What predicts distress after episodes of sleep paralysis?

Mar. 4, 2013 ? Ever find yourself briefly paralyzed as you're falling asleep or just waking up? It's a phenomenon is called sleep paralysis, and it's often accompanied by vivid sensory or perceptual experiences, which can include complex and disturbing hallucinations and intense fear.

For some people, sleep paralysis is a once-in-a-lifetime experience; for others, it can be a frequent, even nightly, phenomenon.

Researchers James Allan Cheyne and Gordon Pennycook of the University of Waterloo in Canada explore the factors associated with distress after sleep paralysis episodes in a new article published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The researchers used an online survey and follow-up emails to survey 293 people. They measured post-episode distress using a range of items, from post-episode rumination to interference with next-day functioning.

The level of distress following sleep paralysis episodes was associated with features of the sleep paralysis episode itself. For example, the results showed that the more fear people felt during sleep paralysis episodes, the more distress they felt afterward.

The researchers also found that sensory experiences during episodes of sleep paralysis predicted later distress. Feelings of threat and assault -- such as sensing a presence in the room, feeling pressure on the chest, having difficulty breathing, or having a feeling of imminent death -- were all associated with distress following sleep paralysis episodes. So, too, were vestibular-motor experiences, including feelings of floating or falling and out-of-body experiences.

Cheyne and Pennycook speculate that the sensory experiences that come with episodes of sleep paralysis could exacerbate people's fear, creating a feedback loop that enhances memories of experiences later on.

Post-episode distress was also associated with a number of individual-level factors, including cognitive style, distress sensitivity, and supernatural beliefs about sleep paralysis.

People who held supernatural beliefs about sleep paralysis experiences also experienced greater post-episode distress. Those who had more analytic cognitive styles, on the other hand, experienced comparatively less distress after sleep paralysis episodes.

Taken together, these findings show that both situational factors and individual factors contribute to these common, and often stressful, personal experiences.

These findings are important, the researchers say, because they provide insight into a common experience of distress that is not well understood. Some participants lamented that their experiences of terror following episodes of sleep paralysis were often dismissed by clinicians.

Given that a large percentage of people report some carryover effects on their functioning the next day, sleep paralysis could "make a significant contribution to the billions of dollars, worldwide, in costs associated with accidents, illnesses, and lost productivity associated with sleep disturbances," the researchers note.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. A. Cheyne, G. Pennycook. Sleep Paralysis Postepisode Distress: Modeling Potential Effects of Episode Characteristics, General Psychological Distress, Beliefs, and Cognitive Style. Clinical Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/2167702612466656

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/top_news/~3/tUGQjcoWU-A/130304123536.htm

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ON FEELING INSURANCE POOR | Argent Financial Group, INC

Question: I pay a lot of insurance premiums and sometimes I just feel insurance poor. Is that unusual?

?

Answer:?Sometimes stupid things spoken by clever people can sound very wise.

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I suspect you?ve heard someone grouse about ?all those premiums I pay are making me insurance poor,? implying that the payment of the premiums is somehow causing poverty.

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Actually, it?s the other way around. The payment of your insurance premiums should keep you out of poverty.

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Think about it.

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The $1000 a year someone pays to the insurance company to protect their $250,000 house is not going to cause poverty. Yes, I would prefer to have the grand back in my pocket, but it won?t break me.

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But what WILL break me is having the grand back in my pocket because I refused to carry insurance on my house, and my house burns down. Now I have the $1000, but I?m $250,000 poorer. That?s going to come much closer to causing poverty than my payment of the premium.

?

But you also need to know the difference between ?if? insurance and ?when? insurance.

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?If? insurance is the most common kind. It is designed to protect you against the negative financial consequences of an unlikely catastrophic event. While the possibility may be remote, your house might burn down, you might have a car wreck, you might need brain surgery, you might become disabled, you might get sued. Any of these events could cause severe enough financial consequences to bankrupt you. So you incur a guaranteed small loss (the premium) to avoid a potential catastrophic loss.

?

?When? insurance is different. It offers a different kind of risk management. ?When? insurance deals with events in your life that WILL occur ? but no one knows exactly when.

?

Take retirement for example. A pension plan knows its covered retirees will retire, but they do not know how long each one will live. So when calculating reserves required to fund a retirement pool, retirement plan actuaries are able to average together a large number of people. This ?law of large numbers? is very accurate. They can?t tell the actuary which of their retirees will only collect a few retirement checks (because they die early), but they can predict with great accuracy how many will do so out of a large number.

?

It?s OK to think of ?if? insurance as an expense. It is a sure, small loss incurred to avoid a potentially disastrous large loss, therefore helping you avoid poverty.

?

But you should think of ?when? insurance as funding ? a larger cash flow that pre-funds a larger amount of money that will come back to you in the future (either through retirement payments, cash values or death benefits). Its predictability and guaranteed continuity also help you avoid poverty.

?

The purchase of any kind of insurance should always be made with help from an expert, licensed professional.

?

Insurance premiums do not cause poverty. But they may prevent it.

?

-30-

?

Byron R. Moore, CFP^? is managing director / planning group of Argent Advisors, Inc. Email him at bmoore@argentmoney.com. Write to him at 500 East Reynolds Drive, Ruston, LA 71270 or call him at (318) 251-5858. The views expressed in the preceding commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of Argent Advisors, Inc.?No forecasts can be guaranteed.?Argent Advisors, Inc. does not offer tax, insurance or legal advice.?The information contained in this column should not be construed as a substitute for personalized investment, tax, insurance or legal advice.

Source: http://www.argentmoney.com/blog/?p=209

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PFT: Titans expected to franchise TE Cook

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The backlash surely was stronger than the Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady had anticipated.? Via carefully leaked partial details, Brady?s new contract was sold as a team-first gesture by a player who had opted to take less.

Initially, it worked.? To the casual fan (and to the zealous fan with only a casual knowledge of how NFL contracts work), news of the three-year, $27 million extension that cleared $15 million in cap space over the next two years created the unmistakable impression that Brady was taking less ? not only in the future, but now.

The full truth, which emerged one day (and, in today?s world, multiple news cycles) later, told a different story.? Instead of earning $30 million over the next two years, Brady will be getting $30 million right now, along with an extra $3 million.? As a result, Brady and the Patriots quickly were criticized by many for trying to pull a fast one in the characterization of the contract.

Yes, Brady eventually will be taking less starting in 2015, when his compensation will be $7 million.? But few believe that, if Brady is playing at a high level, the deal will be honored as written.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft insists that it will be.

?No, no, no,? Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Peter King of Sports Illustrated regarding the possibility of another new contract.? ?This is a real deal.? Look at our track record.? We don?t do fake deals.? The contract we have with Tom Brady is a real contract we will both live by.?

The problem for the Patriots is that, if Brady continues to play at a high level over the next two years and the deal isn?t reworked, suspicions will persist that Kraft and Brady likewise brokered a wink-nod side deal that will kick in once Brady?s career ends.? The fact that Kraft laid out this contract directly with Brady on a long plane flight, bypassing agent Don Yee, will serve only to increase those suspicions.

Let?s be clear once again on this:? There is no evidence of a side deal.? And there?s currently no tangible reason to believe there is one.? But when unusual things happen, reasonable minds yearn for a reasonable explanation.? The idea that Brady opted to do a multi-million-dollar solid for an organization worth well over a billion dollars makes no sense to many.

From a salary cap standpoint, the deal makes plenty of sense, because it reverses the trend of gigantic cap dollars for one position at a time when the cap isn?t going up by very much.

?If we were going to have to pay him elite-quarterback money and have elite-quarterback cap numbers, I just didn?t think we would be able to build a team,? Kraft told King.? ?We don?t want to have a team where we?re paying 18 to 20 percent to a player on the cap.? I wanted to do something elegant that would work for everybody.? I had been talking to him off and on for maybe 18 months, about how I wanted him to finish his career here, and about how we both have to be smart about it.? I just really want him to end his career a Patriot.?

Eighteen months ago, another contract in which Kraft had been directly involved had just been completed ? the labor deal between the NFL and the NFL Players Association.? Kraft knew at the time (and has said so since then) that the salary cap won?t be shooting up any time soon.? In the interim, Brady saw for himself that the cap went up by only $600,000 per team in 2012 (a 0.5-percent increase) and by only $2.4 million in 2013 (a 1.9-percent climb).

So, yes, the Patriots? reason for doing the deal makes sense.? Brady?s decision to commit to three below-market seasons in the name of creating cap space now doesn?t.? He could have insisted on higher base salaries in 2015, 2016, and 2017, realizing that he could be faced with a request to take a pay cut (or take a hike) in the out years.? Instead, he took the future pay cut in advance ? without knowing whether his skills will be the same or whether the cap will indeed go up once the TV deals kick in.

Then again, maybe Brady finally has gotten to the point in his life where he realizes that no amount of money (his or his wife?s) can buy the feeling he last experienced more than eight years ago.? The feeling of being a champion.

?We?re going to spend to the cap,? Kraft said.? ?Tom knows that it?s not like whatever we don?t pay him we?re putting in the Kraft family pocket.? He gets it, and now he?s rooting for us to make the right decisions in building the team.?

The fact that Brady took less surely will be used to help build the team with other players who, influenced by Brady?s gesture, will do the same.? There?s nothing unfair or improper about it; the system is the system, and the goal for every team is to find a way to win within the confines of the rules.

Of course, that won?t stop some from wondering whether the team is indeed coloring outside the lines.

?These people don?t know the relationship between Tommy and this team,? Kraft told King.? ?Maybe they hate the Patriots, or they?re jealous.? I understand the naysayers are out there, but we want to build a team capable of winning every year, and while this is not perfect in every way, we think this will help us get there.?

There?s no doubt the Patriots will continue to knock on the door of their fourth Super Bowl win.? And if one comes in the next two years, the question will be whether Brady is knocking on Kraft?s door for a raise in 2015.

Either way, the skepticism will persist.? And it?s a small price to pay for being a consistent contender for more than a decade.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/03/tag-coming-for-jared-cook-on-monday/related/

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Zain to offload stake in Iraqi unit through IPO

DUBAI/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kuwait telecom operator Zain may be the sole seller in its Iraqi unit's IPO which could substantially cut its stake while maintaining its majority control.

Zain Iraq must float a quarter of its shares and list on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) as part of its $1.25 billion licence, as were Iraq's two other national operators.

The company expects to finalize details of the initial public offering by the end of June, Wael Ghanayem, Zain Iraq's chief financial and operating officer told Reuters in an emailed response to questions.

If the IPO is fully subscribed, Zain's stake in Iraq's No.1 operator and one of its key subsidiaries could fall to 51 percent from 76 percent. It was not clear if Zain Iraq plans to sell more than 25 percent in the IPO.

The share sale may be Iraq's largest ever, topping No.2 operator Asiacell's $1.27 billion floatation earlier in February, with the proceeds likely to be used to improve Zain Iraq's network or repatriated back to Kuwait.

Aside from Zain's stake, the remaining 24 percent of Zain Iraq is held by "strategic Iraqi investors", according to a statement from Zain.

Separately, Ghanayem said a foreign shareholder will be the seller in the IPO "rather than the existing Iraqi shareholder"

When asked if Zain was indeed the sole seller, Zain was non-committal.

"Zain is actively working on its offer structure which will be subject to approval of all relevant stakeholders," the company said in a statement. "The IPO will, in theory, reduce Zain Group's overall equity in Zain Iraq."

The subsidiary reported a 6 percent rise in net profit in 2012 to $369 million and accounts for more than a third of group revenue.

NBK Capital, a unit of National Bank of Kuwait , BNP Paribas and Citigroup Inc are advising Zain Iraq on the planned float.

The telco would not comment on what will happen to the IPO proceeds, but analysts say they could be retained in Iraq.

"Zain typically lets its country units run on a stand-alone basis," said Abhinav Purohit, an analyst at IDC in Dubai.

"There's talk of new spectrum being sold in Iraq to allow for 3G services and Zain could use some of the IPO income for network upgrades."

Zain, Asiacell and third operator Korek, a France Telecom affiliate, have nationwide licences but each has a regional stronghold where a core of subscribers is located.

For Zain, this is the central and southern areas of Iraq, so it may seek to boost its presence in under-served areas such as Kurdistan, which is Asiacell's heartland.

Alternatively, Zain could bring the money back to Kuwait to boost its dividends as it did when it sold some African assets in 2010.

The would be welcomed by the Kharafi family, one of the largest shareholders in Zain and a major family conglomerate in Kuwait which is heavily leveraged.

It previously tried sell a controlling stake in Zain to Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates for $12 billion.

(Editing by Dinesh Nair and David Cowell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zain-offload-stake-iraqi-unit-ipo-100858145--sector.html

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Obama renews budget offer to cut social safety nets

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama raised anew the issue of cutting entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security as a way out of damaging budget cuts, a White House official said on Sunday, as both sides in Washington tried to limit a fiscal crisis that may soon hit millions of Americans.

Signaling he might be ready to explore a compromise to end automatic spending cuts that began late Friday, Obama mentioned reforming these entitlement programs in calls with lawmakers from both parties on Saturday afternoon.

"He's reaching out to Democrats who understand we have to make serious progress on long-term entitlement reform and Republicans who realize that if we had that type of entitlement reform, they'd be willing to have tax reform that raises revenues to lower the deficit," White House senior economic official Gene Sperling said on Sunday on the CNN program "State of the Union."

Republicans have long argued that the only way to tame budget deficits over the long haul is by slowing the cost of sprawling social safety net programs.

These include the Social Security retirement program and Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs for the elderly, disabled and poor that are becoming more expensive as a large segment of the U.S. population hits retirement age.

While Obama also has proposed some savings on these programs, he has insisted that significant new tax revenues be part of the deficit-reduction formula, an idea Republicans so far reject.

Budget fights in Congress took their most serious turn in years on Friday when $85 billion in indiscriminate spending cuts known as "sequestration" began to kick in after both parties failed to agree on how to stop them.

Democrats predict the automatic cuts could soon cause air-traffic delays, meat shortages as food safety inspections slow down, and hundreds of thousands of furloughs for federal workers.

As the budget battles rage on in Washington, sources said Obama plans to nominate on Monday Sylvia Mathews Burwell to head to White House Office of Management and Budget. A veteran of the Bill Clinton White House, Burwell is president of the Walmart Foundation, which handles the corporation's charitable efforts.

Neither Sperling nor White House spokesmen would provide further details on Obama's conversations on Saturday with members of Congress, and they did not identify the lawmakers to whom the president spoke.

Obama's mention of entitlement reform may help bring Republicans to the table to halt the cuts. Republican leaders also made soothing noises on Sunday about the need to avoid a government shutdown on March 27, when funding runs out for most federal programs.

BOEHNER'S MAXIMUM EFFORT

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," said he "absolutely" would do whatever it takes to keep the government operating. Toward that end, he will seek House passage this week of a "continuing resolution" to fund the government through September 30, when the fiscal year ends.

Lately, some rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans have been sending signals that they are willing to compromise to end a two-year-old deadlock over tax and entitlement reforms.

Last week, conservative Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he was open to raising $600 billion in new tax revenue if Democrats accepted significant changes to Medicare and Medicaid as part of a long-term budget deal.

A few days later, liberal Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland told Reuters that he had discussed with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid the possibility of replacing the automatic spending cuts with a mix of entitlement reforms and tax increases.

"Democrats know we have to do entitlement reforms and Republicans know they have to do revenues (increases)," Cardin said.

Now that they are in place, the $85 billion in spending cuts must be carried out by September 30 if no alternative is found. Half of those cuts would hit the military with the rest scattered over thousands of other domestic programs.

Economists have warned that such a heavy dose of belt tightening over such a short period will slow U.S. economic growth and potentially cost 750,000 jobs.

Speaking of the search for alternatives, Boehner said on "Meet the Press:" "I don't think anyone quite understands how it gets resolved."

No matter how Obama and Congress resolve the 2013 battle, this round of automatic spending cuts is only one of a decade's worth of annual cuts totaling $1.2 trillion mandated by the sequestration law.

DEEP DIVISIONS STILL

Deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans have soured previous negotiations.

Slamming the door on Democrats' demands for new tax hikes, Boehner said that Obama "got $650 billion of higher taxes on the American people on January the first. How much more does he want?" He was referring to the higher tax rate that began in the new year on households making more than $450,000 a year.

"It's time for the president and Senate Democrats to get serious about the long-term spending problem that we have," Boehner said.

In the meantime, both Democrats and Republicans were hoping to win the immediate fight over the automatic spending cuts so that they are best positioned in any upcoming battles over long-term budget deficits.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday played down the severity of the automatic cuts, describing them as modest.

"We're willing to talk to him (Obama) about reconfiguring the same amount of spending reduction over the next six months," McConnell said on CNN. "The American people look at this and say: 'Gee, I've had to cut my budget more than this,' - probably on numerous occasions over the last four years because we've had such a tepid economy now for four long years."

At the heart of Washington's persistent fiscal crises is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and gain control of the $16.7 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy.

Government red ink also rose over the last decade after the enactment of across-the-board tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 secured by President George W. Bush.

(Additional reporting by Will Dunham and Philip Barbara; Editing by Alistair Bell, Philip Barbara and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spending-cut-showdown-threatens-obamas-second-term-agenda-025029989--business.html

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How Much Twitter and Facebook Is Okay When You're On Vacation?

Barcelona is such a wonderful place to visit if you get the chance. Check out the architecture. Eat the jam?n. Drink the wine. Our own Kyle Wagner is there right now on vacation, and although you'd think he'd be chilling away from the internet, he's tweeting about which camera he's using. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Wc0cYRI0mi0/how-much-twitter-and-facebook-is-okay-when-youre-on-vacation

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Woodward on White House: They said 'You'll regret this' (CNN)

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