Sunday, January 15, 2012
Performing on Motorbike
Vice President calls upon people
Give Greater Attention to Urdu  |
The Vice President, Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari releasing the book entitled “Justice to Urdu” authored by Justice Markandey Katju, in New Delhi on January 14, 2012. The Union Minister for Law and Justice and Minority Affairs, Shri Salman Khurshid is also seen. (Photo and detail by PIB) Vice President calls upon people to give Greater Attention to Urdu Language. The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that the Languages enrich each other and a Language declines if it is not linked to the normal pursuits of life. He has called upon people to give greater attention to the beautiful language Urdu. Addressing after releasing the book entitled “Justice with Urdu” authored by Justice Markandey Katju at a function here today, he has said that today Urdu is an international language as it is evident from the Internet. There is no reason why Urdu language should not be treated as any other Indian language. Expresseing his concern on the decline in Urdu speakers in our country, Shri Ansari has said that the Census Data has shown that the number of Urdu speaking people is going down. He congratulated the author for bringing out such a valuable book. ***** |
Undeterred by rain, D P Maur on election spree
To establish a corruption free govt.
Defeat Congress and oust the present Akali-BJP alliance
Undeterred by the rain, the CPI candidate of the SANJHA MORCHA of PPP,CPI, CPI(M) and Akali Dal (Longowal) from Ludhiana West constituency Dharam Pal Maur, continued his door to door campaign and public meetings today in the Rishi Nagar, Chand Colony, Sukhmani Enclave, Shant Park, Rajguru nagar. Adressing a public rally in his support at Chand Colony Mrs Amarjeet Kaur National Secretasry CPI said that the agenda in this election to defeat Congress and to oust the present ruling Akali-BJP alliance who have successively ruined the state and lowered its position in the country. said that the agenda of the Sanjha Morcha is to establish rule of law and to take Punjab out of the serious debt of Rs. 138000 crore as a result of wrong policies of the alternate Congress and Akali-BJP governments. The people this time have a choice in the form of Sanjha Morcha. There is no rule of law. The alliance partners have gained control of the economy of the state for their benefit. Police is at the service of few VIPs. Corruption is rampant. We have witnessed the infamous City Centre scam in our city itself under the former Congress govt. 2G scam, Common Wealth games scam and Adarsh society scam have fully exposed the hollowness of the congress. It is time that the people vote for the SANJHA MORCHA of PPP, CPI, CPI(M). Akali Dal Longowal to establish a corruption free government and for economic development of the start. That is why she appealed to the people to vote for Dhram Pal Maur and press the button of Sickle and Ears of Corn on the 30th January. .
On this occasion Mr. Maur while addressing the voters at different places Mr. Maur stated that he will meet the aspirations of the people as he has done as the president of the PAU employees Union for 12 years. As per the Manifesto, the Morcha promises to fill all the vacant posts in government / semi government departments on regular basis and not on contract basis. Unemployment allowance of Rs. 2000/- per month will be paid to the unemployed. More and more government schools and colleges would be opened to provide education as per the times so that common people can get quality education. Health care would be made affordable by upgrading the government hospitals and also providing due facilities to the private health providers in the small scale sector. Small scale industry will be given preferential treatment for its development. Special attention through budgetary will be given for development of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary Sciences University (GADVASU) for solving their financial crunch. In addition pension benefits will be ensured to the non-government college teachers. Undeterred by rain, D P Maur on election spree
Defeat Congress and oust the present Akali-BJP alliance
On this occasion Mr. Maur while addressing the voters at different places Mr. Maur stated that he will meet the aspirations of the people as he has done as the president of the PAU employees Union for 12 years. As per the Manifesto, the Morcha promises to fill all the vacant posts in government / semi government departments on regular basis and not on contract basis. Unemployment allowance of Rs. 2000/- per month will be paid to the unemployed. More and more government schools and colleges would be opened to provide education as per the times so that common people can get quality education. Health care would be made affordable by upgrading the government hospitals and also providing due facilities to the private health providers in the small scale sector. Small scale industry will be given preferential treatment for its development. Special attention through budgetary will be given for development of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary Sciences University (GADVASU) for solving their financial crunch. In addition pension benefits will be ensured to the non-government college teachers. Undeterred by rain, D P Maur on election spree
Military Study Aims to Aid Troops With Mild TBI
|
Douglas B. Cooper, a clinical neuropsychologist for the San Antonio Military Medical Center's Traumatic Brain Injury Service, explains how different areas of the brain are affected by brain injuries during an interview at the center in San Antonio. Cooper is the team lead on the Study of Cognitive Rehabilitation Effectiveness, dubbed the SCORE trial, which is examining cognitive rehabilitation therapy's value as a treatment for service members with mild TBI. DOD photo by Linda Hosek
A team of experts at San Antonio Military Medical Center here has launched a military study aimed at improving outcomes for service members suffering from a signature wound of today's wars: traumatic brain injury. |
The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments teamed up on this study to determine the best treatment for combat troops who are experiencing mild TBI symptoms -- such as difficulties with attention, concentration, memory and judgment -- three to 24 months post-injury, explained Douglas B. Cooper, the study's lead and a clinical neuropsychologist for the center's Traumatic Brain Injury Service. "We have a lot of great interventions to help ... in the first few days after concussion," he said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. "We can pull them out, get them rest and get them better." However, "we don't have as many good interventions later on --six months, 12 months or two years post-injury," acknowledged Cooper, who also serves as the director of the Military Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research Consortium. The trial's aim is to determine if cognitive rehabilitation therapy improves chronic mild TBI symptoms and, if so, which interventions work best, on whom and why. Cognitive rehabilitation, Cooper explained, involves a variety of interventions that help patients with brain injuries reduce, manage or cope with cognitive deficits. It's commonly used to treat patients with brain injuries, whether from concussions, penetrating brain injuries or strokes. With vast experience in the field, Cooper said, he and his colleagues knew anecdotally that the therapy works, meaning it helps to improve memory and focus in patients. However, he added, experts have cited a lack of evidence-based research tying cognitive rehabilitation to successful treatment of brain injuries. With a lack of in-hand research, insurance companies began to balk on covering it as a stand-alone treatment. For example, TRICARE, the military's health care plan, won't cover cognitive rehabilitation programs that haven't been proven as effective stand-alone therapy for TBI, according to a TRICARE fact sheet. Rather than step away from the therapy, Congress directed a series of studies to explore cognitive rehabilitation and its effectiveness among troops, Cooper said. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center took on the challenge and soon enlisted the help of DOD and VA experts. They took a year to write manuals to serve as a trial guide and began enrolling patients in SCORE in July. They had only a few enrollment criteria: troops must have suffered a mild TBI while deployed in support of operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom or New Dawn, and be three to 24 months post-injury, Cooper said. They had no shortage of available participants. A TBI database shows that more than 202,000 service members suffered a TBI between 2000 and 2010, with the majority experiencing a mild TBI or concussion, according to the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. The center cited blasts, fragments, bullets, motor vehicle accidents and falls as the leading TBI causes within the military. The team plans to treat 160 participants in six-week cycles over the course of two to three years, Cooper said. While in the trial, patients participate two times a day, five days a week, and are entered into one of four treatment paths, or "arms," he explained. These treatment paths involve a variety of interventions, and may include individual appointments, group sessions, computer treatments and behavioral health -- or a combination of several intervention types. For the computer exercises, Cooper explained, service members complete a series of commercially available computer programs touted to improve "brain fitness." These sessions take place in hospital and are proctored by clinic staff. The programs are presented in a game-like format, he added. As they progress, troops earn "brain bucks" that can be used to outfit a virtual apartment with big-screen TVs and stereos. This suits technology-savvy service members, he noted, who often fall into the under-25 age range. The team also is looking at the effectiveness of various treatment combinations, such as mental health care and cognitive rehabilitation offered together. More than 50 percent of TBI patients have a coexisting psychological disorder, oftentimes combat stress, Cooper explained, so wrapping the two treatments together makes sense. An exercise typical of this approach is to have service members listen to a tape and be asked to focus on certain things in their environment, he said. This exercise is first introduced as a cognitive rehabilitation skill, but troops later see its benefits as a tool to overcome combat-related stress. This integrated treatment is particularly useful for service members who aren't willing to seek behavioral health care on their own, Cooper noted. "There's still a large stigma attached to mental health care," he explained. "They may not want to seek behavioral health to get care, but are willing to talk to a psychologist while here getting care for a concussion." Cooper said his team will look at each treatment arm to see which interventions have proven most successful and for whom. In general, they're looking for improvements in several areas: working memory, which is holding on to information; prospective memory, which involves remembering to perform a planned action or intention at the appropriate time; and simple attention, which is being able to process what someone is saying at the moment and then remembering what was said. "We hope to not only look at what interventions work, but then look at subsets of patients -- these particular people haven't shown as much improvement or people with multiple concussions may be harder to treat and so on," he explained. As Cooper's team works to improve attention and focus, a parallel study at the medical center here is delving deeper into their patients' brains. Participants of the SCORE trial also are invited to participate in the Imaging Support for Study of Cognitive Rehabilitation Effectiveness, known as the iSCORE study. For this study, experts use cutting-edge imaging technology to scan patients' brains at certain intervals: before the SCORE trial, halfway through, after the trial and at 12 to 18 weeks later. Imaging experts are hoping to learn more about people's white matter track pathways in the brain, Cooper explained. "Is there something about these that will tell us why individuals are changing?" he asked. "Why are they getting better, and which ones are not able to get better?" The best clinical trials, he added, raise more questions than they answer. If the SCORE trial proves successful -- meaning it proves cognitive rehabilitation's efficacy -- the goal is to determine which interventions are the most effective and then disseminate that information to VA and DOD centers, Cooper said. Civilian providers also may glean ideas that can aid them in the treatment of noncombat-related brain injuries, such as those from a car accident or a stroke. Meanwhile, Cooper is hoping the study will have a direct, positive impact on troops' well-being and their ability to return to active duty, and, on a bigger-picture level, the health care system as a whole. Above all, he added, "we want to make sure they're functioning and doing OK." The nation has an obligation to ensure service members get the best care and treatment possible, Cooper said. "They need to feel taken care of, that their complaints are valid, and that they're not alone in going through this process," he added. |
Defense Centers of Excellence
| Douglas B. Cooper, a clinical neuropsychologist for the San Antonio Military Medical Center's Traumatic Brain Injury Service, discusses the Study of Cognitive Rehabilitation Effectiveness, dubbed the SCORE trial, during an interview at the center in San Antonio. The study is examining cognitive rehabilitation therapy's value as a treatment for service members with mild TBI. DOD photo by Linda Hosek |
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Panetta Hosts
First Official U.S.-Netherlands Defense Meeting
By Karen Parrish American Forces Press Service 
Panetta and Hillen also discussed U.S. force posture in Europe, the upcoming NATO defense ministerial meetings to be held in early February in Brussels, and the NATO 2012 Summit scheduled for May in Chicago, Kirby said. While discussing NATO issues, the spokesman added, Panetta recognized and praised the Netherlands' "traditionally strong voice and leadership in the NATO alliance." | ||
| Biographies: Leon E. Panetta Related Sites: State Department Background Note on the Netherlands |
Conference of Tourism Ministers
Voice of Voiceless: Community Radio Mattoli
Radio Mattolli has a saga of success
A special feature by Sudha S. Namboothiry*
Radio Mattolli which was launched in 2009 has a saga of success and need not say Fr. Thomas Joseph Therakam , Director of the Radio has reasons to be happy. Latest survey show that number of daily listeners come to 24.05% of the population. In demographic figures of the district (as per 2011 census) it comes to 2,00,056 people. But if weekly and occasional listeners of the Radio Mattoli are included, the figures will be 74.05% (6,10,539). Another interesting factor is 56% depends on Radio Set for listening to community radio program, whereas 40% use their mobile phones to tune into Mattoli.
According to Fr. Therakam, Community Radio is the perfect tool to provide comprehensive knowledge, technology, awareness, and empowerment etc. to a targeted audience. Radio always had upper hand over other media like newspaper and television since a literate can only read newspaper or pamphlets and viewing television means dedicating time for that and there is a need for electricity in the area too. But anyone can listen to a radio and do other work simultaneously. This is to be noted that about 30,000 families in Wayanad do not have electricity connection.
Radio Mattoli is the first Community Radio service in Kerala and the only electronic media in the State to broadcast programme in tribal dialects daily. The programme which is all comprising of education, information health etc. is daily aired at 2.30 PM and at 8.05 PM. Radio Mattoli has also launched “Namma Sasthra” – A Special Science Popularization Program supported by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment. This is broadcasted in local dialect also. Apart from this there are the regular features like reflections on Gandhian thoughts, Interaction between officials and public, programmes for women prepared by women, introducing various books and local libraries, health programmes, programmes on job oriented training , new courses etc. Well the Radio is living upto its mission of providing an avenue for the free flow of beneficial information aimed at bringing socio economic changes in the society. As the programmes aired are mostly presented by local people, listeners have an immediate emotional attachment with the presenter and the message is effectively received. The target groups consist of marginal farmers, indigenous people, dalits, agricultural labourers women and children. Hence such an emotional bonding is much required says Fr. Therakam. These people need to have the sense of belonging in order to trust .
Radio Mattoli has even formed Mattoli clubs in schools. Out of the 288 schools in the district 91 schools have Mattoli clubs. Members of these clubs get a chance to broadcast their programmes over Mattoli. This inculcates leadership quality, creativity, presentation capability and awareness in children. They get a wonderful exposure to the world of electronic media.
Started with an initial investment of Rs. 58 lakh, which was used for infrastructure and one year functioning of Radio Mattoli, today it has the support of NABARD, Coffee Board, Kerala State Agricultural Department and the limited commercial spots permitted by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Need not say Radio Mattoli is here to give voice to the voiceless and help them express themselves socially, economically, culturally and spiritually in order to make them masters of their own destinies. ***
*Media & Communication Officer (PIB, Cochin)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)