Sleep gives brain disease warning

Physically "acting out" dreams when asleep could be an early warning sign of dementia or Parkinson's disease.

Canadian researchers studied 93 people with "REM sleep behaviour disorder", which can involve punching or kicking out while dreaming.

The Neurology study found more than a quarter were diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition over the next five years.

UK experts said the research could help doctors predict the condition.

Normally, during "Rapid Eye Movement", or "REM" sleep, our muscles relax and do not move, but people with certain sleep disorders are able to lash out, or cry out.

It is a known symptom of some kinds of brain disease, including Parkinson's disease, and a rare form of dementia called Lewy body dementia.

This important finding could boost our understanding of how Lewy body dementia develops and help us detect it early Dr Susanne Sorensen Alzheimer's Society

The exact reason for the link is unclear, although some have suggested that subtle damage to a part of the brain which regulates sleep may be responsible.

However, in some cases, the problem happens long before the onset of the main symptoms of these diseases, and doctors at Montreal General Hospital wanted to see whether apparently otherwise healthy people with the problem were at higher risk.

Their study volunteers were all elderly - on average 65 years old - which already put them at higher risk of developing dementia or Parkinson's compared with a younger person.

However, each was followed on average for five years, and in that period, 26 of the 93 developed a degenerative brain disease.

In total, 14 were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, seven with Lewy body dementia, four with Alzheimer's Disease, and another diagnosed with a disorder called multiple system atrophy, which involves both Parkinson's and dementia symptoms.

High chance

Their predictions suggested that patients of this age with the same sleep disorder would have a greater than 50/50 chance of falling prey to a similar condition over the following 12 years.

The researchers said that knowing more about the risks faced by people with the sleep disorder could not only help doctors to advise their patients, but also to work in the years to come to come up with ways to protect them.

Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said that the findings were particularly interesting in relation to Lewy body dementia, which accounts for only 4% of dementia cases.

The researchers had said that even the four Alzheimer's cases might turn out to be Lewy body dementia as the disease progressed.

Dr Sorensen said: "People with Lewy body dementia often have vivid nightmares, restless sleep and hallucinations - this study suggests that people with the disease may experience sleep disorders years before their other symptoms develop.

"This important finding could boost our understanding of how Lewy body dementia develops and help us detect it early. With further research we may be able to stop this devastating disease in its tracks."

Global Stock Market 2008

Global stock markets in 2008

The global financial turmoil seen during 2008 has led to extreme volatility on the world's stock markets.

Below you can see how some of the main global stock indexes have fared during 2008 (

FTSE 100 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: JAN-DEC 2008

NIKKEI 225 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

DAX INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

CAC 40 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

BBC GLOBAL 30 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

Skipping_Sleep

Skipping sleep 'hardens arteries'

People who scrimp on sleep are more likely to develop hardening of their arteries, a precursor to heart disease, research suggests.

Calcified arteries were found in nearly a third of people who slept fewer than five hours a night.

This dropped to around one in 10 for those who slept an extra hour, the Journal of the American Medical Association study of 495 adults found.

Experts said getting enough sleep was important for good heart health.

In the study, the volunteers underwent two CT scans, designed to assess the build-up of calcium in the heart's arteries, five years apart.

Although this single study does not prove that short sleep leads to coronary artery disease, it is safe to recommend at least six hours of sleep a night

Dr Diane Lauderdale, lead researcher

Biggest & brightest Moon on Friday, 12 December 2008

The Biggest & Brightest Moon in past 15 years!
was showed up on Friday, 12 Dec 2008

Where as i enjoyed steaks under it.
its awesome !

click on photos to enlarge.

Hair Loss ?

PREVENT HAIR LOSS !

Since hair loss is common nowadays and hereditary, many people think there is no cure for it. Genetically, it is said that whose maternal grandfather is bald is very much likely to carry the condition. But modern science has given ways around this problem. After reading this article, you can have more confidence and knowledge on how to prevent hair loss.

Dandruff Is your dandruff caused by Scalp Psoriasis? It can be treated. www.psorinfo.com

Where Did My Hair Go? Safely Stop Hair Loss Naturally, w/ shipping to Europe www.wheredidmyhairgo.com

Hair Loss Hair Care Advanced Thinning Hair System by Dr. Antonio Armani M.D. www.ORIGENERE.com

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Steps

1. Take care of your hair. This is the most important thing. The overuse of hair dyes, curling irons and hairdryers is one of the leading causes of hair loss in both men and women.
2. Never color your hair more often than 6 to 8 weeks and for hair loss prevention, letting your hair turn naturally gray is the best thing you can do.
3. Never stretch the hair by braiding very tightly and this can lead to significant hair loss as well. Eating the right foods is something else you can do for hair loss prevention.
4. Add calcium in your diet is very important to strengthen the hair follicles and roots in the scalp.
5. Most important is to have a healthy and regular lifestyle. Sleep enough and sleep on time.

Tips

• When you wash your hair, you should use a good shampoo and hair conditioner.
• Avoid overconsumption of salt (most vegetables have their own natural sodium) and sugar; skip them entirely, if possible.
• Same with alcohol and tobacco, also contributing causes of hair loss and dandruff.
• Illnesses and taking antibiotics often cause hair loss, so keeping yourself in good physical condition enables you to counteract the effect that these have on your hair.
• All bathing or showering strips from your skin the oil which traps water and keeps your skin moist, so avoid harsh soaps, especially those containing deodorant. Also avoid astringents, unless you have oily skin, in which case you can wash/shampoo more often. Those with 'dry' hair may follow shampoos with acid rinses or with oil-based conditioners (again, using organic ingredients whenever possible).

Warnings

• Avoid excessive shampooing--once daily is usually sufficient, using a mild, unmedicated, nonalkaline shampoo (organic ingredients, whenever possible).

CBEs Demo

CBEs Demo Online
http://www.iassessserver.com/accaindex.html

ACCA-Oxford Brookes

Presentation on ACCA-Oxford Brookes (B.Sc) Program.
http://www.accaglobal.com/pubs/learningproviders/tuitionproviders/tpr/teaching/teachers_conferences/past_conferences/2006/singapore_0906/obupresentation.ppt

Pop tunes 'used to calm babies'

Rocking a baby to sleep has been given a whole new meaning as mothers ditch traditional lullabies for popular pop and rock tunes.

Songs such as Robbie Williams' Angels and Oasis anthem Wonderwall proved popular in the poll of 2,000 mothers.

The survey found nearly two-thirds thought rock and pop tunes were better for getting babies to sleep than lullabies like Rock-a-Bye Baby.

Smiling sky

Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon gave a treat to astronomers all over the world.
1 December 2008

In Mumbai, India, officers guarding the area around the Taj Mahal hotel, one of several sites in the city to be attacked last week, talk as they read the morning papers.

the terrorism is blamed on Pakistan without any proofs and evidence.

This is horrible.

Handle Common Interview Questions?

Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?

Intent: Early in your career, interviewers want to get a sense of your personal goals, ambition, drive and direction. At mid-career, they will be listening for responses relevant to their needs.

Context: You'll need to decide how much to share. If you want to run your own business five years from now and need a certain kind of experience in a competitive company, don't reveal that goal. But if you want to become a VP by age 35 and are interviewing in a merit-based environment, go ahead and tell the interviewer.

Response: "My goal is to be a corporate VP by the time I am 35." Or you might give a more subjective answer: "In five years, I want to have gained solid experience in marketing communications and be developing skills in another marketing function."

Tell me about your proudest achievement.

Intent: This question, often worded as "significant accomplishment," ranks among the most predictable and important things you'll be asked. Interviewers want to hear how you tackled something big. It is vital you give them an organized, articulate story.

Context: This is a behavioral question – meaning you're being asked to talk about a specific example from your professional history. Pick an example or story about how you handled a major project that is both significant to you and rich in detail.

Response: Set up the story by providing context. Recount the situation and your role in it. Next, discuss what you did, including any analysis or problem solving, any process you set up and obstacles you had to overcome. Finally, reveal the outcome and what made you proud.

Give me an example of a time when you had to think out of the box.

Intent: This is code for asking about your innovativeness, creativity and initiative. Interviewers want to learn about not only a specific creative idea but also how you came up with it and, more importantly, what you did with that insight.

Context: This is another behavioral question, and the example you select is critical. It should be relevant to the job you're interviewing for, and your impact in the story should be significant.

Response: Tell interviewers how you came up with a creative solution to a customer problem, improved an internal process or made a sale via an innovative strategy.

What negative thing would your last boss say about you?

Intent: This is another way of asking about your weaknesses.

Context: A good approach is to discuss weaknesses you can develop into strengths. However, do not say you work too hard or are a perfectionist. These answers are tired and transparent. Come up with something visible to a past boss that was perhaps mentioned in your performance reviews as a developmental area.

Response: "I don't think she would have called it negative, but she identified that I needed to work on being more dynamic in my presentation skills. I have sought out practice opportunities and joined Toastmasters. I have seen some real improvement."

What can you do for us that other candidates can't?

Intent: Some interview questions are more important than others. This is one of them. It's another way of asking, "Why should we hire you?"

Context: There are two nuances to this question. The first is asking you to compare yourself to other candidates – usually a difficult if not impossible task. More importantly, the interviewer is asking you to articulate why you are special. Your response should sum up your main selling points, related specifically to the job requirements.

Response: Consider what you have to offer: past experience directly related to the job; specialized knowledge; relevant situational expertise and experience (growth, change, turnaround, startup); skills; networks; demonstrated commitment and enthusiasm for the business or your profession; future potential.

Create a list of four to six categories of reasons that best support and summarize your candidacy, and put them in logical order, along with supporting evidence for each reason. Most points should be backed up with follow-up information.

GOODLUCK FOR YOUR INTERVIEW !



-Mash !

3 things you should know about: crisis management

3 things you should know about:

crisis management

1. Orderly conduct

When chaos strikes, different people react in different ways. Some panic, others look for personal advantage. Hopefully, there will also be some skilled enough to take control and restore order. Mini crises happen every day – observing how small incidents are dealt with provides an opportunity to train for the real thing. You will see that panic is pointless, and that short-term gains resulting from others’ misfortunes often lead to longer-term problems.

2. Going up
Learning how to handle a crisis is a very valuable skill. The main characteristic of a crisis is speed – you don’t have much time to sort things out. You must get to the heart of the problem quickly and prioritise what needs to be tackled immediately and what can wait. The worst thing to do is nothing. Crises rarely go away by themselves – their natural lifecycle is one of escalation. A crisis is not always unexpected. Many creep up quietly and can be contained if spotted early.

3. Safety first
If things do go badly wrong, and the crisis could harm people or property then prioritise the safety of individuals and try to limit the extent of any damage. In a well-managed organisation there will be clear crisis management procedures, and if those exist stick to them. If you have no guidelines to follow then you will have to rely on common sense. But gain a consensus first – cross check that others share your sense of the right thing to do. This is much safer than going it alone.

- hope it helps

Mash !