Bio-wise and otherwise

Once upon an emerald forest

If I were to ever define Timelessness, it was my recent trip to South Canara to attend an advanced Meditation course. Kamalasile, a tiny hamlet in South Canara, is a night's journey from Bangalore.

Although I had the company of 150 enthusiastic course participants for five whole days,  in reality, I was quite caught up with understanding the elusive 'Self'. The very surroundings were almost surreal, so to speak, and this certainly helped me in my soul-searching journey.

First of all, our home for was a powerfully vibrant temple. To add to this serenity was the lush and soothing greenery. We had fallen into the comforting lap of Mother Nature and the gentle hands of the Divine Mother. Who could ever ask for more?

In this rare yet beautiful dialog between Nature and Spirit, the tall areca trees swaying to the rustling wind accompanied our own deep-throated 'Om' mantra. The crisp air cleansed and purified as we breathed  in accordance with the rhythm of Pranayams. The pitter patter of raindrops seemed to beckon our very souls to come soak our feet in the inviting puddles.

Our mornings began with Yoga which were followed by deep meditative phases. The fun started in the evenings, when a troop of talented musicians led us through intensely soulful song and dance. We would fall into a blissfully happy sleep state at nearly eleven o clock every night, only to wake up enthusiastically in the early morning hours.

For five whole days we forgot the sound of blaring horns and screeching wheels. Instead, we grew accustomed to the cackle of birdsong and the occasional chatter of a lonesome cricket. Our trip was dotted with a few nerve-wracking moments as well, when we descended into a deep cave, braving the slush and rain. The bats swarming the cave did their part to add to the adventure.

Puneeth, Gurpreet and I await our turns (in the backdrop) to descend into the cave

We sat for a while by the Malpe beach to watch the fascinating sunset. 

But our hearts cried out at the sight of a dead fish which looked like a shark. The beach water was blackish, and we reckoned that it was probably polluted from a nearby factory. Why can't people be more environment and ecology  conscious and what can we do to make this happen, I wonder.

All in all, the trip was a great way to unwind from the daily bump and grind routine of the city life. 

I haven't yet returned to ground state.

Instead, I simply move along the border of reality and the mystic world...

Note: Click here for more trip pictures.

Posted at 09:40AM Jul 28, 2007 by Manju in Personal  |  Comments[1]

Say 'Cheese'...and blog!

Blogs and dental hygiene? What's the connection? Aren't they both (s)miles apart?

Apparently not! In the online world, anything is possible! Or maybe you are guaranteed a brighter smile if you have a good blog! 

In About.com, the left navigation bar has a lot on understanding the HTML lingo, the centerpiece has an FAQ on blogging, and the top right hand corner is all about getting those dazzling teeth!

Posted at 05:10AM Jul 14, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

Font-ly speaking

Earlier on, while working as a science editor in a newspaper, I used to come across many interesting personalities. From this rather long list, Ramu’s name deserves a special mention.

Ramu was our office attendant, who was always in a hurry to absorb gigabytes of jargon, like a well-used sponge. But there were a few bugs in his neural wiring, and it showed on occasion.

When we started a syndicated column written by Bill Gates  in our IT page, the readers’ feedback came pouring in through boxes, doors…even windows! The Gates-ian era was at its peak, which was probably why an awestruck Ramu would actually place these letters reverently on my table, lest they get crumpled in a rather unwholesome manner.

One morning, a nattily dressed American gentleman entered the office. A visibly excited Ramu clumsily dropped a few postcards and stared unabashedly at the gentleman, who was ambling towards my desk. Actually, the American gentleman had dropped by to pass on an invitation to a conference. But no sooner had the gentleman turned his back, than did Ramu rush to my side, eyes wide with amazement. Pointing to the receding figure with shaking fingers, he asked hoarsely, “Madam, was that Bill Gates?”

Thanks to the power of print technology, Ramu had actually heard of the ‘soft man with the hard business drive.

Once again a while later, Life did a barn dance in our newspaper office, when Quark Express was installed to make pages. Earlier on, Ramu often lent a helping hand to the old production workers who used to manually insert photographs between reams of text. By the end of the day, a minister may have half his beard snipped out of his photograph, but at least he was lovingly displayed on the page, thanks to these old-timers.

Then suddenly Quark software came along, doing all the cutting and pasting needed for a lifetime. It beveled, trimmed, earmarked, and watermarked to perfection! Ramu was thrilled by this new technology.

"Quack can paste in seconds!" he gushed.  "But it cannot squeeze a photo into gutter space, can it?" retorted the old helpers. For a moment Ramu was at a loss for words. He needed to figure out what ‘gutter space’ was first, before coming up with a befitting answer.

One day, Ramu trudged into the office and announced the birth of yet another newfangled technology. News was going online, he said. We all groaned in unison. It only meant fewer papers and more computers. A few days later, the entire editorial staff was summoned for a high-level meeting and instructed to learn ‘Hyper Text Markup Language’. “Like English and Kannada, no?” asked an enthused voice from the front row. It was Ramu’s.

Soon modern technology invaded every nook and cranny of our idyllic publishing world, ‘cutting’ some of us out of the print ‘n paper era and ‘pasting’ us into those ‘winsome virtual vistas’. We learnt that ‘bugs’ weren’t merely crawly creatures. ‘Fifo’ wasn’t the name of a pet poodle. And ‘Framemaker’ just didn’t give you an hour- glass figure.

With growing Web 2.0 technology, will this scene slowly fade away? 

After having joined the software industry, I lost touch with the print industry. Now I was floating in a world of manuals, guides, wikis and white papers. I didn't really bother to think of how the newspaper industry was coping with the social networking, bookmarking and all that other jazz going on.

Until recently, when I met Ramu once again in a shop. He stood there standing agape, like a woefully confused member of the Piscean order. Then he asked with no preamble:

'Madam, what is 'blog' ?”

NOTE: Stories apart, here's an interesting blog on how many British newspapers got Web 2.0'd. Also check out Jonathan's recent blog entry which has a video of a panel discussion- topic is 'how integration of technology, media and society impact culture'.

Posted at 02:32AM Jul 11, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[2]

It's SOA Cool!

In case y'all haven't seen it yet, check out this link:

http://soa.sys-con.com

It clearly belongs to the 'trail-blazer' class of links. 

Congrats to Sun's App Server and Portal Server for having made the Reader's Choice award!

On the healthcare front, an interesting case study on Medicalert demonstrates how SOA architecture enables business agility and increases value of IT. Medicalert is a non-profit organization which is better known for its bracelets which, when worn by patients, alert doctors about conditions like allergy during crucial times like an emergency operation. 

Today, Medicalert has also ably adopted healthcare information services.

The MedicAlert repository relies on Web Service interfaces to support standard Personal Health Records (PHR), including electronic drug prescriptions and for patient record interoperability. The repository of personal health information facilitates the delivery of critical medical information between patients, providers, payers, and emergency responders around the clock and across the world.

While personal medical records are updated by members in a secure and private environment, the growing integration between departments and hospital personnel has necessitated more interoperability among systems. This would also entail getting data from partners and updating existing medical records. This means building more web services into the main system.

Such a scalable system has to also be able to wrap custom policies around the services that are produced. Medicalert's new policy engine allows for executing different policies to accomplish a vast array of tasks in a scalable and secure way.

SOA in healthcare is very important to ensure business agility and scalability. Particularly because there can be many applications that need to be interoperable in a unique governance model and also a secure environment. The user must get an integrated view of all these systems, and data needs to be retrieved at the click of a button.

With each new requirement in the healthcare front, small wonder then that the IT gurus are finding more and more reasons to sing  the SOA-ng.

Posted at 09:43AM Jul 08, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

Tech One series

Check out this interesting space- Techone

This particular video features chalk talk by Andy Bechtolsheim on Sun's new supercomputer, the Constellation System.

Posted by Steve Gillmor.

Posted at 10:04AM Jul 06, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

Dial 108 for Help

 In India, there is no single number like 9-1-1, no single agency to coordinate emergency responses, and no specific standards existing for ambulances. Eighty six thousand people are killed due to accidents, since the time taken for an accident victim to arrive at the hospital often exceeds 30-40 minutes.

Only fifty percent of ambulances are said to be possess acute care facilities to keep an accident victim alive while being transported to a hospital.

This was probably why Mr. Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd., decided to start the EMRI, a non-profit organization.

The Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) has aspired to provide comprehensive emergency management services in India (in the state of Andhra Pradesh) using 108- a single, toll-free number.

The system is designed for handling upto 200,000 emergency calls per day.

The number 108 is used as the centralized helpline for Medical, Police and Fire emergencies and is accessible from both fixed and mobile phones.

Emergency Management requires the integration of three cardinal pillars: Sense, Reach and Care. The Sense paradigm of Emergency Management involves  receiving information regarding the emergency. The 108 call is received by a Communication Officer who collects and records all facts regarding the emergency. Technology plays an important role in the 'sense' wing of the Emergency Management by providing state of the art CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) solutions for receiving 108 calls and recording the information.

In the Reach paradigm, reaching a victim in case of medical emergency is crucial. The Advanced Life Saving (ALS) ambulances are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that can help save many a life. They are reputed to be  as good, if not better than the 911 ambulances of the US Care. Each ambulance is accompanied by a trained EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) who is responsible for pre-hospital care while transporting the patient to the appropriate hospital. An EMT can also conference (via cellphone) with an Emergency Response Care Physician.

 The Emergency Response System was created using the Microsoft .Net technology. It is a complex software that integrates with many third-party systems involved in emergency services. A shared third party mail server with SMTP service provides the gateway for sending email messages for the core application.

The dispatching system uses the help of GIS and AVLT (a system that tracks the ambulance as it moves) for dispatching the service. The EMRI Call Center handles over 13,000 calls a day of which at least 500 are emergency cases.

One of the goals of the EMRI is conducting applied research and publish research papers for prevention and better management of emergencies.The Institute also wants to maintain a Knowledge Management Portal and regularly bring out the Indian Emergency Journal.

Currently, the EMRI has deployed 380 state- of -the- art ambulances in 50 towns completely, and has saved more than 11,500 lives.

Taking the technology a step further to bridge the digital divide, the ambulances will also be modified to suit the rural needs by including emergency care for snake bites, pregnancies and accidents.

Here is one splendid example of technology coming to the aid of the common man. And what better way is there to be of service to mankind, than caring for the health of the masses?

Satyam Computer Services Ltd. is a strategic partner to EMRI and contributes to Technology, Processes and Knowledge Management. The Institute is also looking for partners, to promote a spirit of cooperation, collaboration, and networking among NGOs, Corporate Houses, Governments and like-minded individuals who will help drive the cause.

Posted at 09:18AM Jul 04, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

GeneSim- a step into knowledge-based IT

Want to see how intelligent search tools are becoming on the healthcare front?

Here's a peep into the world of GeneSim, a novel, futuristic tool for mining medical data.

Currently, there are several public databases for molecular medicine all over the world which help doctors mine information on crucial genes linked with diseases such as cancer. For example, ArrayExpress and PubMed portals maintain at least forty databases with various search and service functions.

Still, if a doctor wants to find out more specific insights into a particular patient's condition, it would be hard to do so from among the humongous amount of data out there. It would be like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

However, GeneSim is a new knowledge portal on the internet which would serve as a ready reckoner in molecular medicine. GeneSim will host information on a patient's case history, a description of his/her tumor, and results. GeneSim networks with a host of other medical databases on the internet and this helps doctors get critical information on a patient's aberrant gene profile which causes disease. It also helps them in their search for the right drug regime and therapy for a patient.

The GeneSim platform interfaces with syngo, Siemens' software for the operation of imaging processes such as MR and CT with a link to a PAC system.

GeneSim performs several tasks such as collecting knowledge, creating links between data with the help of mathematical processes and also determining which genes and proteins are directly connected with a disease. GeneSim can also compare gene profiles between individuals to determine which genes differ most in terms of gene activity. Through statistical analysis and image display, a doctor is able to compare gene activities on the screen at the click of a button. Also, if the user clicks on a specific gene, the tool retrieves all correlated information on this specific gene from databases all over the world.

The program is self-learning and remembers in which databases relevant information can be found. It is not merely a search tool but can also assess the information it retrieves. It can match data retrieved with the patient's profile (age, sex, etc) and throw up relevant and meaningful data.

GeneSim is a knowledge management tool catering to the needs of personalized medicine. A tool which can help a doctor understand the patient's problem and plan a drug regime going forward.

So now we're talking intelligent diagnosis.

With the machine.

Hopefully, sound intuitive diagnosis will still have its grand old place.

With the doc.

Posted at 08:27AM Jul 02, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

IISc global conference

The recently concluded IISc. (Indian Institute of Science) global conference held in Marriott hotel, Santa Clara, provided a forum for collaborative interaction among the Institute, its alumni, academic institutions and industry. The main objective of this conference was to build a  long-term  partnership between Institute and its alumni and to  usher in the next phase of the IISc. The conference turned out to be a pleasant melee of  ex- IIScians turned enterpreneurs, professors, industry leaders and technology evangelists.

Being a proud member of the IISc alumni, it was a pleasant coincidence for me to be at Santa Clara and participate in the conference.

Several talks by eminent professors and industry leaders echoed high energy and enthusiasm to collaborate and  usher in new innovations.

 Prof P Balaram, Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

In his opening note, Professor P Balaram created a powerful bridge between the institute's illustrious  past and the dynamic future. In his color-filled presentation (where the natural habitat of the IISc was so beautifully portrayed), he showed glimpses of the roadmap for this prestigious institute. He spoke about the importance of forging collaboration between research in pure science and applied science- one example being biotechnology and research in medicine. He urged the alumni gathered to give back to the IISc, because the most important stakeholders were not the venture capitalists, academicians, or philanthropists but actually the people of India. 

Prof APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India delivered the inaugural note live via satellite. He visualizes an increased focus on  vaccinology, nutrition and application of traditional knowledge for holistic medicine. The Institute must also intensify translational research, according to Prof Kalam. He visualizes biomedical research as a leading area for the future in IISc and feels that education and research in this area has to be taken up in partnership with medical institutions. He also mooted the idea of the Institute establishing a school of medicine. 

Some of the directions that the president saw IISc growing towards are:

• Creating an undergraduate eduction at IISc which will enrich teaching and research.
• Being eminent in at least 5 areas of S&T
• Being a partner in the World Knowledge Platform to promote world class knowledge creation, knowledge  sharing and knowledge dissemination among all partner countries.

What the occasion really could have done with more of was showcasing the younger generation of scientists  and having them share their dreams with the audience. After all, if IISc were to attract young talent, this would have been an ideal forum for them to voice their aspirations.

Nevertheless, the conference turned out to be a grand success. Kudos to all the volunteers who worked night and day and did a splendid job of making it all happen.

'Twas clearly an occasion when academia met industry over crumpets and tea.

And I met my friends over drinks and dinner. :-)

 L>R: Kabs (Phillips), Kals (Five Prime Therapeutics), me (Sun), Usha (Five Prime Therapeutics), Gayathri (Amgen)

Posted at 10:21PM Jun 30, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

On post-it notes

This week and a bit o' the last one have been chock full of discussions on content, content and more content. One would expect that to happen when a bunch of tech writers get together under the Californian Sun.

Literally. 

My routine over the last  couple of weeks has been somewhat on these lines: Come morning, down that breakfast, up and run to the conference room, catch my breath to hear the boss speak, and fight that szzzzzleep that seems to take over. Cups of coffee and muffins to go. Catch a few chat sessions with new found friends and smile into the lens. Make notes, notes and more to go.

Amidst all this intellectual flurry, nobody thought about thanking the post-it note  , which seemed to be pasted on white boards in generous numbers, during our lively sessions. The finished boards had tiny yellow sails popping out of every square inch of space, creating remarkable patterns in third dimension.

This little sticky note in yellow has turned the world upside down to have those ideas come tumbling out of the deeper recesses of the human brain. Notes in psychology journals say that these notes have a strange touchy-feely-sticky appeal to the users. They have an attention gaining aspect and  render a personalized touch to any study or idea or a collaborative effort. Research has also gone to show that surveys papers with sticky notes attached elicited a better response than those without 'em, mostly due to all these attributes.

Sticky notes have been shown to have a variety of uses which could include:

The Post-up—Provides methods for getting information into chunks
The Swap Sort—Shows listing and organization methods
The Top-down Tree—Works when the nature of the problem is unknown
The Information Map—Maps messy problems and complex relationships
The Action Map—Plans actions or maps an existing process

And who'd have ever thought that sticky notes and spiders had something in common as well?

It's not surprising then, that for the past few days, I have been dreaming yellow post-it notes (no, thankfully they did not have spiders in them). A few stuck to my bag (notes, not spiders), a few on my forehead, a few on the mirror. I see post-it notes everywhere now.

So when a well-meaning colleague advised me to start a wiki page to record all my meetings, I just dipped into my handbag and brought out a wad of post-it notes. Slowly, painstakingly, laboriously, I began to write.

He gave up.

The swanky new Web 2.0 generation was not for me.

I swear by my post-it notes.

Posted at 12:20PM Jun 21, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[2]

Sister Act

I made a beeline to the Art of Living ashram today.

The second International Women's Conference was starting and I just wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to volunteer. Firstly, I love Guruji and the values he stands for and for just being there for folks like me.

Secondly, I love mah' sisters all.

And the sisters came with their knapsacks from 50 odd countries. Women from Africa dressed in the brightest of turbans, women in cool white, women in resplendent saris, women in jeans and tee'. This event was a confluence of women from all walks of life and organizations that support the cause of women.

The list of chief guests was a star studded one- of course the biggest star and the only man was Gurudev, beaming at the bevy of women surrounding him. Banu didi, his sister (and our sister) welcomed the guests warmly and there was not a trace of stress on her beautiful face, despite the fact that she was also the driving force of this conference.

Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar urged the audience to Save Mother Earth by finding ways to improve the degrading environment. Women need not demand rights, they simply have to assume them- was his simple yet powerful message. He urged the sisters gathered to have fun and work as well- 'because you can find solutions to problems only when you are relaxed.'

Shukria Barakzai worked as a teacher in a school under cover ten years ago. Now, she is the editor for 'Women's Mirror', a journal meant for women in Afghanistan. She is also a Member of Pariament in the country. A perfect role-model for the occasion, Shukria talked about the women of her country not having to face one particular problem, but ever so many problems. According to her, self-confidence is the bottom-line, irrespective of the religion that a woman belonged to. 'Believe in your goals' was her message.

Shukria Barakzai (file photo) 

The First lady of Sri Lanka, Madam Shiranthi Rajapakse, spoke about the various social activities going on in the war-torn Sri Lanka. Interestingly, she was crowned Miss Sri Lanka-1978 and also qualified for the Ms World pageant that year. She is the principal of a group of schools called Carlton schools, in Colombo and southern Sri Lanka. According to Madam Rajapakse, women in Sri Lanka face all kinds of problems. But women empower the family and the nation by preserving old values. She is also running an organization called Sriliya Saviya for self employment of war widows.

 Madam Sriranthi (blue saree) during the International Women's day celebrations

In her opening speech, the first lady of Mauritius, Sarojni Jugnauth emphasized the need for for health, education and sustainable development.

Ms Latha Usendi, Minister for Women and Child Welfare, Chhattisgarh, India pointed to the close bond between a woman and a tree and praised Guruji for being the binding spirit for the world.

Other guests included the lady governor of Jordan and Amman who urged women to dream big and work towards their goals.

Noted actor, Member of Parliament and danseuse Hema Malini released a book called 'Shringara' or beauty.

Ms Hema Malini (file photo) 

Ms Kiran Bedi (IPS officer and currently Director- General, Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs) gave a which clearly rocked. She said soft skills, so important in administration, do not have to be taught to women, but men need special training to acquire them. When women assume higher positions of power, they often exchange soft skills for hard skills, losing their innate qualities. Ms Bedi urged women not to lose these wonderful quality while learning new skills. According to the articlulate Ms Bedi, men have three qualities- muscle, money and mobility. Women have yet another three- heart, humaneness and humility. The two sets are complementary.

Ms Kiran Bedi (file photo) 

 In a telecast message, Ms Diane Watson,  Congresswoman LA, spoke about the cultural and ethnic diversity of her district where folks from both the poorer and richer (Hollywood) strata lived close to one another. In a world which is made smaller by transnational activities and communication, the need of the hour was to empower women in all walks of life and lend a feminine touch.

Many brave women, strong women, artistic women were given awards during the conference. If it was not for the battle against Tsunami, it was for helping war widows of Iraq, or building toilets in villages, educating children, excelling in art, music and the like. The 'Pizza grannies' of Bangalore were recognized for their hard work and undying spirit.

There was song and dance, laughter and celebrations. There were vibrant faces, pensive faces, smiling faces and determined faces. All nuances of the same  feminine beauty.

The conference was organized by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) and Ved Vigyan Maha Vidya Peeth (VVMVP). The conference objectives are to educate 500 girl children in India and to touch the lives of a thousand women prisoners world over with the AOL Part One course.

The conference was beautifully compered by Ms Kavitha Khanna. Kavitha is a barrister turned marketing professional for a pharma company.

She herself considered the ashram to be her home where she felt so much at ease. These words held  much comfort for the audience.

Come to think of it, when I got to the ashram early morning all set to run around with chores, I was asked to relax under the steps of the Mantap (the venue) and someone would come and let me know my duties. So there I sat, enjoying the cool breeze, taking in the serene surroundings, watching the trees sway gently in the wind. A famliar ashramite with a broom in tow, smiled at me as he went on sweeping the corridor. I sat there, and waited, in no apparent hurry.

And then in the middle of the inaugural session, when a chair on the dais (where all the dignitaries were already seated) gave way, I simply did not hesitate to run up and replace it with another. After the first session ended, I ran past Guruji to meet my hero, Kiran Bedi and have a word with her. 

Yes, the sisters had come home. The rich, the famous, the powerful, the simple. From remote villages in India to far off lands.

They all came to rest a bit and to take on the world.

Posted at 11:11AM Jun 08, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[2]

Bangalore goes Scot'ish!

On May 18, Sun Technology Summit '07 saw over 800 developers and students gather at Taj West End, Bangalore. The enthu was palpable and the conference halls were brimming with delegates throughout the 5 hour long summit.

The keynote address was rendered by Scott McNealy. Scott captivated and enthralled the audience right from his opening statement. Alluding to Web x.y, Scott emphasized that we now live in the Participation Age where everybody is an editor, publisher, blogger, mash-up-er, and what not. The web today is clearly by the user and for the user. India itself, according to Scott, currently has 12 million bloggers. Citing the example of a bunch of youngsters who made over a billion dollars by creating the Youtube and later selling it to Google, Scott urged the developers and students to think innovatively, and out -of -the- box to create valuable solutions.

But innovation alone would not help bridge the digital divide. The spirit of sharing in the open source space will narrow the yawning digital divide and bring the power of the computer to each and every person on the planet. Scott further added that 90% of cellphones have Java programs running and that signifies the ubiquity of Java technology.

With the advent of Java FX, users can watch a movie on a phone. “No suing, no arresting, no billing. It's free!” was Scott's refrain to every Sun technology he took the name of. 'Click and wait' was the only mantra for availing all these freebies, he added. Needless to say, along with these words of assurance, Scott also urged developers to contribute code to the Open community. “Twenty five percent of the SDN is in India. Now 25% of code should be donated from India”.

To the rhetorical question on how free translates to money, Scott explained: Open drives volume and volume drives value.

India now has access to www.network.com, a Sun grid technology, where the first 200 CPU hours are free.

Not being new to Bangalore, Scott has already won the popularity vote for his charisma and wit. He seems to enjoy a celebrity status, as could be seen by the fact that several youngsters had gathered around him after his talk, to seek his autograph.

The rest of the day had talks on many interesting topics such as AJAX and Web 2.0, Java SE language features- today and tomorrow, Web Services and SOA applications using Java EE, Java EE and Glassfish. At the All Hands, which followed in the afternoon, Scott answered many questions posed by the IEC employees.

The message was quite clear to those of us who had been sitting all day in the talks: Kick butt and have fun.

Fun we did have aplenty- over chat sessions, ice cream and cookies and an occasional cup of Java.

Posted at 08:08AM May 18, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

The 'dead'ly paradox

It's a given that a person is clinically dead when the oxygen supply is cut off to the vital organs like the heart and the brain. 

Here's the thing then- doctors can  pronounce a person clinically dead based on vital signs. But are all the cells dead when clinical death happens? How and when do we pronounce cellular death? 

There are  two types of cell death- the unprogrammed and the programmed. Unprogrammed cell death happens due to cell aging, or cell damage.

During programmed cell death (or  'Apoptosis')  a cell actually commits 'suicide' under circumstances like stress or disease (like cancer). Mitochondria (tiny bean-shaped structures contained in cells) have the remarkable ability to distinguish a cancerous cell from a normal one- and when that happens, there is a chemical trigger sent by mitochondria to the cancerous cell ordering it 'to die'.  When viewed under a microscope, cells that have been subjected to programmed cell death look different than cells that have undergone normal death. Apoptotic cells are shrunken with  fragmented chromosomes, whereas cells having undergone normal death are swollen and turgid. At the biochemical level too, certain proteins (called 'Caspases') are selectively  'switched on' during programmed cell death.

A recent article (which got voted its way into Slynkr) points to an astonishing finding- that hours after a person is clinically pronounced dead, the cells are still alive. 

Doctors often give doses of epinephrine, do a CPR or apply  paddles to jolt the near-dead person back to life.  These procedures are said to 'reoxygenate' the tissues with the hope of bringing the person back to life.

But while these procedures are what the doctor ordered, how do the cells behave under these procedures?

The recent study has indicated that when doctors pump up (reperfuse) the oxygen levels into the cells of a near dead person (using CPR and other techniques), the body is somehow unable to distinguish these re-oxygenated cells from cancerous ones. The mitochondria respond to such cells in exactly the same way they respond to cancerous cells. They trigger programmed cell death. 

So is it such a good idea to hyperoxygenate the body? Or is it better to send in some salt and  ice through the blood vessels and reduce the metabolic rate, while doctors start working on the heart? In a few trial experiments, doctors found that the salt-and-ice method had astonishing results- showing better recovery among patients.

There are clearly different layers to viewing life forms. The gross can include viewing the whole body, specific  tissues, cellular states, etc.

The subtle delves into deeper layers through metaphysical studies. The heart rate has been shown to  go down remarkably during a meditative state.  Meditation is also said to be linked to a change in one's consciousness. So if life (or death) can be defined physiologically, psychologically and biochemically, why can't there be another state of definition- namely, consciousness?

Physicist Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford, UK, and psychologist Stuart Hameroff of the University of Arizona in Tucson took this complexity one step further by explaining away consciousness through physiology. They proposed that consciousness might arise from wave-like quantum-mechanical effects involving protein filaments called microtubules in nerve cells.

Many theories exist to support or dispute the phenomenon of consciousness.

Nevertheless, science cannot dispute that there are different states like sleep, wakefulness, dream state and the unconsciousness state. Metaphysicists say that these are indeed the different states of 'consciousness'.

So then, is body consciousness the same as cellular consciousness? What happens to this collective consciousness when death happens?

If body death and cellular death are not happening in synchrony, is there a  'pause-ible' state between life and death?

If life is complex, so is death, it seems. 

Posted at 05:10AM May 08, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

IISc to hold a global conference

If there are any IIScian alumni tuning into blog-land, here's an interesting piece of news. On June 22-24, 2007, the Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association of North America (IISc AANA) is holding the first ever global conference in Silocon Valley. Eminent scientists, Nobel Laureates, industrialists will gather at the conference and interact in a unique manner. It is believed that this conference will be a platform to build relationships and business partnerships between the academia, alumni, industry both in India and the US and between the two countries.

Registrations are open online and the cost is $ 150 uptil May 17. Thereafter, the registration fee increases by $50.

Once an IIScian, always an IIScian. Guyz wear your badges proud and proper. Join in the conference and meet up with ol' friends and foes, and settle those sweet scores. :-)

Posted at 06:49AM May 05, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[0]

Singin' in the rain

It's been rainin' out here in Bangalore, so I reckoned it's a good time to dust the ol' music records and cds. I played a Beatles album, gifted by a close friend of mine, and had a foot-tappin' good time.

Gawrsh, I can't seem to understand some of music these days. The lyrics are often hard to follow, if at all they exist. The music is overwhelmingly loud at times. But I do my bit o' head banging when the occasion demands it. Having a teenage daughter does help keep with the times. Although she often grumbles that I don't ever have any facts right o'er a Metallica, an Ozzy, or even a J Lo.

 Just luv' em all...someone said..and stop judging. Ha ha. Easier said than done. It's like liking color pink. You just can't be indifferent to this color. You can either love it or hate it. Pink reminds me of cotton candy, pony rides and giant wheels. So the other day, when an aunt of mine presented me with  a pink outfit, I had grand visions of a moving strawberry cone.

 Come together... right now ...da di dum. (that's the song playin'...) Yeah, maybe that's a cool philosophy. Life is a bouquet of colors, tunes, seasons.

So Let it be.... yeah let it be...

Posted at 06:16AM May 05, 2007 by Manju in Personal  |  Comments[0]

Women and society

Seventy odd years ago, Thimmakka, a poor yet spirited woman, was born in Gubbi, a remote village in Karnataka, India. At a very young age, she was married off to Chikkanna, a landless labourer from another nearby village. Apparently, it was not Nature's plan for them to have a child. But then perhaps Nature chose her to become a mother, in quite a different way.

One fine day 45 years ago, Chikkanna and Thimmakka simply decided to plant trees. It was no small goal. This spunky couple chose to plant saplings along a whole 4 km stretch of road between Hulikal and nearby Kudur. Thimmakka reckoned that shade along the parched land would provide succor to many a weary traveler.

They first planted saplings in a nursery before transfering them onto the road, always managing to maintain a proper distance between two adjacent saplings. Today, the trees stand proud, having been nurtured by the couple's gentle hands. Thimmakka received awards many years later, but surely her biggest trophy must be the green canopy lining the dusty road.

Between June 8-10, 2007, the International Association for Human Values, an international NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth are organizing a conference to highlight the achievements of women in bringing about positive social change with a focus on values and ethics.

The main aim of the conference is to educate 500 girl children in India and to empower 1000 women prisoners across the globe. But it is also to recognize the wonderful contribution of women like Thimmakka.

In his speech at the previous conference held in 2005, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar said: Women bring human beings to the planet…and teach us how to live. Women teach us our first behaviour, our first step in life. Women can glue the differences and bring people of diverse nature together. These qualities are inherent in a woman. For a woman, it is quite natural to relate from the level of the heart. It is necessary that women bring together the finest aspects of society; the feminine, and the ability to create, with the transformational ability to make a difference in society - these two should go hand in hand...

Many women are given awards for making a significant, positive contribution to society.  Thimmakka was one of the proud awardees at the last conference.  Shyama Sondhi was given an award for her unwavering commitment in Jammu and Kashmir to create an  Art of Living Youth movement and bringing about trauma relief and rehabilitation for youth and  prisoners. 

The conference will be attended by women all over globe, from all walks of life.  Her Highness Susan Al Said (Sultanate of Oman reflected thus:  I am very blessed that I was invited to thsi conference...We also have empowerment of women and various women ministers in the Sultanate of Oman...the future looks very bright.

This year's topics at the conference include: Women with a vision, A Vision for Governance: Democratic Governance,  A Vision for Business Leadership, Action for Awareness, Action for Empowering Women, Action for Environmental Sustainability, Action for Economic and Social Development and Action for Campaigning against female foeticide.

We as women, often have so many ideas, hopes and ideals that we carry in our hearts. But then, these dreams often remain frozen inside, because we are afraid that we hope to achieve too much.  Something beyond our capacity. Perhaps it's just a starting problem, a small bump on the road. Once we plant the first sapling, surely the second one should be easier? And so the third.

It is conferences such as these that will allow our dreams to blossom, when we note that other like-minded and equally shy women exist in this world. Holding hands, we can empower, inspire one another and move on. 

I just might join in as a (woman!) volunteer to help out at the conference. So I definitely  hope to share the conference highlights with my friends out here @ Sun. (Yet another feminine dream!)

Posted at 11:11PM Apr 29, 2007 by Manju in Sun  |  Comments[1]