Ron Mueck's Amazing sculptures

Ron Mueck is a London-based photo-realist artist. Born in Melbourne,Australia, to parents who were toy makers, he labored on children's television shows for 15 years before working in special effects for such films as Labyrinth, a 1986 fantasy epic starring David Bowie.

Eventually Mueck concluded that photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object, and so he turned to fine art and sculpture.

In the early 1990's, still in his advertising days, Mueck was commissioned to make something highly realistic, and was wondering what material would do the trick. Latex was the usual, but he wanted something harder, more precise. Luckily, he saw a little architectural decor on the wall of a boutique and inquired as to the nice, pink stuff's nature.

Fiberglass resin was the answer, and Mueck has made it his bronze and marble ever since.

Lavasa - The Kingdom of Zeus is Born

Zeus ( Greek: nominative: Ζεύς Zeús /zdeús/, genitive: Διός Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/) in Greek mythology is the king of the Gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the God of the sky and thunder. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the ancient Near East, such as the scepter. In Hindu mythology his counterpart was Indra with ever common weapon as thunderbolt.

Zeus, poetically referred to by the vocative Zeu pater ("O, father Zeus"), is a continuation of *Di̯ēus, the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky, also called *Dyeus ph2tēr ("Sky Father"). The god is known under this name in Sanskrit (cf. Dyaus/Dyaus Pita), Latin (cf. Jupiter, from Iuppiter, deriving from the PIE vocative *dyeu-ph2tēr), deriving from the basic form *dyeu- ("to shine", and in its many derivatives, "sky, heaven, god"). To the Greeks and Romans, the God of the sky was also the supreme God. Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology.
The war of the Titans & Gods in Greek Mythology lasted ten years, after which the gods divided the earth among themselves by drawing lots. Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld.

After my first visit to Lavasa, I just knew that this was the Indian connection to the Indo-European mythography. Look at the pictures. In free India, we have never seen a planned hill-abode with the best architecture & facilities that contemporary building industry has to offer today. Lavasa at 3000 feet above sea level is indeed the Kingdom of Zeus or Indra that was promised to Hindustan in comparative mythology. This is the Kingdom of Zeus in the skies- this is the place where Zeus-the cloud gatherer resides. This is the promised Kingdom in the skies.

The LavaBahn took pride in being the only blemish-less road in the region which was pot-hole-free, but this time around I counted 5 pot-holes on this road. Must inform the seniors who pride themselves on the LavaBahn! I took a walk on the first Dam and got some excellent aerial shots;) (see pictures). The lakes are overflowing & this is one of the best seasons to visit Lavasa.

The last weekend that I drove there in my new car (Incidentally, this car will have the distinction of being the first vehicle to be registered at a Lavasa address!), the workers were scrubbing the floating piers clean, in preparation for the post-monsoon relaunch of the water-sports. What I repeatedly wondered was why should the eco-friendly team allow the diesel motor-boats to run in the main lake? This is the lake that gives the potable water-supply to the township. In this lake, which is the smallest of the 22km dammed Warasgaon lake, the authorities should only allow paddle-boats or sail boats or rowing boats - no fuel driven boats should be allowed in the main lake touching the Portofino area. There is a huge second lake (see pictures) which I believe will be home to the pontoon boat imported from the USA. This lake should be the venue for all motorised crafts & aquatic-sports. I hope some-one sensible in the Tourism Vertical pays heed to these suggestions.

The Kingdom of Zeus is fast-shaping up and probably will be ready before the projected 2010 Monsoons. There are 2000 skilled engineers and workers besides the unskilled labourers today, working 12-14 hour shifts giving birth to a new township-the likes of which our country has never seen before. On 15th October 2008, the ITC Fortune Hotel is due to kick off its operations with 60 rooms. Shortly, before the end of this year, 500 serviced apartments will be ready. Presently, the Corporation is restricting the visitors cars to 100/day. I think there will have to be extended visitation restrictions till 2010 when the Kingdom will be thrown open to the public.

I am glad I was introduced to Lavasa in its gestational period and am seeing the baby grow in its womb! I'm sure, the delivery will be a moment to cherish. Rumors abound that PVR will set-up a 4 screen multiplex & a world-famous adventure sports company will be setting up shop here. Lavasa - The Kingdom of Zeus is Born!

Banta Singh in England

An anglicised sardar from Amritsar was visiting the UK for the first time, and got onto the tube at Knightsbridge.
Sitting across from him, was an upper-crust Englishman in a pinstriped suit, reading the Times.
Wanting to to strike up a conversation, the sardar leaned over and asked the Englishman, "Excuse me, sar, what is your name?"
Not very happy at this development, but not wanting to be rude, the Englishman said, "John Fanshawe. And what is your name, sir?"
The sardar replied, "Banta Singh."
The Englishman smiled politely and went back to his paper.
"And where are you from, Mr Fanshawe?" Banta Singh continued.
The Englishman looked up from his paper, "From Sussex , actually," he replied, "And what about you, Mr Singh?"
Wanting to show how anglicised he was, the sardar replied, "From Amritshire".
"Amritshire?" said the Englishman, puzzled, "You have me there, sir. You see, I've heard of Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Worcestershire, but I've never heard of Amritshire."
"Yes," said Banta Singh gravely, "That is where I am from."
"Could you tell me where exactly it is? What is the latitude and the longitude?"
It was now Banta Singh's turn to be puzzled.
"I don't know sir," he replied, "You see, in Amritshire we only have Makitude and Bhenkitude."

Brain 'master switch' controls reproduction, weight

Recent studies describe a genetic "switch" in the brain that is regulated by the hormone leptin and appears to link reproductive function and body weight. Scientists are closer to understanding the links between body weight and fertility after finding a genetic "master switch" that influences both.

Although the switch was characterized in the brains of mice, lead study author Marc Montminy from the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology in La Jolla, San Diego, California, USA, noted that, "because this gene is crucial to the daisy chain of signals that run between body fat and the brain, it likely plays a pivotal role in how much we, as humans, eat and whether we have offspring."

Montminy and colleagues discovered the gene, known as TORC1, while studying appetite-regulating hormones such as leptin that carry information from fat tissues to the brain.

The investigators studied mice lacking TORC1 and found that these animals rapidly became obese after birth and were usually infertile.

Further study showed that TORC1 responds to leptin by up-regulating the Cocaine and Amphetamine Regulated Transcript gene (CART), which suppresses appetite, and turning on the KISS1 gene, which is essential for normal reproductive function.

In the absence of leptin, therefore, appetite is not adequately suppressed and reproductive functioning is abnormal, the researchers explain.

They conclude that, since TORC1 is kinase regulated, it should make a good target for therapeutic intervention to treat both obesity and infertility.

Source: Nature Medicine 2008

Low-birthweight babies predisposed to psychiatric disturbances

A Recent study examined the long-term effects of low-birthweight on psychiatric problems in socially disadvantaged children from Detroit and others from a middle-class suburb. Low-birthweight babies are more likely than those with a healthy birthweight to develop psychiatric disturbances during childhood and through high school, research reveals.

The findings add another disease to the list of conditions, including respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and irritable bowel syndrome, that low-birthweight individuals show a predisposition to.

For the study, Kipling Bohnert and Naomi Breslau (Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA) looked at the association between low birthweight and psychiatric problems among 413 children from a socially disadvantaged community in Detroit and 410 from a middle-class Detroit suburb.

Mothers and teachers both rated children's psychiatric disturbance at ages 6, 11, and 17 years.

Results showed that low-birthweight children had "modest excesses" of externalizing (odds ratio [OR] = 1.53) and internalizing disturbances (OR = 1.28), compared with normal birthweight children.

An increased incidence of attention problems was seen in low-birthweight individuals from the socially disadvantaged urban, but not the suburban, community, compared with their normal-birthweight counterparts, particularly for those with a very low birthweight, of 1,500 g or less.

Bohnert and Breslau note: "Attention problems at the start of schooling predict lower academic achievement later, controlling for key facts that contribute to academic test scores, which in turn predicts termination of schooling and curtailed educational attainment."

They suggest: "Early interventions to improve attention skills in urban low-birthweight children might yield better outcomes later."

Source: Arch Gen Psych 2008; 65: 1080-6

Advancing paternal age risks bipolar disorder

Babies whose fathers are older than 55 years of age face a significantly increased risk for bipolar disorder, an extensive study has shown.

Despite robust evidence supporting an association between increasing paternal age and severe mental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder, the researchers believe no previous trials have looked at the association between paternal age and bipolar disorder.

They analyzed information on 13,428 patients with bipolar disorder and their parents by linking data from the Swedish Multigenerational Register and the Hospital Discharge Register.

Five healthy control individuals, matched for gender and year of birth to the case patients, were also studied.

Overall, 68 (0.5 percent) of the patients had fathers aged at least 55 years.

Analysis showed that, after adjusting for parity, maternal age, socioeconomic status, and family history of psychotic disorders, these offspring had a 37 percent increased risk for bipolar disorder (odds ratio [OR] = 1.37), compared with children whose fathers were aged 20-24 years when they were conceived.

The association between paternal age and bipolar disorder was much stronger for early-onset cases (OR = 2.63), Emma Frans (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden) and co-workers report.

Increasing maternal age also showed an association with the incidence of bipolar disorder, but the effect "was less pronounced," say the researchers.

"The results are consistent with the hypothesis that advancing paternal age increases the risk for de novo mutations in susceptibility genes for neurodevelopmental disorders," they conclude.

Source: Archives of General Psychiatry 2008; 65: 1034-40

Adolescents conceived with IVF psychosocially similar to those born naturally

Adolescents conceived through IVF show similar psychosocial development to adolescents conceived naturally and have comparable relationships with their parents, researchers report.

Hilde Colpin and G. Bossaert from the University of Leuven in Belgium previously compared psychosocial development at age 2 years in children born naturally and those born using IVF.

Most previous studies of this kind have found no statistically significant differences between children conceived through IVF and those conceived naturally, but these focused on young children, mostly less than 5 years of age.

For the current report, Colpin and Bossaert studied 24 of the families involved in the original research, each of which had a child conceived through IVF now aged 15 or 16 years.

The investigators assessed psychosocial development in these families and in 21 control families with children born through natural means.

The results of this assessment show that parents who used IVF to conceive and their children are not significantly different to families who did not use IVF in terms of parenting style, parenting-related stress, and behavioural problems in the child.

Behavioral problems also occurred at a similar frequency in children who knew they were conceived using IVF and those who did not, the team reports.

"As far as we know, this is the first psychosocial study following up IVF families into children's mid-adolescence and the first to investigate adjustment level by disclosure status in this age group," conclude the investigators.