Looking Back

As the year 2010 leaves us and 2011 will be upon us in a few hours, let us take time to look back at our highs and lows for the past year.

An important ingredient for success is the ability to learn from achievements and more importantly, past mistakes.

Look back at your achievements and note the factors that made it happen. You might want to use it again.

Look back at your setbacks and note what caused it. Take steps to improve.

Do this self reflection honestly and take your time. The rewards are more than justifiable

Let us make 2011 a better year than 2010. Every day, every single minute, let us rejoice the gift of life and live our life the best we can.

Happy New Year 2011.

Tips for Goal Setting

Well, it is the time of the year that we set our New Year resolution again. Here are 9 tips you can use for goal setting ( which one of it will be you new Year resolution)

1. Put it in writing
2. Break down your goal into small chunks
3. Focus on the progress everyday
4. Constantly think of your goals
5. Set a time to achieve your goals
6. Deal with obstacles
7. Work smarter
8. Review your progress
9. Review your goals

Put it in writing
Break down your goal into small chunks
Focus on the progress everyday
Constantly think of your goals
Set a time to achieve your goals
Deal with obstacles
Work smarter
Review your progress
Review your goals

Feeling Important

You have staff at work and you want him to perform a lot better than what he is currently doing, then you can use a simple method that always works.

Give him a feeling of importance. Talk to him in a way that makes him appreciated and make known to him that you trust him to perform his job to the best of his ability. And then increase his responsibility.

Giving your subordinates a feeling of importance can pay dividends. Often people under-perform from lack of motivation which in turns stems from a feeling of hopelessness. They feel their work is not appreciated and they are not important.

Dale Carnegie once said that all of us are born with the words" I am important' printed on our foreheads. Use this need to feel important to your advantage

The 7 Drivers of Productivity - According to NZ Government

Recently the New Zealand's Department of Labour published The 7 Drivers of Productivity.
They are:
1. Building leadership and management capability
2. Creating productive workplace cultures
3. Encouraging innovation and the use of technology
4. Investing in people and skills
5. Organising work
6. Networking and collaboration
7. Measuring what matters.

Go here to get the full article.

Why you need to be smart

There is another good reason why you need to be smart. Read this interesting article about intelligence and longevity here.

10 Steps to Self Management

-------------------------------------------------------------
1 Control what you say and how you say it
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
2 Do not lose self control
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
3 Do the difficult task first
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
4 Reward yourself
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
5 Use time management
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
6 Keep in good shape
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
7 Avoid over self-indulgence
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
8 Develop strong willpower and keep telling yourself you have one
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
9 Handle procrastination
-------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------
10 Believe in Yourself
-------------------------------------------------------------

10 Gadgets of 2010

Find here the 10 gadget has Scientific American raving and roving.

Be Better

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."

               ~Albert Einstein

 

If you want to be better than anyone else in the field of your choice, you just have to work harder. There are no short-cuts, no easy way about it. You just have to roll up your sleeves and get down to work.

You will have to work harder, better and move a lot faster than anyone else.

What is Important To You In Your Job?

What is Important To You In Your Job?

What drives you?

Can you write it down in a single word? Is it recognition? Is it compensation? Is it the power?

Identifying your purpose in the job you do day day out helps to motivate you to. And if you really cannot find a purpose in the current job, it is time you move on.

Women's study finds longevity means getting just enough sleep

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2010) — A new study, derived from novel sleep research conducted by University of California, San Diego researchers 14 years earlier, suggests that the secret to a long life may come with just enough sleep. Less than five hours a night is probably not enough; eight hours is probably too much.

A team of scientists, headed by Daniel F. Kripke, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, revisited original research conducted between 1995 and 1999. In that earlier study, part of the Women's Health Initiative, Kripke and colleagues had monitored 459 women living in San Diego (ranging in age from 50 to 81) to determine if sleep duration could be associated with mortality.

Fourteen years later, they returned to see who was still alive and well.

Of the original participants, 444 were located and evaluated. Eighty-six women had died. Previous studies, based upon questionnaires of people's sleep habits, had posited that sleeping 6.5 to 7.5 hours per night was associated with best survival. Kripke and colleagues, whose 1990s research had used wrist activity monitors to record sleep durations, essentially confirmed those findings, but with a twist.

"The surprise was that when sleep was measured objectively, the best survival was observed among women who slept 5 to 6.5 hours," Kripke said. "Women who slept less than five hours a night or more than 6.5 hours were less likely to be alive at the 14-year follow-up."

The findings are published online in the journal Sleep Medicine.

Kripke said the study should allay some people's fears that they're not getting enough sleep. "This means that women who sleep as little as five to six-and-a-half hours have nothing to worry about since that amount of sleep is evidently consistent with excellent survival. That is actually about the average measured sleep duration for San Diego women."

Researchers uncovered other interesting findings as well. For example, among older women, obstructive sleep apnea (pauses in breathing during sleep) did not predict increased mortality risk. "Although apneas may be associated with increased mortality risk among those under 60, it does not seem to carry a risk in the older age group, particularly for women," Kripke said.

Co-authors of the study include Robert D. Langer of the Jackson Hole Center for Preventive Medicine; Jeffrey A. Elliot and Katharine M. Rex of the UCSD Department of Psychiatry; and Melville R. Klauber of the UCSD Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of California -- San Diego, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

Don't Go To War Everyday

Are you going to war everyday? Are you fighting hard everyday? Is everything a matter of life and death to you? Do you treat everything with the same seriousness? Is every e-mail, memo, letter, comment, is of the same importance to you?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you are going to be a spent force sooner rather than later.

Working hard on everything everyday is tiring and consumes our resources in more ways we can see. To enjoy life and work, we must be able to sieve what is important from what is not.

Each of us have different priorities and everyday brings different challenges. Some will be more important than others and demands more from you. Others have lesser importance and a few will be of no value to you. Know the difference and eliminate those things that have no consequences to you. Forget it and focus your energy on the things that will affect you.

Would you sleep on a chunk of ice? Building your 'experience resume'

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2010) — If sleeping on a bed of ice or eating bacon-flavored ice cream doesn't sound too appealing, consider the tale you'll have to tell about it later. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, some people can't resist a chance to collect experiences.

"Recent marketing trends suggest that many consumers are attracted to unusual and novel consumption experiences and choose vacations, leisure activities, and celebrations that are predicted to be less pleasurable and enjoyable," write authors Anat Keinan (Harvard Business School) and Ran Kivetz (Columbia Business School).

"A fascinating example is the increasing popularity of Ice Hotels, where visitors sleep on beds made of ice in frigid temperatures of 25° F. A similar trend is observed in consumers' dining preferences: many restaurants are trying to attract consumers by offering unusual entrees and desserts. Such gastronomic innovations include tequila-mustard sorbet, bacon-flavored ice cream, and chocolate truffles with vinegar and anchovies."

Consumers are attracted to these activities and products because they view them as opportunities to collect new experiences and build their "experiential CV," the authors write. And this desire is connected to people's continual striving to use time efficiently and productively.

"This desire to accomplish more in less time is so powerful that it not only affects consumers' performance in vocational (or "production") settings, but can also influence their leisure preferences and consumption choices," the authors write.

In a series of experiments, the researchers found that a "productivity orientation" made participants more inclined to desire collectible experiences. They examined revelers celebrating New Year's Eve in New York City's Times Square, AARP members attending conferences on retirement and aging, park visitors, train and airport travelers, and people who are trying to visit all 50 states.

"Our findings suggest that marketers of unusual consumption experiences and innovative products should target consumers who are concerned with being productive (and collecting experiences)," the authors write.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Chicago Press Journals, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Anat Keinan and Ran Kivetz. Productivity Orientation and the Consumption of Collectable Experiences. Journal of Consumer Research, 2010

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

Why brain has limited capacity for repair after stroke: New drug target identified

ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2010) — Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, due to the brain's limited capacity for recovery. Physical rehabilitation is the only current treatment following a stroke, and there are no medications available to help promote neurological recovery.

Now, a new UCLA study published in the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain's ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.

Researchers interested in how the brain repairs itself already know that when the brain suffers a stroke, it becomes excitable, firing off an excessive amount of brain cells, which die off. The UCLA researchers found that a rise in a chemical system known as "tonic inhibition" immediately after a stroke causes a reduction in this level of excitability.

But while this "damping down" initially helps limit the spread of stroke damage, the increased tonic inhibition level and reduced brain excitability persists for weeks, eventually becoming detrimental to the brain's recovery.

Based on this finding, the researchers identified a new way to "turn off" this inhibitory response in order to promote stroke recovery and determined the window of time in which this and other brain-repair therapies after stroke should be administered. These findings offer new targets for drug development to promote stroke recovery.

"It was surprising to find that the level of tonic inhibition was increased for so long after stroke and that there was an inflection point where the increased level eventually hindered the brain from recovering," said Dr. Tom Carmichael, associate professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a member of the UCLA Stroke Center. "It was also surprising that we could easily manipulate tonic inhibition in the brain after stroke to restore it back to a normal, 'non-stroke' level and, in doing this, enhance behavioral recovery."

Other studies have looked in general terms at excitatory signaling or at a type of inhibitory signaling after stroke known as "phasic inhibition." However, this previous work focused on the direct connections between brain cells.

The UCLA research is the first to examine tonic inhibition in stroke, focusing on the chemical system, which does not directly link brain cells together but instead senses the overall activity level in the brain and sets the thresholds for when brain cells will fire off new signals.

By studying stroke and stroke recovery in mice, the researchers found that since stroke causes a reduction in the normal clearance of an inhibitory brain chemical, it causes neurons in the tissue that borders the stroke to be less excitable. They found that by applying specific blockers of this inhibitory brain chemical, they could then "turn off the switch."

The resulting enhanced brain excitability immediately improved behavioral recovery after stroke. As a result, these findings identified the potential for a new target in the brain for effective stroke recovery treatments.

"An important element in stroke treatment is the timing of drug delivery," added Carmichael. "We found that blocking tonic inhibition too early could produce cell death, but by delaying treatment to three days after stroke, it promoted functional recovery without altering the stroke size."

The next stage of research will be to validate the findings in other pre-clinical models of stroke, and then to design clinical trials for humans. Pharmaceutical companies have been active in this region of neuroscience and there are some promising candidate drugs for human use that exist.

Additional authors were Andrew N. Clarkson, Ben S. Huang, Sarah E. MacIsaac and Istvan Mody.

This research was funded by the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, the Coelho Endowment, a grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the American Heart Association.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Andrew N. Clarkson, Ben S. Huang, Sarah E. MacIsaac, Istvan Mody, S. Thomas Carmichael. Reducing excessive GABA-mediated tonic inhibition promotes functional recovery after stroke. Nature, 3 November 2010 DOI: 10.1038/nature09511

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

How Many Friends Does One Person Need?

If you find relationships challenging to cultivate and maintain, then you are in good company. In his new book, evolutionary biologist Robin Dunbar argues that our ability to manage such complex social connections—love lives, work colleagues, childhood buddies and friendly acquaintances—is what drove humans to develop such large brains in the first place.

So how many friends do you really need? Read the interesting article here

Healthy Living - Why Are Caffeinated Alcoholic Energy Drinks Dangerous

A Temple University psychology associate professor explains what happens when sedatives and stimulants collide in the body..... read more of this article which appeared on Scientific American

Find Out

Getting things done is important. But you must get the right things done.

Look around you and you see almost everyone is doing something. But are they doing the right thing?

Find out what needs to be done and do it. Spend a little time finding the facts, finding what really needs to be done and then put your heart and soul in it.

Find out and save your resources

Personal Mission Statement

Personal mission statement is like a road map that guides us in our journey in life. It provides thrust and is a statement of purpose. Personal mission statement must inspire and excite. It should also build character.

Here are the things that you need to write your personal mission statement.

1. Paper and pen.

2. A place you are not interrupted.

3. Being aware of yourself. Personal mission statement cannot be written overnight. You must look into yourself and know your likes and dislikes. What are your talents and your passions. What makes you do the things you do.

4. Know your personality and the roles you play in life: son, father, electrical engineer, community leader or social worker.

5. Your personality traits. Write down all the good qualities you have for each role you play in life. Write only the positives. Are you charming? Generous? Optimist? Vivacious? Enthusiastic?

6. Know your beliefs and core values. This is an important part in writing a personal mission statement. Take your time to ponder upon this. Write down your beliefs and core values. After that narrow to more important beliefs and most important belief and value. To choose your most important value and belief, think about what impact you want to have, what you want others to remember you by.

7. Identify your goals. Write down about your priorities in life and your goals. Make a list of your short-term goals (from one to three years) and long-term goals (beyond three years).

8. Write down your mission statement. Incorporate items three to seven from the above and start writing your personal mission statement. Don’t rush through this and make it concise. You might have write and re-write a few times before getting it right.

9. Live it. Once you have written your personal mission statement, it is time to apply it. Remind yourself daily of your personal mission statement so that it is etched into your conscious mind and subconscious mind.

Forget It

Do not let minor irritations, resentments and unhappiness ruin your day. Forget it. Now.

Events in the coming days, weeks and months will always seek your attention. Sooner or later you are going to forget all the petty things that annoy you. Why not do it now?

Save yourself unhappiness, forget instantaneously whatever seem to upset you. Your mind naturally does not like bad feelings and will try to get rid of it. Why not help it along?

Neurogenetics research sheds light on the causes of neurological disease

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2010) — The last two decades have seen tremendous progress in understanding the genetic basis of human brain disorders. Research developments in this area have revealed fundamental insights into the genes and molecular pathways that underlie neurological and psychiatric diseases. In a new series of review articles published by Cell Press in the October 21 issue of the journal Neuron, experts in the field discuss exciting recent advances in neurogenetics research and the potential implications for the treatment of these devastating disorders.

Genetic discoveries have transformed clinical practice in neurology and psychiatry and provided new hope for many patients and their families. Recent advances in sequencing technologies coupled with improved analytical and computational approaches have led an amazing pace of discovery of genes linked to human disease. The complexity of neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders is apparent in the fast-growing list of genetic defects linked to these diseases. These genetic findings have provided key insight into underlying causes of these disorders and inspired further research aimed at prevention and therapy.

Genetic research has great potential for revolutionizing the treatment of human disease. However, the translation of genetic findings into the development of new disease therapies can take time. In an overview of the series, researchers Huda Zoghbi from Baylor College of Medicine and Stephen Warren from Emory University School of Medicine discuss recent achievements in neurogenetics research and the promise that it holds for disease treatment. They point out that gene discovery is a critical first step in the path to development of new therapies and that follow up investigations are needed to reveal disease pathways that lend themselves to therapeutic intervention. These preclinical investigations are a key step in the translation of genetic discoveries to clinical applications. Recent data from mouse disease models indicate that some developmental and degenerative diseases are reversible. These findings provide hope that genetic discoveries could potentially lead to the reversal of serious neurological and psychiatric disorders through the development of therapeutics that suppress the pathways contributing to disease.

Zoghbi and Warren make a strong case for the need for scientific collaboration and the appropriate infrastructure to support partnerships among academic research, governments, private institutions and foundations, and pharmaceutical industries. The authors argue that combining resources and expertise will help accelerate the development of therapies based on genetic discoveries.

This series of review articles covers a wide spectrum of recent research in neurogenetics, including the genetics of Parkinson and Alzheimer disease, human developmental and neurogenetics, and the genetics of child psychiatric disorders. All articles are freely available on the Neuron website (www.neuron.org) for a limited time.

Reviews:

Neurogenetics: Advancing the ''Next-Generation'' of Brain Research H.Y. Zoghbi and S.T. WarrenTangles of Neurogenetics, Neuroethics, and Culture E. Brief and J. IllesHealing Genes in the Nervous System X.O. Breakefield and M. Sena-EstevesThe Psychiatric GWAS Consortium: Big Science Comes to Psychiatry P.F. SullivanChanging the Landscape of Autism Research: The Autism Genetic Resource Exchange C.M. Lajonchere and the AGRE ConsortiumThe Simons Simplex Collection: A Resource for Identification of Autism Genetic Risk Factors G.D. Fischbach and C. LordNature versus Nurture: Death of a Dogma, and the Road Ahead B.J. Traynor and A.B. SingletonGenetic Analysis of Pathways to Parkinson Disease J. HardyFrom Single Genes to Gene Networks: High-Throughput-High-Content Screening for Neurological Disease S. Jain and P. HeutinkNeurocognitive Phenotypes and Genetic Dissection of Disorders of Brain and Behavior E. Congdon, R.A. Poldrack, and N.B. FreimerHuman Brain Evolution: Harnessing the Genomics (R)evolution to Link Genes, Cognition, and Behavior G. Konopka and D.H. GeschwindAllelic Diversity in Human Developmental Neurogenetics: Insights into Biology and Disease C.A. Walsh and E.C. EngleThe Genetics of Child Psychiatric Disorders: Focus on Autism and Tourette Syndrome M.W. StateThe Genetics of Alzheimer Disease: Back to the Future L. Bertram, C.M. Lill, and R.E. TanziEpisodic Neurological Channelopathies D.P. Ryan and L.J. PtácekHearing Impairment: A Panoply of Genes and Functions A.A. Dror and K.B. AvrahamGenetic Advances in the Study of Speech and Language Disorders D.F. Newbury and A.P. Monaco

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

Study confirms: Whatever doesn't kill us can make us stronger

ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2010) — We've all heard the adage that whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger, but until now the preponderance of scientific evidence has offered little support for it.

However, a new national multi-year longitudinal study of the effects of adverse life events on mental health has found that adverse experiences do, in fact, appear to foster subsequent adaptability and resilience, with resulting advantages for mental health and well being.

The study, "Whatever Does Not Kill Us: Cumulative Lifetime Adversity, Vulnerability and Resilience," to be published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, is available on the website of the American Psychological Association.

It examined a national sample of people who reported their lifetime history of adverse experiences and several measures of current mental health and well being.

Authors are Mark Seery, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo; E. Alison Holman, PhD, assistant professor of nursing sciences, University of California, Irvine; and Roxane Cohen Silver, PhD, professor of psychology and social behavior and medicine at UC Irvine.

Seery, senior author of the study, says previous research indicates that exposure to adverse life events typically predicts negative effects on mental health and well-being, such that more adversity predicts worse outcomes.

But in this study of a national survey panel of 2,398 subjects assessed repeatedly from 2001 to 2004, Seery and co-researchers found those exposed to some adverse events reported better mental health and well-being outcomes than people with a high history of adversity or those with no history of adversity.

"We tested for quadratic relationships between lifetime adversity and a variety of longitudinal measures of mental health and well-being, including global distress, functional impairment, post-traumatic stress symptoms and life satisfaction," Seery says.

"Consistent with prior research on the impact of adversity, linear effects emerged in our results, such that more lifetime adversity was associated with higher global distress, functional impairment and PTS symptoms, as well as lower life satisfaction.

"However," says Seery, "our results also yielded quadratic, U-shaped patterns, demonstrating a critical qualification to the seemingly simple relationship between lifetime adversity and outcomes.

"Our findings revealed," he says, "that a history of some lifetime adversity -- relative to both no adversity or high adversity -- predicted lower global distress, lower functional impairment, lower PTS symptoms and higher life satisfaction."

The team also found that, across these same longitudinal outcome measures, people with a history of some lifetime adversity appeared less negatively affected by recent adverse events than other individuals.

Although these data cannot establish causation, Seery says the evidence is consistent with the proposition that in moderation, experiencing lifetime adversity can contribute to the development of resilience.

"Although we studied major lifetime adversity," he says, "there is reason to believe that other relatively mundane experiences should also contribute to resilience.

"This suggests that carefully designed psychotherapeutic interventions may be able to do so, as well, although there is much work that still needs to be done to fully understand resilience and where it comes from."

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University at Buffalo, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Mark D. Seery, E. Alison Holman, Roxane Cohen Silver. Whatever does not kill us: Cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2010; DOI: 10.1037/a0021344

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

Unpacking Deepak’s quantum God | Bad Astronomy

I really dislike it when people abuse science to promote antiscientific agendas. One particularly popular violator of science is Deepak Chopra, who routinely spouts nonsense to millions of people. He uses scientific words in his sentences, but in such a way that their meaning is either lost or twisted beyond any real sense.

Skeptic Michael Shermer has written another article blasting Chopra, deservedly, IMO. Chopra routinely abuses quantum mechanics to bolster his claims about mysticism and God. To people unfamiliar with science his claims may sound deep, but in fact to those of us who do grok QM we can see right through the babble. Shermer does a great job showing that all Chopra is doing is rehashing age-old concepts with new terms, saying nothing really new.

Of course, the more you try to pin Deepak down, the more drivel he writes on HuffPo and other piffle purveyors. In that sense, at least, there’s some quantum mechanics at play.

Related posts:

- Royal Ontario Museum dip deep(ak)ly into nonsense
- Deepak impact
- Deepak Chopra redefining wrong
- Deepak Chopra followup

View the original article here

Future Power

You have heard of solar power and wind power, now get ready for solar wind power. Scientist at Washington State University have produce what could be the source of future energy source.

Read how it can be done, its advantages and disadvantages here.

Which Vitamins Practically Guarantee Faster Hair Growth?

It may come as a slight surprise but you can actually enhance the growth of your hair by focusing on certain vitamins. Now it can be quite easy to try out the latest and greatest hair loss product on the market. It seems like everyone wants that quick fix in order to regrow their hair as fast as possible.

It takes time to get your hair growing back. After all, more than likely your hair started falling out gradually right? This is something that many people fail to actually think about.

If you want to grow hair that's thicker and more vibrant, vitamin B is one of the best vitamins to get more of in your diet. There are four categories of this vitamin that are dedicated to healthy hair growth. They are B3, B5, B6 and B12. You may have heard of another one that's often classified with these vitamins called biotin. Biotin is known for triggering nail growth, skin cell development and the growth of hair cells.

3,000 mcg of biotin each day will do the trick. You also can't forget about foods containing B vitamins such as apricots, potatoes, cabbage and egg yolk.

Bald spots can occur in your scalp from a lack of sufficient circulation. This problem will certainly grow to become a larger one if left untreated. What can you do about this? You may want to get more vitamin C and E into your body. Vitamin C isn't just for maintaining and building a healthy immune system, it also helps strengthen blood vessels in your scalp. This will allow more blood to pass through and reach your follicle roots resulting in an increase of hair growth.

View the original article here

Picture worth a thousand words: New research links visual cues to male sexual memory

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2010) — A new study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology finds that college-aged men are very likely to remember a woman's initial sexual interest (attraction or rejection), especially when the woman in question is thought to be attractive, is dressed more provocatively, and expresses positive sexual interest.

In the study the men were shown full-body photographs of college-aged women who expressed cues of sexual interest or rejection. The participating males represented mixed sexual histories, and a capacity for varying degrees of sexually aggressive behavior.

The ability to discriminate accurately between photos that the males had and had not seen previously indicated good memory for women's sexual interest. Throughout the study they were presented with previously viewed photos and new photos of the same women in which they communicated the opposite cue (e.g., rejection instead of sexual interest). The average young man showed excellent memory for whether women initially displayed sexual interest or rejection. However, males showed better memory for the woman's sexual-interest when the woman was broadly more appealing to him: she initially expressed positive sexual interest, was dressed more provocatively, and was thought to be attractive.

College-aged men at risk of displaying sexual aggression toward female acquaintances show worse memory for college-aged women's sexual-interest and rejection cues. Lead author Teresa Treat observes, "Misremembering a woman's level of sexual interest could prompt some men to make an unwanted sexual advance and become frustrated when a woman doesn't respond as anticipated. Conversely, college-aged men who report more frequent serious romantic relationships with women show better memory for college-aged women's sexual-interest and rejection cues. This suggests that tracking and remembering a partner's emotions may play a role in the initiation and maintenance of a serious romantic relationship."

The long-term significance of the findings will depend on whether the memory of sexual interest impacts the male's subsequent behaviour, experiences, and social decisions when cues of sexual interest are presented in a more lifelike manner (i.e., in videotapes or real-life interactions). However, numerous factors other than memory for a partner's emotions play a central role in developing both positive and negative sexual experiences among young adults.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Wiley - Blackwell, via AlphaGalileo.

Journal Reference:

Teresa A. Treat, Richard J. Viken, John K. Kruschke, Richard M. McFall. Men's memory for women's sexual-interest and rejection cues. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2010; DOI: 10.1002/acp.1751

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

Mindfulness meditation may ease fatigue, depression in multiple sclerosis

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2010) — Learning mindfulness meditation may help people who have multiple sclerosis (MS) with the fatigue, depression and other life challenges that commonly accompany the disease, according to a study published in the September 28, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In the study, people who took an eight-week class in mindfulness meditation training reduced their fatigue and depression and improved overall quality of life compared to people with MS who received only usual medical care. The positive effects continued for at least six months.

"People with MS must often confront special challenges of life related to profession, financial security, recreational and social activities, and personal relationships, not to mention the direct fears associated with current or future physical symptoms and disability. Fatigue, depression and anxiety are also common consequences of having MS." said study author Paul Grossman, PhD, of the University of Basel Hospital in Switzerland. "Unfortunately, the treatments that help slow the disease process may have little direct effect on people's overall quality of life, fatigue or depression. So any complementary treatments that can quickly and directly improve quality of life are very welcome."

For the study, 150 people with mild to moderate MS were randomly assigned to receive either the eight-week meditation training or only usual medical care for MS. The class focused on mental and physical exercises aimed at developing nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment, or mindfulness. The training included weekly classes lasting two and a half hours, plus one all-day retreat and 40 minutes per day of homework assignments.

"MS is an unpredictable disease," Grossman said. "People can go for months feeling great and then have an attack that may reduce their ability to work or take care of their family. Mindfulness training can help those with MS better to cope with these changes. Increased mindfulness in daily life may also contribute to a more realistic sense of control, as well as a greater appreciation of positive experiences that continue be part of life."

Participants in the mindfulness program showed extremely good attendance rates (92%) and reported high levels of satisfaction with the training. Furthermore, very few (5%) dropped out of the course before completion. Those who went through the mindfulness program improved in nearly every measure of fatigue, depression and quality of life, while those who received usual medical care declined slightly on most of the measures. For example, those with mindfulness training reduced their depressive symptoms by over 30 percent compared to those with no training.

Improvements among mindfulness participants were particularly large for those who showed significant levels of depression or fatigue at the beginning of the study. About 65 percent of participants showed evidence of serious levels of depression, anxiety or fatigue at the start of the study, and this risk group was reduced by a third at the end of training and six months later.

The other benefits of the training were also still apparent six months after the training ended, although they were sometimes reduced compared to right after finishing the training. Reductions in fatigue, however, were stable from the end of treatment to six months later.

An accompanying editorial pointed out that because there was not an active control group (using a different type of intervention), it is unclear that the good results were specifically a result of mindfulness training. However, the editorialists noted that the present study was the largest of its type, and was well-conducted.

The study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Stanley T. Johnson Foundation, the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck Serono and Biogen Dompé.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Academy of Neurology.

Journal Reference:

Grossman, P., Kappos, L., Gensicke, H., D'Souza, M., Mohr, D.C., Penner, I.K., Steiner, C. MS quality of life, depression, and fatigue improve after mindfulness training: A randomized trial. Neurology, 2010; 75: 1141-1149 [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

TV viewing likely to make you feel dissatisfied and fear illness, researcher warns

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2010) — Watching television and its heavy dose of medical content in news and drama can lead to more concern about personal health and reduce a person's satisfaction with life according to a new study out of the University of Rhode Island.

The study, authored by Yinjiao Ye, assistant professor of communications studies found that TV viewing affects people's awareness of health-risks and whether they believe they can protect their own health. People develop these perceptions because TV viewing leads them to believe they have a greater likelihood of being victimized by health-risks as well as a strong belief in the severity of those risks. The research was published in the September issue of the journal Mass Communication and Society.

Millions watch medical shows such as Grey's Anatomy, House, and E.R. Evidence has shown that the mass media are powerful in disseminating health knowledge and changing health attitudes and behaviors through such programming. Such knowledge, however, may lead people to think they are more likely to suffer from the maladies presented on TV.

Given that people are predisposed to seek life satisfaction and the benefits of life satisfaction on health and longevity, high doses of television viewing may prevent people from achieving that goal. Of course, life dissatisfaction may be a reason why people watch television to start with, but television is not the best solution according to this and other studies. Other leisure activities such as socializing and exercise may actually be better options.

Since most people learn important information about health risks from the mass media, there is clearly a double-edged-sword effect at work here. As people become more knowledgeable, they enjoy life less. But ignorance, at least of TV's presentations of medical information, is closer to bliss.

These findings extend previous research that TV viewing can also cause people to be less satisfied with their lives because it makes them more materialistic and causes them to overestimate other people's possessions compared to their own. Now getting sick and not being able to do much about it can be added as a second cause of life dissatisfaction.

In her study, the URI professor surveyed 274 students in the College of Communications at the University of Alabama about their TV viewing and life satisfaction. The students were not told the purpose of the survey.

The surveyed students ranged in age from 18 to 31, a youthful group associated with good health and vitality. "While this surveyed group shows dissatisfaction, I suspect that if I surveyed a more general population the dissatisfaction would be even higher," says the researcher.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Rhode Island.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

View the original article here

How to Know if Fear Has Infiltrated Your Body

Have you ever felt suddenly anxious or “on edge” and didn’t know why? There are many reasons why we might feel fearful at different times. We get scared about things like physical danger, accidents, natural disasters, and so on. These are all situations where fear can be helpful because it triggers the “fight or flight” response, which floods our bodies with adrenaline and prompts us to defend ourselves or flee the danger.

Unfortunately, there are also plenty of other situations where the fight or flight response is unnecessarily triggered and we end up feeling threatened and defensive even when there is nothing harmful about the present moment.

For example, we often fear job interviews, public speaking engagements, social gatherings, sports and other performance activities, doctor and hospital visits, and more. These situations are not physically threatening yet our bodies often react to them as if they were.

Have you ever struggled with irrational fears like these?

Even though they may seem irrational, they actually have a simple cause: your thoughts. When you are faced with a situation that you feel unprepared to handle, your thoughts begin racing with horrible possibilities. Your thoughts in this moment might sound something like this: “I can’t give a speech in front of people, what if I mess up? I’m no good at sports; I’ll only embarrass myself if I try to play. I don’t want to go to the doctor; what if he finds something awful?” As these thoughts race through your mind they trigger the fear response and your body begins reacting as if you were in actual physical danger.

Physical and Emotional Symptoms of Fear

When fear begins infiltrating your body, you will notice some unmistakable signs and symptoms. These signs include tightening of your muscles, especially in the neck, shoulder and back area; you may also feel a tightening or queasiness in your abdomen; tightness or pressure in the chest, shortness of breath, pounding heart, restlessness, and muscle weakness or shakiness in the arms and legs.

Beyond the physical sensations you may also notice negative emotions like defensiveness, irritability, frustration, anger, aggression, sadness, and helplessness. Continuously being faced with fearful situations can also lead to more serious physical and emotional problems such as insomnia, depression, appetite changes, weight loss or weight gain, and paranoia.

So, what can you do when you feel overwhelmed by fear?

Positive self-talk is one way to begin shifting your thoughts from fearful to calming. Rather than worrying about negative things that could happen, you might soothe yourself by saying things like, “There’s nothing to be afraid of; it will all work out fine; I believe I can handle anything; all is well.” Even better, intend to do everything you can to encourage a positive outcome for the fearful situation. You could practice giving a speech repeatedly until you feel more comfortable, or visualize the doctor giving you a clean bill of health.

When you change the thoughts that are triggering your fear response, the fearful feelings subside.

Source: 22 Powerful Tools To Transform Your Fear Into Happiness, Peace and Inspiration

Top 10 Best Novels of the Last 20 Years from The List Universe

This is from the The List Universe.

The ten novels on this list all substantiate the belief that books are the most elastic, introspective, human and entertaining form of media that exist. Not movies, not music, not art, not the theatre. A famous author once said that novels are the best way for two human beings to connect with each other. I believe this, and I believe that people who do not find pleasure in words have never had the opportunity to read one of the great novels. The first introductions students often have to literature are stale century-old books that do not translate well to this new modern era. Frankly they are boring, and a lot of kids drift into the living room and turn on the television and stay glued for the rest of their lives. So, here I will present the ten greatest novels of the last twenty years, without apologies.

Read on for the top 10 best novels of the last 20 years

How to be Assertive

Here are 9 ways you can be assertive and put you in a position of control.

1. Make your statements brief and to the point. And also make it crystal clear.

2. Indicate in a plain clear manner that you are not hiding behind someone or something.

3. Go easy on the advice. People usually don’t like it too much to be told that they are wrong.

4. Use questions to seek the views of others and also to gauge their reactions to your behavior

5. Always, yes always distinguish between facts and opinions.

6. Don’t be dogmatic when expressing something. Be positive.

7. Point out that you are aware that others have their point of view

8. If necessary, express without emotion, the negative feeling about the effects of other people’s behavior on you. Be factual.

9. Indicate to people politely the repercussion of their behavior.