Insurance - Bascis

What is an Insurance?
An arrangement by which a company or the state undertakes to provide a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in return for payment of a specified premium

Heartbleed Bug

I just thought it might be useful for you to know about Heartbleed bug. This is something to do with OpenSSL cryptographic library, which is used by roughly two-thirds of all websites on the Internet. Here is some thoughts about it.

What is the Heartbleed Bug?

The Heartbleed Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing the information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure the Internet. SSL/TLS provides communication security and privacy over the Internet for applications such as web, email, instant messaging (IM) and some virtual private networks (VPNs).

The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users.

Am I affected by the bug?

You are likely to be affected either directly or indirectly. OpenSSL is the most popular open source cryptographic library and TLS (transport layer security) implementation used to encrypt traffic on the Internet. Your popular social site, your company's site, commerce site, hobby site, site you install software from or even sites run by your government might be using vulnerable OpenSSL.

Many of online services use TLS to both to identify themselves to you and to protect your privacy and transactions. You might have networked appliances with logins secured by this buggy implementation of the TLS. Furthermore you might have client side software on your computer that could expose the data from your computer if you connect to compromised services.

Learn more about this, https://lastpass.com/heartbleed/

Daytime nap is good for your heart: Study

Grabbing an hour's sleep during the day could have cardiovascular benefits, according to a new study.
The study by Ryan Brindle and Sarah Conklin, from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania looked at the effect of a daytime nap on cardiovascular recovery following a stress test and found that those participants who slept for at least 45 minutes during the day had lower average blood pressure after psychological stress than those who did not sleep.
Long work schedules, shift work, increased anxiety and greater uses of the Internet and television late at night-all characteristics of our modern society-have had an impact on nocturnal sleep.
For the study, the researchers split 85 healthy university students into two groups: One group was allotted a 60-minute interval during the day when they had the opportunity to sleep; the other group did not sleep during the day.
The researchers also asked the students to complete questionnaires assessing sleep quality and complete a cardiovascular reactivity task, involving a complex mental subtracting exercise.
Brindle and Conklin measured the students' blood pressure and pulse rates at regular intervals throughout the experiment.
They found that daytime sleep seemed to have a restorative effect with students in the sleep condition reporting lower scores of sleepiness than those who did not sleep. Although blood pressure and pulse rates rose in both groups between baseline and the stress phase, during the recovery phase, those who had napped had significantly lower average blood pressure readings than those who had not slept.
These results show that sleeping between 45 and 60 minutes during the day appears to facilitate blood pressure recovery after a mental stress task in the laboratory.
"Our findings suggest that daytime sleep may offer cardiovascular benefit by accelerating cardiovascular recovery following mental stressors. Further research is needed to explore the mechanism by which daytime sleep is linked with cardiovascular health and to evaluate daytime sleep as a recuperative and protective practice, especially for individuals with known cardiovascular disease risk and those with suboptimal sleep quality," concluded the researchers.
The findings have been published in Springer's journal International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Brain Changes Linked To Spirituality

By studying patients before and after surgery to remove a brain tumour, a team of Italian researchers has identified anatomical changes in the brain that may be linked to shifts in spiritual and religious attitudes

The team has uncovered another clue that directly links brain activity and spirituality.

"Neuroimaging studies have linked activity within a large network in the brain that connects the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortexes with spiritual experiences, but information on the causative link between such a network and spirituality is lacking," lead study author Dr. Cosimo Urgesi, from the University of Udine in Italy, was quoted as saying.

Dr. Urgesi''s team scored patients on a personality train called self-transcendence (ST) before and after brain tumour surgery and combined analysis of those scores with advanced brain mapping.

They found selective damage to the left and right posterior parietal regions of the brain caused a specific increase in ST.

"Damage to posterior parietal areas induced unusually fast changes of a stable personality dimension related to transcendental self-referential awareness," Urgesi.

"Thus, dysfunctional parietal neural activity may underpin altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviours," Urgesi added.

Self-transcendence is thought by experts to be a measure of spiritual feeling, thinking and behaviours that reflects a decreased sense of self and an ability to identify oneself as an integral part of the universe.

Cell Press has published the study in the February 11 issue of the journal Neuron. Sounds Logic?

--ANI

Back in Black: Your Favorite Foods, Only Healthier

When it comes to plant-based foods, deep, vibrant colors are one of the best indicators of what’s healthiest. The pigments that give plants their color also provide the antioxidants that protect against heart disease, inflammation, and certain cancers. A simple swap can provide a big nutritional payoff, like choosing pink grapefruit over white, or dark greens over pale lettuce. So it may come as little surprise that black foods can pack a potent health benefit too. That’s exactly the case with the midnight-hued rice, beans, tea, and berries I can’t seem to get enough of lately. Here’s why:

Black rice
This grain—along with the red and purple varieties—is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, and has long been consumed throughout Asia. Black rice is a 100% whole grain food just like brown rice, but it is thought to have a higher anthocyanin content due to its deeper color. A study in China found that when people’s diets were supplemented with black-rice pigments, their risk factors for cardiovascular disease decreased–including levels of C-reactive protein in their blood, an indicator of inflammation.

Black beans
These high-fiber antioxidant powerhouses pack more disease-fighting power than lighter-colored beans. New research shows that the black skins contained 24 plant compounds including 12 terpenoids and 7 flavonoids. The researchers also found that these compounds halted the growth of colon, liver, and breast cancer cells.

Black tea
It comes from the same plant as green and oolong tea, but the dark stuff has a slew of good qualities all to its own. Numerous studies have shown that drinking several cups of flavonoid-rich black tea a day may provide heart-health benefits, offer protection against neurological decline as we age, and provide anticancer properties. Plus it’s got the added benefit of being calorie-free (as long as you don’t drink it with milk and sugar), and its caffeine may help improve your workout.

Blackberries
These tangy treats are rich in polyphenols that have been shown to have antioxidant activity. University of Kentucky researchers isolated blackberry extract in lab studies, and found that its chemicals stopped the growth of colon-cancer cells. They may also help prevent diseases related to chronic inflammation. Don’t like them on their own? Pair them with blueberries and ginger syrup in this light and fruity dessert.

KooooooooooL

So you feel overworked all the time? You also feel that the amount of time and energy you put in are just not being appreciated and naturally, all this is leading to increased stress levels and making you long for that annual vacation of yours. Just one small problem. It is not due for the next three months. So what do you do then? Well you opt for the next best option, which is to de-stress yourself and have a vacation even while working! Its not the same as a week at the beach, but it’ll keep you from burning out completely or from being too exhausted to move when you finally do take time off.

The problem that most working professionals face these days is that they think in all-or-nothing terms. So on vacation days they relax and play but when Monday approaches, they leave aside all thoughts of partying and having fun and just concentrate on work. Great for the career not for your health. So opt for these stress-busting tips and see the difference in your life-style and mood yourself.

Take a Power Nap

When you find yourself yawning in the middle of a conversation, it’s time to surrender! Lock your door, take the phone off the hook and set your watch for 10 minutes. Sit with your feet propped up, stretch out on a rug or curl up on a sofa. Close your eyes, take a few deep, slow breaths and rest - just as if you were out in a hammock taking an old-fashioned, lazy-days-ofsummer nap.

Indulge Yourself

Think about a treat that you haven’t had in a while and then go out and look for it. It might be something that you adored as a child like a tall glass of Hot Chocolate Fudge sundae.

Wash Away the Stress

What better way to escape for a quick respite than to take a nice, long, hot bath? It can be soothing, sensual, quiet or stimulating. If it’s warm and happens to be raining, take a walk, lifting your face to the raindrops. If you’re near the ocean, stop to listen; if not, listen to a tape of the ocean waves. As you indulge your senses, imagine the water washing away any stress-factors - toxic people, toxic thoughts, toxic fears.

Engage in Vacation Play

One of the problems with all-or-nothing thinking is that we engage in certain activities only on vacation, when we could enjoy them anytime. True, you can’t scuba dive in your backyard or go deep-sea fishing from your office window, but there are many vacation-type activities that you can do anywhere. Stop and read one chapter of a beach novel, or work on a crossword puzzle for 10 minutes. Chat with someone you care about. Share a few jokes. By briefly disengaging, you’ll be more mentally alert when you resume “work.” Ever notice how solutions come to you in the shower, on a run or when you’re weeding the garden? That’s the power of a mini vacation.

Laugh Out Loud

When you’re feeling weary, is there any better way to recharge than a hearty laugh? Laughter not only lifts your spirit, but new research indicates it burns calories as well. Need help? Tell a joke or ask someone else to tell you one. Read today’s comics, buy someone a Dilbert card or flip through your Calvin and Hobbes calendar until you experience a true belly laugh. It’s impossible to laugh and feel burdened at the same time. Don’t wait for vacation to refuel. Do it now, wherever you are!

Beware of these Facts!

Causes of Brain Damage

1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered, increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.