Tennis elbow

What is tennis elbow?

Tennis elbow is known as lateral epicondylitis; it is caused by repetitive microtrauma to the extensor tendons of the forearm (due to over use) causing pain in the outer side of elbow.

What parts of the elbow are affected?

Pain starts on the outer side of the elbow (lateral epicondyle)

Who can develop tennis elbow?

Almost anyone can develop, mostly who are engaged in repetitive activities that include.

* hand grasping tennis, gardening, swimming, carpentry.
* Golfing, bricklaying, using scissors or shears.
* Squash, changing occupations, picking up a new sport and starting a new hobby.

What are the symptoms?

* Constant pain localized to the region of the lateral epicondyle which is made worse with active contraction of the wrist.
* spreading of pain may down the forearm up to middle and ring fingers.
* Inability to hold a coffee cup or hammer.
* sleep disturbance due to pain
* Band like thickening over affected elbow
* reduced grip strength.

What is the cause?

Overuse of the muscles and tendons of the forearm and elbow causes inflammation, wear and tear in the tendon. The tears try to heal, but constant strain and overuse keep re-injuring the tendon and thus forms scar tissue. Degeneration, bone spurs and calcifications.

What investigations are helpful?

* x-rays rule out other problems with the elbow joint
* Calcium deposits on the lateral epicondyle may be seen.
* Ultrasound-shows problems with collagen degeneration.
* MRI-when the diagnosis is not clear.

What can be done to make pain go away?

The goal is to help the tendon heal in elbow
* Tablets-ibuprofen, voveran reduces the inflammation and pain of sudden onset. Elbow strap-relieves the pressure on the tendon
* Exercises are used to gradually stretch and strengthen the forearm muscles.
* Iontophoresis-apply ice and electrical inflammatory medication with temporary benefits (can last for a period of weeks to several months)
* Ultrasound therapy, hot and cold fermentations, shock wave therapy
* Surgery is done for unbearable pain despite above measures. It can be done using a general anesthetic or a regional anesthetic.
* Tendon debridement
* Tendon release
You do not have to have bad technique or be a couch potato to develop tennis elbow, but eliminating as many causes as possible may be your ticket to cure tennis elbow.

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Perseverance pays in cold-calling in job hunt

Cold-calling is one of the time-tested techniques of job hunting. Traditionally, job seekers have always tried to cold call various companies for possible job openings. Not only does this work as an effective networking tool and widen your contacts, bur can also generate successful employment opportunities, what’s more, if you are persuasive enough, you can created specifically to your skills and experience.

To begin with: you need to list out the companies you want to work for. Make a nice; long list as the more you chances of getting lucky. Then, use your contacts or directly calls the company to get the name of the hiring manger or executive in your targeted department who can get you’re a job. You have to doggedly seek information on the decision makers and not get sidelined by HR who does not possess real hiring powers.

Next gauntlet: as intimidating as it may seem, you have to get in touch with the decision maker. Here, you can either choose to send an introductory cover letter/email or directly get on the phone and contact the decision-maker. Experts advise that you should not send a resume beforehand or request an interview/job; your goal is to simply arrange a ‘meeting’.

Get the ball rolling: once you have initiated the contact, by name and introduce yourself. Be well prepared to make ensuing conversation as it does not make sense to ask for a job outright. The hiring manager will instantly dismiss you as a desperate job seeker and most probably bang down the phone. A smooth entry is the operative word.so, do your homework so that you can knowledgeably speak about the organization’s history, needs, challenges, goals or future plans. Illustrate a well-planned value proposition to prove the benefits that you offer like helping solve a current problem, assisting in specific goal achievement or even being a recognized expert in the field.

Explain your background and experience before requesting to meet him in person. Else, you can warm up the cold call by mentioning the name of a contact that knows the manager or even begin enthusiastically with some good news about the company. Preparing such a sales pitch beforehand will arouse interest and make the person more receptive to listen to you.

Smooth talk: cold calling calls for good communication and people skills. Being shy or timid will not do. You have to be aggressive and persistent in your approach, but without appearing rude or pushy. Be friendly, polite and warm so as to establish a good rapport.

Rejections: the contact is obviously not expecting your call and may refuse you saying there are no immediate openings or try to sidestep you directing to HR. you have to be resourceful and say that you only want to speak for a while. Try to tenaciously angle for a meeting, yet be prepared to receive umpteen rejections. You have to maintain a positive attitude and not let the rejection get to you. Believe in yourself and your abilities and persevere in the cold calling, as your goal is to contact as many employers as possible. And remember that all it may take is one positive response to strike gold.

Further contacts: even if the call reaches a dead end, you can either seek an informational interview to gain more knowledge/advice of the field as well as source job leads and referrals to other departments/companies that may have job openings available. Also, continue to network with the initial contact as a future resource. To sum up, cold calling is not fun; the hard work can be tiring and frustrating. You will be discouraged more often than not.

But, such unsolicited job prospecting should form an essential part of your overall job hunt strategy as it helps you to bypass HR and get a foot in the door of organizations on your way to your dream job. Not only will it get you face-to-face with decision makers but if you are lucky you may even reach them just before they make a public hiring announcement.

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Less is best

How do you keep your eating in check? Here’s one way: visualize your last meal. A recent British study found that women who were asked to write a detailed description of what they’d eaten for lunch that day snacked significantly less in the afternoon than those who didn’t focus on their last meal. Researchers speculate that recalling a specific, vivid memory activates the hippocampus, an area of the brain belived to be responsible for both decision making and memory recall, giving would-be snackers better appetite control.

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Credit card users learn tough lessons

They are deep-pocketed people. Risk taking comes ever so naturally to them. These to combine to make these people a lethal force in the market place. Their entry and exit, not surprisingly, have left reverberations cross the market. Thanks to the credit card issuers one the foreign and new generation banks, spending has acquired a new dimension and definition among the Indian middle class. If there was a competitive rush to issue credit cards, there was also this unusual craze to hold them. Thus, there was a convergence of interest. This had indeed led to the emergence of card culture.

With the economy doing well and individual confidence running high, there was a perfect harmony of interest. When times were good, everything had worked. Alas, these are troubling times. Things have already started to turn sour. A sense of despair and a feeling of wronged have overtaken the credit card users as the issuers of the plastic money have begun to tighten their screws in an obvious attempt to cover their positions.

The meltdown

In the wake of global financial meltdown and following especially in the aftermath of the financial shenanigans at the Ramalinga Raju-founded Satyam, many credit card players have begun to take some really drastic step as a measure of abundant caution. Taking precaution is alright and welcome. What is incomprehensible, however, is the way they went about doing that. Many credit card users found themselves in a jam all of a sudden.

To their dismay, they have discovered that their limits have been slashed. This unannounced unilateral cut in their limits has thrown a spanner in their financial planning. While slashing the limits, the card issuers have overlooked the ‘disruptive’ implication of their move. What if a card user has already overshot the lowered credit limit? In this instance, the over used money has to be paid immediately. More often than not, the credit card issuers had gone overboard in luring clients by heavily advertising the roll over option or the minimum payment facility ends up paying very heavily in the form of interest charges (well over 35 percent now). In fact, the credit card players make huge money thanks to these unsuspecting clients who roll over their payments for a variety of reason. In the changed context, a sudden slash in the credit limits has caught the roll-over clients” in a tight spot. How could they suddenly find lump sum money to settle ‘overshot amount’ arising primarily because of lowering of their credit limits? If they don’t pay it immediately, they are charged additional interest on the so-called ‘overshot amount’ in the end, the card user is left paying usurious interest.

Damocles sword

With the proverbial sword hanging over their heads in the wake of recession in the U.S. and Europe, software professionals are already in a state of extreme uncertainty. In fact, the real estate boom and the growth in Indian car population are largely linked to the rise of Indian software industry as a global power house. As they struggle their way out of the troubled times, the out-of the-blue cut in their credit card limits has further compounded their misery. There is larger social implication here. What impact will the pile-up of financial worries on individuals (caused in parts by unhindered spending habits and partly due to economic slowdown induced actions) have on the society at large? It is reasonable to assume that an individual will realign his/her expenditure to the new situation where the incomes have shrunk and uncertainty has increased.

For a client who rolls over payment, cutting credit limit can prove very disruptive. In the name of competition, the credit card players had freely roped in all and sundry clients without any real scrutiny of the credit worthiness. And, they had also provided the clients unbelievable credit limits without any rhyme or reason. At the first hint of a trouble, these players have moved in fast to cut any possible loss. Their sheer size, give these players a kind of a tonic to indulge in strategies that have disruptive elements inbuilt. The moral of the story is: spend within the means.

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Ragas do have curative power

Music therapy is not new to Indians. It is called Gandharvaved in ayurveda where there is reference about particular ragas treating particular diseases.

The raga hindol used in a specific way gave miraculous relief to patients suffering from spondylitis. Lower back and knee pains in other patients also gave similar results. Being an engineer and a student of science, I wondered about the phenomenon behind these occurrences and started discussing with qualified therapists- Dr Himalaya Pantavaidya (M.D). a well-known anesthetist, and Vaidyaraj Sanjay Chhajed (M.D. Ayurveda), a Nadiatadnya (pulse expert), helped me clear my doubts- and I formulated a theory and system of music therapy called Sur-Sanjeevan, based on four major aspects – modern science; mood elevation theory; principles of ayurved; traditions of Indian classified music.

Stress relaxation:

Music can affect one’s moods in various ways. It can relax as well as activate the mind. At the end of a hectic day of work, your brain goes to the beta frequency state (between 12 and 16 Hertz). A favourite piece of slow instrumental music will bring it back to its relaxed alpha state (between 9 and 12 Hertz) and then in Theta state (between 5 and 8 Hertz). Any raga, any ghazal, any western music, film songs, fast or slow music- whatever you like can be used for relaxation. Music refreshes your mind, elevates your mood and prepares you for the next activity. Alaaps in ragas like Yaman, Bihag, Malkauns, Darbari Kanada on flute or violin are particularly effective in soothing the mind.

To perform your work smoothly, to accept challenges, to complete a task in scheduled time, you need ‘positive stress’ Ragas like hindol, Alaiya Bilawal and Bihag Shankara will enhance your willpower and help prepare your mind to face difficult situations.

Feelings like tension, anxiety, grief, anger, fear and depression create disturbances in the mind and generate harmful ‘negative stress’. To reduce tension and anxiety, a feeling of reassurance is required. Ragas like Rageshree and Gavti on instruments like sitar and sarod, played in Madhyalaya (medium speed), should be used for this purpose.

To get relief from grief, ragas like Kalavati and Bihag can be used. For anger, the Noon Ragas like Madmad Sarang and Multani heard several times over give you results. Ragas like Yaman and Bhoop are effective in combating fear, while ragas like Darbari, Sohni and Shankara are useful for depression.

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Obama defends health reform plan

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday strongly defended his ambitious plan, calling it vital for recovering from the worst recession to hit the U.S. since the great depression.

“Even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before. And health insurance reform is central to that effort,” said Mr.Obama at a prime time news conference at White House, aimed at taking his case for health reforms to the people.

Mr. Obama’s nationally televised press conference comes as he has been facing criticism from the opposition Republicans for his decision to overhaul the health care system.

“This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance. Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job,” said Mr.Obama.

“It’s about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive. And it’s about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid,” he asserted. Mr. Obama warned that if the spiralling health care costs are controlled, the U.S. will not be able to control its deficit.

“If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we’re having right now,” he said.

Criticism:

Referring to the growing criticism against him, which has also pulled down his approval rating, Mr. Obama said: “I realise that with all the charges and criticisms being thrown around in Washington, many Americans may be wondering, what’s in this for me? How does my family stand to benefit from health insurance reform?”

Responding to his critics including Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who has come out on a series of news channels in the past two days, the President said: “Tonight I want to answer those questions.”

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Osama’s son killed in U.S. strike: report

Osama bin Laden’s son Sa’ad was probably killed by a U.S missile strike in Pakistan earlier this year, U.S. National Public Radio has reported, citing U.S. intelligence officials.

Sa’ad bin Laden, a prominent figure in the murky relationship between Iran and Al-Qaeda, was believed to have gone to Pakistan after spending a number of years under house arrest in Iran, said U.S. intelligence officials in January.

A missile fired from a U.S. drone aircraft is believed to have killed him sometime this year, NPR cited an unnamed U.S. counter-terrorism official as saying on its website.

U.S intelligence agencies were “80 to 85 percent” certain Sa’ad bin Laden was dead, said the official, adding that he was not important enough to be targeted himself but was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

It was not clear whether Sa’ad bin Laden was near his father when he died, NPR added.

The official described him as being active in Al-Qaeda, but not a major player. He was thought to be in his late twenties.

U.S. forces have to stepped up their drone attacks in Pakistan since last September, targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants in areas bordering Afghanistan.

The United States has carried out close to 50 such air strikes since the beginning of last year, killing about 470 people, including many foreign militants, according to a tally of reports from Pakistan intelligence agents, district government officials and residents.

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Police acted stupidly: Obama

President Barack Obama bluntly accused the police of acting “stupidly” by arresting Mr. Gates last week. Mr. Obama stopped short of accusing the police department of racial profiling, as Mr. Gates has done. But during a prime-time White House news conference that was otherwise largely devoted to health care, Mr. Obama weighed in full bore on the Gates case and suggested that the police should never have arrested him.

He added that African-Americans and Hispanics in the United States had long been familiar with racial profiling by law enforcement. “There’s a long history in this country of African-Americans being stopped disproportionately by the police,” he said. “It’s a sign of how race remains a factor in this society.”

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Search for evidence of manslaughter

Police and federal agents on Wednesday raided the Houston offices of Michael Jackson’s personal doctor Conrad Murray, in search for medical records they believed would constitute evidence of manslaughter, said the doctor’s lawyer.

Dr. Murray was the personal physician who was with Michael Jackson when the entertainer died suddenly of cardiac arrest last month at age of 50. Attention focused on the doctor in the immediate aftermath of Jackson’s death when he dropped out of sight just as Jackson’s family and investigators were seeking more information on the pop legend’s last hours.

Though the results of a corner’s report are yet to be released, attention is focused on the hospital anesthetic propofol, a strictly controlled drug usually administered intravenously that can easily cause cardiac arrest if not properly administered. The results of a private autopsy carried out on behalf of the Jackson family have also not been revealed.

News reports said that up to a dozen agents the Drug Enforcement Agency entered the Murray’s medical office, armed with a search warrant, looking for medical records. “The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offence of manslaughter,” said Ed Chernoff, Dr. Murray’s attorney, in a statement posted on his law firm’s website.

In an earlier statement, Mr. Chernoff said Dr. Murray did not prescribe any drugs that may have caused the singer’s death but that the investigators were seeking Jackson’s medical records.

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Indian “Internet predator” held in US

In possibly the first such case involving an Indian in the U.S., police in Pennsylvania have arrested an Indian engineer on charges of using Internet for soliciting young girls for sex.

In a statement, the Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said Nityanand Gopalika (30), here on a work visa, allegedly used an Internet chat room to approach what he believed was a 13-year old girl from the Pittsburgh area.

The “girl” was actually an undercover agent from the Child Predator Unit. According to the criminal complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit, Gopalika engaged in a series of chats over several days questioning girl about her sexual experience and describing the sex acts he wished to engage in. Gopalika is also accused of sending the girl two obscene web cam videos.

Gopalika was arrested on July 1 when he arrived at a predetermined meeting location.

Following a search of his vehicle, agents seized two laptop computers, a digital camera, a cell phone allegedly containing a partially completed text massage to the “child”, directions to the meeting location and a bag of condoms. Gopalika was preliminarily arraigned on July 1 and lodged in the Butler County Jail in lieu of @15,000 cash bail, pending a preliminary hearing on Friday.

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Traveling with kids…

….Can be tough. But, with enough planning it’ll be a breeze.

Sport the right attitude: Anticiapate trouble but remember to keep your cool. Go with the flow. Children will sense fear only when parents stress. So now you know what you don’t need to do!

You need: Make a list of all medicines you need to carry. Carry a first aid box in case of emergency. A box of wet wipes is handy. Ziplock bags are a boon while traveling, carry some in all sizes.

Right time: Coordinate traveling in cars with your child’s nap timings. It helps. This can work for flights as well. Choose fight timings wisely. One just needs to plan ahead. Get on the plane and let the child explore a bit and soon you will find him/her rubbing their eyes only to wake up fresh when you land.

Take advantage: With the facilities available, Pre choose your seats. Plan what you want as meals or special meals as kids will love it if their meal comes with a toy! If your airline still allows you to board first because you have kids…consider using it, especially if there is only one grown-up.

Carry books/toys: Books and toys can ease the boredom and serve as a positive distraction especially on long flights. Even a set of portable art supplies with crayons, markers and some paper can transform long hours into hours of amusement. Carry toys that your child likes playing with. If it works at home it will work in flights and cars. Or just surprise them with a new one!

Prepare them mentally: Before taking a trip with kids, talk to them about things being different be it food, timing or their routine in general. It will not only make them comfortable but it will also get them involved in what’s happening.

Frequent breaks: This one is for traveling by cars. Break long trips into smaller segments, offering frequent rest stops. Let your child release some energy by exploring the scenery or generally play around.

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Glomus tumor

Glomus tumor is a rare swelling/ mass usually found growing under the nail. They are very painful and NOT cancer swelling.

The glomus tumor is the white oval mass on the left side of the nail bed.

Introduction

The glomus tumor is the small (2 to 6 mm) whitish, bumpy mass growing below the nail bed (the pink soft tissue that grows below your nail plate. They are very sensitive to cold exposure or to pressure).

What are the patient’s complaints?

• Exquisite pain when they hold a glass of ice water, or put their fingers in cold water.
• Unbearable pain when someone/ objects accidentally touch the finger.

What is the cause of the tumor?

Hands have a special connection between nerves (the body’s signaling system) and blood vessels (which can increase or decrease blood flow by increasing or decreasing their diameter). These special connections are called glomus bodies. These glomus bodies sometimes grow inappropriately, causing a glomus tumor.

How doctor diagnose the problem?

Diagnosis is exclusively based on the patient’s painful complaints. Sometimes an MRI is needed, but usually not.

What is the treatment?

Using operating microscope (25 times magnification) the hand surgeon removes the glomus tumor from the nail bed and repairs them in sequence. The nail grows back to normal with in 3 months. Sometimes, if the glomus tumor is large, some reconstruction of the nail bed may be needed.

What is the result?

Once the tumor is completely removed, the patient does quite well and has no further problems. If the tumor is not completely removed, it can grow back.

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Going to the beach?

A study found that sand can also contain high levels of fecal bacteria, and that people who dig in it get sick. Swimming in water that contains too much bacteria from sewage and other sources is a well-known risk for getting sick. But playing in sand next to water may even be riskier, a new study founds.

Writing in The American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers said the sand could also contain high levels of fecal bacteria, and that people who dig in it could develop gastrointestinal illnesses.

For the study, researchers got contact information from more than 25,000 people visiting seven beaches with in seven miles of sewage treatment plants. About 10 days later, the researchers asked how they had spent their day at the beach and whether they had experienced problems like vomiting or diarrhea since then.

Those we dug in the sand, the study found, were significantly more likely to report having been sick-with those who had allowed themselves to be buried in the sand most affected. Children seemed to be at extra risk.

It is not uncommon for swimming to be temporarily banned when there are high levels of bacteria, often from treatment plants, run off from cities or animal life, until the water clears. It may be more complex when sand is involved, said the lead author of the study, Christopher D. Heaney of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. It may be that the bacteria can continue to live in the sand even after the bacteria in the water has returned to normal levels.

Heaney said people should wash their hands before they eat on the beach.

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Right mix of talent ensures team success

Over the years teamwork has gained a lot of prominence at the workplace. The basic idea behind constituting teams is to leverage diverse talents and achieve a synergistic effect. Teams are supposed to produce outputs that are far superior in quality and quantity than all the individual efforts taken together.

A team can be called effective only when it leads to synergy. But in reality effective teams are often a far cry. This is because teams lack the right mix of individual talents.

A team can succeed only when drive, creativity, analytical abilities and coordination skills are present in the right measure in the team. Every individual no doubt brings one or more of these skills to the team.

But the right mix is often difficult to achieve. There is usually duplication of certain skills and paucity of others leading to imperfect team performance. To avoid this imbalance an analysis of team strengths should be performed whenever a team is constituted.

At the outset the strengths necessary for the team to succeed should be determined. In general creativity, drive, coordination and analytical abilities are the must have strengths for the success of the team. Creativity involves spotting new opportunities and making the best use of them.

You are lucky if all your team members are creative. But even otherwise a few members capable of stimulating creative thinking can generate a lot of new ideas from the entire team. These people have the ability to develop new perspectives on problems.

Apart from making original contributions themselves they encourage others to stretch their imagination and produce new ideas.

Some people have the necessary drive to lead others towards progress overcoming every hurdle that comes their way. Unflinching focus on the task at hands is their strength. At least a few members in the team should possess this strength to convert plans into reality.

People with drive excel at organizing work. By finding practical solutions to problems they ensure that work gets done smoothly.

Good judgment is another vital component for a team’s success. A team therefore needs some analytical minds to evaluate situations and think about possible choices. People with objective outlook pay attention to detail and prevent costly mistakes from happening.

Some people have a natural ability to bond well with others. They can influence others without exerting pressure. Their skills come in handy to coordinate the activities of the team. They encourage people to come together, share ideas and work towards a common goal. On the whole they promote a good team atmosphere. At least a few members in the team should possess these qualities to develop mutual agreement among members.

Once you determine all the strengths required for successful working of your team, the next step is to circulate this list among your team members. Ask each individual member to mention his areas of strength vis-à-vis the list you have already prepared.

From this information you will know where your team is strong and what strengths are missing. Your team will be able to maximize performance if the entire range of strengths identified by you are present.

If some are lacking, the skills need to be developed or acquired by bringing in new members with the required competence. For instance if coordination skills are absent there will never be any synergy because the team members will be going in different directions. It then becomes important to impart training to the members on coordination skills or bring on board new members with these skills.

On the country there may be duplication of strengths in some areas. This has both advantages and disadvantages. If there are subgroups within the team doing different tasks then two or more people having the same strengths is an advantage. Also when a team member is absent you will know whom to substitute for him. The downside however is that duplication of strengths might lead to personality clashes and differences.

Yet when you know the reason behind the conflicts it becomes easier for you to solve the issue. If there are personality clashes among members you can focus on some other strength they possess and assign them duties in such a way that they need to use them.

Or you can even decide to change the composition of the team in the larger interests of the project on hand.

Correcting omissions of strengths and balancing duplications is the key to building an effective team. Analysis of team strengths provides you with the right data to do just that.

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It’s time to don the strategic thinking cap

Till recently only top management were involved in strategic thinking. Not any longer. Organization the world over have realized that to counter economic turbulences like the on going recession, they cannot count on a few thinking heads alone.

They need creativity in abundance and therefore want everyone in the organization to explore the environment, spot new opportunities and make smart choices that generate benefits to the organization as whole. So don’t be surprised if your boss asks you to come up with innovative strategies to pep up revenues or control costs.

In fact strategic thinking is a new dimension added to all jobs irrespective of levels, thanks to the ever-increasing uncertainties in the business landscape.

Do you wonder what strategic thinking is all about and are clueless on how to start thinking strategically? Don’t worry. The words ‘strategic thinking’ no doubt sounds daunting, but in reality they are only an extension to the thought process you already go through while discharging your duties at work. All you need to do is to broaden your outlook continuously. Strategic thinking is about analyzing opportunities and problems from a broader perspective and taking a holistic approach to day-to-day issues and challenges. Going forward, to grow professionally it is not simply sufficient to meet all the goals and objectives set by your boss; you must also exhibit the capabilities to set new goals for yourself!

Here are some basics that will help you to get started.

Get trends: First of all, you must cultivate a genuine interest in what is happening in your division, company, industry as well as the wider business environment. Continuously interact with others in order to stay current on the developments taking place in your unit, company and also across the industry. You must also update your knowledge of current and future trends by reading books, magazines, industry reports, attending seminars and talking to experts. This will help you to find new opportunities to exploit and also dispel any potential threats before they actually harm your organization.

Shift gears: The next thing you must do is to enhance your flexibility. This helps you to quickly embrace new approaches by shifting gears when new knowledge makes it a necessity. Start scanning the environment for any likely changes in the conditions in which your unit or company operates both in the short and long term. Reassess your competition and also your customer base. Finding out what your customers truly value helps you to design new means of winning their favour. Also knowledge about how your competitors are faring and where they are falling short helps you to create better plans for your organization.

Collect ideas: Since strategic thinking is all about taking the bigger picture into consideration, you must work non-stop to broaden your horizons and gather new knowledge.

For this you must welcome new ideas from all quarters. Collect ideas from supervisors, peers, subordinates and also other stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and business partners. This helps you to broaden your knowledge and also spot connections between seemingly unrelated fields of knowledge leading to discovery of new opportunities and trends.

Last but not the least is to develop a positive attitude. You must view challenges as opportunities and believe that success is possible.

Once you practice these basics you have all the makings of a strategic thinker.

Before you start using your strategic thinking skills you must acquire knowledge about the high level strategies of your own organization. Speak with your colleagues, boss or other higher-ups to seek clarifications.

Read company publications, annual reports and also listen carefully to executive speeches to get a feel of the corporate strategy.

Then use your understanding of this strategy to ensure that your activities support it.

If gathering data is the first phase of strategic thinking, using the information to generate results forms the crucial final phase. In this phase you must categorise related information into patterns.

Then visualize new possibilities, question your assumptions and generate alternatives. As strategic thinking is an on going process and not a one-time event you should always be open to new information. Also learn to tale criticism in the right spirit.

This helps you to understand the cause and effect relationships among the various components of the system better. Then you will be able to objectively analyse the pros and cons of every situation and make smart choices.

With this background knowledge you become confident enough and understand that strategic thinking is not that difficult after all. So put on your strategic thinking cap now and embark on a long journey of discovering opportunities of growth for yourself and the organization.

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Eclipse of century today

A rare opportunity to see the corona of the sun awaits astronomers on July 22, when a total solar eclipse will occur. It will be visible in India.]

“This will be the longest eclipse of this century with the maximum phase being 6 minutes 39 seconds.

The next total solar eclipse that can be viewed form many parts of India will occur only on June 3, 2114,” according to P. Iyamperumal, Executive Director, Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, Chennai.

Wednesday’s eclipse will also be visible over some of the Japanese Islands, China and South Pacific Ocean.

On July 22 the path of the moon’s darker shadow (umbra) will extend across India. “The central path will begin in India’s Gulf of Khambhat at 6.23 am

The moon will pass through its closest point to the earth several hours earlier and so the path of totality will be unusually wide.”

This shadow will sweep over cities such as Itarsi, Silvasa, Jabalpur, Vaddara, Ujjain, Mirzapur, Gaya, Patna, Muzzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Thimpu, Itanagar, Dibrugarh, Gangtok, Surat, Bhopal, Indore and Varanasi.

Traveling across Bhutan, the umbra will touch Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, before reaching China. South Pacific will experience the greatest eclipse at 8.05a.m.

In India, the totality will last for different durations at different locations. At Surat, the totality will be for 3 minute 17 seconds 8 secs, at Itarsi 2 minute 50 seconds. Those in Tamil Nadu would only see a partial eclipse.

In Chennai the sun would rise as an eclipsed one at 5.52 a.m. Only 63 percent of the sun will be obscured by the moon at the time of greatest eclipse at 6.21a.m. If would begin at 5.29a.m. and end at 7.18a.m.

It is dangerous to look at the sun during an eclipse except during the brief period of totality, when its disk is completely covered. Therefore, special protection is required partial of total eclipses.

The safest way to view the disk is by the projection method in which an image of the disk is projected on a white paper using a telescope or binoculars.

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No drop in Indian visa applications for Australia

New Delhi: Even as the Australian government has sent three delegations to India in a month to mend its reputation as a “safe education destination” after the spate of attacks on Indian students down under since may, there has been no decline in the number of visa applicants from India. In fact, June saw an increase of eight percent over May in visa applications from India, minister for immigration and citizenship Chris Evans told the Hindu here on Tuesday.

Concern

Still, according to Mr. Evans, the Australian government was very concerned at the damage done to the country’s reputation as an education provider; more so because India is regarded as a major long-term source of migration of skilled labour. “The reporting in India has been very damaging to Australia”. As a case in point, he cited the latest reports of two Indian students sustaining minor injuries in a scuffle in Wollongong in Sydney. Investigations revealed that they were Saudis, he said.

Asserting that the attacks on Indians were not racist,Mr.evans said the incidents were a manifestation of various social issues relating to housing and transport, be sides the student’s inability to focus on education because they had to pay back hung loans.

“Perverse incentives”

Conceding that there are loopholes in the Australian immigration system which allows education agents to market course in cooking and hair-dressing as a shortcut to permanent residency {PR}, the minister said there were “perverse incentives”. Australia has a system of awarding points to particular job classifications for migration purposes. “Currently, the scheme awards some occupations like cooking and hair-dressing far too higher than a bachelor of science”.

The government, he said had announced a review of this system, which sometimes resulted in good students opting for the cheaper, shorter, lower skill course because they got PR quicker.

Verification of skills

As part of the process of tightening the immigration laws, the government would introduce a job readiness test from the next year to verify if applicants have the skills they claim. This, Mr. Evans said, would hopefully have a trick-le-down effect on education providers because if their students failed to clear this test, it would be a reflection on the institutions training them. “This should help clean up that segment of education providers who are selling a certificate but not giving good education”.

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India –U.S. nuclear deal sent to Congress

As the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to complete all steps of the civil nuclear deal with India, U.S. President Barack Obama transmitted to the Congress his first report on the landmark accord but the contents were not made public.

The White House while referring to Mr.Obama’s action also said the India-U.S. nuclear deal sealed during the previous Bush Administration opened up new pathways for partnership between the two countries on non-proliferation issue globally.

“Civil nuclear cooperation with India has opened new pathways for a strengthened U.S.-India partnership on non-proliferation issues globally”, National Security Council spokesman Benjamin Chang told PTI.

Mr. Benjamin said Mr. Obama transmitted on Tuesday to the U.S. Congress his first report on the civil nuclear deal.

This is the first report issued by Mr.Obama since the entry into force of the 123 Agreement in December last year.

“The report covers the period of October 4, 2008, to June 30, 2009. It provides an update on U.S. –India civil nuclear cooperation and developments that relate to India’s nuclear-related activities,” Mr. Obama wrote to the Chairman and ranking members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr.Obama wrote to them: “Classified information associated with these issues has been provided in a separate classified information associated with these issues has been provided in a separate classified annex.”

The report also includes updates on joint efforts by India and the US to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

This is the first report issued by Mr.Obama since the entry into force of the 123 Agreement in December last year.

The report is being offered pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 and the United States –India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act of 2008, the latter being the approval legislation for the 123 Agreement.

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Nexus card allows for quick traffic processing

The NEXUS card, with an imbedded radio frequency identification chip allows expedited processing through dedicated traffic lanes between the U.S. and Canada, as well as airports and marine location.

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Experiment to create insect-machine hybrids

A male silk moth is strapped into a vehicle so that its legs can move across a free-spinning ball. The Insect is motivated to steer the vehicle left or right using female odour, in an experiment to create insect-machine hybrids.

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Snapshots

Is the San Andreas Fault at risk of rupturing?

Increased rate of tremors may indicate that stress is accumulating more rapidly than in the past along a segment of the San Andreas Fault, California, which is at risk of breaking.

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Exhausted? Get yourself checked

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood sugar levels. This happens either due to defective insulin secrection or action or both helps in burning of glucose obtained from food to give energy. There are two major types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes (earlier called juvenileonset or insulin-dependent diabetes), usually develops in children or young adults. In this type, the body completely stops producing insulin.

In type 2 diabetes (previously known as adult-onset or non insulin-dependent diabetes), the body produces some insulin, but it is not enough. Moreover, there is insulin resistance. In other words, the available insulin does not work properly. In both types of diabetes, the signs and symptoms are similar.

Symptoms of diabetes

These include
*being very thirsty
*frequent urge to urinate
*weight loss
*increased hunger
*blurry vision
*irritability
*tingling hands or feet
*skin, bladder or gum infections
*wounds that don’t heal
*itching in the genital areas
*extreme unexplained fatigue

It must be remembered, however that up to 50 percent of patients with diabetes may not have any symptoms at all. Such cases come out only during routine investigations such as master health checkup and pre-employment checkps.in this case, people live for month, even years without knowing they have the disease. Often diabetes attacks so gradually that symptoms may not even be recognized.

Diagnosis of diabetes.

Diabetes should be ideally diagnosed after an oral glucose tolerance test (GTT). This helps to pickup early status of the disease. The test involves testing of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and two-hour plasma glucose (2hr PG) after intake of 75 Gms of glucose dissolved in water the diagnostic cut off for diabetes and the two “pre-diabetic stages” namely impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) are given in the table below.

Those who have pre-diabetes i.e. IFG or IGT are at increased risk of developing diabetes. Such individuals must undergo a GTT at least once a year and should follow a proper diet and exercise program and if overweight, reduce weight in order to prevent diabetes. Diabetes can also be diagnosed, if random or casual plasma glucose is greater than 200 mg/dl or more on more than two occasions in the presence of symptoms of diabetes.

Thus, early detection is the key to prevention and effective control of diabetes. As diabetes is largely asymptomatic, regular screening for diabetes is of utmost importance. One should not wait for symptoms like thirst, excess urination and weight loss as they are late symptoms. If one has a family history of diabetes or is over weight, one should undergo a prevention diabetic check-up as soon as possible.

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Agriculture, most important area of India –U.S. collaboration: Hillary

New Delhi: U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Sunday said agriculture would be the strongest and most important puller of cooperation between the United States and India. During a visit to the Indian agriculture research institute here (IARI), Ms.clinton said: “we collaborated for more than 50 years and today we are called to collaborate once again. We have to work together because it is imperative that we invest in science, that we do more to link farms and markets so that farmers can sell their products, that we extend export of technology and training to bring more assistance to the farmers as a vulnerable community worldwide, and we strengthen our response to climate change which threatens the waterways in the agriculture part of the world”.

Ms.Clinton said that with just 3 percent of world’s cropland, India fed 17 percent of the world’s population. “as we look to strengthen agriculture and fight hunger, particularly in south Asia, Africa and elsewhere, India’s leadership is absolutely crucial. I think the bio-security and bio-diversity challenge that we confront is one that we can meet,” she said. Stating that the problem of hunger and malnutrition affected nearly a billion people in the world, the U.S. secretary of state expressed the belief that the world had the resources to face the challenge. She said it was the signature issue of the Obama administration to do what could be done to fight hunger and extend food security.

“And India is well positioned to help us lead this fight. Work has already begun. I just saw that the scientists are developing seeds that produce higher yield, crops that require less water, farm equipment that conserve energy. All of this is part of meeting the challenge that we face from global hunger,” she said, adding that research was a critical component of the comprehensive approach to improving agriculture.

She said there was a need to connect the laboratories where new technologies were being developed and research was being done-to the fields, where the farmers laboured, to the markets, where the crops were sold, and finally to the Labour of the farmers. However, Mr.Clinton said the job at hand was not for the government alone and that private sector had an essential role to play and so did universities, research laboratories, institutions and non governmental organizations.

Ms.Clinton, who was received by union agriculture minister shared power, visited the IARI to oversee the research and education programmes of the Indian council of agriculture research and the work of many of the consultative group on international agricultural research centers that had been key U.S. partners since the green revolution.

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Developing drugs, topix drug tests sans lab rats

GE healthcare has formed a biotech partnership to develop products based on human embryonic stem cells in hope that their use will replace lab rats in drug development and topix drug tests.

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Space agreement to help launch ‘India-U.S.3.0’

New Delhi: Despite last-minute wrinkles, India is still looking to sign an end-use monitoring agreement to ease the sale of U.S. military hardware during the visit here of Hillary Clinton, but the highlight of Monday’s discussions between external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and the u.s.secretary of state will be the unveiling of a new strategic dialogue architecture and the singing of an agreement to facilitate the launch of u.s. satellites and satellites with U.S. components in Indian launch vehicles.

South block officials say the new dialogue architecture is intended to take indo-U.S. relations to a higher level, 3.0 to use Ms.Clinton’s phrase and will cover areas like nonproliferation, security, education, health and development. Although the U.S. side is keen on India making public the sites where U.S. supplied nuclear reactors will be located, a final decision has yet to be taken on this in south block.

The new technology safeguards agreement (TSA) to be signed on Monday will cover launches involving satellites owned by U.S. government or academic institutions or by third country space agencies and universities which have U.S. equipment on board. Since the components and satellites will have to be integrated with ISRO’s launch vehicles, the TSA will provide for monitoring by the U.S. side to ensure against diversion or misuse of equipment.

In March 2006, frontline reported that the U.S. was insisting on “a full-fledged TSA, which included restrictive movement of the payload, constant overseeing presence of U.S. escorts, and impermeable firewalls between civil and military payloads”. According to ISRO officials, the final text of the agreement to be signed follows the standard template the U.S. negotiates with all countries, “its provisions are essentially driven by U.S. law and India did not have much flexibility during its negotiations,” an official told the Hindu.

The agreement to be signed is apparently an umbrella one similar to the a TSA that china an the U.S. signed-with individual licensing by the state department likely dispensed with, but India will not yet be able to enter the lucreative market for the launch of U.S. commercial satellites or third country commercial satellites with U.S. components till a separate commercial space launch agreement (CSLA) is signed. “The TSA is a necessary but not sufficient condition for commercial launches,” said an ISRO official. India and the U.S. have been working on the draft of a CSLA for some time now but there are still major differences between the two sides.

Even after a CSLA, however, ISRO will not be able to launch U.S. communications satellites since this figure in the U.S. munitions list and require separate certification from the state department. A second agreement will also be signed by Mr. Krishna and Ms. Clinton on a framework for “robust result-oriented cooperation” in science and technology for “collaborative research and its commercialization.”

Ministry of external affairs officials says this on the October 2005 science and technology cooperation agreement.

The next steps in strategic partnership of January 2004 envisaged an agreement to allow for the Indian launch of all U.S. licensed satellites and third country satellites with controlled U.S. items on board but despite the absence of this, the NSSP was declared “concluded” in July 2005.

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New insights into swine flu from animal models

The swine-origin H1N1 influenza viruses responsible for the recently declared pandemic cause more lung damage than a seasonal influenza strain in animal models, but are still sensitive to antiviral drugs, finds a study.

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Skirts to perk up your style

The skirt is a simple yet sophisticated way to get a leg up on the fashion forecast in the corporate circuit. By sporting it right, you can be rest assured that you’ve aced the formula for success. Here are some tips to keep in mind before picking up your office skirts.

• Forget the mini and the maxi, the best length now is at the knee.

• Although black and white are the hottest colours, you can also experiment with checked and printed skirts in bright hues this season.

• A-line skirts are usually most flattering and suit women with heavier thighs.

• If you’re thin, pencil skirts are an ideal choice for you. You can add a little substance by wearing a skirt with a more generous cut like the flared cut, secretary cut or a box pleated one.

• High-waisted skirts are in vogue now. While buying, make sure that the skirt should fit you exactly at the waist. It shouldn’t be too tight or too loose. You should be able to slip in fingers or half your palm into the waist band with ease.

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UK jobless claims rise to 1.56 mn

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain rose in June at the slowest pace for 13 months, official data showed on Wednesday.

The number of people claiming benefits increased 23,800 last month to 1.56 million. Unemployment, according to the International Labour Organisation measure, rose by 281,000 to 2.38 million in the three months to May.

The quarterly increase was the highest since records began in 1971.

US official tells China to open up

US secretary of commerce Gary Locke has said that China should open its domestic markets and loosen its currency controls to help the global economy out of the ongoing financial crisis.

“If China allowed for greater flexibility in its exchange rate and further opened up its domestic markets for imports and foreign direct investment, it would accelerate the world’s return to growth,” Mr Locke told a business lunch.

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Work stress can ‘break down’ your career too

As a young working professional, if you haven’t wept buckets, or fought back your tears, or stopped yourself from moving out of the pressure zone. You are blessed by being on an eternal chill pill. The increasing stress levels in offices, often unfold scenes where you can see young girls cracking up or boys losing their cool faster.

Most often they fail to realize that these emotional overhauls could have an adverse effect on their career. A research conducted by a British journal suggests that executive success can be attributed to 2/3 emotional competence and 1/3 of technical capability. This can imply that most employees, who break down due to personal problems or work pressure, are viewed as emotionally unstable.

Mini Sivasan, senior manager of Keltron Finishing School is in agreement and says, “If the breakdown is due to personal problems or work pressure, it could be viewed as a career-limiting event. What’s important is to keep your calm because true professionals don’t crumble under pressure. They just try to sail through it without letting anyone know.”

But for most young girls, breaking down seems to be an easy options as it helps them get through the sticky situations. Radhika K, an ad professional says, “The fact we spend one-third of our life at work, during which we’re constantly put under pressure makes me succumb to tears easily. There are times, when I just crack up, because there seems to be no other way out.”

So the big question is how does one cope and keep one’s head up in these situations? Guruvayurappan, AVP-HR with Omega Health Care answers, “Making friends in your work place and handling situations with diplomacy could be a couple of ways to cope with such outbursts. When there is a nervous build-up, one should step away from the situation. Probably take a brisk walk or opt for a coffee break and come back’

Ajay S, CEO of Colleseum Firm says, “First of all you need to have a clear agenda about your job role and a focused approach about what you want to achieve in your Organisation. One can avoid pitfall when you know what lies ahead and need not succumb to knee jerk habits or a negative attitude which do tend to add to the stress element.” Getting a life is the best bet according to counselors. Sarasawati, a corporate counselor says, “Building a personal network of friends to hang around with and family support helps one cope with and family support helps one cope with a stressful work environment.”

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“Harry Potter” works box office magic

British boy wizard Harry Potter conjured his magic at box offices again, as the sixth film in the highly popular movie series earned a record $22.2 million at Wednesday midnight showings in then United States.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from Warner Bros. beat the old record for Wednesday midnight screenings of $18.5 million held by 2008 Batman movie “The Dark Knight” said Hollywood.com box Office president Paul Dergarabedian.

The debut “portends a huge and potentially record- breaking number for a single-day [box office] gross and best first five-day gross,” among movies, said Mr.Dergarabedian.

The highest one-day U.S.box office record belongs to “The Dark Knight,” which debuted on a Wednesday last summer to $67.1 million $1 billion world wide throughout its run in theatres

The five previous “potter” movies about the adventures of Harry and his friends at the Hogwarts school, based on the best-selling kids books by author J.K Rowling, have raked in $4.5 billion worldwide since then first film in 2001.

But in recent weeks, some media reports have suggested the movies’ fan base of teenagers and pre-teens may now be popular “Twilight” films, may steal some Potter’s audience magic.

Still, “Half-Blood prince” his theatres a full two years after the most recent “Harry potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” causing box office watchers to see a good deal of pent of demand for the movies. “ Order of the Phoenix” also opened on a Wednesday and took in $140 million in its first five days, on the way to $938 million in total global tickets sales.

Actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert grint at the premiere of Harry potter and the Half Blood Prince” in New York on July 9.

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British men are least romantic

British men are among the least romantic in the world, states a new study.

The study has reveled that British men are less likely to make romantic gestures than men from other parts of the world. They are less likely to pay compliments and take their loved ones for holidays. British men mistakenly believe that buying sexy lingerie and expensive gifts are the way to a woman’s heart, The Daily Telegraph reported. However, gestures such as running a lover a hot bath after a hard day, or treating them to a morning cup of tea in bed, are what women really want, the study, of some 6,500 men and women all over the world, has revealed.

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Hillary not to visit Pakistan

US secretary of State Hillary Clinton has no plans to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan during her upcoming trip to India and Thailand, the American state department has said.

“I am sure that she will visit Afghanistan and Pakistan, but not on this visit. It is just to India and Thailand,” State department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at his daily press briefing.

It is believed that certain quarters in the State Department, friends of Pakistan in the US and Islamabad itself wanted Clinton to make a stopover in Pakistan during her trip to India later this week.

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Tea lowers iron levels

THE CLAIM

Drinking tea can lower your levels of iron.

THE FACTS

With its bounty of antioxidants and relatively moderate levels of caffeine, tea is one of the healthiest beverages around. But drinking tea is said to block the body’s absorption of dietary union, potentially causing a deficiency.

Studies have shown that there is some truth to the idea.

Compounds in tea called tannis can act as chelators, binding to minerals and inhibiting the body’s ability to absorb them. Although that can reduce a person’s levels of irons, studies have also found that is unlikely to have much of an impact.

In one study, scientists examined the effect by having people eat a typical meal- a hamburger, string beans and mashed potatoes-and then measuring their iron levels after the meal was combines with various drinks. When the subjects ate the meal with tea, there was a 62 percent reduction in iron absorption.

Drinking coffee resulted in a 35 per cent reduction. Orange juice increased iron absorption by about 85 percent.

But there was a twist. Coffee and tea affected only the levels of non-heme iron, that kind found in grains and vegetables. Heme iron found in meat, fish, and poultry, was unaffected.

Because most Americans generally get more iron from their diets than needed, a daily cup or two of coffee or tea is unlikely to lead to low levels of iron.

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Nuclear fuel arrives from Russia, France

Chennai: India has already received natural uranium in the form of pellets from Russia and as yellowcake from areva of France for use in its safeguarded reactors, according to S.K. Jain, Chairman and managing director, nuclear power Corporation of India limited (NPCIL)

This is consequent to the nuclear suppliers group relaxing its guidelines last year to allow its member-countries to have nuclear trade with India. Subsequently, in dia signed agreements with Russia and France for importing nuclear power reactors and fuel.

Mr. Jain said on Tuesday that India had also received clearance from the international atomic energy agency (IAEA) for the fabrication of this imported fuel into fuel rods. The process was now underway at the nuclear fuel complex (NFC), Hyderabad. “I am happy to share with you that I flagged off on Saturday (July 11) the first consignment of fabricated fuel from the NFC for use in the second unit (already under safeguards) of the Rajasthan atomic power station (RAPS),” Mr.Jain said.

The entire initial core of natural uranium fuel for RAPS-2 would be available in august. The reactor, which has a capacity of 200 MWe, would start generating full power in September/October. if the current fuel fabrication plans of the NFC were achieved, enough fuel would be available for the two new units of RAPS-5 and 6 to be commissioned and they would start operating at full capacity by 2009-end, Mr.Jain said. RAPS-5 and 6 have a capacity of 220 MWe each. Since RAPS-5 and 6 would come under the IAEA safeguards as per India’s separation plan, the two reactors would become eligible to receive imports fuel. However, clearance from the IAEA should be obtained before the imported fuel was fed into the two reactors.

Mr. Jain said the NPCIL had “come out of the bad dream” of shortage of natural uranium fuel supply to power its indigenous pressurized heavy water peactors (PHERs). “The turnaround is taking place and we want to march ahead,” he said. The supply of indigenous natural uranium fuel had gone up with the mine and mill at turamdih in jharkhand adding to the supply from the mill at the nearby Jaduguda. This had led to the PHWRs operating between 60 percent and 65 percent capacity factor compared to less than 50 percent earlier.

“I plan to take them to 70 percent,” Mr.Jain said. The four reactors at kaiga in Karnataka would reach criticality in six to eight months with the increased flow of indigenous natural uranium.

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Subungual hematoma

A subungual hematoma is a collection of blood and fluid under the fingernail.

It’s usually the result of smashing your fingertip between two hard objects. The pressure of the blood makes the fingertip uncomfortable, intolerable pain and distress.

How does it occur:
Finger caught between car door, windows, hammer and work places.

What is the problem?
Severe pain, cut injury, swelling, limitation of motion in the fingertip

Where is the problem?
Finger tip is rich in blood supply. Injury causes blood to collect under the nail. The severity of the injury and the percentage of nail involvement determine the treatment protocol.

What can you do to help?
Ice, elevation, and have it checked out by a hand surgeon.

What is the treatment?
Look for any bony fracture in the X-ray. Nail bed injuries are always associated with the fracture of finger tip bone. The treatment options are

* nail involvement: draining the hematoma (blood clot) by cautery unit will relieve a lot of the pain.

*100% nail length: it’s simple to let the blood out by separating the nail from the skin. The nail will grow back to normal within 3-6 months time.

What is the result?
*blood collected under the nail comes out with pressure.

*pain is totally relived.

*normal nail grows back.

When to operate?
*if you can see a dark line or break in the nail.

*nail lying loose over the skin with blood clot.

*100% nail involvement with bone fracture.

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Employees prefer managers with real commitment

Whenever the business world goes through a crisis the most debated topic is the issue of leadership. There is discussion on the kind of leadership that bring about such situation and the ideal leadership style that can solve the crisis or pre-empt it. Leadership is relevant to the present crisis because part of it was perpetrated by faults in leadership style at some companies in the centre of the crisis.

Clichéd phrases like ‘tough times call for tough leaders’, ‘competent leadership’, ‘emotionally intelligent leaders’ and the like do the rounds as the topic is debated and discussed in meeting,forums,websites and blogs. This brings us to the question as to what actually constitutes good leadership? And is there any answer at all to this question or it as complex as the issue of leadership itself.

The focus in the recent times has shifted to a ‘soft’ style in leadership thanks to denial goleman and his ‘emotionally intelligent’ leader. The ideal leader is someone who is charming, likeable, empathetic and has a high degree of self-control and self-awareness.

A leader is someone who leads rather than conteols; he motivates his staff to follow a vision or claims to have the charisma to lead his team to greater heights. Yet none of these definitions emphasise on the competency factor in leaders. The focus is more on the likeability factor.

So what is good leadership about and who better to answer them the employees themselves. A study carried out by the UK institute of leadership & management (ILM) in 2007 has found that people would rather work for a tough boss who delivers results rather than a lenient one. In a poll conducted on 1500 managers, the study discovered that while teamwork and focusing on people those who took tough and resolute measures to achieve results.

These results were echoed in another study done by the University of Chicago in the same year where people responded positively to a leader who was persistent and efficient than someone who was just approachable or flexible. As the ILM study found, employees prefer managers who have a real commitment to deliver rather than someone who places priority on being liked by employee at the cost of missing targets.

The top traits in a leader according to the surveys quoted above are perseverance, attention to detail, efficiency, analytical skills and setting high standards. The central finding of the study-employees preferred managers who got things done. Less importance was given to aspects like teamwork, soft skills, enthusiasm or flexibility. An empathetic or flexible leader can be effective but he also runs the risk of favouritism or indecisiveness if he displays these traits to the extreme.

A study by the Hay Group, a global management-consulting firm on management styles concludes, “…too much concern with relationships and popularity damages team productivity. Leaders become overly concerned with maintaining popularity and good relationships and fail to address under performance and make tough decisions.” “To maximize team performance, leaders must ask themselves: do my relationship support or detract from the direction of the team?”

This is not to undermine qualities like charisma or the like ability factor because they play a significant role in motivating followers to achieve goals. Building positive relations with the team cannot be totally negated while defining leadership. During uncertain times like now where emotions like anxiety and fear rule the roost in both leaders and the led, some amount of emotional intelligence on the part of leaders is imperative.

This will help them connect with their employees and counter the lower morale, disengagement, stress or resentment the workers might be experiencing. People skills are important and also a certain level of emotional maturity. This will help to foster cooperation and compromise between the leader and his team to jointly tide over the crisis. Tenacity and competence are important traits in a leader but equally critical is emotional maturity and self-awareness.

A true leader is someone who displays a judicious mix of these two sets of qualities cannot be used in isolation as the yardstick for assessing or choosing a leader. Today’s changing times calls for a leader who is efficient and conducts his business with an open and compassionate attitude.

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How cats have their way

Cats coax their owners into giving them what they want with a special purr that blends their normal soft, low sound with a high-pitched element that is hard to ignore, British researchers said recently.

The high- frequency part is similar to a cry or a meow, and cats incorporate this into their normal, contended purr to exploit the nurturing instincts of humans for their own needs – usually to get fed, according to scientists.

Lead author Dr Karen McComb of Sussex University in southern England said she initiated the study after being repeatedly worken up in the mornings by her own cat, Pepo.

“I wondered why this purrings sounded so annoying and was so difficult to ignore. Talking with other cat owners, I found that some of them- including co-author Anna Taylor – also had cats who showed similar behaviour,” she said.

McComb and her team tested human responses to different purring types, including “solicitation” purrs- which included the high-frequency element and were made by hungry cats- against “non- solicitation” or normal purrs.

“When humans were played purrs recorded while cats were actively seeking food at equal volume to purrs recorded in non-solicitation contexts, even those with no experience of cats judged the solicitation’ purrs to be more urgent and less pleasant,” she said.

When the team re-synthesized the purrs to remove the embedded cry, the urgency ratings decreased significantly.

McComb concluded that the cats were using the special purr to make their views known without risking irritating humans with an overt meow. However, this solution appears only to work in cats living one-on-one with their owners—cats in large house holds usually have to meow to be heard.

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Benefits of sleep

Sleep is essential for maintaing a healthy and wealthy body. Sleeping is not just an activity but also promotes good health. There are many benefits of sleep and it includes less stress, lose weight, enhance nice mood, better mind performance and also beautifies you. Lack of sleep can kill the person like anything. He/she could not concentrate in own life and activities. Sleep is necessary for all human-beings. But most of the people may not be aware of health benefit of sleep and fail to improve the quality and the quantity of life.

Our body needs extra protein molecules when we are sleeping. Insufficient of sleep cannot promote a healthy heart. In this mechanical world, every heart and cardiovascular system is under pressure from KG students to older adults. Enough sleep can reduce the inflammation in our body and thus helps to block heart attacks, heart disease, and strokes. Better sleep can also keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels to the normal. One of the great benefit of sleep is that it allows our brain to organizing and correlating memories. So, next day we can be fresher in office, school or college.

Today most of the people are obese and struggle hard to lose their unwanted pounds. Half of the obese people are go on with fad diet, hazardous exercise and weight loss supplements for a lefty bill. They must understand that enough amount of sleep can regulate the hormones and control their weight. Insufficient of sleep can increase the appetite and ask one to crave for fruits, veggies, high calories food, fats and carbohydrates. So, if you are trying to shed pounds, simply sleep and keep fit.

Many of the individuals are affecting from sleep disorders and especially among youth. They are supposed to know more about health benefits of sleep and the impact on their health. Sleeping is not difficulty and easy to do with. Keep enough sleep and far from stress depression and anxiety in your life.

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Swine flu: race to produce vaccines by the end of the year

Vaccines against swine flu have already been developed in laboratories around the world, but will not be readily available until at least October and perhaps as late as December, according to one manufacturer.

Around the world pharmaceutical companies have been producing vaccine strains for at least a month. Some are in the experimental stages, while others are approaching the need for clinical trials. However they are “by no means” ready yet, according to the World Health Organisation.

First batches:

The U.K.’s Department of Health has said it has signed contracts to supply enough vaccines for the entire British population and expects the first batches to arrive in the “early autumn.”

In April, the race to produce a successful vaccine against HINI began in earnest, when, under orders from the WHO, institutes in the U.K., the U.S., Japan and Australia began work to produce a “seed strain” of the virus, which could then go on to provide for a vaccine.

In the U.K., scientists at the Health Protection Agency’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) began work on a strain isolated fro a patient in the U.S Using a technique called “reverse genetics” the scientist took the genes that make the outer coating of the swine flu virus and then attached them to a harmless human virus known as PR8.

This reconstructed virus is considered safe for humans and will trigger an immune response that protects people against the swine flu strain.

By 28 May, NIBSC had completed its work. It sent the starter virus out to manufacturers, including GSK and Baxter.

The next step was to develop the virus and grow it inside chicken eggs, to produce it in vast quantities. The production involves refining it further and then, once the experimental phase is finished, conducting clinical trials of the vaccine.

It has been reported that CSL, a biopharmaceutical in Melbourne, Australia, has created an effective vaccine, but it is awaiting human trials to fix upon the correct dosage.

On 14 July, a spokesman for GSK said the company had started production of the vaccine last “final vaccine” to be available from between four and six months from then. He said that the clinical trials would happen “before autumn.”

Clinical trials:

Commenting on when vaccines would be ready for use, Marine-Paule Kieny, director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, at the World Health Organisation, in Geneva, Switzerland, said: “They are produced but they are by no means ready to be licensed yet.”

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India Pakistan positive on talks

Sharm-el-sheikh: Indian foreign secretary Shiv shankar menon and his Pakistani counterpart Salman basher met here late on Tuesday night and again briefly on Wednesday as part of renewed efforts by the two countries to restart the dialogue process and address the recurring problem of terrorists using Pakistani territory to launch attacks in India.

Mr. Menon said Tuesday’s talks, which lasted 90 minutes, involved “good,” “detailed and lengthy” discussion on the issues he and Mr.bashir had been tasked to take up. Apart from the dossier Pakistan had prepared on its investigations in to the Mumbai terrorist attack, the foreign secretary said he was briefed by his counterpart on the steps Islamabad had taken. “I told him of our concerns and he told us what they had done and of their determination to fight terrorism,”Mr.Menon said, “but our jobs was to report back to our leaders, not draw conclusions”.

Although the Indian side had earlier suggested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and yousaf raza gilani could. “Meet” the press together after their scheduled meeting on July 16, Mr, Menon was unwilling to predict the outcome of the principals’ meeting, including whether or not there would be a joint statement of some kind. He said the question of “form” was less important than dealing with the condition generating stress in the relationship and urged the media not to speculate about what still a work in progress, “the less you speculate, the less likely you are to go wrong,” he said.

Speaking to The Hindu, Pakistani foreign Ministry officials also described the foreign secretaries’ meeting as positive. “Quite a lot has been done on our side (to address India’s concerns),” a Pakistani official said. “Now let us see if the two prime Ministers can agree to a resumption of the dialogue process”. As of now, it appears the Indian side is looking only for modest gain from sharm-el-sheikh and that there is considerable internal resistance to the resumption of the composite dialogue. “I don’t think there will be any dramatic announcement here,” a key south block official said. But he added that this did not mean there had not been very definite forward movement. “Things are moving slowly, but they are moving.”

In private, Indian and Pakistani officials said a further round of “talks about talks” could be held on the sidelines of the U.N. general assembly in September, though perhaps only at the foreign minister or foreign secretaries level. Mr.Menon said the Pakistani dossier on Mumbai which is still being evaluated by India-named five individuals who were under arrest there, nine who were proclaimed offenders but absconding and some others who might also be involved in the conspiracy. “The names of terrorist organization also figure,” he said declining to provide any details since Pakistan had not made the report public.

On June 17, 2009, Dr.Singh and President Asif ali zardari of Pakistan met on the sidelines of the shanghai cooperation organization summit in Yekaterinburg and agreed to ask their foreign secretaries to discuss what Pakistan had done and could do to address India’s concerns relating to terrorism.

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U.S. budget deficit tops $1 trillion

The U.S. federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears of higher interest rates, inflation and the strength of the dollar.

The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer term.

“These are mind-boggling numbers,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. “Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run.”

The Treasury Department said on Monday the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to $1.09 trillion. The administration forecasts that the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.84 trillion in October.

Government spending is on the rise to address the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and an unemployment rate that has climbed to 9.5 per cent.

Congress has already approved a $700- billion financial bailout for banks, automakers and other sectors, and a $787-billion economic stimulus package to try to jump-start a recovery. Outlays through the first nine months of this budget year total $2.67 trillion, up 20.5 per cent from the same period a year ago.

There is growing talk among some. Obama administration officials that a second round of stimulus may eventually be necessary.

That has many Republicans and deficit hawks worried that the U.S could be setting itself up for more financial pain down the road if interest rates and inflation surge. They also are raising alarms about additional spending the administration is proposing, including its plan to reform health care.

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have said the U.S. is committed to bringing down the deficits once the economy and financial sector recover.

The Obama administration has set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by the end of this first term in office.

In the meantime, the U.S. debt now stands at $11.5 trillion. Interest payments on the debt cost $452 billion last year – the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defence.

The overall debt is now slightly more than 80 percent of the annual output of the entire U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product.

History shows the dangers of assuming too soon that economic downturns have ended.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt made that mistake in 1936. Believing the Depression largely over, he sought to reduce public spending and to balance the federal budget, but that undermined a fragile recovery, pushing the economy back under water in 1937.

Mr. Geithner travels later this week to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where he is expected to face question about the U.S. deficit. As he did during a visit to China last month, Mr.Geithner will try to reassure investors in West Asia that their U.S. holdings are safe from a calamitous bout of inflation.

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Stop indulging terror groups, says China

Wary of a growing terror threat from Islamic extremist groups following ethnic violence in the Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang, China on Tuesday “strongly urged” countries to stop “indulging and supporting” terrorist groups.

On Tuesday, the terror group Al-Qaeda, for the first time, declared it will target Chinese interests in North Africa to avenge the violence against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

On July 5, at least 184 people were killed in ethnic clashes between Uighurs and China’s majority Han Chinese ethnic group in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital.

The Chinese government has in the past blamed organizations like the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a group with alleged links to Al-Qaeda, for fomenting tensions in Xinjiang, and has also suggested that ETIM activities had a role in last week’s violence.

But some Uighur rights groups have said China has exaggerated the influence of the little-known ETIM, and has used its crackdown on terror to tighten restrictions and suppress the rights of ordinary Uighurs.

On Tuesday, the Chinese government “strongly urged” countries in South and Central Asia to step up efforts to clamp down on terror groups operating in the region. China said “some countries had supported and indulged” activities by extremist groups, without directly naming the countries.

China has in the past indicated that groups like the ETIM had received training in militant camps in Pakistan, and has begum to strongly pressure Pakistan to crack down on groups with ties to Xinjiang.

Last week, Chinese officials “briefed” their Pakistani counterparts about the unrest in Xinjiang, reportedly expressing concern that Uighur groups based in Pakistan had a role in the unrest. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Tuesday said Pakistan and China had “stayed in close communication” following the unrest on July 5. “Regional countries like China and Pakistan should enhance cooperation in combating the Three Forces [separatism, terrorism and extremism] and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility,” he said.

In contrast with India, China’s experiences with terror have been few and far between, but are becoming increasingly frequent.

Last August, two terror attacks struck the border city of Kashgar in Xinjiang, while the ETIM was reportedly behind a bus bombing in the southern city of Kunming a month earlier. Chinese officials reportedly foiled a suicide bombing attempt by the ETIM on a flight out of Urumqi last March.

A report by the Stirling Assynt security consultancy released on Tuesday said a North African off-shoot of Al-Qaeda, the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was one of a number of terror groups reportedly targeting China following unrest in Xinjiang, according to a report in the Hong Kong- based South China Morning Post. “There is an increasing amount of chatter…….. among jihadists who claim they want to see action against China,” said the report.

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Russia, China to conduct war games

Russia and China will conduct massive joint war games next week in a display of growing strategic ties between the two neighbours.

The “Peace Mission-2009” exercises, to be held from July 22 to 26, will involve about 3,000 troops from both sides, about 300 pieces of artillery and other hardware and more than 40 aircraft, said Russian Group Forces Deputy commander Alexander studenikin.

However, Russia decided against committing its strategic nuclear-capable bombers that took part in the first Russian- China in 2005.

It will be the first joint exercises to be staged on both sides of the common border. Following “strategic talks” between the Chiefs of Russian and Chinese General Staffs in Russia’s Khabarovsk on July 22, army and airborne troops from the two countries will conduct theatre –level manoeuvres in the Shenyang Military Area Command in north-east China.

Under the legend of the joint exercises, Russian and Chinese troops will engage a large terrorist outfit that has seized a Chinese town. The scenario was approved way back in February, but the recent Uighur riots in the Xinjiang province have lent eerie relevance to the war games.

Russia’s Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in April the Russian and Chinese military would stage 25 joint drills this year.

In September, the two nations will take part in military manoeuvres of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kazakhstan.

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Plane develops hole mid-flights in U.S.

Southwest Airlines Co. inspected about 200 planes overnight after a hole measuring 30 cm-by-30 cm opened up in the passenger cabin of a jet in flight, forcing an emergency landing in West Virginia.

Travelers on the Boeing 737 aircraft could see through the hole that appeared during the flight on Monday. The cabin lost pressure, but no one was injured on the Nashville-to-Baltimore flight with 126 passengers and five crew members on board.

Passenger Brian Cunningham told NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday that he had dozed off in his seat in midcabin when he was awakened by “the loudest roar I’d ever heard.”

He said the hole was above his seat. People stayed calm and put on the oxygen masks that dropped from the ceiling.

“After we landed in Charleston, the pilot came out and looked up through the hole, and everybody applauded, shook his hand, a couple of people gave him hugs,” said Mr.Cunningham

It’s not clear what caused the damage. Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said the airline inspected 200 Boeing 737-300-series jets overnight at hangars around the country and discovered no other similar problems.

“It was a walk-around visual inspection just to check for structural integrity,” said Ms.McInnis.

Representatives from the National Transportation safety Board and the aircraft manufacture Boeing were helping to determine cause of the hole, said Ms. McInnis.

The hobbled airliner was placed in service during the 1990s and went through “routine maintenance” this month, she said.

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Give team space to learn, help attain professional growth

Most employees wait for instructions from higher ups before talking action even though they very well know that action is absolutely necessary. They also wait to be blessed with empowerment by superiors before exercising any authority. Even in areas that directly affects their own work output, they expect someone from above to initiate needed changes.

Why do they hesitate to act independently? They do not stand on their own two feet but on those of others probably out of fear of failure. Management experts view this dependence in higher management for everything as a sign of professional immaturity. But the sad part however is that we hardly realize the devastating impact this kind of responsibility avoidance has on the overall organizational productivity.

In a way even organizations promote this kind of professional immaturity albeit inadvertently. When a blaming culture exists in the organization it is only natural that employees avoid taking responsibility. Far often even managers display a similar professional immaturity and thereby fail to help their employee to grow. Understanding the importance of accepting responsibility is crucial for professional success.

To move forward in their careers employees must be willing to shoulder bigger responsibilities and also take ownership of activities assigned to them by displaying a proactive attitude. Leading by example you can successfully displace a blaming culture at least in your corner of the world. Fear of failure and rebuke often prevent people from taking up responsibilities. Therefore, give your team the necessary space to learn experiment and grow. Explain to them that it is okay to fail as long as they learn something from the experience and avoid making the same mistakes again. When the fear is removed from their minds they act independently and quite successfully too.

Freedom to use their discretion and creativity in fact works as an effective motivator and brings out the best from them. While assigning responsibilities to your employees you must also coach them on proper professional behaviour. This will help them to discharge their responsibilities independently without wasting time waiting for your approval at every juncture. Let them know that they should always focus on results and to achieve those results they must take action in time. They should be discouraged from dumping problems upwards and asked to come up with solutions. If they are in the habit of complaining about various issues teach them to work constructively to bring the issues to a closure.

Avoidance of responsibility is an all-pervasive problem often resulting in delayed action or even inaction leading to poor outcomes. But when you acknowledge the presence of this common menace and show willingness to become part of a solution, things will surely improve. You must take some time out to improve the professional maturity of your team in spite of your busy schedule. After all the ultimate responsibility of executing projects successfully rests on you!

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