'Virtual massage' for phantom limb pain

PARIS (AFP) - An amputee could be "cured" of phantom limb pain by tricking the brain into reacting to the sight of someone else performing soothing, massage-like gestures, a researcher has found.

The paradoxical sensation of pain in a missing limb is frequently reported by amputees.

Working with US combat veterans, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Director of Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego conducted a series of experiments to better understand why these feelings of pain arise and how they might be eliminated.

Recent studies have shown the critical role of "mirror" brain cells which fire every time someone makes a deliberate gesture, such as shaking hands or giving a thumbs-up sign.

These neurons are also triggered when we see others perform the same gesture, which raises the intriguing question of why we do not feel a corresponding sensation every time someone within view rubs or claps his hands.

Ramachandran speculated that sensory cells in the hand block the message that the mirror neurons are trying to send to the brain, according to the British weekly New Scientist.

But as these sensory cells are absent in the amputee, the signals get through and registers, accounting for the phantom feelings and pain.

To test his theory, Ramachandran and colleagues created a "mirror box" that gave amputees the visual impression of seeing their missing limb.

Two amputee volunteers, watching as their intact hand was touched, both felt as if their missing hand was "being prodded." And when they saw a third person's hand stroked, they too began to feel a similar sensation in their absent limb.

One of the subjects reported that watching someone rub her hands together caused a painful cramping sensation in his phantom limb to stop for up to 15 minutes.

"If you do it often enough perhaps this pain will go away for good," suggests Ramachandran, whose research is detailed in an upcoming book, "The Man with the Phantom Twin: Adventures in the Neuroscience of the Human Brain."

"An amputee experiencing pain in their missing limb could watch a friend or partner rub their hand to get rid of it," he told the New Scientist.

Sheitan.....movies

The great Vincent Cassel is too unpredictable an actor to make a boring film..

Outright bad movies, however, are entirely another matter and this misshapen comedy-horror veers close.

Self-producing young punk collective director Kim Chapiron, Cassel at least secures himself a typically loony tune lead role, as an inbred, leering shepherd with a satanic pact, preying on some visiting teens.

Neither funny nor scary enough it’s a brio-fuelled mess, but as long as crazy Vince is centre stage, never entirely dull.

News Clip Courtesy.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A20053964

In Flight Announcement..

Too rarely, airline attendants make an effort to make the in-flight "safety lecture" and announcements a bit more entertaining.

Here is a classic that has been heard and reported...

An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard.

The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline."

He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane.

She said, "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Why, no, Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?"

The little old lady said, "Did we land, or were we shot down ?"

From rags-to-riches...

AHMEDABAD..

Maltiben Chaudhary can barely speak English or Hindi, has studied only up to Class IV and belongs to a remote village, Pratapur, in Mehsana district of Gujarat.

But, the money spinners of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) were all ears to her rags-to-riches story when she visited the institute.

Maltiben, 62, runs a successful milk business as part of the Mehsana Milk Cooperative, Gujarat, and earns a cool Rs 80,000 a month. The students of IIM-A's flagship postgraduate programme (PGP) and one-year executive course were engrossed in her exemplary lecture on entrepreneurial skills during 'Understanding creativity, innovation knowledge network and entrepreneurship' programme on Wednesday.

"Her entrepreneurship attitude was quite visible and she had an authority in her voice while speaking on the subject. Innovation and knowledge is not only a prerogative of rich and educated, knowledge also lies at the bottom of the pyramid, "said Kumar Rahul Roushan, final year student of PGP.

Maltiben said,"Due to financial constraints in my family, I thought of doing something on my own but at that time I did not have any money to start a business. I stitched clothes for village women and saved a meagre Rs 80. I bought two famished buffaloes from the money way back in 1971 and started a milk business."

I fed the buffaloes nutritious fodder, Maltiben said. And to everbody's surprise, the buffaloes won the first prize during a Doodhsagar dairy rally in Mehsana, giving 29 litres of milk a day.

Then on, Maltiben never looked back. She now supplies 300 litres of milk daily to milk cooperative.


News Clip Courtesy: Kumar Manish

Taliban suicide blast in Kabul kills 30

News Clip, Afghanistan -

A Taliban suicide bomber wearing an Afghan army uniform set off a huge explosion Saturday while trying to board a military bus in the capital, killing 30 people, most of them soldiers, officials said. Hours later, the Afghan president offered to meet personally with the Taliban leader for peace talks and give the militants a position in government.

Strengthening a call for negotiations he has made with increasing frequency the last several weeks, President Hamid Karzai said he was willing to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister and factional warlord leader.

"If I find their address, there is no need for them to come to me, I'll personally go there and get in touch with them," Karzai said. "Esteemed Mullah, sir, and esteemed Hekmatyar, sir, why are you destroying the country?"

Karzai said he has contacts with Taliban militants through tribal elders but that there are no direct and open government communication channels with the fighters.

"If a group of Taliban or a number of Taliban come to me and say, 'President, we want a department in this or in that ministry or we want a position as deputy minister ... and we don't want to fight anymore... If there will be a demand and a request like that to me, I will accept it because I want conflicts and fighting to end in Afghanistan," Karzai said.

"I wish there would be a demand as easy as this. I wish that they would want a position in the government. I will give them a position," he said.

Four employees with the International Committee of the Red Cross, kidnapped earlier this week while negotiating the release of a German hostage, were freed in good health Saturday, said Mohabullah, the police director of criminal investigations of the Sayad Abad district where the four were taken. He had no news about the German.

The number of kidnappings in Afghanistan has spiked in recent months after the Taliban secured the release of five insurgent prisoners in exchange for a captive Italian journalist in March — a heavily criticized swap that many feared would encourage abductions.

The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Koreans in July, a hostage crisis that scored the militants face-to-face talks with South Korean government delegates. Two of the Koreans were killed; 21 were eventually released.

Karzai earlier this month renewed a call for talks with the Taliban, and a spokesman for the militant group initially said the fighters might be open to negotiations. But spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi later said foreign troops must first leave the country — a demand Karzai said Saturday he would not meet.

"It should be very clear until all our roads are paved, until we have good electricity and good water, and also until we have a better Afghan national army and national police, I don't want any foreigners to leave Afghanistan," he said.

He said he still wanted negotiations with Taliban militants of Afghan origin "for peace and security." He ruled out talks with al-Qaida and other foreign fighters.

NATO and the United Nations have said an increasing number of Taliban fighters are interested in laying down their arms. NATO's ambassador to Afghanistan, Daan Everts, said this month that NATO would look into the possibility of talks.

More than 4,500 fighters have taken part in a two-year reconciliation process, but the Taliban have launched more than 100 suicide attacks this year, a record pace.

Saturday's explosion ripped off the roof of the bus and tore out its sides, leaving a charred hull of burnt metal. It was reminiscent of the deadliest insurgent attack in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 — when a bomber boarded a police academy bus at Kabul's busiest transportation hub in June and killed 35 people.

Dozens of civilians and police officers searched for bodies. Police and soldiers climbed trees to retrieve some body parts. Nearby businesses also were damaged.

"For 10 or 15 seconds, it was like an atom bomb — fire, smoke and dust everywhere," said Mohammad Azim, a police officer who witnessed the explosion.

Karzai said 30 people were killed — 28 soldiers and two civilians. The Health Ministry said another 30 were wounded.

"It was a terrible tragedy, no doubt an act of extreme cowardice," Karzai said. "Whoever did this was against people, against humanity, definitely against Islam. A man who calls himself Muslim will not blow up innocent people in the middle of Ramadan," the Muslim holy month.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed the militant group was responsible for the blast in a text message to The Associated Press. Mujahid said the bomber was a Kabul resident named Azizullah.

The bus had stopped in front of a movie theater to pick up soldiers when a bomber wearing a military uniform tried to board around 6:45 a.m. local time, army spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

"Typically there are people checking the IDs of soldiers who want to board the bus," Azimi said. "While they were checking the IDs the bomber tried to get on the bus and blew himself up there."

News Clip Courtesy : Associated Press reporters Rahim Faiez, Amir Shah and Alisa Tang.

In Pawar land, cricketers get preference over farmers

News Clip, New Delhi:

While money is pouring in for our cricketers, it's quite the opposite for the farmers in Maharashtra'a Kohlapur district. In union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's home state, farmers were attacked and beaten up by local goons on Friday.

The reason – the farmers had asked for their dues from a local sugarcane cooperative. The farmers allege that the cooperative refused to pay them the second installment for their produce.

The goons were allegedly hired by the sugarcane cooperative factory who beat up farmers in the presence of the police. Farmers say no FIR was registered despite protests.

One of the farmer's unions - Shetkari Sanghatana has now organised protests all over the district and has demanded severe action be taken against the attackers. Reportedly, Congress MLA Prakash Avade was also present at the site.

Indian news broadcasters form new association

Major news broadcasters in India have formed the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) to address problems of radio and television news broadcasters. The broadcasters who have formed the association include TV Today Network, NDTV Limited, Times Global Broadcasting Company, TV18 Group, Star News, India TV and Zee News.

The President of the Association, G Krishnan, said the Association has been set up to address issues that are specific to news broadcasters in radio and television who work in a 24×7 environment and cannot necessarily be addressed by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation.

The Indian government's recent draft proposal for a Content Code has been strongly opposed by the broadcasters.

News Clip Source: Commonwealth Broadcasting Association

Funds available for business writers from developing world

The Reuters Foundation is offering full bursaries for journalists from developing countries to attend training on business writing. The course is scheduled for November 5 to 16 in London.

Application deadline: September 10.

The bursaries include travel costs, lodging and a modest living allowance. Partially funded bursaries are also available for journalists at organizations with little or no resources for training.

The course provides training on international standards of reporting and writing about business news and issues. Applicants must be working journalists with at least two years of professional experience and good spoken and written English.


Application details and online form:
http://www.reuterslink.org/courses/wbn_london_nov07.htm


For more information, contact: foundation@reuters. com



__._,_.___