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  • Did the Power of Prayer or Pembrolizumab Cure Former President Jimmy Carter?

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    Former US president Jimmy Carter announced his brain cancer has disappeared, but is it due to a miracle or a medical miracle?

    In August 2015 former President Carter had elective surgery to remove a tumor on his liver. As a part of the process a scan discovered four spots on his brain. The diagnosis was stage IV melanoma. Stage IV melanoma is a kind of cancer that starts in the cells that produce the pigment that gives your skin its color, known as melanocytes. A stage IV diagnosis means it has spread via the bloodstream, or through the lymphatic system, to other areas of the body. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that approximately 76,160 cases of melanoma (also referred to as malignant melanoma) were diagnosed in the United States in 2014. While melanoma accounts for only approximately 5% of skin cancer cases, it is estimated to be responsible for the vast majority of skin cancer deaths. The prognosis is generally not good for a person diagnosed with stage IV melanoma, especially one that has spread to the liver and the brain. The overall 5-year survival rate is about 15% to 20%, depending on the age and overall health of the person. The median survival is 6-10 months. The traditional course of treatment is surgery to remove tumors, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and more recently, clinical trials, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. However, these numbers may be changing as the newer immunotherapy and targeted therapy have led to important improvements in patient outcomes. Recently an immunotherapy treatment made the news when it arrested acute lymphoblastic leukemia, saving the life of an infant in the UK.

    Pembrolizumab breakthrough treatment

    Former President Jimmy Carter was given a new breakthrough treatment Pembrolizumab. Pembrolizumab is sold under the brand name Keytruda and was developed by Merck & Co., Inc. in the United States. In September 2014 it was one of the first immunotherapy drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Instead of killing cancer cells, immunotherapy drugs are designed to boost the body's immune system to fight cancer. Pembrolizumab is a monoclonal antibody. Recent studies involving Pembrolizumab have shown the drug has increased overall survival of melanoma patients. Although the long term outlook is still unknown, it is only thought to extend survival in patients and not necessarily be a cure.

    Science Proves the Healing Power of Prayer

    It's no secret that former President Jimmy Carter is a devout man. Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia as a Southern Baptist. He continued his religious beliefs into adulthood. He attends church everywhere he travels, teaches Sunday school, performs missionary work and is known to pray every day. Prayer groups around the world have undoubtedly been praying for the healing of the former President, along with his family and friends. For the devout, there never has been been any question that prayer has the power to heal, but others are skeptical and want scientific proof. Current research from leading hospitals and universities across the US has shown conclusively a belief in God really is good for you, making you healthier and happier, and helping you live longer. Prayer is a practice that reaches across all religions, and even to those who do not believe in a deity. "Studies have shown prayer can prevent people from getting sick – and when they do get sick, prayer can help them get better faster," Duke University's Harold G. Koenig, MD, states. An extensive review of more than 1,500 reputable medical studies "indicates people who are more religious and pray more have better mental and physical health." And out of 125 studies that looked at the link between health and regular worship, 85 showed regular churchgoers live longer. A CNN poll arrived that 73% of Americans believe in the power of prayer. Research that primarily focused on the power of prayer in healing has almost doubled in the last decade.

    So is it possible that former President Jimmy Carter has been healed by God or by a new breakthrough drug? Maybe both.

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    Source by Lisa M Manley

    Views: 0

  • Creativity and Entrepreneurship

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    We will commence our assignment with a discussion of sources of new ideas. We will then examine methods of generating ideas, creative problem solving, the product planning and development process, and then e-commerce. We will then generate several new ideas using brain writing, the checklist method, and free association. We will apply the product development stage to our new ideas and end our discussion with two alternatives to e-commerce.

    Sources of new ideas include consumers, existing products and services, distribution channels and even the Federal Government (Hisrich, 2008). The files of the patent office are full of new ideas and new product ideas can form as a result of government regulations. Research and development is the largest source of new ideas and can occur in a formal lab or in a garage or basement.

    Many methods can be use to generate new ideas. In focus groups, a moderator leads a group of people through open, in-depth discussions. These groups generally consist of eight to fourteen participants. They are stimulated by comments from other group members in creatively conceptualizing and developing a new product idea to fill a market need. Focus groups are also an excellent way to screen ideas and concepts. Problem inventory analysis is another great method of generating new ideas. It uses individuals in a manner that is similar to that of focus groups. Consumers are provided with a list of problems in a general product category and are then asked to identify and discuss products in this category that have the particular problem. This method should be used primarily to identify product ideas for further evaluation.

    Creative problem solving takes the generation of new ideas to a higher level. Brainstorming allows people to be stimulated to greater creativity by meeting with others and participating in organized group experiences. Rules include the following:

    a) Criticism not allowed

    b) Freewheeling is encouraged

    c) Quantity of ideas is desired

    d) Encourage combinations and improvements of ideas

    Brainstorming should be fun and not contain any domination or inhibition of discussion. It is highly effective in groups of six to twelve individuals and can generate ideas about a problem within a limited time frame through the spontaneous contributions of participants. Reverse brainstorming offers a different perspective as it is similar to brainstorming, except criticism is allowed. It is based on finding fault by asking in how many ways an idea can fail. The focus is on the negative aspects of a product, service, or idea. One must be careful to maintain group's morale though. Reverse brainstorming can be used prior to other forms of creative techniques to stimulate innovative thinking and involves the identification of everything wrong with an idea. It is usually worthwhile since is easier for people to be critical about an idea instead of coming up with a new one.

    Brainwriting is a form of written brainstorming and gives participants more time to think than brainstorming. It is silent and each group member writes down three ideas within five minutes. A form is passed around to all participants while a leader monitors time intervals and can even modify them. The Gordon method is another method of creative problem solving and begins with group members not knowing the exact nature of a problem. This ensures that a solution is not clouded by preconceived ideas and behavioral problems. A general concept associated with the problem is mentioned and the group then expresses a number of ideas. A concept is then developed and related concepts are developed. Finally, the actual problem is revealed.

    The checklist method involves the development of a new idea through a list of related issues or suggestions. The following questions demonstrate how the checklist method is used:

    ii.Put to other uses? New ways to use as-is?

    iii.Adapt? What else like this? What could I copy

    iv.Modify? New twist? Change meaning, color, form, shape?

    v.Magnify? What to add?

    vi.Minify? What substitute? Smaller?

    vii.Substitute? What else instead? Other material?

    viii.Rearrange? Other pattern?

    ix.Reverse?

    x.Combine? Blend?

    Free association is another form of creative problem solving and is one of the simplest and yet most most effective methods. It is helpful in developing an entirely new slant to a problem. First, a word or phrase related to a problem is written down. Then other ones are written down and so on. Each new word attempts to add something new to the ongoing thought processes. This creates a chain of ideas ending with a new product idea.

    The product planning and development process is crucial to an entrepreneur's success. One must first establish evaluation criteria by assessing the market opportunity and size. One must evaluate current competing producers, prices, and marketing efforts. New idea should have synergy with existing management capabilities and marketing strategies. The proposed product or service idea should be able to be supported by and contribute to a company's financial well-being. One should evaluate the compatibility of a new product's production requirements with existing plant, machinery, and personnel. Entrepreneurs should be concerned with formally evaluating an idea throughout its evolution. The idea stage involves identifying new product or service ideas while eliminating impractical product or service ideas.

    One must determine the need for the new idea as well as its value to the company to ensure both prior to proceeding with the ideas. The need determination should focus on the type of need, its timing, the users involved with trying the product or service, the importance of controllable marketing variables, the overall market structure, and the characteristics of the market. In the concept stage, a new product should be developed further and refined through interaction with consumers. The refined idea is then tested to determine consumer acceptance. Features, price, and promotion should be evaluated for the concept being studied and any major competing products. The product development stage involves determining consumer reactions to the physical product. An entrepreneur can provide samples in this stage. The final stage of the development process consists of the test marketing stage, which provides actual sales results that indicate the acceptance level of consumers.

    E-commerce is a relatively new concept in the business world and should be used creatively. An entrepreneur must address additional specific issues due to continually-evolving technology. For instance, one must decide if he will run the internet operations of the business or outsource the task to another firm. A website is often created and must be aesthetically-pleasing and fully functional. Ninety percent of small businesses use websites and ease of use is important with websites. The website is a communication vehicle in which search capability and speed are equally important. A website should have a shopping cart, secure server connection, credit card payment processing, and a customer feedback feature. It should be customized for specific target market groups and should be compatible with various browsers.

    The tracking of customer information is vitally important when dealing with e-commerce. This is often accomplished via electronic databases. Doing so supports personal marketing and captures customer attention with customized one-to-one marketing. It is critically important to protect the privacy of individuals when keeping databases.

    When conducting e-commerce as an entrepreneurial company, one's products should be able to be delivered economically and conveniently. Products must be interesting to a large number of people and a company must be prepared to ship products out of its geographic location. Online operations must bring significant reductions in cost as compared to having a store.

    We now turn our attention to the generation of clothing ideas for Libya. We utilized brainwriting with a time limit of five minutes to come up with a new idea. We drafted an adjustable robe for women that can be rolled up and then attached with velcro to shorten it when desired to offer additional clothing and styling capabilities. We then used the checklist method and came up with the following:

    xi.Modify? New twist? Change meaning, color, form, shape?

    a) Can offer robe in multiple colors such as white, red, and blue

    xii.Substitute? What else instead? Other material?

    a) Can make robes out of breathable polyester / nylon material as used in athletic wear

    b) Allows for wicking away of sweat and moisture to keep clothing dry and light in weight

    We then used free association to come up with a list of related words:

    -xiii.cooling, light weight, windproof, light colors, reflective material xiv. End result is metallic-colored fabric that will reflect sunlight like aluminum foil

    We then applied product development stages to the new ideas to formulate a final product concept. We first established our evaluation criteria by assessing market opportunity and size. The population of Libya is 6,173,579, so this will serve as our potential market (Wikipedia, 2009). We then turned to the idea stage to identify new product ideas. These ideas included the following thought process:

    a) Can offer robe in multiple colors such as white, red, and blue

    b) Can make robes out of breathable polyester / nylon material as used in athletic wear

    c) Roll-up velcro to shorten robe for greater cooling and comfort

    d) metallic-colored fabric that will reflect sunlight like aluminum foil

    xv.Eliminate impractical product / service ideas in this stage

    a) Metallic-colored fabric will be eliminated

    b) Reflecting sun can create an oven effect on wearer

    c) Can actually make customer hotter and not cooler

    xvi.Determine the need for the new idea as well as its value to the company to ensure both prior to proceeding with ideas

    a) Multiple robe colors will appeal to different people

    b) Wicking-material robe will appeal to men more

    c) Roll-up robe will appeal to women more

    d) Can result in greater sales and market share

    e) Is beneficial to company to sell more robes while meeting individual needs of customers via mass customization

    We then moved on to the concept stage to further develop and refine our new product ideas through interaction with consumers. We plan on participating in trade shows to present our new ideas. We will display prototypes and obtain feedback from potential customers. Our refined ideas will then be tested to determine consumer acceptance. We will take consumer ideas into consideration and tweak prototypes accordingly. We will then consider the pricing and products of our competition and price our products accordingly to maintain a competitive edge. In the product development stage, we will determine consumers' reactions to the physical product by allowing customers to try our robes on at trade shows. We will then participate in the test marketing stage by proving actual sales results once our products enter the market.

    Alternatives for the use of e-commerce in conducting one of the product development stages for the actual commercialization of our final product idea can involve the creation of a company website that is easy to use. We will incorporate powerful search capabilities while ensuring that our site performs with acceptable speed. We will include a shopping cart, secure server connection, credit card payment, and customer feedback feature in our website. In addition, our website will be customized for specific target market groups and be compatible with various browsers. We will also track customer information by creating an electronic database that supports personal marketing. This will allow us to capture customers' attention with customized one-to-one marketing while protecting the privacy of individuals via strong database encryption. Incorporating online operations will bring significant reductions in cost as compared to having a store. This will allow us to pass savings on to customers via lower prices and greater value.

    Bibliography

    Hisrich, Robert D., Peters, Michael P., and Shepherd, Dean A. (2008). Entrepreneurship
    (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

    Wikipedia (2009). Libya. Retrieved July 23,2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya .

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    Source by Bobby Mobini

    Views: 0

  • 5 Rules For Successful Affiliate Marketing

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    Online entrepreneurs like affiliate marketing due to the fact that you can make money selling other people’s products or services. You don’t need to create a product. Or a sales page. You don’t need to deal with online payment programs or organize product delivery. The product owner does all of that.

    Your job, as an affiliate marketer, is to send prospective customers to an offer. You then get paid a commission each time somebody buys through your affiliate link.

    Take a note of these 5 rules for successful affiliate marketing.

    1. Only Promote Products That You Believe In

    It’s so much easier telling people about products or services that you truly love and believe in. If you just market any old product or service to make a quick sale, your audience will start to see through you. Any product you choose to promote as an affiliate marketer should offer a solution to a problem that your audience has. When you believe and trust in a product, your enthusiasm will show through and you’ll be able to explain the benefits so much better.

    2. Build Your Own Website

    You don’t actually need a website of your own to start affiliate marketing. You can direct your prospects directly to a product sales page. But, when you have your own website it helps to establish you as an authority in your niche. A person who is a recognized authority doesn’t necessarily have to be a product creator. Your website can offer product reviews, information about your niche and helpful strategies and advice for your target audience.

    3. Develop A List Of Prospects

    Leading on from the point above, your website can be used to build a list of prospects. When you have a prospect’s email address, it gives you the opportunity to send them emails about other related products or services at some future date. Your website can have an email capture form on the homepage. Remember to offer something of value, like a report or eBook, in return their email address.

    4. Learn How To Drive Traffic To Your Website

    You want to push and pull as much traffic to your website as possible. If you don’t have traffic, you won’t have any customers. You can buy website traffic in the form of advertisements or you can generate free traffic by way of your website content being picked up by the search engines. The best strategy for successful affiliate marketing is to use a mixture of both free and paid traffic methods.

    5. Provide Value

    Affiliate marketing is not all about selling. That’s the job of the sales page that your affiliate links lead your audience to. Think of it as ‘telling’ rather than ‘selling’. As people become to trust you and the information you provide they will be more inclined to buy the products that you recommend.

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    Source by Jon Allo

    Views: 0

  • Is MLM Dead? Top 5 Reasons Multi-Level Marketing is on Its Way Out!

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    What a simple question to answer. Right? Not a chance. How in the world can a sixty year old business model shrivel up and disappear? The truth of the matter is that Multi-Level Marketing or MLM has its place in society. The problem is, this model is totally antiquainted and just doesn’t deliver as promised. At the beginning, MLM was revolutionary and literally changed the face of business. Due to technology advances and computerization, the limitations that come along with the MLM structure and associated compensation plans, have MLM’s days numbered.

    What does this mean for the companies that have built there businesses around MLM? For now, it means that the the business consultants that are earning a substantial income will continue earning, less and less as their downlines shrink and are not replenished due to more sophisticated and much more lucrative comp plans. This has already begun and will pick up momentum as people get educated about the alternatives.

    So what are the limitations that have MLM begging for mercy? Lets look at the top five reasons that the extinction of Multi-Level Marketing is inevitable.

    1) Expiring Volume- Before computers, all sales had to be calculated and tracked by humans, which means that mistakes and errors occurred. The longer the errors were carried over, the more of an impact they would have as they compounded. This is the reason that volume expires at the end of every month and the counters start at zero again. Obviously computers have been available for at least 20 years, so why do these companies continue to have expiring volume? a better question is, why do new companies continue to use models that have expiring volume? The answer is that companies that predate personal computers can’t change without shortchanging their highest paid affiliates and newer companies that have volume that expires every month should never have started doing things this way. Either way, it makes it very difficult for average people to succeed this way.

    2) Horizontal Growth- In many cases the strategy that is employed is to start a new line of distribution with every business partner a leader “signs up”. In other words, you are creating a competitor out of all of your personally sponsored partners. Now they are not a competitor of yours of course but they are all competitors of each other and that creates a few problems. It is very difficult for most people to manage many organizations(most MLM’s suggest 6-15 or more organizations). It creates a sense of competition rather than team synergy. It separates people who should be in the same organizations one another.(family members, friends or co-workers). Lastly and probably most importantly, it splits the sales volume up between all of the “legs” which makes it much more difficult for your teammates to earn money.

    3) Organization built in “levels”- The major limitation of organizations built in levels is that no matter what happens or which business partners thrive, the leader is only able to get credit for so many levels of growth. What this means is that if and when any “leg” grows below the level in which the leader is given credit, there is a much less motivation of the leader to train that leg in depth. The biggest problem however is that often times it takes people leading to people leading to people in order for a new leader to emerge. I that process happens at a level below what the MLM’s compensation plan will pay on, the leader is just plain out of luck. Wow, imagine working day after day, week after week and month after month training a leg or team. The training pays off, growth happens and it is very exciting. As is supposed to occur, people lead to people and a superstar is brought into the team. It just so happens that the superstar is one level below what you are paid on and your just out of luck. THAT SU__KS!!!!!!!!

    4) Commission structured in percentages- All the limitations with levels discussed above are still an issue. The problems are compounded when the commissions or payments are calculated using percentages based on levels. As the level increases the percentage paid generally decreases. This reinforces the competition of teams and teammates and also puts the leader in the position where recruiting must continue in order to get large pay increases. If the leaders are concentrating on prospecting and recruiting new partners for themselves, how much time do they have for educating their downline? Not much and even if there was the time, how much motivation does a leader have to train partners that he is paid very small percentages on.

    5) Sign up game- Because of the structure of MLM’s and the philosophy of business plans, most of the emphasis is put on recruiting new partners and not on moving products or services to the end consumer. This limits the amount of volume that each partner produces. The focus of Multi-Level Marketing is to get anyone who can fog a mirror “signed up” and worry about whether they are qualified later. This aids in the high level of attrition and fallout that occurs in MLM. Attrition is is the other major factor that leads to limited commissions and the discouragement that is so common when talking with ex Multi-Level Marketers.

    The forgone conclusion with most MLM companies compensation plans is that because of the limitations noted above, expiring volume, horizontal growth, building in levels, paying in percentages and the sign up game mentality, they are just not designed for the “average” person to succeed. The business models are designed around what the company wants or expects from their distributors and not what can realistically be expected.

    At the end of the day, the vast Majority of people (approx 95-98%) that start a Multi-Level Marketing business never make a penny. Sure, they may earn a few two digit or three digit checks but for most it never amounts to even close to what has been invested. Thankfully we are not stuck in the 50’s or 60’s and there are new and improved compensation systems that do away with all of the drawbacks of MLM and truly give ordinary people who have some level of motivation and determination a real opportunity to set themselves free.

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    Source by Chris Olejniczak

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  • The Catcher in the Rye: Mental Health Services and Social Connections for Children

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    The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, was required reading for my tenth grade English class. I remembered it as a story about the struggles of adolescence, the yearning for independence, and the reluctance to let go of youth. My son is now about the same age as I was when I read the book and we are living through his own nudge for independence, which sparked my interest to give the story another read. Before I began, I wondered what my take on the book would be at this point in life having survived adolescence and received training and experience in child development in addition to having a teen in the house. This reading accentuated the unresolved grief, family dysfunction, mental illness, and lack of social connectedness of the main character, Holden Caulfield, and how these difficulties exacerbate the issues experienced during the typical maturational process. As the country still debates gun control laws in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, and as we try to recover from the Boston Marathon bombing, The Catcher in the Rye reminds us about the importance of developing meaningful and genuine connections with our children and the need to address their mental health issues.

    The Catcher in the Rye begins as a flashback story about Holden Caulfield’s experiences leading up to his nervous breakdown prior to Christmas. Holden narrates the story while receiving inpatient psychological treatment on the west coast. The events begin at Pencey Prep in Pennsylvania, where Holden has been expelled due to poor academic performance, and conclude in New York City as Holden attempts to return home. During the course of his journey, Holden attempts to make connections with a number of people however, he fails miserably due to his social ineptitude, lack of appropriate treatment for what may possibly be bipolar disorder, and inability to believe that other people are capable of being genuine. Holden eventually makes it home and connects with his younger sister. By that time he has decompensated to the point that, even though he is no longer experiencing suicidal ideations, he feels disconnected, misunderstood, and alone. Holden decides that he is going to go away, to escape from society and the rejection, the loneliness, and the pain that he feels. However, Holden makes one last trip to see his sister Phoebe before he disappears. Phoebe’s caring, anger, and innocence provide Holden with the connection he is looking for; she is both a peer and dependent to him. Through Phoebe, Holden is able to cling to his childhood and put off making the leap to young adulthood and independence.

    One theme that I was more attuned to during this reading was the unspoken dysfunction of the Caulfield family. Holden frequently compares himself to his younger, deceased brother, whom he describes as brilliant and athletic, as well as his older brother, who has become a successful author. It is suggested that Holden is a challenging child, and somewhat of a disappointment to his parents as he has been unable to live up to their expectations. He has been expelled from at least four preparatory schools due to poor academic performance, he has difficulty socially connecting with others, and he has frequent mood swings. It is possible that Holden’s parents were drained from watching their youngest son battle with leukemia which left them with little strength to effectively deal with Holden’s grief and potential disability. In Holden’s eyes, they appear to have emotionally and physically divested themselves from him. He has little to no emotional family support and what appears to be very little communication with them. Holden is left adrift to navigate this tumultuous time in his life without support, understanding, and treatment. His efforts to reach out and communicate, including failing out of schools and getting into fights, are not understood as cries for help but are seen as personal shortcomings.

    Holden perceives most people as being phony, superficial, and hypercritical. This may in part be due to his social awkwardness, lack of maturity, and feeling of being abandoned by his parents. He is continuously let down by everyone that he reaches out to for help as they either don’t live up to what Holden has built up in his mind, or they try to take advantage of him. Therefore, Holden comes to believe that everyone is phony who doesn’t or is incapable of meeting his preconceived expectations. In addition, Holden clearly experiences moments of mania during the story, which are often followed by feelings of sadness to the point where he does express some suicidal thoughts. It seems that the lack of communication with his parents, the unresolved grief and guilt over the death of his brother, and the inability to effectively and appropriately connect with others result in Holden being unable to interact with others on anything but a superficial level. The exception to this is Phoebe. Her reluctance to let her brother leave provides Holden with the strength to go home and ask for help. However, in the end, Holden continues to suffer from a lack of love and feelings of loneliness. He states, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” At this point, Holden continues to find it difficult to have genuine, meaningful relationships believing that when you open up to people that they will turn away from you in order to keep the relationship on a superficial level. Holden continues to be plagued by this emotional void and, while there is a hunger for social connectedness, he will continue to experience emptiness and rejection due to his quirkiness.

    For me, reading The Catcher in the Rye in high school highlighted the struggle for independence and Holden’s war on hypocrisy. On this reading, I was able to obtain a better understanding of the tragedy that occurs as a result of Holden’s parents being unable to provide him the emotional support that he needs to overcome his brother’s death and deal with his mental health needs. Holden’s repeated failure to socially connect and develop a meaningful relationship with anyone other than his sister and the lack of treatment for his mental health issues made me think of the recent tragedies in Colorado, Sandy Hook, and Boston. It reinforced the need to take mental health needs and services seriously; just because these conditions are unseen doesn’t mean that they aren’t debilitating. Feeling cared for and connected to others reduces the stress, stigma, and isolation that are associated with these conditions. It made me wonder whether these tragedies could have been avoided if the people involved had received appropriate therapy and treatment. They may have felt connected and accepted, and these tragedies may have been avoided. The message of being accepted and cared for from The Catcher in the Rye continues to be relevant to young people today as we all strive for acceptance.

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    Source by David Pino

    Views: 0

  • Shamanic Healing Through Sounds

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    Shamanism, often considered to be the oldest of the healing professions, makes use of voice, drum, and rattles to communicate with the spirit world, seeking its positive healing energy for a patient. The human voice is the most common means used to summon the spirit worlds.

    In our Native American cultures, specific ‘songs’ are used for healing and these are passed down from one generation to the next. Each culture, having its own traditions, also has its songs.

    When one first hears a shaman’s song, one can’t help but feel the words all sound the same. Much of this may be due to the imitation in movies and television programs. The standard song appears to be “Ah Hey Ya” or something similar to “Ye Ha No Ha.” A careful listening reveals the sounds are the vowel sounds of A, E, I O, and U. During the chanting of these sounds; the sound of each vowel is elongated and is sung with specific intent-the intent to heal an ill patient. Each vowel has its own meaning.

    As tradition dictates, the four directions are acknowledged. The vowel A represents Earth and refers to the direction North. E represents Air and the direction of East; I represents Fire and the direction South, O represents water and the direction West. The vowel of O represents the aether and significantly it refers to being about. Once the four directions and the aether are recognized, the vowel sounds shift in use and meaning. The vowel sound of A is for purification while I emphasizes our relationship to all things (living and nonliving), E, brings a connection to the spirit world, and U takes the shaman into the spirit’s presence. O invokes the idea of innocence.

    During the singing, the shaman may accompany himself with a drum beat or the beat of a rattle. A helper may beat the drum or shake the rattles. During this time, the shaman may dance around the patient.

    Because of modern science, we have a better understanding of what the physical aspects of sound have on the human being. Simply, all things are vibrating molecules. When we are ill, those vibrations get out of sync. The shaman and his chanting and his drums connect to that vibration and realign the natural harmonics of the body; thus, allowing it to heal itself.

    Norman W Wilson, PhD

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    Source by Norman W. Wilson, Ph.D

    Views: 0

  • Mindset: A Summary

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    Dr. Carol S. Dweck was challenged by her student to write a book on the results of years of their research study. Dr. Carol S. Dweck rose to the occasion and has written this book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and How we can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential” in the hope that it will help the ordinary human being understand that life is what you make it and not what was dealt to you at birth. She has written in simple language giving examples of ordinary real people like herself and her students, artists like Picasso, sportsmen like Michael Jordan, the basketball player and John McEnroe the tennis player, Marina Semyonova the great Russian dance instructor and CEOs of different companies to name a few. In the third paragraph of her introduction she writes, “… you’ll learn how a simple belief about yourself… guides a large part of your life… In fact it permeates every part of your life… ” Thus she draws the reader into the book, making the reader one of her real life examples as the reader finds himself or herself in these examples.

    Dr. Dweck introduces the two types of mindsets, the fixed mindset and the growth mindset in the first section of the book. She writes how she learned from ten year old kids that failure could be turned into a gift if you had the right mindset. By giving them hard puzzles to work on, the kids cultivated their intellectual skills through effort and did not give up. These kids became her role models in her pursuit of whether human qualities are things that can be cultivated or are things curved in stone. Each person has a unique genetic endowment but experience, training, and personal effort take them the rest of the way.

    Dr. Dweck’s twenty years of research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. She writes that, if you believe that your qualities and traits are curved in stone and cannot be changed then you have a fixed mindset. And if you believe that cherished qualities and traits can be developed and cultivated then you have a growth mindset.

    Fixed mindset people believe that an individual’s intelligence, quality and traits are a fixed quantity which cannot be increased. If they are doing well in school then they are smarter than the others who are not doing well. If they do well in sports then they have talent dealt them at birth. They spend time to prove that they are better in the qualities dealt to them just to prove they were dealt a healthy dose and that they are not deficient. If something doesn’t work for fixed mindset people they always blame it on something else.

    Growth mindset people work hard to do better always. They do not sit back and see their accomplishments as the final goal. In their minds there is always room for improvement. They have no time to sit and see themselves as the best or better than others. They have no time to sit and think that they have a special talent. They are busy thinking of how they can make it better and what changes they can make if something expected did not go right. To them if something doesn’t go right it’s not failure it is a challenge to find out ways to make it happen.

    In the second section of the book, Dr.Dweck, takes us through her research journey of fixed mindset and a journey of growth mindset through several sets of eyes. Showing how these two mindsets make or break people in their daily lives. In individual sports she gives an example of John McEnroe fixed mindset in tennis. He was a brilliant player who believed on talent not effort and working hard. When he didn’t win he blamed it on something else. Like when he blamed the system for not liking the game any more. He would not take responsibility. Micheal Jordan on the other hand has a growth mindset. If he missed a goal he would go and practice for several hours trying to figure out why he missed it In team sport the author gives an example of Couch John Wooden who was tactically and strategically average but went on to win ten national championships. Coach Wooden a growth mindset, tells us he was good at getting players to fill roles as part of a team. He cared about the feelings of the players. Fixed mindset like Coach Bobby Knight picked players for talent. He was an excellent coach but used the dictator approach to win. The winning were short lived and broke individuals’ characters in the process.

    In corporate companies the author uses General Electric CEO, Jack Welch, as the fixed mindset who managed to humble himself to a growth mindset and as he grew in his mindset the company grew at the same time. Lee Iacocca whose fixed mind set is good to bring the company up to the top in a hurry but then you need to get rid of him before he breaks it. Ford motor company did just that and Lee Iacocca was not happy. Fixed mindsets leaders are more concerned with being heroes and put their ego before the welfare of the company. The author gives example of Enron as a company that broke in the hands fixed mindset high echelon smart people. Enron employed smart people with talent and paid the maximum price of closing the company. Enron is a good example of groupthink where executives get carried away with their brilliance and superiority and make catastrophic decisions.

    In love, these two mindsets can make or break a relationship. In her research, Dr. Dweck, found out that fixed mindsets feel judged and labeled by rejection in a break up. They also chose revenge as a means to get at the person who hurt them. Growth mindsets chose to forgive, learn from it and move on. The author gives Hilary Clinton as an example who forgave her husband and went to canceling in order to save her relationship. Time and effort is needed to cultivate the emotional skills that are needed to keep a relationship.

    Dr. Dweck, ends this third section with the influence that parents’, teachers’ and coaches’ mindsets have on children that are under their care. In her research she found out that children interpret the caregivers words of support and encouragement in a fixed mindset approach. This sets them up for failure. For example, “… You learned that so quickly! You are so smart… ” is interpreted as “… If I don’t learn something quickly, I’m not smart… ” She explains that parents, teachers and coaches should refrain from giving praise that judges their intelligence or talent but praise them for the work that they put in. She goes on to say parents, teachers, and coaches need to give equal time and attention to the children regardless of their initial skills. The children will in turn give all and blossom. The author points out, “… As parents, teachers, and coaches we are entrusted with peoples’ lives. They are our responsibility and our legacy… “

    In the fourth section of the book, Dr. Dweck, embarks on the most gratifying part of her work, watching people change. People are not conscious or aware of their beliefs. Dr Aaron Beck, a psychiatrist, discovered that he could teach them how to work with and change these beliefs. And cognitive therapy, one of the most effective therapies ever developed, was born. Dr Dweck, used workshops to probe the way people of fixed mindsets dealt with information they were receiving. She found that they put a strong evaluation on each piece of information. Something good led to a very strong positive label and something bad led to a very strong negative label. People with growth mindset are also constantly monitoring what’s going on, but their internal monologue is not about judging themselves or others. They are sensitive to positive and negative information, but they are attuned to it’s implications for learning and constructive action. Dr. Dweck also had workshop for students. The workshops require a large staff to deliver the material. So the workshop material was put on interactive computer modules. The teachers guide their classes through the modules, and called it Braintology. These mindset workshops put students in charge of their brain.

    It is interesting to note how a simple characteristic like a mindset affects decision making in a wide spectrum of the population. A student in kindergarten, a CEO in billion dollar company, a surgeon at work in a hospital, a sportsman at practice and on the court, a chef at a high end hotel, selection of dance students and a sport team. College students drop classes or drop out of school due to having a fixed mindset. A growth mindset helps you learn to deal with anger, and deal with stereotypes in racial and gender discrimination. It’s quite fascinating.

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    Source by Nancy Maina

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  • Biotechnology and Social Entrepreneurship: The Perfect Symbiosis

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    This is the era of globalization where modernization in every sector is essential due to societal changes and the continuous demand for a quality life. It’s the duty and a moral obligation of every industry to assist in providing a better way of life to those who are less fortunate and require your help. In such conditions, one needs to be resourceful, altruistic, have qualities pertaining to that of a businessman, and have a scientific view. Biotechnology as such is a field that can contribute to various individuals in terms of money as well as its inventions. This industry has grown monumentally over the years and has helped people find hope and restore their belief in humanity with its applications in the field of genetics, agriculture, food, medicine, and healthcare.

    Biotechnology and social entrepreneurship can go hand in hand. For example, by providing better healthcare options at cheaper costs, consumers are motivated to opt for Biotech products. In this way, the Biotech organizations can help move low-income communities toward better health, and by purchasing their products, the consumers are indirectly promoting the company’s brand. Creating employment opportunities, intellectual wealth, and expanding industrial growth are a few of the absorbing factors that guarantee a focused approach for this sector, resulting in a general benefit to society.

    Scientific entrepreneurs often lack managerial competencies, industrial experience, and contacts, even if they integrate members with an administrative background; so therein lies a critical area that requires some work. Solutions to certain social problems, such as improving the quality of health, economic, political, and cultural problems in reference to poverty, often require fundamental transformations in the political, economic, and social systems. A Social Entrepreneur brings change to the social system by utilizing their work and business to address that cause. Such ingenious creativities represent social entrepreneurship. Hence, it can be stated that the approaches for network building observed by biotech companies regarding social entrepreneurship will combine behavioral features that are archetypal of biotechnology entrepreneurs, and include other characteristics that are a response to the conditions found in their particular environment.

    An excellent managerial team can provide the necessary skills for the management and coordination of scientific and commercial operations, and can also help maintain a good organization repute. One key area where social entrepreneurs play a vital role is in the commercialization of research results of the biotechnology industry thus, warranting sustainable growth. A working local innovation system with respect to the connections between companies and knowledge organizations can be the stimulus to this implementation.

    For example, Juan David and Alicia Carpio launched Q’omer Bioactive Ingredients, a technology-based social enterprise. They witnessed the condition of people regarding their farms and unfair labor deals in Peru, so they designed a sustainable and socially responsible way of working with resources in Latin America. They offer raw materials and ingredients to produce organic products and improve the well-being of people while promoting the economic and social sustainability of producers from Latin America. This is only one example, but with each passing year, more and more Biotech companies are taking the initiative to promote social entrepreneurship and contribute to various societies by providing scholarships, funding, and research options in the field of Science.

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    Source by Chris Bouchard

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  • Relationships: Can A Relationship Allow Someone To Become More Integrated?

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    When someone first starts to spend time with another person, they may find that they only experience good feelings. If there are moments when they don’t, these moments may soon pass.

    The same could also apply when they are not in the other persons company, with this being a time when they will experience good feelings whenever they think about them. If there are moments when they don’t, these moments may also pass before long.

    A Gradual Change

    However, as the weeks and months go by, they may find that their emotional experience starts to change. There could be times when they don’t experience good feelings when they are with their partner and the same thing could happen when they think about them.

    When this happens, one could end up experiencing a fair amount of emotional pain. One could come to believe that the reason they feel different is because of what their partner has done or because their partner has changed in some way, for instance.

    One Direction

    If they come to this conclusion, there is going to be no need for them to take a step back and to see if there is more to it. What is going on out there will be the cause and they won’t have played a part in how they feel.

    The outcome of this is that they could end up blaming their partner, with it being clear that they the ones who are at fault. Their partner could end up going along with this or they could end up pushing back.

    Out of Balance

    If their partner goes along with it, it could show that their partner doesn’t have a clear idea of what they are responsible for and what they are not responsible for. Due to this, it will be normal for them to take the blame for things that have nothing to do with them.

    On the other hand, if their partner draws the line and doesn’t take on what doesn’t relate to them, one may look into what part they are playing in how they feel. If they do this, it will have a positive effect on their relationship and it will also serve one’s own evolution.

    A Different Outlook

    The reason for this is that one will own their own wounds as opposed to blaming their partner for what has been triggered within them. This will stop them for projecting their issues onto their partner, thereby giving them the chance to work through their inner wounds.

    These inner wounds can relate to what has taken place in their adult life and they can go back to what took place during their childhood years. Unlike a physical wound, an inner wound won’t just heal by itself.

    Presence

    An emotional wound can just be covered up and forgotten about by their conscious mind. The downside to this is that when it is brought up to the surface, months or even years later, one can blame another person for how they feel.

    For an emotional wound to be healed, one will need to be with how they feel and to give the wound their full attention. One is then not resisting or trying to change how they feel, they are being with their emotional self.

    A Big Impact

    One way to look at these emotional wounds would be to say that they make it hard for one to operate as a whole human being. They are then going to look whole from the inside, but on the inside they will be anything but whole.

    Another way of looking at this would be to say that one will have many different split-off parts within them. It will take a fair amount of energy for one to keep these parts at bay and it won’t be possible for them to fully show up.

    Weakened

    One could then be in great physical shape, for instance, but they won’t be completely in their power. What this illustrates is that if one ignores these inner wounds, they won’t be able to function at their best.

    Still, what can happen is that one can get used to living in this way, which is why it can seem as though everything is fine. Their energy is unlikely to be as strong as it could be and their presence is likely to be diminished.

    Strengthened

    As they begin to work through their emotional wounds and to integrate these split-off parts, more of them will be able to show up. Furthermore, they will be less reactive and able to be more present around their partner.

    ​

    So by viewing their emotional pain in a totally different way, it will make it easier for them to grow and develop. They will realise that whenever emotional pain comes up, it will be calling out to be acknowledged; it won’t want to be pushed down or changed into something positive.

    Awareness

    If one can relate to this, and they want to become a more integrated human being, they may need to reach out for external support. This is something that can be provided by the assistance of a therapist or a healer.

    The reason one may need external support is because they might not be able to handle these wounds by themselves, which will stop them from being able to work through them. By having someone else to hold the space for them, they will be able to go where they wouldn’t go by themselves.

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    Source by Oliver JR Cooper

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  • The Best Shingles Diet to Cure Shingles

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    Shingles, medically known as herpes zoster, is a result of the reactivation of the dormant varicella-zoster virus in individuals who have previously had chickenpox. The dormant virus stays in the dorsal root ganglia of the sensory cranial and spinal nerves. When an individual becomes immunocompromised (weakened immune system), the virus is reactivated and comes out in the form of shingles. Shingle flare-ups can become very painful. One way to alleviate shingle flare-ups and to help the immune system fight off the infection is to follow a shingles diet.

    One study about shingles diet suggests that consumption of foods that have a high proportion of lysine to arginine might help reduce the severity or extent of the disease. Arginine and lysine are amino acids; amino acids are what form the protein in the body. The two, however, have different functions. Lysine is gives the raw material needed in the production of collagen. Collagen is responsible for wound healing and plays a part in bone growth. Arginine, on the other hand, is one of the components of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is important in keeping a healthy and normal blood pressure.

    Arginine is found to encourage the growth of herpes simplex. Lysine, meanwhile, offsets the effects of arginine. Because of these, the two amino acids compete with each other for the absorption of the affected cells. And since the virus which causes herpes simplex and herpes zoster are related, it is believed that a diet consisting of high lysine: low arginine foods can help individuals suffering from shingles as well.

    A shingles diet which contains high lysine includes plenty of meat, fish, and poultry. s. Farm-raised poultry should be preferred than those found in the wild as they contain less arginine and more lysine. Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt should be included in a shingles diet as they are also rich in lysine. Legumes and soybeans are also great sources lysine.

    Since arginine encourages shingle flare-ups, a shingles diet should comprise of low arginine foods. Some multi-vitamins contain arginine; these kinds of multi-vitamins must be avoided. A shingles diet should also minimize, if not avoid, foods including chocolate, white bread, brewers yeast, nuts, and oats.

    And since shingles is mainly due to poor immune system functions, a good shingles diet must help the immune system fight off the infection. Zinc and Vitamin C are a must in keeping the immune system healthy. Vitamin C is found mainly in fruits and vegetables; oranges, green leafy vegetables, strawberries, potatoes, and peppers are great sources. Zinc, on the other hand, can be found in legumes, whole grains, poultry, red meats, and oysters.

    Proper diet is always a part in the management of any disease. The best shingles diet, consisting of foods rich in lysine, zinc, and vitamin C, should be followed in order to cure shingles faster and to minimize the symptoms of the disease.

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    Source by Bob Carlton

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