Posted by Elena del Valle on November 21, 2014
Moods, Emotions, and Aging Hormones
Photo: Rowman & Littlefield
In Moods, Emotions, and Aging Hormones and the Mind-Body Connection (Rowman & Littlefield, $29.39) Phyllis J. Bronson, Ph.D. with Rebecca Bronson, Ph.D. address the relationship between hormones and an aging woman’s moods. According to the book, she believes hormone replacement with bioidentical hormones that mimic those naturally produced in the human body and nutrients help aging women control their moods and find wellness.
She is also convinced that women need to accept themselves regardless of their age. Many of her patients, she says, describe finding joy in midlife by identifying a balance of hormones and vitamins, minerals and amino acids. She points out that despite common usage of the same words to describe natural and synthetic hormones they are different and have profoundly different effects on a woman’s body.
The 179-page hardcover book published in 2013 is easy to read and at times soulful. It is divided into an Introduction, Appendix and eight chapters: In Defense of Estrogen, The Truth About Progesterone, Mood Chemistry, The Connection Between Body Type and Hormones, Weaving the Web: How Hormones Are Central to the Female Psyche, Sexuality, Emotions and Relationships, and Diseases of Aging/Adventures in Aging.
Phyllis Bronson, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, is president of Biochemical Consulting and The Biochemical Research Foundation. Her research focuses on the biological impact of molecules on mood and emotion. She relies on her research on human identical hormones in her work with women suffering from hormone-based mood disorders. After working in the biochemistry industry for years, Rebecca Bronson dedicated herself to writing and yoga. As of the writing of the book she was teaching yoga and managing a yoga studio.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on November 10, 2014
Scott Bowen, general manager, Webs
Photo: Webs
A podcast interview with Scott Bowen, general manager, Webs, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, he discusses online marketing best practices for small businesses with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Scott is responsible for the Webs Digital Services Division of Vistaprint, dedicated to providing online marketing tools to the world’s smallest businesses including Webs, Pagemodo, Facebook page builder, and ContactMe.
Before joining Webs in 2012, he spent seven years at OpenText Corporation, an independent provider of enterprise content management software solutions. During that time, he was senior vice president, Cloud Services, and president, Digital Media Group.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Scott Bowen” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the November 2014 section of the podcast archive.
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 7, 2014
Building an Ageless Mind
Photo: Rowman & Littlefield
Just as mental stimulation is important in our youth our brain requires cognitive stimulation as we age. So says William J. Tippett, P.h.D., assistant professor, University of Northern British Columbia. He believes it is important to stimulate as much of the brain as possible to maintain that organ healthy as adults grow older. He proposes that adults nearing their aging years learn about their brain to develop a neuroprotective plan.
In Building an Ageless Mind: Preventing and Fighting Brain Aging and Disease (Rowman & Littlefield, $32.58) he addresses ways to strive for good cognitive ability as people and their brains age. The author believes achieving such brain health requires readers to be proactive and knowledgeable enough to recognize when abnormalities arise. In the book, he explores cognitive training, exercise and diet and their effect on the brain.
The 239-page hardcover book published in 2013 is divided into four main sections: Cognitive Stimulation, Aging and Disease, Healthy Living As We Age, and The Futuristic Brain. He addresses the importance of eating the right foods to nourish the brain. He points to, for example, the effects of vitamins A, C, D, and E as well as reveratrol. He also says physical activity can maintain and enhance brain function. Being an athlete is required, he says, just being physically active.
Tippett is the principal investigator, founder and director of the Brain Research Unit at the University of Northern British Columbia. He is also associate member of the Centre for Stroke Recovery at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 28, 2014
Ana Salceda poses with a sloth rescued from a hazardous road crossing in Panama
Photos: Thirteen Productions LLC
In these times of extensive development many are forced to leave their placid homes to make way for malls, residential complexes and commercial projects. Such is the case for sloths in parts of Latin America. In Panama, for example, the expansion of the Panama Canal has forced wild animals out of their habitats.
Among those affected are sloths. On November 5 between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., Nature, a PBS series, will air for the first time A Sloth Named Velcro, a 50-minute documentary about sloths filmed in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia. An editorial video clip without a hold harmless clause was not available for this article.
An adult sloth high in the canopy in Panama
The film is centered around Ana Salceda, a Washington D.C. area-based Spanish print and television journalist, as she returned to Central and South America to document sloth conservation efforts. Years earlier, while on assignment in Panama, she adopted a baby two-toed sloth she named Velcro. Her relationship with Velcro sparked an interest in sloths that remains alive today.
“I hope viewers see beyond sloths’ cute Mona Lisa smiles, and realize how fascinating, complex, and vulnerable they are. I hope they’re inspired by people like Tinka Plese, who is featured in the film and whose Aiunau Foundation rehabilitates displaced sloths and returns them to the wild,” she said about the documentary in promotional materials provided by the network. “And I hope my relationship with Velcro shows people how nourishing the human-animal connection can be, how it brings us closer to nature, and to ourselves.”
A mother sloth surrounds her young offspring in Panama
For many years, sloths were believed to be lazy animals who slept for most of their existence. Lately, they have become a hot topic among scientific researchers and black market pets. The film points to new studies that show the gentle creatures are not so sloth-like. To demonstrate their point Ana joins Bryson Voirin and his colleagues from the Max Planck Institute as they carry out a landmark study in the field about the sleep habits of sloths. Voirin discovered that, as opposed to their captive relatives, wild sloths sleep only about as much as humans. According to other studies, sloths are not as solitary as scientists used to think, they have social structures, and males keep harems. Surprisingly, recent research indicates sloths move like primates, only upside-down. The documentary features two-toed, three-toed and pygmy sloths.
A Sloth Named Velcro was produced by BelugaSmile Productions and Thirteen Productions LLC. Nature is a production of Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET. While PBS declined to provide budget numbers for the project, some of the funding sources were: Arnhold Family in memory of Clarisse Arnhold, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Estate of Elizabeth A. Vernon, Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation, Susan Malloy and Sun Hill Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television stations.
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 24, 2014
The Wisdom of Menopause
For 25 years Christiane Northrup, M.D. was a practicing physician in obstetrics and gynecology, identifying issues and treatments for patients. Now she dedicates “the second half of my life to illuminating all that can go right.” Her efforts may be welcome by many among the 48 million women in the United States in midlife, undergoing perimenopause or menopause.
She believes menopause is “a mind/body revolution, which brings tremendous opportunity for happiness” instead of the often described problem phase of women’s aging packed with a collection of symptoms to be fixed. In 1994, she shared her views in Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, her first book which went on to become a New York Times Best Seller.
In Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom Creating Physical and Emotional Health During the Change (Bantam Books, $22), also a New York Times Best Seller with 1.25 million copies sold in 16 languages, she discuses her conviction that many physical ailments are born from lifestyle choices and emotional concerns. The 745-page book, most recently updated in 2012, is divided into 14 chapters in which she discusses topics such as the brain, breast health, hormones, pelvic health, food and supplements, healthy bones, sex and sleep, and heart health.
In the book, she indicates menopause leads to a new stage filled with changes, both physical and emotional. They are not, as thought in the past century, a sign of inevitable aging and decline. Instead, they lead to a woman’s transformation, and a time when she must examine her life closely and choose who she wishes to be all over again. She points to a 1998 Gallup survey at the North American Menopause Society in which more than half of respondents between 50 and 65 indicated they were living the happiest time in their lives.
She is convinced that as women go through their midlife adjustments they are drawn less to a traditional supportive family role and more to new adventures and pursuits outside of their home life. That is in contrast to men in the same age group, the author says, because they in turn seek fulfillment in relationships more than in their work, a reversal of their approach in previous years.
According to her website, Northrup has more than 4.4 million books in print, in 24 languages. Her book Mother-Daughter Wisdom was voted Amazon’s top book of the year in parenting and mind/body health.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 17, 2014
Rescue the Problem Project
Photos: Visibility Strategist
For years Todd C. Williams was the informal go to person when a problem project needed attention. He would discuss the project issues with the team in charge and pass his ideas back to the decision makers. They would in turn review them and eventually, if he succeeded in convincing them, approve them. In time, he fine tuned his process and went up the ranks. Now he is president and executive consultant at eCameron, Inc., a project rescue company based in the state of Washington.
In his book, Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure (AMACOM, $39.95), he explains how he and his team identify a problem project, and how they recover it before it fails or has to be canceled. He shares with readers his process for rescuing red projects that focuses on root cause correction and prevention. He points out that 65 percent of projects fail to meet their goals and 25 percent of projects require cancellation.
Todd C. Williams, author, Rescue the Problem Project
The 277-page hardcover book published in 2011 is divided into twenty chapters and six main parts: Understanding the Process and Realizing a Problem Exists, Auditing the Project: Understanding the Issues, Analyzing the Data: Planning for Project Recovery, Negotiating a Solution: Proposing Workable Resolutions, Executing the New Plan: Implementing the Solutions, and Doing It Right the First Time: Avoiding Problems That Lead to Red Projects. He relies on case studies, mostly from manufacturing and information technology projects, to illustrate his steps and process. The end of each chapter includes a summary or Chapter Takeaway.
In the book, he identifies aspects he relies on in his problem solving: the team holds the answers, a strong team can solve most problems, remaining involved with the team is essential, and it is important to remain involved with the team in order to resolve the situation. He also describes his recovery process steps: realizing there’s a problem, figuring out what the problem is, identifying the causes for the problem and the possible solution, negotiating a solution everyone can agree on, and implementing the steps to solve the problem. He points out that it is essential for management to recognize that there is a problem before any of the other steps can be taken and the project rescued.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 9, 2014
Emote
Photos: Career Press
As manager of a team of engineers at Shell Oil Company Vikas Gopal Jhingran, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained engineer and researcher with a Ph.D., had demonstrated his engineering competence frequently, he says; but when it came to client presentation he was out of his comfort zone. A combination of his introverted personality and his immigrant status made public speaking a challenge hard to overcome until he determined to apply himself to improve his verbal communication skills.
By 2007 he became Toastmasters International World Champion of Public Speaking, and the second person of Asian origin to achieve such a distinction. In Emote: Using Emotions to Make Your Message Memorable (Career Press, $15.99), a 223-page softcover book published this year, he shares the insights he gleaned from his personal journey with others, especially introverts and immigrants like himself.
The book is divided into fifteen chapters, an Introduction and an Epilogue spread into three main sections: The Fundamentals, The Mechanics of Speaking, and Other Benefits of Good Communication Skills. The author shares, among other insights and ideas, his experience, emotion based approach and the speeches that led to his public speaking win in 2007.
Vikas Jhingran, author, Emote
One of the speeches was about his decision, while living in Texas, to have his mother in India arrange his marriage for him. The second speech was born of a feeling within him that he was not living life to the fullest and his desire to inspire the audience to live life for the moment. The idea behind the speeches was to make his point by moving the audience. Connecting at an emotional level with the audience, he believes, is the secret to his success.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 30, 2014
Talkpoverty Map – click to enlarge
Map: TalkPoverty.org
Rising stocks lifted household wealth 1.7 percent, according to the Federal Reserve, to $81.5 trillion between April and June of this year (see Household Net Worth Has Rebounded, The New York Times September 19, 2014 and Americans’ net worth climbs to record high, Associated Press, September 18, 2014). The numbers don’t account for inflation. They were adjusted for the change in the Consumer Price Index.
Household wealth reached a record high, 4 percent above the 2007 figures. The improvement in household wealth is especially evident among the wealthiest households. While the net worth of some Americans reached a record high poverty remains elevated, and there was an increase in new debt, mostly from auto and student loans.
Using data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, TalkPoverty.org, a project of the Center for American Progress’s Half in Ten Education Fund, recently released an interactive state by state map with congressional district level poverty data for 2013 designed to showcase the impact of poverty across the nation. It can be found at http://talkpoverty.org/poverty/
The tool relies on seven key indicators: the total poverty rate; the women in poverty rate; the child poverty rate; and the poverty rate among African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos. It also includes a ranking of states’ total poverty rates and child poverty rates.
Greg Kaufmann, editor, Talkpoverty.org
“We haven’t made nearly enough progress to reduce poverty nationwide, and both low- and middle-income families are still struggling to recover from the Great Recession,” said Greg Kaufmann, editor of TalkPoverty.org and senior fellow with the Half in Ten Education Fund, in a press release. “At the state and local levels, we see the disparate impact of poverty, particularly among women and communities of color. The latest round of Census data sheds light on the reality of poverty in our own backyards, and should be a wake-up call to policymakers that we can and must do more to drastically reduce poverty.”
The Center for American Progress suggestions to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and expand the middle class include raising the minimum wage; increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, for childless workers; supporting equal pay; providing paid leave and paid sick days; investing in affordable, high-quality child care and early education; and expanding Medicaid.
Launched in May 2014, TalkPoverty.org is an online hub dedicated to “providing in-depth analysis and educational resources about poverty in America and what we can do at the local, state, and federal level to dramatically reduce it.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 24, 2014
Rintaro Tamaki, deputy secretary general, OECD
Photo, graphic: OECD/Michael Dean
Most major advanced and emerging economies are experiencing a moderate if uneven expansion across regions; and growth is weak in the euro area, which may suffer prolonged stagnation unless something happens to boost demand, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) most recent Interim Economic Assessment.
In the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, the researchers believe growth will be cause unemployment to drop. In Japan, where unemployment is already low, the economy may grow broadly. They believe China will to continue experiencing high yet more sustainable growth rates while India and Brazil rebound from the recession.
“The global economy is expanding unevenly, and at only a moderate rate,” said Rintaro Tamaki, deputy secretary general and acting chief economist, OECD, at the Interim Economic Assessment in Paris, France, according to the OECD website. “Trade growth therefore remains sluggish and labour market conditions in the main advanced economies are improving only gradually, with far too many people still unable to find good jobs worldwide. The continued failure to generate strong, balanced and inclusive growth underlines the urgency of undertaking ambitious reforms.”
OECD Projected GDP Growth 2014-15 – click to enlarge
The OECD projects that in 2014, the United States will grow by 2.1 percent, and by 3.1 per cent in 2015; the United Kingdom will grow by 3.1 percent in 2014 and 2.8 percent in 2015; and Canada will grow 2.3 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2015.
They estimate Japan will grow by 0.9 percent in 2014 and 1.1 percent in 2015; the euro area will grow at a 0.8 percent rate in 2014 and a 1.1 percent pace in 2015.
Growth prospects differ widely among the major euro area economies. The researchers forecast Germany will grow by 1.5 percent in 2014 and 2015, France by 0.4 percent in 2014 and 1 percent in 2015, while Italy will see a -0.4 percent drop in 2014 and a gain of just 0.1 percent in 2015.
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 19, 2014
Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition
Photo: BenBella Books
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. has spent a lifetime studying nutrition, and Howard Jacobson, Ph.D. is a health educator and ecological gardener. They believe a whole food plant based diet without added fat, salt, or refined carbohydrates (such as sugar and white flour) is the essential foundation for a healthy life. In Whole Rethinking the Science of Nutrition (BenBella Books, $16.95) they explore the evidence to support their conclusions, including their belief that people’s eating habits haven’t changed despite the availability of information about nutrition to support their arguments.
Whole follows on the heels of the publication of The China Study (see Health, nutrition experts examine comprehensive China nutrition study), a previous book authored by Campbell and his son, which addressed similar issues and conclusions about nutrition. The 328-page softcover book is divided into 19 chapters and four main parts: Enslaved by the System, Paradigm As Prison, Subtle Power and Its Wielders, and Final Thoughts.
The authors examine the concepts of whole versus reductionist biology, where whole biology views the body as more than the sum of its parts while reductionist biology focuses on the individual organs or aspects of the human anatomy. They are convinced reductionism is the primary view today and part of the reason society, medicine and social policy favor reductionist nutrition.
They propose that readers change the way they view nutrition, medicine and health, taking into account the complexity of the human body and expanding their views to encompass reductionist and wholist approaches. The reasons society clings to old reductionist approaches to eating, they say, relate to a long standing belief in the healthy nature of animal proteins, the common view that the body is made up of a set of diverse and separate parts, and a profit oriented reductionist system.
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