'Listening to your heart' could improve body image, says study

Feb. 6, 2013 ? Women who are more aware of their bodies from within are less likely to think of their bodies principally as objects, according to research published February 6 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Vivien Ainley and Manos Tsakiris from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The authors asked healthy female student volunteers aged between 19 -- 26 to concentrate and count their own heartbeats, simply by "listening" to their bodies. Their accuracy in this heartbeat perception test was compared with their degree of self-objectification, based on how significant they considered 10 body attributes to their sense of self. Attributes were both appearance-based, like attractiveness and body measurements, and competence-based, such as health and energy levels.

The more accurate the women were in detecting their heartbeats, the less they tended to think of their bodies as objects. These findings have important implications for understanding body image dissatisfaction and clinical disorders which are linked to self-objectification, such as anorexia.

Dr Manos Tsakiris from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway said: "People have the remarkable ability to perceive themselves from the perspective of an outside observer. However, there is a danger that some women can develop an excessive tendency to regard their bodies as 'objects', while neglecting to value them from within, for their physical competence and health. Women who 'self-objectify', in this way, are vulnerable to eating disorders and a range of other clinical conditions such as depression and sexual dysfunction."

Fellow researcher Vivien Ainley commented that "We believe that our measure of body awareness, which assesses how well women are able to listen to their internal signals, will prove a valuable addition to research into self-objectification and women's resulting mental health."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal Reference:

1. Vivien Ainley, Manos Tsakiris. Body Conscious? Interoceptive Awareness, Measured by Heartbeat Perception, Is Negatively Correlated with Self-Objectification. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e55568 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055568

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/kcDxYPLkwVs/130206185837.htm

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World's Most Romantic Hotels, According To TripAdvisor (PHOTOS)

Once again, it's the time of year for silly love songs and romantic gestures. And, once again, TripAdvisor has released itsTravelers' Choice list for the most romantic hotels around the world.

Fun fact: Four of the top ten hotels in America are located in California (Bardessono in Yountville takes the cake at #1 -- and #7 worldwide) and four of the top 25 hotels around the world can be found in the Maldives. (So that's why celebs with enormous cash flow head there for their honeymoons.)

While these might not be the hotels with insanely overpriced Valentine's Day packages, they are definitely some of the world's famously romantic properties.

Do you want to escape for Valentine's Day, even at your desk? Check out the hotels below.

All photos courtesy of TripAdvisor unless otherwise noted.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/worlds-most-romantic-hotels_n_2617821.html

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WebActivate aims to educate thousands of digital marketers and ...

Programmes are free-of-charge for eligible jobseekers who have been unemployed for 12 months or more. Projects will include some on-the-job training in the form of work experience modules and the development of the workplace skills required to obtain and retain employment

WebActivate, a new digital skills training programme for jobseekers, has been launched.

The programme will be delivered by the Digital Skills Academy with Dublin Institute of Technology as the awarding body.

The idea is to ?support jobseekers to start new careers working in digital, while simultaneously supporting 2,000 businesses in Ireland to get web-activated?.

You must be unemployed for 12 months or more to qualify for one of the 250 places being offered on the WebActivate programme starting in March.

?Our focus here is on moving people back into employment, by equipping them with the skills that are now in demand. The WebActivate programme aims to increase the supply of marketing-orientated web publishers and digital marketeers, which have been identified as occupations currently experiencing skills shortages,? says Paul Dunne, CEO of the Digital Skills Academy.

WebActivate, an eight month intensive programme in online publishing, digital marketing and entrepreneurship aims to:
? equip jobseekers, including those from a retail or construction background, to become self-employed web publishers and digital marketeers servicing businesses in their local area or to start new careers as digitally-skilled employees;
? help to address the skills shortage in the digital media sector;
? provide support to 2,000 businesses, including retail businesses, that need to increase their online activity to stimulate sales;
? provide graduates of the programme with access to a pool of businesses to work with on a fee-paying basis;
? provide participants with a HP laptop, software tools, 3G broadband, mobile account and smartphone, supplied by eircom, to help get their careers in digital started.

Interested applicants can find out how to apply for a place on the programme, by visiting www.webactivate.ie.

Source: http://www.digitaltimes.ie/media/webactivate-aims-to-educate-thousands-of-digital-marketers-and-publishers/

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Italy's Bersani faces choice between Monti and leftist ally

ROME (Reuters) - The leader of Italy's center-left Democratic Party is facing pressure to ditch his leftist allies and seek a pact with outgoing premier Mario Monti as a resurgent Silvio Berlusconi threatens to spoil an election victory that once seemed assured.

With national elections due on February 24-25, Berlusconi's mix of German-bashing rhetoric and promises to scrap the hated IMU housing tax is causing growing alarm on the center-left, which has seen its impregnable-seeming opinion poll lead chipped away.

Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani has given increasingly explicit signals that he is interested in joining forces with Monti against Berlusconi, who has attacked both with equal vigor on his near-daily television and radio appearances.

"I've always said I want 51 percent but that I'd be ready to turn to other groups that are against Berlusconi and the Northern League if I had 49 percent and I'm very ready to turn to other groups including Monti's," he told RAI state radio.

On Wednesday, Berlusconi said his own internal polls showed his center-right alliance with the pro-devolution Northern League party was just 2.4 percentage points behind the center-left and he repeated he was confident of winning.

Most other polls make the difference greater, with a survey on Tuesday from the SWP institute seeing a gap of 5.6 points, but all agree the divide has narrowed since the start of the year.

So far, Bersani has rejected suggestions that he could abandon his coalition partner Nichi Vendola, the openly gay head of the small Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) party who has strongly opposed any deal with Monti's centrist group.

But Vendola himself has expressed growing concern that the senior partner in the center-left coalition could be having second thoughts.

"I hope that Bersani does not want to take the responsibility of breaking the center-left alliance," Vendola said in a tweet on Wednesday.

The PD responded with a statement from Francesco Boccia, a former rival of Vendola in regional elections, in which he called the alliance with SEL "essential to boost jobs and growth".

FEEDING SPECULATION

Barring an extraordinary surprise, Bersani is still the favorite to win the lower house and become prime minister but the race for the Senate, based on individual battles in each of the 20 regions, is more complicated.

To gain the upper house majority he would need to govern, he may have to rely on a deal with Monti, which could throw his existing alliance with Vendola into question.

Monti himself has fed the speculation, saying that he would not rule out serving as a minister in a reformist government led by another leader but repeating that he would not join an alliance that included Vendola.

"If Bersani is interested, as he has declared, then he has to make a choice within his own alliance," he told reporters at the margins of a conference.

For a deal to be struck, the two sides will have to overcome differences which have emerged ever more clearly as the campaign has gone on.

For the moment, Berlusconi's eye-catching promises to slash taxes, stand up to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and pull Italy out of recession have overshadowed their cautious campaign talk of economic reform and improving social equity.

Monti and Bersani have had a number of testy exchanges and the center-left leader has been deeply annoyed by what he sees as Monti's lack of appreciation for the support given by the center-left to his technocrat government.

For his part, Monti has been scathing about Bersani's allies on the left, principally the leftwing CGIL trade union and Vendola, who opposed his government and who has been harshly critical of the austerity policies it imposed.

Bersani has said he will stick to the path of economic reform and fiscal discipline laid out by Monti, while putting more emphasis on social justice and promoting economic growth but he has been short on specifics.

That at least has spared him from spelling out clearly where exactly he stands on issues such as labor reform, which Monti wants to toughen, or on pensions, where Vendola wants to roll back some of the reforms of Monti's technocrat government.

As the vote draws nearer, he will face increasing pressure to make a choice, say analysts.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italys-bersani-faces-choice-between-monti-leftist-ally-171939944--business.html

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Feds to sue S&P over mortgage bond ratings

Staff reports , CNBC.com ? ? ? 18 hrs.

Federal prosecutors intend to bring civil charges against Standard & Poor's for wrongdoing in its rating of mortgage bonds prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

Allegations against the McGraw-Hill unit will center on the model used to rate the bonds and will reportedly be made in lawsuits to be filed as soon as this week.

A move by U.S. officials would be the first federal enforcement action against a major credit rating agency over alleged illegal behavior tied to the financial crisis.

The lawsuit is reportedly regarding 30 triple-A rated CDOs from the first half of 2007, and the Department of Justice is seeking "a 10 figure plus settlement and the admission of wrongdoing," according to sources.

"A DOJ lawsuit would be entirely without factual or legal merit," S&P said in a statement. "It would disregard the central facts that S&P reviewed the same subprime mortgage data as the rest of the market ? including U.S. government officials who in 2007 publicly stated that problems in the subprime market appeared to be contained ? and that every CDO that DOJ has cited to us also independently received the same rating from another rating agency."

Shares of McGraw-Hill plunged nearly 14 percent on Monday, its second biggest one-day drop ever. The worst session for the stock was Black Monday on October 19, 1987 when it tumbled 19 percent.

A person familiar with the situation said New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is not part of the suit against S&P. His office declined to comment. Schneiderman has been conducting his own investigation into mortgage related issues.

S&P and its main rivals, Moody's Corp.'s Moody's Investors Service and Fimalac's Fitch Ratings, have long faced criticism from investors, politicians and regulators for assigning high ratings to thousands of subprime and other mortgage securities that quickly turned sour.

Read More: More Steps Needed to Save US Credit Rating: Moody's

In a variety of lawsuits brought by investors, S&P has maintained that its ratings constitute opinions protected by the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Reporting by CNBC's David Faber and Mary Thompson.Information from Reuters was included in this report.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/feds-sue-sp-over-mortgage-bond-ratings-1B8240197

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Software may help predict cholera outbreaks

John Roach , NBC News ? ? ? 8 hrs.

New software under development aims to stop history from repeating itself by using old news and related data to warn of pending trouble in time to take corrective action.

The system could, for example, help international aid agencies assess the likelihood of a cholera outbreak in time to treat a population with a limited-duration cholera vaccine, explained Kira Radinsky, a researcher at Technion-Israel Institute.

?We?ve engaged with experts in the public health field who study cholera and we?re hopeful that systems stemming from this research might be useful one day for early warning about this disease and others,? she told NBC News via email.

Radinsky is developing the software in collaboration with Eric Horvitz at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash., as part of their exploratory efforts on ways to predict the future based on past information.

The researchers built their predictive model based on more than 20 years of historical news data from the New York Times. It examines past events with similar outcomes.

The software, which is nameless for now, also incorporates related contextual information pulled from LinkedData, a project that finds connections between hundreds of resources such as Wikipedia.

The combination allows the software to extrapolate from news of a cholera outbreak in Angola, for example, to predict a similar outbreak in Rwanda.

?Rather than be limited to the data about the details of an African country where a sequence of events and outcomes occur, the system learns to consider ?African country with certain level of GDP X, cities with population of Y, and geographical features Z,?? Radinsky explained.

When tested on historical data, the system?s warnings of disease outbreaks, violence, and other events were between 70 and 90 percent accurate, according to MIT?s Technology Review.

?We are continuing to refine the approach and one day can imagine making a descendent system available to international aid agencies and to the public in general,? Radinsky told NBC News.

? via MIT Technology Review

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/software-may-help-predict-cholera-outbreaks-1B8242979

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PFT: 49ers, Broncos are early 2013 favorites

Reuters

During the Super Bowl XLVII power outage, Ravens coach John Harbaugh spent a couple minutes shouting at a stadium official on the sideline, and he also yelled at the on-field officials. At his press conference on Monday morning, Harbaugh said he went too far.

?The whole blackout thing, I way overreacted,? Harbaugh said. ?I was just concerned about some things that had to do with the headsets and coaches in the press box and if you have to bring guys down. It was really stuff that was never going to be an issue because they handled it so well. A total overreaction on my part and I feel bad about it. It was the one thing I look back on the game and I am disappointed in myself about, because I didn?t have very much poise in that moment.?

Although Harbaugh didn?t get into specifics about what he was angry about, it appeared that he thought the 49ers were getting an unfair advantage because the power on their sideline wasn?t out, so they were still able to use their sideline-to-booth communications, while the Ravens? communications system wasn?t working. Under NFL rules, if one team?s communications go out, the other team isn?t supposed to be able to use theirs.

The Ravens dominated the game before the blackout and were leading 28-6 when the lights went out. But the 49ers outscored the Ravens 17-0 for the rest of the third quarter. Harbaugh, however, said he wouldn?t blame the blackout for the fact that his team began to struggle.

?It wasn?t anything to do with the blackout,? he said. ?The blackout had nothing to do with the game. The 49ers just outplayed us for a stretch. They played great. We did not, for a stretch of the game, but I was proud that our guys bounced back and finished.?

Harbaugh credited his brother, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, for doing a good job of keeping his team focused during the blackout.

?It probably gave them an opportunity to get their balance,? John Harbaugh said of the 49ers. ?I?m not surprised. I don?t know that it would have taken that. I know the guy coaching them. I know how he competes. I know what he?s made of and therefore what their team is made of. There was really no doubt in my mind that they were going to do that at some point, and they were going to start throwing counter punches. They?ve got talent. They?ve got a great scheme and that?s what they did. It was really on us to stem the tide, which obviously we were eventually able to do, but man, they were throwing some haymakers at us, and they did a great job of that.?

Harbaugh did a great job, too. Even if chewing out the officials during the power outage was not his finest moment.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/04/49ers-broncos-installed-as-2013-favorites-in-vegas/related

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