Dimensions of personality

The "big five" are broad categories of personality traits. While there is a significant body of literature supporting this five-factor model of personality, researchers don't always agree the exact labels of each dimension. However, these five categories are usually described as follows:

Extroversion: This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.

Agreeableness: This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors.

Conscientiousness: Common features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors.
Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.

Neuroticism: Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.

Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.

These dimensions represent broad areas of personality. Research has demonstrated that these groupings of characteristics tend to occur together in many people. For example, individuals who are sociable tend to be talkative. However, these traits do not always occur together. Personality is a complex and varied and each person may display behaviors across several of these dimensions.

Common Allergens

Some of the most common allergens are:

Foods: Food allergies are most common in infants and often go away as a child gets older. Although some food allergies can be serious, many simply cause annoying symptoms like an itchy rash, a stuffy nose, and diarrhea. Most allergy specialists agree that the foods that people are most commonly allergic to are milk and other dairy products, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts and tree nuts, and seafood.

Insect bites and stings: The venom (poison) in insect bites and stings causes allergic reactions in many people. These allergies can be severe and may cause an anaphylactic reaction in some people.

Airborne particles: These are often called environmental allergens, and they're the most common allergens. Some examples of airborne particles that can cause allergies in people are dust mites (tiny bugs that live in house dust); mold spores; animal dander (flakes of scaly, dried skin, and dried saliva from your pets); and pollen from grass, ragweed, and trees.

Medicines: Antibiotics - medications used to treat infections - are the most common types of medicines that cause allergic reactions. Many other medicines, including over-the-counter medications (those you can buy without a prescription), can also cause allergic reactions.

Chemicals: Some cosmetics or laundry detergents can cause people to break out in an itchy rash (hives). Usually, this is because the person has a reaction to the chemicals in these products. Dyes, household cleaners, and pesticides used on lawns or plants can also cause allergic reactions in some people.

Plants suitable for bonsai

Any substantial plant can be trained into a bonsai with a bit of hard work - although some plants are very difficult to make to adapt to the shallow pots and restricted growth. Trees/shrubs which are used more commonly for bonsai - and adapt quite well are evergreens such as Pine, Cypress, Camelia, Azalea, Pomegranate, Holly, Serissa, Fig (Rainforest and Mediterranean) and Cedar. Deciduous trees such as Cherry, Maple (Japanese and Trident), Zelkova and Beech are also prime candidates.

All of these plants are favoured for bonsai because they are great plants for both the novice and expert. They offer many special characteristics such as beautiful flowers, a strong and hardy nature, attractive bark, interesting foliage or seasonal fruits and cones. Whatever the attribute, the above plants really do make beautiful bonsai - while also being traditional plants which have been used in this art for centuries.

http://www.bonsaisite.com/mplants.html
http://rathi.askagent.com

Unknown facts about butterflies

Butterflies are very interesting insects! They live in all parts of the world and there are thousands of kinds. Some are less than a half-inch long, while others have a wing span of eight to 10 inches!
The wings of butterflies come in many colors and patterns. Some wings are solid bright colors, like blue, yellow, orange or red. Many butterflies have intricate patterns on their wings. The designs are pretty, but their purpose is to fool birds! They may have spots on their wings that look like animal eyes. That helps to scare away birds so they don’t eat the butterflies! Others have wing patterns that look like leaves, so they blend in with bushes and trees, and the birds can’t see them.
Butterflies fly very well, and can change directions easily. They can land quickly. Their wings are made of many little scales.
During the day, butterflies fly around looking for food to eat. They use their “proboscis” to suck the nectar from flowers. It is a long tube that looks like a tongue. When they aren’t eating, they roll up their proboscis. They also will eat tree sap and decaying fruits and animals.
Butterflies find their way with the use of their antennae, which have tiny knobs on the ends. They feel things with the knobs.
Some butterflies live for more than a year and others live for just a few weeks. Most live their entire life in one small area, but there are several kinds that migrate. In winter, they fly south to warmer weather. They may fly hundreds or even thousands of miles. When spring comes, they fly back to their home!
Some kinds that migrate are the well-known milkweed or monarch butterfly, the painted lady butterfly and the common cabbage butterfly.

Diversification of Reliance Industries

The Reliance Group founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002) is India's largest business house with total revenues of Rs 80,000 crore (US$ 16.8 billion), cash profit of over Rs 9,800 crore (US$ 2.1 billion), net profit of over Rs 4,700 crore (US$ 990 million) and exports of Rs 11,900 crore (US$ 2.5 billion). Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani now run the Company. Founded as a textile mill in 1966, Reliance continued to be a textile company until early 1980s. However, seizing the opportunities emanating from the growing Indian economy as well as the opening up of the regulation-driven sectors of the economy such as petrochemicals, plastics etc., Reliance pursued the policy of backward integration from textiles as well as diversification from the early 1980s onwards to set up world-scale facilities for manufacturing polyester and textile intermediates, plastics and polymer intermediates, detergent intermediates etc. The group's activities span exploration and production (E&P) of oil and gas, refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, polymers, and intermediates), textiles, financial services and insurance, power, telecom and infocom initiatives. The Reliance Group Companies include: Reliance Industries Limited, Reliance Capital Limited, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited, Reliance Telecom Limited, Reliance Infocom Limited, Reliance General Insurance Company Limited, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. and BSES Limited. Reliance enjoys a pre-eminent position in India's economy with group revenues of nearly 3.5 per cent of India's GDP. The group's leadership position in India is also reflected in its all round contribution to the national economy. The group contributes: 5 per cent of India's total exports 10 per cent of the Government of India's indirect tax revenues RIL alone accounts for: 30 per cent of the total profits of the private sector in India 10 per cent of the profits of the entire corporate sector in India 7 per cent of the total market capitalisation in India Weightage of 15 per cent in the BSE Sensex Weightage of 12 per cent in the Nifty Index One out of every four investors in India is a Reliance shareholder. With globally competitive capital and operating cost positions, Reliance Group dominates the rapidly growing Indian market deriving over 80% of its revenues from the domestic market. Reliance exports its products to over 100 countries, including the most quality conscious customers in the US and Europe. Reliance has set up new export offices in China, UAE, Vietnam, Turkey and Indonesia.

http://india.mapsofindia.com/indian-economy/major-corporate-houses.htmlhttp://rathi.askagent.com

Finding whether the baby is righty or lefty?

Your baby's preference for her right or left hand may start to appear as early as 6 to 9 months of age. Even so, you won't be able to determine true right- or left-handedness until your child is 2 or 3 years old, when she'll begin to favor the same hand consistently. And some children may be ambidextrous (using both hands equally) until they're 5 or 6, when they finally make a choice.Hand dominance is greatly influenced by genetics. If both you and your partner are left-handed, your child has a 45 to 50 percent chance of being left-handed as well.

(About 10 percent of people are left-handed.)If you're curious about which side is going to become dominant in your baby, try offering her a tempting toy. If she's started to develop a dominant hand, she's more likely to use that one to reach for it.If your baby seems to be using one hand exclusively before she's 18 months old, however, talk to your pediatrician, as early hand dominance may be a sign of motor development problems.As you watch your baby's motor skills develop, remember that it's not a good idea to attempt to influence her hand preference. While genetics alone don't entirely explain why someone ends up right- or left-handed, hardwiring of your child's nervous system is at least part of the reason. Forcing her to use her right hand when she's really a lefty is unlikely to work in the long run and will only confuse or frustrate her along the way.

http://www.babycenter.com/expert/baby/babydevelopment/6716.html?scid=momsbaby:20060724:2896:18874:8584

Blog

I was just surfing the net..I wanted to know few tips about leading a healthy life..I was searching for it..

I came across a wonderful site: http://rathi.askagent.com

It has all tips regarding family issues, beauty, health, parenting, cooking etc..Though the responses have been submitted to someone else, anyone can find matters that interests him.

The advises seems to set for atleast one person...

Do not forget to check:, http://rathi.askagent.com

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer. In 2006 there will be approximately 174,470 new cases of lung cancer. About one third of all cancer deaths in the United States are due to lung cancer. Nearly 90 percent of lung cancer cases are related to smoking. Usually beginning in an airway called a bronchus, lung cancer takes many years before symptoms develop. In most cases, by the time the original lung tumor is large enough to cause breathing difficulties or other symptoms, the cancer has metastasized, or spread to organs outside the lung.
Medical researchers are beginning to unravel the complexities of lung cancer and are developing better methods for the diagnosis and treatment. Attempts at general screening for this disease have not yet improved survival and are not recommended unless in a research program. Early stage lung cancer detection, advances in treatment for lung cancer and palliative care have improved life expectancy and quality for people in later stages of lung cancer.

Getting rid of blackspots on face

Here are few tips to get rid of blackspots on face:

Make a paste with mehendi and oil and apply on the face
Make a mixture of 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and glycerin and apply it on the spots
Apply the paste of turmeric and curry leaves on the face and wash it after 15 minutes.
Apply a mixture of mehndi and turmeric. For a piece of turmeric, 2-3 leaves of mehndi are used
Grind dried basil leaf, neem and mint (100 gm each). Add some turmeric powder and rose water to make it in a paste form and apply it on the spots.
Grind betel leaf and add a little coconut oil and apply it on the spots
Soak a chappathi in milk overnight . Make it into a paste and apply it on black heads. Repeat for several days
Make a paste of saffron and add some honey , apply it on the face to remove black spots.
To remove black spots... apply a paste of turmeric and basil.
To remove wrinkles on the face, apply a mixture of sandalwood powder, rosewater and glycerin. Wash with cold water after some time

Solar ponds for trapping solar energy

The sun is the largest source of renewable energy and this energy is abundantly available in all parts of the earth. It is in fact one of the best alternatives to the non-renewable sources of energy.
One way to tap solar energy is through the use of solar ponds. Solar ponds are large-scale energy collectors with integral heat storage for supplying thermal energy. It can be use for various applications, such as process heating, water desalination, refrigeration, drying and power generation.
The solar pond works on a very simple principle. It is well-known that water or air is heated they become lighter and rise upward e.g. a hot air balloon. Similarly, in an ordinary pond, the sun’s rays heat the water and the heated water from within the pond rises and reaches the top but loses the heat into the atmosphere. The net result is that the pond water remains at the atmospheric temperature. The solar pond restricts this tendency by dissolving salt in the bottom layer of the pond making it too heavy to rise.
A solar pond has three zones. The top zone is the surface zone, or UCZ (Upper Convective Zone), which is at atmospheric temperature and has little salt content. The bottom zone is very hot, 70°– 85° C, and is very salty. It is this zone that collects and stores solar energy in the form of heat, and is, therefore, known as the storage zone or LCZ (Lower Convective Zone). Separating these two zones is the important gradient zone or NCZ (Non-Convective Zone). Here the salt content increases as depth increases, thereby creating a salinity or density gradient. If we consider a particular layer in this zone, water of that layer cannot rise, as the layer of water above has less salt content and is, therefore, lighter. Similarly, the water from this layer cannot fall as the water layer below has a higher salt content and is, therefore, heavier. This gradient zone acts as a transparent insulator permitting sunlight to reach the bottom zone but also entrapping it there. The trapped (solar) energy is then withdrawn from the pond in the form of hot brine from the storage zone.
Though solar ponds can be constructed anywhere, it is economical to construct them at places where there is low cost salt and bittern, good supply of sea water or water for filling and flushing, high solar radiation, and availability of land at low cost. Coastal areas in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa are ideally suited for such solar ponds.

http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/renew/pond.htm

Getting rid of Pimples

To get rid of pimples and the scars they leave behind you have to be very careful in all aspects including your diet & skin care.
First to talk about your diet:
* Eat plenty of vitamin-rich foods, drink plenty of water and avoid too much alcohol and stimulants such as tea and coffee.
* Ensure that a fair portion of fibre is included in daily diet. Whole grains, fruit and salads are a must as is plenty of water.
* Avoiding starchy and fried foods also helps in curbing the spread of pimples.
Taking a proper care of your skin is very important. Here are few tips for your skin care:
* Keep your skin clean and excess oil under control.
* Wash your face twice a day with a mild face wash, rinse off with running water and blot dry with a clean towel.
* Avoid facial scrubs if you have infection. Try and use a mask once a week so as to cleanse and absorb excess impurities and oil.
* If you have dry skin, then moisturize it, regularly.

Getting answered on anything.

Have queries regarding beauty, cooking, relationships,marital conflicts, business deals, internet usage????

Here is a wonderful site where you can ask queries regarding anything in the world..And you will get them answered by a council of professional advisors..

Why don't you try once? And you will be astonished to see how this "intelligent system" works...
Just try at:
http://www.ammas.com/aa/main.cfm?bid=4511

Getting answered on anything.

Have queries regarding beauty, cooking, relationships,marital conflicts, business deals, internet usage????

Here is a wonderful site where you can ask queries regarding anything in the world..And you will get them answered by a council of professional advisors..

Why don't you try once? And you will be astonished to see how this "intelligent system" works...
Just try at:
http://www.ammas.com/aa/main.cfm?bid=4511

Getting answered on anything.

Have queries regarding beauty, cooking, relationships,marital conflicts, business deals, internet usage????

Here is a wonderful site where you can ask queries regarding anything in the world..And you will get them answered by a council of professional advisors..

Why don't you try once? And you will be astonished to see how this "intelligent system" works...
Just try at:
http://www.ammas.com/aa/main.cfm?bid=4511

Health benefits of tea

For years, studies in China and Japan have shown that the folklore about tea does contain some truth -- it does promote longer life. Japanese smokers have only half the lung cancer rate as American smokers. In areas of Japan where the most tea is drunk, the rate of stomach cancer is the lowest. In a study of 6,000 Japanese women, those who drank 5 cups or more of green tea per day cut their risk of strokes by 50 percent. "Drinking tea with meals in Japan and China," says a cancer researcher at the University of British Columbia, "is thought to be a major reason for low cancer rates in these countries." Long-term consumption of black tea -- the kind that most Americans and Europeans drink -- and of other foods such as apples containing chemicals called flavonoids was associated with a much lower risk of stroke in a study of 552 Dutch men. Flavonoids are natural vitaminlike compounds. They make blood cells called platelets less prone to clotting, and act as antioxidants, countering the artery-damaging potential of highly reactive free radical chemicals. In the study, men with a high flavonoid intake had a 73 percent lower risk of stroke during 15 years of follow-up, compared with men with a low intake of flavonoids. The men in the study got about 70 percent of their flavonoids from drinking black tea. Men who drank more than 4.7 cups of tea a day had a 69 percent reduced risk of stroke compared with men who drank less than 2.6 cups a day, said the researchers of the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Tea also helps prevent tooth decay in several ways. It contains a solid dose of fluoride and works better than the antibiotic tetracycline. According to researchers at the Tokyo Dental College, it fights the kinds of bacteria in the mouth that cause gum disease and the eventual loss of the teeth. It also kills the greatest cavity-causing bacteria in the mouth, Streptococcus mutans. In addition, researchers in Australia announced that a cup of tea could be the next weapon in the fight against skin cancer. A study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization revealed that mice made to sip black tea suffered 54 percent fewer cancers than those that drank water. Both sets of test animals were exposed to levels of ultraviolet rays that an average Australian receives. Earlier studies on black tea have shown that it can be effective against some forms of cancer and may even prevent heart and liver disease. Properties in green and black tea called antioxidants are thought to be active agents against skin cancer. In the past 10 to 15 years, a growing body of research has shown that foods and vitamins with a strong anti-oxidant effect may reduce the risk of many diseases, including cancer and aging. Human trials using black tea as a preventative against skin cancer began in Australia in 1997.

http://www.holymtn.com/tea/t-health.htm

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is derived from the ancient practice of using natural plant essences to promote health and wellbeing. It consists of the use of pure essential oils obtained from a wide assortment of plants, which have been steam distilled or cold-pressed from flowers, fruit, bark and roots.
Aromatherapy can help ease a wide assortment of ailments; easing aches, pains, and injuries, while relieving the discomforts of many health problems.
Aromatherapy also acts on the central nervous system, relieving depression and anxiety, reducing stress, relaxing, uplifting, sedating or stimulating, restoring both physical and emotional wellbeing.

Imroving self-confidence

A few tips for improving your confidence, which goes hand in hand with improving your self esteem:

Feel good when you want to.

When you need to boost your self confidence or self esteem, find three (3) things that make you feel good. These could be memories of good times, a piece of music, a holiday souvenir, or a person’s face - use photos if it helps. Practise thinking about them and bringing them to mind.

Develop self confidence that lasts, because of the way emotions attach themselves to memories, you will quickly train yourself to feel good when you want, a great help.

Beat self consciousness; which is the #1 enemy of self confidence.

Learn how to keep your attention off yourself.

You can do this easily by following these steps:

If you notice you have become self-conscious, (you can usually tell because you start to feel anxious), choose something everyday you can see and study it in detail. For example; examine a door, look at the different textures and shades of colour, wonder about who made it, how and so on.
The important thing is that you're learning how to keep your attention off yourself.If you feel self-conscious in a social situation, it's usually because you don't have enough to do! Focus on what your purpose in the situation is. Whether you're there to:
find out if you like the other people in the situation,make others feel comfortable,find out some
information,make business contacts,etc etcChallenge Your Own Assumptions

Confident looking people have bad days too,Just because you feel under confident, doesn't mean other people can tell,If you're saying things to yourself like "you're no good at anything" then rest assured, you're wrong. Everyone can compose a sentence, get successfully to the store, and eat without choking.

Don't let yourself make sweeping statements about yourself; in the long run it is this sort of thing that can really damage your self image. Building self-esteem is not just about thinking good of yourself, it’s about not thinking bad for no reason, andJust because you have felt bad about yourself in the past, doesn't mean you're always going to feel that way.

http://www.ptsdforum.org/thread80.html

Eye care tips

Here are some easy things you can do to start giving your eyes the loving care and attention they deserve!

Fundamental rule :
Listen to your eyes. Whether they are sore, tearing, itchy or tired, they are sending you a message. Listen to them. If your eyes hurt when you have been working at the computer for too long, stop and take a break. Be receptive to your eyes.

Palming :
A simple technique called palming can refresh your eyes when they are feeling tired ( Remember the first rule! ). The term 'palming' was coined by William Bates, the author of 2 books on vision improvement and .
You just close your eyes and cover them with your palms, resting them on your cheek bones. Make sure you do not put pressure on your eyeballs. Relax and think of pleasant images. A variation is to imagine the 'blackest' black that you can. But the important thing is to keep your mind relaxed . There are more eye exercises available on the Vision Improvement Site.

Computer work :
Nowadays, people spend a lot of time in front of the computer screen. Thus it is even more crucial to give your eyes adequate rest. Here are some things you can do:

If possible, do computer work without wearing your glasses. I know this is difficult for most people but this is enormously beneficial. I can only see the screen about 8-10 inches away, so I move the monitor nearer and shift my chair forward. Now my eyes don't feel as tried as before.

Look up across the room or out of the window every few minutes. Take a few deep breathes before continuing your work.

Stop work after every 40 minutes or so. Get up from your seat and take a walk around the place. Palm for a few minutes before going back to face the computer screen again.

Whenever p ossible, make use of your distant vision. Extended periods of time spent at the computer can really spoil one's eyesight, as you may have noticed. Seek out opportunites to see things that are far away.

Reading:
When you are reading, do try to read without wearing your presciption glasses. Most people will find they can do so at a comfortable distance. Put the material you are reading far away just so that the letters can be seen clearly. Gradually, the distance at which you can read will increase.

http://www.visionimprovementsite.com/eyecare.html

Heart Care Tips

Cholesterol Help:
Moderate aerobic exercise for 4 hours a week was shown to improve cholesterol profiles even when no weight loss occurred, in a study in Clinical Exercise Physiology. Other work indicates that consistent regular exercise has the best effect on cholesterol. So don´t do your 4 hours all at once.

Controlling Blood Pressure :
People with high blood pressure can benefit from aerobic exercise. A 45-minute run can lower blood pressure for up to 24 hours. If you can´t go that far, start with what you can and move up.

Other aerobic exercise can also help. Choose what you enjoy. New research shows strength training also helps control blood pressure.

Exercise and Cholesterol :
Exercise can help improve your cholesterol levels, even if you don´t lose weight.

Heart Failure and Exercise :
Most people with heart failure, a weakened heart muscle, can improve their endurance and activity levels through aerobic exercise. Get clearance from your doctor before you start.

Heart Health :
You can strengthen your heart and help yourself live longer and healthier with aerobic exercise. However, if you clog up your arteries by eating too much saturated fat, you can defeat your best efforts .

http://www.apnakarachi.com/Tips/HealthTips.aspx?t=5

Interesting Facts

Coca-Cola was originally green.
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury
It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.
Smartest dogs: 1) Scottish border collie; 2) Poodle; 3) Golden retriever.
Dumbest: Afghan hound.
Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.
Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.
Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000
City with the most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong Kong
State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

Child dental care

The following tips can help with your child's dental care:

Schedule your child's first trip to the dentist by the time he or she is one year old.
Use a child size toothbrush with soft bristles. Replace the toothbrush every three months
Select a fluoride toothpaste and use a pea-sized amount on the toothbrush after every meal and before bed. If the child swallows the toothpaste this small amount should not hurt him
Once all primary teeth are in, begin flossing your child's teeth. When the child is ready, teach him or her to floss before brushing.
Teach your child to use a fluoride mouthwash once they are six years of age or older.
Offer a variety of foods from the five major food groups.
Teach your child to avoid sugary foods.
Take your child in for dental visits twice a year.
Ask your dentist if your child may benefit from sealants, which protect teeth from decay.