Today, the photo seems like a relic. Increased confidence that children will survive, along with better birth control and more women working, has led to much smaller families. The average number of babies born per American female now stands at about 2.1, barely above replacement level. Most people feel that smaller families mean more parental time and more resources for each child, and, on a broader scale, less damage to the environment.

But Mother’s Day seems like an appropriate time to recognize that big families have benefits too.

As the mother of seven children — and as a physician and researcher — large families have always interested me. I can speak from experience when I say that children growing up with several siblings learn that many viewpoints must be accommodated, and they become skilled in the arts of working as a team and forming strategic alliances. These skills are a big advantage in today’s workforce.

I know a Los Angeles mother of nine who does childcare to supplement her family’s income (which tells you how much she loves children). She tells about the time her 3-year-old was hospitalized with a very serious illness. Each child in the family had specific responsibilities, and this little boy’s daily chore had been to keep the stairs free of clutter. When visiting her son, the mom casually remarked that without his daily ministrations, the stairs were becoming almost impassable. That conversation made a huge difference in his attitude. He was determined from that point to get better, in part so that he could resume his important role in the family.

Large families use fewer resources per child. Heat and electricity don’t go up considerably whether there is one child or 10 in the home. Clothing is reused. Loads of washing are seldom done for just a few items. And though it’s true that more children ultimately leave a bigger environmental footprint, they also go on to pay more taxes and support our stressed Social Security system. In Europe, where family size has dropped alarmingly, government officials are wringing their hands about how the social safety net can be maintained as baby boomers retire, placing greater demands on the system with fewer people paying into it.

Large families are also fun. Many parents of big families will tell you that their homes are a magnet for other people’s children. A classmate from my long-ago high school days, who lives on Long Island, had six children, while another classmate living nearby was the mother of only two. The kids from the small family could often be found in the six-child household because that was where the action was. One of the two then proceeded to have four children of her own, attempting to reproduce the camaraderie she’d experienced as a visiting adolescent.

Parents of one or two children sometimes worry that their children will grow up thinking they’re at the center of the universe. It is difficult to be overly self-centered when sharing resources with several siblings.

Adult children in healthy large families become a valuable support system for one another, whether it be in sharing the care of aging parents or in helping one another in times of stress. Mary Ann Bitter, a Texas mother of 13, recalls a frightening time when one of her adult daughters developed breast cancer. Every one of her daughter’s siblings pitched in, with one coming from Britain. (Her daughter is now cancer-free.)

My own seven children are now grown, and because it’s Mother’s Day, I feel entitled to brag that two of them have doctorates and all have postgraduate degrees. It wasn’t always easy: I still recall the days when four hours’ sleep seemed a luxury. Yet nothing, not even my medical career, has been as important as my role as mother.

America has always found strength in diversity. People choose to have one or two children for good reasons. But it’s important to remember that people have large families for good reasons too. The next time you see parents pushing a double stroller, with a couple of preschoolers hanging on to the sides, don’t judge them negatively. Just give them all a big smile and tell them what a wonderful family they make.

Katherine Schlaerth is an associate professor emeritus at the USC School of Medicine and a practicing physician. Her book, “Raising a Large Family,” came out in 1991.
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MUMBAI: The medical interns’ strike showed no signs of ending even on Saturday, as the state government did not wish to commit on several grounds, including not invoking the Essential Maintenance Services Act (ESMA) on the former. The strike, over increasing the stipend amount given to interns from Rs 2,550 to Rs 13,000, has been going on since Monday.

On Saturday, talks between the interns and the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) broke down after the latter refused to give a written assurance about not invoking ESMA, and marking the students present on all days when they had struck work. The students had also demanded in writing that the DMER draft a fresh proposal suggesting a rise in the stipend amount.

Mumbai coordinator for the Association of State Medical Interns ( ASMI) Dhaval Shah said they wanted the DMER to tell the state that central government regulations deem an intern’s salary to be at least 40% of a junior resident doctor’s salary.

Meanwhile, 44 doctors in all were admitted to KEM Hospital and at least two doctors are in the intensive care unit with cardiac problems. Speaking about the strike, joint director of the DMER Dr Pravin Shingare said, “We have assured them of a hike, but we are not in a position of giving written assurances.”

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I’ve never forgotten Liza’s words.

Our mothers give us unconditional love even during times of discipline. Moms make mistakes of course but they never stop loving their children.

My seven year old wrote me a little note and gave it to me four days early for Mother’s Day.

He said he loved me very, very, very, very much. Each “very” make my heart swell. He knows I love him back.

Does your mother know you love her?

Please don’t forget Mother’s Day.

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Tips to make UR girlfriend go Crazy :

* When your girlfriend asks about her looks, just be cool and say “could be better.” This will keep her on her toes, and girls love that.
* Holding hands is one of the signs of weakness. If your girlfriend holds your hands then no problem. Then you can squeeze her hands as much as possible until she cries.
* Atleast once in a month fight with her and knock her over. This will also improve the intimacy level between you and your girlfriend.
* Call your girlfriend in the night and ask if she is sleeping. This will show her that how much you love her.
* If your girlfriend is upset about anything, then try to make her understand that it might be her fault. This will also pave way for her personality development. The worse part is that each and every girl needs PD classes.
* Little things will value so much, so appreciate small things about her and your girlfriend will surely love it.
* Girls do not want others girls to interfere into their lives. So when is girl is not in good terms be with other girls. This will surely make your girlfriend jealous about you.
* Being with other Women does not mean that you should sleep with those women. This is the dumb ideas some country bastards in the west.
* Say to your girlfriend that you are going to take her out for a dinner, then drive her long and then take her to same stupid places. When she yells at you, the again say that you are really going to take her to dinner really. Then again do some stupid things.
* Play with her hair. Play with it HARD. Warm her when she feels cold. This does not mean that you should you give your jacket when she is feeling cold, instead hug her and warm up her.
* Make her laugh. Let her fall asleep in your arms. When she sleeps, scream in her ears as much as possible.
* Steal one of her earrings, shoes and other things which comes in pairs. Look her in the eyes and smile. Then punch her in the face. Girls love a spontaneous guy

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Neuroscientists have discovered the ability of the bat brains to know what sounds to focus on and which to ignore.

Bridget Queenan, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Georgetown University Medical Center, has found out that some neurons in the brains of bats indeed tell other neurons to ‘shush’ and others to ”yell louder” in order for key sounds to be heard above background noise – a process that may be working in humans as well.

Not only do the brains of bats have to process a constant stream of pulses and echoes, they also have to simultaneously process the bats’ social communication, she said.

“So we can now start to piece together how the cells in your brain are able to deal with the complex sensory environment we live in,” she added.

Bats call out and then listen to their own echoes produced when those calls bounce off nearby objects. Bats use these echoes to navigate and to hunt.

“What we are trying to figure out is how a bat can fly around echolocating – screeching and listening to its own individual sounds bouncing back – amidst a whole colony of hundreds of other echolocating bats – and possibly hear another bat saying ”watch out! Bats actually do make these cautious calls quite a bit,” said Queenan.

“In fact, bats have a whole host of communication sounds: angry sounds, warning sounds, and sounds that says ”please don’t hurt me,” she added.

“Humans operate predominantly by sight so a huge portion of our brain is devoted to vision processing. Bats, however, operate by sound,” said Queenan.

The researchers found that some bats’ neurons control the activity of other neurons when important sounds are perceived.

“All organisms are constantly assaulted by incoming stimuli such as sounds, light, vibrations, and so on, and our sensory systems have to triage the most relevant stimuli to help us survive,” said Queenan.

“As humans we are not only sensitive to a child’s cry, but we notice flashing ambulance lights even though we are engrossed in something else. We want to know how that happens,” she added.

Queenan said her next task was to record brain neurons in bats that are not only awake, but also flying.

The scientists presented their study at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego.
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The soft-release is scheduled for February next year, said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury from Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) who is taking care of the calves at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC).

The latest induction was of a wild elephant calf which was found alone near Goraimari village in Goalpara district by the locals early this month.

“It was among a herd of elephants that entered Goraimari, attracted by standing crops. It had fallen into a pond and was rescued by the people of Goraimari.

“As soon as we got the information, we dispatched a team of (Forest Department) officials who went to receive the calf along with police personnel, and also alerted the IFAW- WTI Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) unit,” said Amol Sarma, Divisional Forest Officer, Goalpara.

As per rehabilitation protocol for displaced wild elephant calves, the forest officials attempted to reunite the calf with its herd, which at that time was about a kilometre away.

But fearing return of the herd to the village in case reunion was attempted, locals turned hostile and disrupted the process.

As a result, authorities were forced to transfer the calf to the Goalpara DFO office, where it was treated by the IFAW-WTI veterinary team.

“The calf is currently in good health. However, it is really unfortunate that we did not get the opportunity to reunite it with its herd. We have moved it to our field station in Kokrajhar,” said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, Manager, WTI.

“There are reports of crop damage in hundreds of bighas of farmlands in Goraimari caused by elephants recently. The people were very aggressive and even threatened the authorities to keep away from the village,” he added.

Five hand-raised elephant calves, rescued in different instances in the state of Assam have already been released in the wild in Manas sanctuary over the last few years.

Large encroachment of forest areas in Assam is resulting in increased man-elephant conflicts forcing the jumbos to leave their habitat in search of food and sometimes destroy not only paddy fields but also houses in the villages.

It sometimes prompts villagers to attack the jumbos for their safety as well as protection of their crops.

Elephants are also victim to train hits according to the recently released Elephant Task Force (ETF) report of the environment ministry.

The country has lost a total of 150 elephants on railway tracks since 1987. The highest casualties have been recorded in Assam and West Bengal which constitute 36 per cent and 26 per cent respectively of the entire cases.

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One in three said they were bored with their lives, compared to just 8 per cent of pensioners, and 28 per cent complained that loneliness was making them unhappy.

More than a quarter revealed they turned to alcohol for comfort, and half admitted to using junk food as an emotional crutch, reports the Daily Mail.

The depressing picture of life for young people in Britain emerged from a survey into national happiness levels, conducted for BBC Radio 3.

Asked what made them unhappy, 70 per cent of the Facebook generation said finances topped their list of concerns.

More than a third were worried about holding down a job, compared to a quarter of middle-aged respondents.

One in three said they were tormented by family or relationship problems, and they were also the age group that were most likely to struggle over their social status.

Overall, money was the biggest cause of unhappiness across all age groups, above work, relationships and loneliness.

But while older age groups shared the Facebook generation’s finance fears, they were more fulfilled in other areas of their lives.

Almost a third of the youngest generation reported they had relationship problems, which dropped to just eight percent among 55 to 64-year-olds.

Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings said: “Real friendships are made through shared experiences and bonds. Some social networking “friends” are barely even acquaintances, without any real meaning or intimacy.”

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A new study has found that associating an object with anger actually makes people want the object—a kind of motivation that’s normally associated with positive emotions.

People usually think of anger as a negative emotion. You’re not supposed to get angry. But anger also has some positive features. For example, it activates an area on the left side of the brain that is associated with many positive emotions. And, like positive emotions, it can motivate people to go after something.

“People are motivated to do something or obtain a certain object in the world because it’s rewarding for them. Usually this means that the object is positive and makes you happy,” says Henk Aarts of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, first author of the new study.

He and his colleagues wanted to examine whether this also applies to the link between anger as a negative emotion and the desire to get your hands on something.

For the study, each participant watched a computer screen while images of common objects, like a mug or a pen, appeared on the screen. What they didn’t realize was that immediately before each object appeared, the screen flashed either a neutral face, an angry face, or a fearful face.

This subliminal image tied an emotion to each object. At the end of the experiment, the participants were asked how much they wanted each object. In a second version of the experiment, they had the person squeeze a handgrip to get the desired object—those who squeezed harder were more likely to win it.

People put more effort in action to obtain objects associated with angry faces. (They did not do this for items associated with fear.) “This makes sense if you think about the evolution of human motivation,” says Aarts. For example, say there’s limited food in the environment. In such a context those persons that associate food with anger and turn aggression into an attack response to get the food are more likely to survive. “If the food does not make you angry or doesn’t produce aggression in your system, you

may starve and lose the battle,” Aarts says.

Interestingly, the participants in this study had no idea that their desire for the objects had to do with anger, Aarts says. “When you ask people why they work harder to get it, they say, ‘It’s just because I like it.’” That shows how little we know about our own motivations, he says.

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Researchers found more than half of working mothers feel intimidated by fashionable younger colleagues and over a third of working mothers said they were really envious of their single colleagues who are often more stylish and get further in their careers as a result

A quarter believe they are overlooked in favour of more trendy workmates, and 44 per cent believe they have missed out on a promotion because of the way they looked.

The poll by Persil, a brand of laundry detergent, also revealed that 44 per cent of women feel self-conscious in the clothes they wear to the office and feel completely stuck in a rut when it comes to fashion.

However, award winning personal stylist Lisa Talbot noted that it doesn’t have to be this way.

“Despite the pressures of time and money, working mums should not feel that they don’t have the confidence to experiment with different looks and accessories. My advice would be to invest a little and create a simple capsule “working wardrobe“ of basics, suitable for helping you dress the part in any kind of workplace,” a news daily quoted her as saying.

Twenty-three per cent of women said they never get their figure back after having children, which has impacted on the clothes they wear to work.

29 per cent of them never have the chance to go clothes shopping on their own.

Nearly half (48 per cent) said it takes too much time and effort to go clothes shopping and they are usually too exhausted to attempt it.

And it’s got so extreme that 37 per cent of career mums have turned down an invitation to a work do because they felt they had nothing to wear.
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Presenting a new scale of drug harm that rates the damage to users themselves and to wider society, the scientists rated alcohol the most harmful overall and almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco.

According to the scale, devised by a group of scientists including Britain’s Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) and an expert adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), heroin and crack cocaine rank as the second and third most harmful drugs.

Ecstasy is only an eighth as harmful as alcohol, according to the scientists’ analysis.

Professor David Nutt, chairman of the ISCD, whose work was published in the Lancet medical journal, said the findings showed that “aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy”. He said they also showed that current drug classification systems had little relation to the evidence of harm.

Alcohol and tobacco are legal for adults in Britain and many other countries, while drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis and LSD are often illegal and carry the threat of prison sentences.

“It is intriguing to note that the two legal drugs assessed — alcohol and tobacco — score in the upper segment of the ranking scale, indicating that legal drugs cause at least as much harm as do illegal substances,” Nutt, who was formerly head of the influential British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), said in a statement about the study.

Nutt was forced to quit the ACMD a year ago after publicly criticising ministers for ignoring scientific advice suggesting cannabis was less harmful than alcohol.

The World Health Organisation estimates that risks linked to alcohol cause 2.5 million deaths a year from heart and liver disease, road accidents, suicides and cancer — accounting for 3.8 percent of all deaths.

It is the third leading risk factor for premature death and disabilities worldwide.

In an effort to offer a guide to policy makers in health, policing, and social care, Nutt’s team rated drugs using a technique called multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) which assessed damage according to nine criteria on harm to the user and seven criteria on harm to others.

Harms to the user included things such as drug-specific or drug-related death, damage to health, drug dependence and loss of relationships, while harms to others included crime, environmental damage, family conflict, international damage, economic cost, and damage to community cohesion. Drugs were then scored out of 100, with 100 given to the most harmful drug and zero indicating no harm at all.

The scientists found alcohol was most harmful, with a score of 72, followed by heroin with 55 and crack with 54.

Among some of the other drugs assessed were crystal meth (33), cocaine (27), tobacco (26), amphetamine or speed (23), cannabis (20), benzodiazepines, such as Valium (15), ketamine (15), methadone (14), mephedrone (13), ecstasy (9), anabolic steroids (9), LSD (7) and magic mushrooms (5).

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