCG2 with a drug may help to promote excretion of urate.”
June 19, 2009
Selfless service is definitely
An act of rich creativity.
What have you created?
A feeling of fulfilling oneness
In your life.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Why are you trying to change
The outer world?
Why are you trying to make others feel
That their world is very bad
And yours is very good?
Why? Why?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When hope is gone,
I see one thing,
I feel one thing
And I become one thing:
The mud of ignorance.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
June 17, 2009
XMM-Newton, European Space Agency (ESA)’s space-borne X-ray observatory, is the biggest scientific satellite ever built in Europe. It carries the world’s most sensitive X-ray telescope mirrors along with five X-ray imaging cameras and spectrographs, and an optical monitoring telescope. It was launched in December 1999. XMM-Newton scientific operations are run from the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), near Madrid, in Spain.
ESA’s space observatory INTEGRAL (International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory), launched in 2002, is dedicated to studying the fine detail of celestial gamma-ray sources and fields through the use of high resolution spectroscopy with fine imaging. It is capable of simultaneously observing objects in gamma rays, X-rays and visible light. Its principal targets are (super)nova explosions, black holes, neutron stars, sources of nucleosynthesis, as well as gamma-ray bursts. INTEGRAL science operations are run from the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) near Madrid, Spain.
NASA’s Swift satellite, launched in 2004, is designed to investigate one of the universe’s most elusive phenomena: gamma-ray bursts. Gamma-ray bursts are high energy explosions that occur nearly once a day from random locations across the sky. Scientists suspect the bursts maybe be produced by the birth of black holes or death of stars, but no one knows for sure. In order to find out, scientists need a spacecraft with powerful telescopes and quick reflexes to capture gamma-ray bursts as they flash and leave a lingering afterglow. Swift is precisely such a spacecraft. Swift’s three instruments, the X-ray Telescope (XRT), the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) and the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), work together to glean as much information about each Gamma-ray burst as possible. Swift’s multiwavelength observations of GRBs and afterglow are completely simultaneous. The XRT and UVOT have co-aligned fields-of-view, both within the BAT field-of-view, so that any source can be observed in all three wavebands.
Soft gamma repeater: A soft gamma repeater (SGR) is an astronomical object which emits large bursts of gamma-rays and X-rays at irregular intervals. Some studies have proven that an SGR is a type of magnetar.
Magnetars: A magnetar is a type of neutron star (i.e. the crushed core of an exploded star) with an extremely powerful magnetic field (100 trillion times stronger than Earth’s), the decay of which powers the emission of copious amounts of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays. There are two ideas as to how a magnetar forms. One is that it is the tiny core left behind after a highly magnetic star has died. But such magnetic stars are very rare, with just a few known in our Galaxy. Another suggestion is that during the death of a normal star, its tiny core is accelerated, providing a dynamo that strengthens its magnetic field, turning it into a magnetar. So far only 15 magnetars in total are known in our Galaxy.
A new magnetar SGR 0501+4516
On 22 August 2008 X-Rays from a giant outburst were detected by NASA’s Swift satellite. Within twelve hours European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL satellites zeroed in and began to collect the radiation and doing an in-depth study of these eruptions. According to astronomers these radiations are from an SGR. This SGR has been designated SGR 0501+4516. Astronomers claim this is the first of its type discovered in a decade and is only the fifth confirmed SGR. SGR 0501+4516, estimated to lie about 15,000 light years away, was only discovered because its outburst gave it away. Astronomers think an unstable configuration of the star’s magnetic field triggers the eruptions. Nanda Rea at University of Amsterdam, who led the study said, “Once the magnetic field resumes a more stable configuration, the activity ceases and the star returns to quiet and dim emission.”
Based on the observations made by INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton it was found that SGR 0501+4516 underwent hundreds of small bursts over a period of more than four months. Only five days after the initial eruption, INTEGRAL detected X-rays from the object that were beyond the energy range XMM-Newton can see. It’s the first time such transient high-energy X-ray emission has been detected during an SGR’s outburst phase. This emission disappeared within ten days of the outburst.
Using XMM-Newton astronomers plan to make further observations of SGR 0501+4516. They hope to observe the object during its quite state also i.e. when the eruptions stop.
Source: http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMLEDQORVF_index_0.html
June 17, 2009
Question: Does the ultimate goal of art and the artist lie in expressing the purest spirituality?
Sri Chinmoy: Absolutely! The ultimate goal lies only in pure spirituality. Spirituality here means Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. Spirituality is one’s own reality. If one does not ultimately reach his own reality, then he is always a failure. So the ultimate goal of any artist, no matter what kind of artist he is, is spirituality—if he has any ultimate goal as such. That is because spirituality is the only reality which embodies Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. The artist can achieve that goal through his artistic expression while remaining in the highest consciousness. Spirituality does not mean staying inside a cave or on top of the Himalayas. It does not mean praying and meditating in some corner. No! Spirituality means the divine fulfilment of life, the divine revelation and divine manifestation of life. Life in its full blossom is called spirituality. Life has to be blossomed petal by petal and then, when it becomes a real flower, it is called spirituality. The divine smile in us, the Smile of the Supreme, has to be manifested. When it is manifested, we call it spirituality. Spirituality means accepting life in every form and seeing at every second the Creator creating and dancing in each action. Every second we have to feel that inside us the Supreme is dancing. He is dancing because He is achieving something and becoming something in and through us.
Question: Why do some people have artistic capacities while others do not?
Sri Chinmoy: Why are some people hungry for God-realisation, while others are not? You are hungry for God-realisation: that is why God is giving you this food. If you were not hungry, then God would not feed you. These things depend entirely on one’s inner hunger. Some people feel the necessity of developing artistic capacities and some people don’t, just as some people want to become poets while others want to become singers.
You may ask why God did not give the same hunger to everybody. The answer is that God gave us limited freedom, and with that limited freedom some people said that they did not care to become musicians or singers or artists. But others felt that artistic capacity was something very good, very great, and very necessary in their lives. It depends on individual choice. Limited freedom we are given. With that freedom somebody will practise for twenty hours a day to become a musician and somebody else will spend his time reading the newspapers and watching television. If you spend your time reading The New York Times or the Daily News, you will get world information, but you will not become a great musician. Opportunity is given; time is also given. But you are using the time for one purpose and somebody else is using the same time for another purpose. With this limited freedom and limited opportunity, he is aiming at a particular goal which he will eventually reach. It depends entirely on your inner hunger and what you want to become.
June 16, 2009
Scientists from the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Singapore, led by Professor Christian Joachim, have invented a molecular gear of the size of 1.2nm whose rotation can be deliberately controlled.
Up until this discovery the motions of molecular rotors and gears were random and typically consisted of a mix of rotation and lateral displacement. Now the scientists at IMRE have discovered that the rotation of the molecule-gear could be well-controlled by manipulating the electrical connection between the molecule and the tip of a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope while it was pinned on an atom axis.
Prof Joachim said, “Making a gear the size of a few atoms is one thing, but being able to deliberately control its motions and actions is something else altogether. What we’ve done at IMRE is to create a truly complete working gear that will be the fundamental piece in creating more complex molecular machines that are no bigger than a grain of sand.”
It is hoped that with the help of this discovery molecular machines could be created in future that would have the ability to walk on DNA tracks to deliver therapeutics to heal and cure.
Source: http://www.a-star.edu.sg/a_star/189-Press-Release?iid=674
June 16, 2009
(This talk was given by Sri Chinmoy at University of Cambridge; Cambridge, England on 23 November 1970)
Cambridge, I bow to your aspiration-height. I bow to your knowledge-light. I bow to your divine pride. True, you are in England, you are of England, but you are also of the world at large. The entire world claims you as its very own.
There are seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds. The higher worlds are: Bhur, Bhuvar, Swar, Jana, Mahar, Tapas and Satya. One of the Upanishads names seven higher regions. These are: Agniloka, Vayuloka, Varunaloka, Adityaloka, Indraloka, Prajapatiloka and Brahmaloka. Certain spiritual figures are of the opinion that the first-mentioned group of the worlds corresponds to the second. Others, equally qualified, dispute this. Strangely enough, all without exception agree that the world Satya and Brahmaloka are one and the same.
We can enter into these worlds on the strength of our aspiration and recep¬tivity. When we have aspiration and receptivity, these worlds can never remain a far cry.
Aspiration. What do we mean by this term? The inner cry, the mounting flame within us. Aspiration is reality’s constant necessity.
Receptivity. How can we have receptivity? We can have receptivity if we grow into purity and sincerity. When sincerity and purity loom large and important in our earthly existence, then we can easily have receptivity.
A sincere seeker needs aspiration and receptivity. Without aspiration, he is rootless. Without receptivity, he is fruitless.
The higher worlds. Each individual seeker has the divine right to enter into the higher worlds. His aspiration can easily guide him and lead him to God’s Throne. To enter into the high, higher, highest worlds, what we need is the inner cry. We cry for name and fame. But if we inwardly cried for abundant peace, light and bliss here on earth, then our entire being could be flooded with peace, light and bliss.
These higher worlds are within us and not without. When we concentrate, when we meditate, when we contemplate, we enter into these higher worlds. When we concentrate dynamically, we near the door of these higher worlds. When we meditate soulfully, we enter into the room divine. When we contem¬plate unreservedly, and unconditionally, we reach God’s Throne.
Since we aspire to enter into the higher worlds, we pray to the Cosmic Gods. We feel that the Cosmic Gods will come to our aid and they will help us enter into the higher worlds.
Here, at this point, I would like to invoke the soul of Marcus Aurelius: “Either the gods have the power to assist us, or they have not. If they have not, what does praying to them signify? If they have, why do you not pray that they would remove your desires rather than satisfy them, set you above fear rather than keep away the thing you are afraid of ?”
Now, if we want to enter the higher worlds in order to fulfil our desires, then we can never enter higher worlds. We can enter the higher worlds only when it is the Will of our Inner Pilot, the Lord Supreme. When we go deep within, when we meditate for a couple of hours, if our meditation is most soulful and, at the same time, unconditional, then we will envision the higher worlds. No sincere seeker of the highest Truth, the Ultimate Truth, will be denied the higher worlds.
Porphyry throws additional light on the matter, “We must ask of God only such gifts as are worthy of God, that is to say, such things as we cannot obtain from any except God.”
In order to enter into the higher worlds what we need is sincerity; what we need is purity; what we need is peace; what we need is delight.
Sincerity: Inner beauty’s other name is sincerity. Purity: The name of God’s first child is purity. Peace: Peace is unity’s sovereignty and multiplicity’s divinity. Delight: Delight is the name of God’s permanent Home.
There are two things we observe in our day-to-day life: the human and the divine. In everything we do, say or grow into, we see either the divine or the human.
The human world and the divine world. A clever man is he who knows how to deal with the outer world. He does not want to be deceived by the world, by mankind, but unconsciously or consciously he deceives the world, the world of ignorance. A wise man is he who knows all about the inner world, the higher worlds within. He does not deceive anybody. He wants to conquer the outer world, the world of ignorance. But his is not the conquest of Caesar, “I came, I saw, I conquered—Veni, vidi, vici.” Far from it. When a wise man wants to conquer ignorance, he does so only because his inner being compels him to transform the face of the world. He does not take pride in conquering the world. No. Feeling the breath of ignorance, he feels it is his bounden duty to transform ignorance into knowledge, darkness into light, death into Immortality.
There are two ways to enter into the higher worlds. One is the way of know¬ledge, the other is the way of devotion.
Knowledge: I am the knowledge, I am the known, I am the knower. Devotion: I am devotion, I am dedication and I am salvation.
Knowledge enlarges itself, expands itself into Infinity. Devotion identifies itself with the absolute Truth. On the strength of its identification, devotion grows into Infinity.
A sincere seeker of the Ultimate Truth can follow either the path of knowledge or the path of devotion. But at the end of the journey’s close, the seeker who follows the path of knowledge and the seeker who follows the path of devotion will meet and shake hands, because they have reached the selfsame Goal.
We live either in the world of human thought or in the world of Divine Will. Human thought slows down and dies out, but the Divine Will constantly grows and swiftly flows.
Similarly, human power is born of futility. Divine power is born of reality.
Finally, we observe our love: human love and Divine Love. Human love is an express train—destination: frustration. Divine Love is a local train—destination: illumination. Human physical love is slow poison. Divine Love is the running stream and the unceasing source of nectar. Human love can be transcended. Divine Love can be manifested. Human love is fruitless expectation. Divine Love is fulfilled perfection.
Unconditional love is what God is. Unreserved devotion is what man needs. Mutual surrender is what God and man offer one another.
When the power of love replaces the love of power, man will have a new name: God.
The Golden Hour, God’s Hour, is dawning fast. Let us offer our heart’s aspiration to the lofty realisation of the seers of the hoary past,
Anandadd hy eva khalv imani bhutani jayante Anandena jatani jivanti Anandam prayantyabhisam visanti
From Delight we came into existence. In Delight we grow. At the end of our journey’s close, into Delight we shall retire.
June 15, 2009