Use of Paper Towels Spread Less Bacteria Than Air Dryers

I actually prefer the air dryers to tissue but I'm surprised to find
out they are "less hygienic. Researchers are actually stating that jet
air dryers spread 27times more microbes than paper towels.

New research funded by a trade organization of paper towel
manufacturers suggests that towels spread less bacteria.

Previous studies have shown mixed results, some finding air dryers
spread more bacteria and others showing they're as safe as towels. A
review of past studies published in 2012 in the Mayo Clinic
Proceedings suggested that in healthcare settings, at least, "paper
towels should be recommended."

In the new study, jet air dryers spread 27 times the microbes as paper
towels, and four times more microbes than warm-air machines,
researchers said in a presentation last week in France at a meeting of
the European Tissue Symposium, which sponsored the work.

Lead author Mark Wilcox and his colleagues had volunteers dip gloved
hands into yogurt containing lactobacilli, a type of "friendly"
bacteria. Then, the volunteers dried their hands using jet air dryers,
warm air dryers, and paper towels.

The test was repeated 60 times over six weeks for 20 collections of each method.

From one meter away, the average airborne bacterial counts, measured
in so-called colony-forming units, were 89.5 when the gloved hands
were dried with jet air dryers, 18.7 using warm air dryers, and 2.2
from paper towels.

To assess the potential spread of bacteria visually, individuals
dipped their gloved hands in black paint and wore white disposable
suits backwards with the hoods covering their faces. When they dried
their hands, there were 230 visible spots from the jet air driers and
130 from the warm air dryers. None were found on people who used paper
towels.

Wilcox, who is a consultant/head of microbiology at Leeds Teaching
Hospitals in the U.K., pointed out in email to Reuters Health that
drying hands thoroughly is an important way to avoid spreading
bacteria to other people or surfaces.

"I had made the disconcerting observation that when using some jet air
driers I could feel droplets hitting my face," said Wilcox of his
interest in doing the study. "For an infection control doctor, a key
principle is to reduce the risk of spread of microbes."

He and his co-authors say that more research is needed before anyone
can assume the air dryers spread more germs than towels.

(http://m.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/air-dryers-spread-germs-paper-towels-study-article-1.2045885)

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Health Benefits of Moderate Sunlight exposure Outweigh the Harmful Effects of UV Radiation on the Skin.

I'm really glad about this report about the benefits of sunlight and
how it helps to douse this fear of "skin cancer"...

Skin cancer prevention campaigns may be steering people away from
healthy doses of sunlight, which is now thought to protect against
high blood pressure, heart disease and possibly stroke, a group of
British scientists say.

In a provocative presentation to a Melbourne conference this week,
Martin Feelisch, a professor of clinical and experimental sciences at
the University of Southampton, questioned whether it was time for a
"radical rethink" of the advice given to people about how much time
they should spend in the sun.

Professor Feelisch said recent epidemiological studies suggested that
the health benefits of moderate sunlight exposure outweighed the
harmful effects of UV radiation on the skin.

In particular, a recent study conducted with colleagues at the
University of Edinburgh found that a dose of UV equivalent to about 30
minutes of sunshine during the summer in southern Europe lowered
people's blood pressure.

The research, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology,
suggested UV radiation triggered natural stores of nitric oxide in the
skin which dilate small blood vessels. The mechanism was independent
of Vitamin D in sunlight which is already known to improve bone and
muscle health. This means it cannot be substituted with a vitamin D
supplement.

Several other studies have also shown that people with mild
hypertension tend to have lower blood pressure in summer compared to
winter, and that the further you live from the equator, the more
likely you are to suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease.

Professor Feelisch said given high blood pressure was a major risk
factor for heart disease and stroke, which accounts for 30 per cent of
deaths globally each year, health authorities should start focusing
more on the benefits of sensible sun exposure.

"We have to balance the benefits with the detrimental effects for the
greater good of the entire population. The current public health
advice is dominated by concerns about cancer," he said.

"That may be very important for a high risk group but that high risk
group are the minority of the population. Many others would probably
very likely tolerate higher than currently recommended exposure
levels, provided their skin gets gradually used to this, and their
health would benefit from that."

Professor Feelisch said it was possible that public health campaigns,
such as the "Dark side of tanning" television advertisements which
have been running in Victoria for five years, were scaring people into
hiding from the sun.

"Everybody is so scared to expose themselves to natural sunlight or
slap on sunblock lavishly even if they go outside for 15 minutes," he
said at the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress. "That is
cutting precisely the bit that is required to keep us healthy."

But head of the Australian Cancer Council Professor Ian Olver said
current public health advice was sophisticated in Australia, balancing
the pros and cons of sunlight for Vitamin D and emphasising high UV
index times when people are more likely to burn.

"If the UV index is three or above, the sun is intense enough to burn
you and therefore you need to take some protection measures. If it's
less than three, you can probably safely go out in the sun. So for
vitamin D, early in the morning or late in the afternoon, it might be
fine to go out without protection but in the middle of the day, it
usually isn't."
(http://www.theage.com.au/national/health/skin-cancer-fears-blinding-people-to-health-benefits-of-sunlight-say-scientists-20141118-11p8we.html)

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10 Things You Should Never Share with Your HR

Some staff have the habit of being regular at Human Resources
confiding in one person or the other, but you should be careful what
you say so you don't shoot yourself in the foot. It is now confirmed
that there are just some things about you that "HR doesn't want to
know".

According to Susan M. Heathfield, a Human Resources Expert,

"Before you share a secret about yourself with HR at your workplace,
know your HR staff:

In too many workplaces, these are the ten things that you should never
share with HR.

10 Things Never to Share with HR

1) You participate in some activity that is illegal even if it takes
place totally outside of work. Your HR person may feel compelled to do
something or say something about it. HR doesn't want to make a
decision about whether he or she is legally obligated to report you to
the police. And, it will deeply affect their opinion of you and your
place in your organization.

2)You are considering whether to be a full time mum while on your
maternity leave.
The key is that HR will make decisions deemed in the best interests of
the employer if they are uncertain about your reliability or
commitment. Don't give them the information that makes them feel they
need to make decisions – that may be adverse for you.

3) You need favorable treatment, time off, privileges from the company
because of an event that isn't true. It will always come back to haunt
you.


4) You lied about something during the hiring or interview process
before you were offered the job.

Companies need to be consistent in their practices, so if your
organization has that policy, no matter how much you are valued or
liked, you may find yourself without a job. The best advice? Never lie
during the hiring process by omission or commission. You don't want to
spend the next ten years at work trying to cover up your untruths.
But, never tell HR if you did.

5)Your significant other, partner or spouse might be transferred to a
job in another city that is not commutable from the current location.
This is more career busting than telling your employer that you are
job searching, because the employer will perceive that you have less
control over the outcome. (And you know to never tell HR that you are
job searching outside of your company. While you may think telling HR
will help improve your job or company, the time to encourage and
participate in improvement is before you've started looking.)

6) You are moonlighting in a second job if your current job is full
time. When you tell HR that you are working a second job, you
communicate all sorts of messages that you may not mean. The result?
HR wonders about your commitment to the company.

7) You sued your former employer for harassment, ADA accommodation, or
civil rights violations. HR departments live in fear of lawsuits -
even the good, ethical, painstakingly fair departments.
So, you have nothing to gain but suspicion from letting HR staff know
about any previous lawsuits. HR staff also regards the fact that you
share this information with them as potentially threatening to them
and your employer. If you're job searching, even though it's illegal,
employers do discriminate (secretly) when they know that you have sued
employers in the past.

8) You have medical issues that might cause disruption to the
workplace flow when you need to take time off, go on disability, or
seek extensive medical treatment. If you share your medical condition
or information in too much detail, you may find that your employer
begins to work around you as if you are not there. The employer is
trying to protect their productivity, profitability, and work load;
your absences would adversely affect the workplace.


9) You received a DWI or DUI or where arrested for crimes such as
fraud, tax evasion, stealing...
Yes, I know, activities and events that occur outside of the workplace
are your own personal business and should be separate from decision
making at work. So, keep them that way.

Unless an event threatens to flow over into your work place - in which
case, always tell HR before they are blindsided - your personal
business is private. But, if you drive a company vehicle for business
and you received a DUI, best come clean. If you work in the accounting
department and you were just charged with embezzling thousands of
dollars from your church, you risk a lot either by telling or not
telling. Know your company, but I am an advocate for truth.

Employers are smart also to do comprehensive background checks. If
you're applying for a job, if you have a felony on your record, reveal
it when asked on the application.

10) Your personal life, in general, is in a shambles. Items like, you
are afraid of your stalker ex-boyfriend, you filed a lawsuit against
your neighbor, or you haven't spoken to your sister in five years,
don't belong at work. They consciously or unconsciously cloud the
workplace opinion about you as a person. These conclusions can
adversely affect your career and opportunities. And, the employer
making decisions may never recognize that he or she is making
decisions about you based on what is known about your personal life.

Don't give your employer any more information than is necessary for a
friendly, cohesive, team oriented workplace. Trust me. There are
really many pieces of information that HR doesn't want to know. (My
caveat: something that threatens to flow over into work or the
workplace should be shared with HR. For example, the stalker
ex-boyfriend who used to mock you on Facebook and on your cell phone,
but has now started to show up at places where you are, should be
shared as a potential workplace safety issue.)

No matter how good and competent you think your HR department is, all
of these ten things provide information that you should keep to
yourself. Play by the same rules as professional HR departments. If it
didn't happen here, and it won't affect your current work or
workplace, keep the information where it belongs - home. To echo so
many of my colleagues in HR, I just don't want to know all of this."

http://humanresources.about.com/od/HR-Roles-And-Responsibilities/a/10-things-you-should-never-tell-hr.htm?nl=1



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A Child's Emotional Health Is a Greater Contributor to Future Satisfaction Than Academic Achievement- Happiness Expert

After investigating the factors in a person's life that can best
predict whether they will lead satisfied lives, a team headed by one
of the UK's foremost "happiness" experts, Professor Richard Layard,
has come up with an answer that may prove controversial.

Layard and his colleagues at the Wellbeing research programme at the
London School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance conclude
that a child's emotional health is far more important to their
satisfaction levels as an adult than other factors, such as if they
achieve academic success when young, or wealth when older.

The authors explain that evaluating the quality of a child's emotional
health is based on analysing a range of internal factors in a person's
early life, including whether they endured unhappiness, sleeplessness,
eating disorders, bedwetting, fearfulness or tiredness.

The academics claim that their study, What Predicts a Successful Life?
A Life-course Model of Well-being, published in the latest edition of
the Economic Journal, offers "a completely new perspective on which
factors contribute most to a satisfying life".

The study claims to challenge "the basic assumption of educational
policy in recent years – that academic achievement matters more than
anything else". This claim appears to be an implicit criticism of
former education secretary Michael Gove, who instructed schools not to
focus on "peripheral" issues such as children's moral, social and
cultural development in favour of academic excellence.

Gove's successor, Nicky Morgan, has pledged to reverse this approach.

Layard and his team analysed data from about 9,000 people who were
born over a three-week period in 1970.

Many people have assumed income is the most important factor in an
adult's life satisfaction. But the academics say their data makes
clear this is far less important than emotional health – both in a
child and in an adult. "Income only explains about 1% of the variation
in life satisfaction among people in the UK – one sixth of the
fraction explained by emotional health," they note. Or, to put it
another way, money really cannot buy you happiness.


The economics of happiness or wellbeing is now a growing and respected
discipline within economics that is starting to influence politicians.

David Cameron has stated: "It's time we admitted that there's more to
life than money and it's time we focused not just on GDP but on GWB –
general well-being."

The authors' conclusion:

"By far the most important predictor of adult life-satisfaction is
emotional health, both in childhood and subsequently. We find that the
intellectual performance of a child is the least important childhood
predictor of life-satisfaction as an adult."

Read more about the study:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/08/happiness-childhood-emotional-health-richard-layard?view=classic

I don't think there's anything controversial about these findings that
a number of us will be able to relate to.

That's why you hear about a CEO who commits suicide because he was
unable to get over some past guilt or childhood abuse.

Emotional wellbeing is extremely important.

(photo-credit: wikimedia.org)

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6 Tips To Help You Improve Your Teeth Brushing Experience

Brushing your teeth properly should take a little less than 2 minutes,
though some people may spend longer, or less. Spending less than a
minute to brush isn't enough time to clean your teeth.

Here are some tips to help you improve your "teeth brushing skills":

1)While brushing your teeth, use short gentle movements and avoid
using too much pressure.

2) Concentrate on parts of your teeth that are not easy to reach,
especially the areas between your teeth, eating surfaces(molars,
premolars), and your upper and lower gums.

3) A good brushing technique is nothing without an effective
toothpaste. Getting the right toothpaste to buy is so important
especially when being faced with a market that is flooded with various
types and brands. There are toothpastes that help prevent toothaches,
tartar and gingivitis, while others are specially for sensitive teeth.

Your dentist may recommend a type of toothpaste for you if need be.

Also make sure you use the required amount of toothpaste for brushing.
Most manufacturers suggest a "Pea size" amount.

4) Your Toothbrush: what type of toothbrush should you use or what is
the best toothbrush shape available?
Have this in mind when choosing a toothbrush;

go for toothbrushes with soft bristles, these are tender and will not
bruise your gums but will still get the job done.

Select toothbrushes with small heads because they can easily get to
those "hard to reach" areas or corners.

5) How often should you change your toothbrush? You should change your
brush atleast every 3 months, even if it's not showing any signs of
wearing out.

You should also replace your toothbrush after being treated for any
mouth or respiratory infections.

6) How often should you brush your teeth?
Always brush twice a day as recommended by dentists all around the
world. First thing in the morning (before eating) and last thing at
night (after eating).

Caring for your teeth isn't rocket science and also take time to visit
your dentist at least twice a year for regular checkups to maintain
your "toothpaste" smile.

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Most Minor Cosmetic Procedures Safe, Study Concludes

(HealthDay News) -- Minimally invasive cosmetic procedures are nearly
risk-free, a new study says.

Researchers examined the results of more than 20,000 of these
procedures -- such as fillers, neurotoxins and the use of laser and
energy devices -- performed by 23 dermatologists at eight centers
across the United States.

Minor complications, such as bruising, swelling, redness, bumpiness or
skin darkening, occurred in less than 1 percent of patients. There
were no major complications.

Complication rates for fillers were 0.52 percent, the study found. The
complication rate for fillers was slightly higher than for energy
devices and neurotoxins. This is because fillers are slightly more
invasive, according to the researchers.

The findings were published Nov. 5 in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

"The message for patients is that if you are thinking of getting one
of these procedures, you are not indulging in something drastic or
high-risk," study leader Dr. Murad Alam, a professor of dermatology at
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said in a university news release.

"The take home is these procedures are very safe and can be mixed and
matched to give the individual a significant cosmetic benefit, rather
than getting one big cosmetic procedure that might be risky," Alam
added.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about cosmetic surgery.

(http://consumer.healthday.com/cosmetic-information-8/botox-health-news-73/briefs-emb-11-5-4pmet-cosmetic-surgery-safety-jama-derm-northwestern-u-release-batch-1453-693417.html)

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What to Do To Have A Clear And Healthy Skin

When thinking of how to have a healthy and clear skin should cosmetics
be the first option?

The truth is that your "inner condition will always reflect in your
"skin condition". Nutrition, Hormones and Stress are major factors
that determine what your skin will look like.

Here are necessary action steps to achieve and maintain a clear and
healthy skin:

1) Don't allow yourself to get stressed. Learn to relax through prayer
and meditation. Accumulation of Stress hormones result in toxic
biproducts and free radicals. This eventually results in dull looking
skin and break outs.


2) Drink enough water. Water is a good cleanser for the body system
helping the skin regeneration process.

3) Get adequate sleep. The body gets the opportunity to rejuvenate
itself while we are asleep and this includes the skin. So try to get
up to 8hrs of sleep daily along with a regular sleep pattern.

4) Eat nutritious foods. Reduce or possibly eliminate your junk food
intake. Eat a well balanced meal three times a day and snack on fruits
or vegetables.

5) You may take vitamin supplements which can be recommended by your physician.

6) Use a mild cleanser with 2% salicylic acid to clean your skin
properly. This has been proven to be very efficient in ridding excess
oils while maintaining proper hydration and pH. The slight acidity
will keep bacteria at bay.

7) Avoid smoking. If you do, work on quitting. Smoking not just ages
your body system internally but also your skin. It has been observed
that smoking can add up 10 years to the look of your skin.

8) Use a sunscreen. Using a sunscreen supports the skin's Keratonin
to protect you from against the sun's UV rays. Some experts recommend
an SPF (sun protection factor) of 40.

9) Go for a spa treatment atleast once a year. Skin peels, TCA peels,
deep tissue massage, complete relaxation, aromatherapy, etc… will all
energize and heal your skin. TCA peels will actual improve your skins
ability to regenerate itself and improve collagen levels.

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Talking to Kids and Teens About Social Media and Sexting

Social Media

Today's teens and tweens are connected to one another, and to the
world, via digital technology  more than any previous generation.
Recent data suggests that social media venues like Facebook and
Twitter have surpassed e-mail as the preferred method of communication
in all age groups. While today's tweens and teens may be more
digitally savvy than their parents, their lack of maturity and life
experience can quickly get them into trouble with these new social
venues.  For this reason, it is imperative that parents talk with
their children of all ages about social media and monitor their online
social media use to help them navigate this new online social world.
How parents talk with their kids and teens will vary slightly by age
depending on the topic being discussed. These tips will help you start
that journey with your family.

Learn about these technologies first hand. There is simply no better
way than to have a profile yourself. It will also enable you to
"friend" your kids and monitor them on line.

Let them know that their use of technology is something you want and
need to know about.

For kids of all ages, ask daily: "Have you used the computer and the
Internet today?"

Technology use will vary by age. Tweens are likely to be using more
instant messaging and texting, while teens use those technologies and
also networking sites such as Facebook. (These tools often are
referred to as "platforms" for social networking.) Ask daily how your
family used those tools with questions such as: "What did you write on
Facebook today?" "Any new chats recently?" "Anyone text you today?"

Share a bit about your daily social media use as a way to facilitate
daily conversation about your kids' online habits.

Get your kids talking about their social media lives if you can just
so you know what they are doing.

Keep the computer in  a public part of your home, such as the family
room or kitchen, so that you can check on what your kids are doing
online and how much time they are spending there.

Talk with other parents about what their kids of similar ages are
using for social media. Ask your kids about those technologies as a
starting point for discussion. If they are in the same peer group,
there is a good chance they are all using the same platforms together.
For example:

For teens: "Mrs. Smith told me Jennifer uses Facebook. Is that
something you've thought of doing? Do you already have a profile? If
so, I'd like to see it."

For tweens and older elementary school kids: "Are you planning on
meeting up with kids on Club Penguin today? I'd love to see how that
works." Or, "Let's look at your text log today together. I'd like to
see who's been texting you."

For all ages, emphasize that everything sent over the Internet or a
cell phone can be shared with the entire world, so it is important
they use good judgment in sending messages and pictures and set
privacy settings on social media sites appropriately.

Discuss with kids of every age what "good judgment" means and the
consequences of poor judgment, ranging form minor punishment to
possible legal action in the case of "sexting" (see below) or
bullying.

Remember to make a point of discouraging kids from gossiping,
spreading rumors, bullying or damaging someone's reputation using
texting or other tools.

To keep kids safe, have your kids and teens show you where the privacy
features are for every social media venue they are using. The more
private, the less likely inappropriate material will be received by
your child, or sent to their circle of acquaintances.

Be aware of the ages of use for sites your tweens and older elementary
school kids want to use.  Many sites are for age 13 and older, and the
sites for younger kids do require parental consent to use.

Be sure you are where your kids are online: IM, Facebook, Twitter,
etc.  Have a policy requiring that you and your child "friend" each
other. This is one way of showing your child you are there, too, and
will provide a check and balance system by having an adult within
arm's reach of their profile. This is important for kids of all ages,
including teens.

Show your kids you know how to use what they are using, and are
willing to learn what you may not know how to do.

Create a strategy for monitoring your kids' online social media use,
and be sure you follow through. Some families may check once a week
and others more sporadically. You may want to say "Today I'll be
checking your computer and cell phone."  The older your kids are, the
more often you may need to check.

Consider formal monitoring systems to track your child's email, chat,
IM and image content. Parental controls on your computer or from your
Internet service provider, Google Desktop or commercial programs are
all reasonable alternatives.

Set time limits for Internet and cell phone use. Learn the warning
signs of trouble: skipping activities, meals and homework for social
media; weight loss or gain; a drop in grades. If these issues are
occurring due to your child being online when they should be eating,
sleeping, participating in school or social activities, your child may
have a problem with Internet or social media addiction. Contact your
pediatrician for advice if any of these symptoms are occurring.

Check chat logs, emails, files and social networking profiles for
inappropriate content, friends, messages, and images periodically.  Be
transparent and let your kids know what you are doing.

Multitasking can be dangerous--even deadly. Be sure to stress to teens
the importance of not texting, Facebooking, using the phone, listening
to ear buds or earphones, or engaging in similarly distracting
activities while driving. These forms of distracted driving are
illegal in many states because they are so dangerous. And caution kids
of all ages about using mobile devices while walking, biking,
babysitting or doing other things that require their full attention.

 The Problem of "Sexting"

"Sexting" refers to sending a text message with pictures of children
or teens that are inappropriate, naked or engaged in sex acts.
According to a recent survey, about 20 percent of teen boys and girls
have sent such messages. The emotional pain it causes can be enormous
for the child in the picture as well as the sender and receiver--often
with legal implications. Parents must begin the difficult conversation
about sexting before there is a problem and introduce the issue as
soon as a child is old enough to have a cell phone. Here are some tips
for how to begin these conversations with your children:

Talk to your kids, even if the issue hasn't directly impacted your
community. "Have you heard of sexting?" "Tell me what you think it
is." For the initial part of the conversation, it is important to
first learn what your child's understanding is of the issue and then
add to it an age appropriate explanation (see next bullet).

Use examples appropriate for your child's age. For younger children
with cell phones who do not yet know about sex, alert them that text
messages should never contain pictures of people--kids or
adults--without their clothes on, kissing or touching each other in
ways that they've never seen before. For older children, use the term
"sexting" and give more specifics about sex acts they may know about.
For teens, be very specific that "sexting" often involves pictures of
a sexual nature and is considered pornography.

Make sure kids of all ages understand that sexting is serious and
considered a crime in many jurisdictions. In all communities, if they
"sext", there will be serious consequences, quite possibly involving
the police, suspension from school, and notes on the sexter's
permanent record that could hurt their chances of getting into college
or getting a job.

Experts have noted that peer pressure can play a major role in the
sending of texts, with parties being a major contributing factor.
Collecting cell phones at gatherings of tweens and teens is one way to
reduce this temptation.

Monitor headlines and the news for stories about "sexting" that
illustrate the  very real consequences for both senders and receivers
of these images. "Have you seen this story?" "What did you think about
it?" "What would you do if you were this child?" Rehearse ways they
can respond if asked to participate in inappropriate texting.

Encourage school and town assemblies to educate parents, teachers and students.

Source: American Academy of Paediatrics
(http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Talking-to-Kids-and-Teens-About-Social-Media-and-Sexting.aspx)

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First hint of 'life after death' in Biggest ever Scientific Study

The largest ever medical study into near-death and out-of-body
experiences has discovered that some awareness may continue even after
the brain has shut down completely.

It is a controversial subject which has, until recently, been treated
with widespread scepticism.

But scientists at the University of Southampton have spent four years
examining more than 2,000 people who suffered cardiac arrests at 15
hospitals in the UK, US and Austria.

And they found that nearly 40 per cent of people who survived
described some kind of 'awareness' during the time when they were
clinically dead before their hearts were restarted.

One man even recalled leaving his body entirely and watching his
resuscitation from the corner of the room.

Despite being unconscious and 'dead' for three minutes, the
57-year-old social worker from Southampton, recounted the actions of
the nursing staff in detail and described the sound of the machines.

"We know the brain can't function when the heart has stopped beating,"
said Dr Sam Parnia, a former research fellow at Southampton
University, now at the State University of New York, who led the
study.

"But in this case, conscious awareness appears to have continued for
up to three minutes into the period when the heart wasn't beating,
even though the brain typically shuts down within 20-30 seconds after
the heart has stopped.

"The man described everything that had happened in the room, but
importantly, he heard two bleeps from a machine that makes a noise at
three minute intervals. So we could time how long the experienced
lasted for.

"He seemed very credible and everything that he said had happened to
him had actually happened."

Of 2060 cardiac arrest patients studied, 330 survived and 140 said
they had experienced some kind of awareness while being resuscitated.

Although many could not recall specific details, some themes emerged.
One in five said they had felt an unusual sense of peacefulness while
nearly one third said time had slowed down or speeded up.

Some recalled seeing a bright light; a golden flash or the Sun
shining. Others recounted feelings of fear or drowning or being
dragged through deep water. 13 per cent said they had felt separated
from their bodies and the same number said their sensed had been
heightened.

Dr Parnia believes many more people may have experiences when they are
close to death but drugs or sedatives used in the process of
rescuitation may stop them remembering.

"Estimates have suggested that millions of people have had vivid
experiences in relation to death but the scientific evidence has been
ambiguous at best.

"Many people have assumed that these were hallucinations or illusions
but they do seem to corresponded to actual events.

"And a higher proportion of people may have vivid death experiences,
but do not recall them due to the effects of brain injury or sedative
drugs on memory circuits.

"These experiences warrant further investigation. "

Dr David Wilde, a research psychologist and Nottingham Trent
University, is currently compiling data on out-of-body experiences in
an attempt to discover a pattern which links each episode.

He hopes the latest research will encourage new studies into the
controversial topic.

"Most studies look retrospectively, 10 or 20 years ago, but the
researchers went out looking for examples and used a really large
sample size, so this gives the work a lot of validity.

"There is some very good evidence here that these experiences are
actually happening after people have medically died.

"We just don't know what is going on. We are still very much in the
dark about what happens when you die and hopefully this study will
help shine a scientific lens onto that."

The study was published in the journal Resuscitation.

Dr Jerry Nolan, Editor-in-Chief at Resuscitation said: "Dr Parnia and
his colleagues are to be congratulated on the completion of a
fascinating study that will open the door to more extensive research
into what happens when we die."

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11144442/First-hint-of-life-after-death-in-biggest-ever-scientific-study.html)

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What Texas can learn from Nigeria when it comes to containing Ebola

As devastating reports continue to stream out of West Africa, where
the deadly virus has overwhelmed already weak public health systems
and left thousands of people dead, and anxiety grips the United States
over the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the country, one nation
serves as an example of hope: Nigeria, which appears to have
successfully contained Ebola.

Concerns spread over U.S. hospital readiness, there are some lessons
to be learned from Nigeria, where officials managed to get ahead of
the fast-moving virus after it was brought into Africa's most populous
country by an Ebola-infected man who'd flown into Lagos. This week,
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the
outbreak could be coming to an end in Nigeria, with no new Ebola cases
since Aug. 31.

As in the U.S. case, Ebola arrived in Nigeria by passenger plane. But
unlike Thomas Eric Duncan — who arrived in Dallas before he became
symptomatic and was therefore not contagious during his flights from
Liberia to Texas through Brussels and Dulles International Airport —
Patrick Sawyer was already symptomatic when he landed in Lagos on July
20. At that point, Sawyer, Nigeria's Patient Zero, was contagious and
dying.

It was a nightmare scenario with the potential to spiral out of
control, given the bustling city of Lagos, Africa's largest, is a
major transportation hub. As Sawyer was placed in isolation, public
health officials had to track down every single person who'd come into
contact with him, from the flights he'd boarded to the Lagos airport
and the private hospital where he went after landing. And they had to
do so quickly, making the process known as contact tracing a priority.

"In the whole system approach in beating the war on Ebola, contact
tracing is the key public health activity that needs to be done," said
Gavin MacGregor-Skinner, who helped with the Ebola response in Nigeria
with the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation. "The key is to find
all the people that patient had direct close contact with."

From that single patient came a list of 281 people, MacGregor-Skinner
said. Every one of those individuals had to provide health authorities
twice-a-day updates about their well-being, often through methods like
text-messaging. Anyone who didn't feel well or failed to respond was
checked on, either through a neighborhood network or health workers.

Nigeria took a "whole community approach," with everyone from military
officials to church elders in the same room, discussing how to handle
the response to the virus, MacGregor-Skinner said.

Such an approach, and contact tracing in general, requires people be
open and forthright about their movements and their health, he said.
Stigmatization of patients, their families and contacts could only
discourage that, so Nigerian officials sent a message to "really make
them look like heroes," MacGregor-Skinner said.

"This is the best thing people can do for Nigeria: They are going to
protect and save Nigeria by being honest, by doing what they need to
do, by reporting to the health commission," he said. This made people
feel like they were a part of something extremely important, he said,
and also took into account real community needs. "You got real
engagement and compliance from the contacts. They're not running and
hiding."

Sawyer had come into contact with someone who ended up in Port
Harcourt. That person, a regional official, went to a doctor who ended
up dying from Ebola in August. Within a week, 70 people were being
monitored. It ballooned to an additional 400 people in that one city.

Success stories of people coming through strict Ebola surveillance
alive and healthy helped encourage more people to come forward, as
they recognized that ending up in a contact tracer's sights didn't
mean a death sentence.

In the end, contact tracers — trained professionals and volunteers —
conducted 18,500 face-to-face visits to assess potential symptoms,
according to the CDC, and the list of contacts throughout the country
grew to 894. Two months later, Nigeria ended up with a total of 20
confirmed or probable cases and eight deaths.

The CDC also pointed to the robust public health response by Nigerian
officials, who have had experience with massive public health crises
in the past — namely polio in 2012 and large-scale lead poisoning in
2010.

When someone is on a contact list, that doesn't mean that person has
to stay at home for the entire incubation period of 21 days from the
last contact with someone who had Ebola. People on contact lists are
not under quarantine or in isolation. They can still go to work and go
on with their their lives. But they should take their temperature
twice a day for 21 days and check in with health workers.

Officials in Texas began with a list of about 100 names; they have
whittled the list down to 50 people who had some contact with Duncan.
Of those, 10 are considered high-risk.

The CDC recommends that people without symptoms but who have had
direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person sick with Ebola be
put under either conditional release, meaning that they self-monitor
their health and temperature and check in daily, or controlled
movement. People under controlled movement have to notify officials
about any intended travel and shouldn't use commercial planes or
trains. Local public transportation use is approved on a case-by-case
basis.

When symptoms do develop, that's when the response kicks into high
gear. People with Ebola are contagious only once they begin exhibiting
symptoms, which include fever, severe headaches and vomiting.

While four people in Dallas are under government-ordered quarantine,
that is not the norm. Those individuals "were non-compliant with the
request to stay home. I don't want to go too far beyond that," Dallas
County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said Thursday.
On Friday, the four people were moved to a private residence from the
apartment where Duncan had been staying when he became symptomatic.

A law enforcement officer will remain with them to enforce the order,
and none of the people are allowed to leave until Oct. 19.

Duncan is the only person with an Ebola diagnosis in Dallas, and no
one else is showing symptoms at the moment. But, as Nigeria knows, the
work in Dallas has just begun.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/10/04/what-texas-can-learn-from-nigeria-when-it-comes-to-containing-ebola/)

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10 Benefits of Outsourcing your Internet Marketing

When you're running a small business, time is a precious commodity.
And marketing can take up plenty of your time. Have you ever
considered outsourcing some of these resource-demanding tasks?

Some business owners still view "outsourcing" as a dirty word—but
today's outsourcing is worlds away from the cheap, badly produced
overseas industry it used to be. Outsourcing your online marketing
tasks is a smart move for many businesses.

Here are ten good reasons to consider adding outsourcing to your
Internet marketing tool box:

1. Save Time for Everyone

Whether you have a staff of one or one hundred, handing over your
marketing tasks to a third party frees up time across the board. All
those tedious hours spent on writing marketing material, developing
social media platforms, creating and managing email lists—with
outsourcing, you can get those hours back.

This leaves you and your team free to work on what you do best: your
core business.



2. Get Professional-Level Service

India is no longer the only place you can go for outsourcing. For
today's professionals, independent consulting and freelance work holds
a lot of appeal. It's easier than ever to find an experienced and
affordable online marketing professional who will work with your
company to learn your goals and implement effective strategies on your
behalf.



3. Gain an Outside Perspective

You're close to your business. You understand exactly what you do, how
you do it, and why. But do you know exactly what attracts your
customers? Your concepts of which aspects of your business should be
enhanced in your marketing may be slightly biased.

When you work with an outsourced marketing professional, you're able
to benefit from a fresh perspective. Online marketing consultants
understand how to attract and convert buyers—and they can offer you
valuable insights into new marketing angles and unique selling
propositions (USPs) that you may have missed.



4. Leverage Built-In Expertise

If you have someone in your business that does marketing, chances are
they have additional responsibilities. Entrepreneurs handle all the
hats themselves, and smaller companies may have online marketing tasks
split between a handful of team members who are also customer service
reps, bookkeepers, or human resources.

When you work with an outsourced provider, you're getting an expert in
marketing. That is their primary occupation—and they have not only the
experience, but the resources to get more effective results for you
through targeting and analytic research. You'll also be able to
benefit through benchmark comparisons to competitors, and more
effectively measure the success of your company's marketing—without
having to invest time and resources in an extensive market study.



5. Gain Access to Specialized Technologies

Your company may use a variety of platforms and technologies for
different functions, but how many marketing-specific programs do you
use? Especially for smaller businesses, the answer is usually either
not many or none.

When you outsource your internet marketing, you'll be able to work
with professionals who use the latest, cutting-edge technologies for
marketing, analytics, automation, and more—without having to invest
hundreds or thousands in additional software or tools.



6. Increase Your Flexibility and Agility

When a marketing opportunity arises, is your company equipped to take
advantage of it? Outsourcing gives you the flexibility to launch
online marketing projects on an as-needed basis—letting you scale up
or down according to your current needs, without having to make staff
changes or interrupt your core business flow.



7. Reduce Stress and Increase Productivity

Entrepreneurs and small businesses often don't have the resources to
dedicate to full-time, in-house marketing. This leads to the burden of
marketing falling on you as the business owner, or employees who are
working on other tasks alongside marketing initiatives. Things can get
stressful—particularly when some of your online marketing campaigns
are ineffective.

Working with a third-party provider for your Internet marketing can
dramatically reduce the strain of marketing for you and your staff.
When you're free to concentrate on your core business, everyone will
be happier and more productive.



8. Do More With Less

If you're handling your online marketing in-house, you may not be
using many channels. Maybe you're concentrating on your email lists,
or a single social media platform like Facebook, or a PPC campaign.
And you might not have time to work on basic online marketing
maintenance, such as updating your website or keeping your small
business blog going.

Outsourcing lets you work on multiple channels without overwhelming
your team. You can hire a graphic designer to update your website, a
copywriter to handle your blog or email newsletter, and a social media
expert to automate your platforms. With a variety of outsourcing
services available, you can turn over single campaigns, specialized
services, or even entire marketing functions to a capable third party.



9. Save Money

It's true that you have to pay for outsourcing. However, you often
save more than you invest by reducing your expenses for staff
(including space, salary, recruitment, and training), specialized
software, and other overhead costs.

Additionally, you'll benefit from the fixed costs of outsourcing. With
most third-party providers, you'll have a predictable, recurring
expense that simplifies your budgeting and helps to guard against
unexpected outlays of money and resources.



10. Facilitate Rapid Growth

When your company is expanding rapidly, your growth can be slowed or
even halted if you have to launch a lengthy recruitment campaign to
bring in enough staff to handle the increased business. You may also
end up rushing the hiring process and hiring the wrong people—which
can set you back even further.

Outsourcing allows you to quickly add qualified experts to your
marketing team, and handle the overflow until your staffing levels
catch up. You can also use outsourcing to provide additional hands for
new product launches, service upgrades, or other one-time events that
require a temporary boost in marketing reach.

By Megan Totka

(https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/10-benefits-outsourcing-internet-marketing-150013444.html)

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Appetite, Taste Changes Reported After Weight-Loss Surgery

(HealthDay News) -- After weight-loss surgery, many patients report
changes in appetite, taste and smell, a new study says.

One positive aspect of these changes is that they may lead patients to
lose even more weight, the researchers suggested.

The study included 103 British patients who underwent Roux-en-Y
gastric bypass surgery, in which the stomach is made smaller and the
small intestines is shortened. Of those, 97 percent said their
appetite changed after the surgery, and 42 percent said their sense of
smell changed.

Taste changes occurred in 73 percent of the patients, especially when
it came to sweet and sour tastes, the researchers found. They
especially noted changes in the taste of chicken, beef, pork, roast
meat, lamb, sausages, fish, fast food, chocolate, greasy food, pasta
and rice.

Nearly three-quarters of patients said they developed a dislike of
certain foods, especially meat products. One-third avoided chicken,
minced beef, beef steak, lamb, sausages, bacon or ham.

About 12 percent had an aversion to starches such as rice, pasta,
bread and pastry and for dairy products such as cream, cheese, ice
cream and eggs, 4 percent to vegetables, 3 percent to fruit and 1
percent to canned fish.

The researchers also found that patients with a newly developed
distaste for certain foods lost an average of nearly 18 pounds more
after their surgery than those whose taste wasn't affected, according
to the study recently published online in the journal Obesity Surgery.

Although the study found an association between weight-loss surgery
and sensory changes, it did not establish cause-and-effect.

The taste and smell changes experienced by many patients after
weight-loss surgery may be due to a combination of gut hormone and
central nervous system effects, according to lead author Lisa Graham,
of the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

She noted that patients considering weight-loss surgery are typically
told about the possible loss of taste and smell.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about weight-loss surgery.

SOURCE: Obesity Surgery, news release, April 16, 2014

-- Robert Preidt

Photo: Jennifer Hudson before and after weight-loss. Many still
speculating she may have had weight-loss surgery.

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