5 Tips for a Peaceful Passing of the Programs (Parts 1 and 2)

http://www.eventssimplified.info/blog/2015/7/31/5-tips-for-a-peaceful-passing-of-the-programs

5 Tips for a Peaceful Passing of the Programs (Part 1)

A week or so ago Cindy and I covered a class for our colleague, Monica.  It was a one-day program. At first glance it was pretty straightforward... until it wasn't.  Do you ever think about writing down all the things you do on a daily basis or all the intricacies of running your events?  Or updating your checklists daily? I would say most people don't.  Here's what you can do when faced with having to cover for someone.  

1. Learn about the event. If you have the luxury of advanced notice before taking over an event then take advantage as much as possible.  Have a meeting to ask about the purpose of the event and who will be in attendance.  Gather information about the speakers and their needs during the program.  Ask how the event is being funded, if there will be money collected, and what kind of forms the participants will need to fill out.  
2. Ask about the expectations.  Ask what is expected of you before, during, and after the event.  Based on the scenario I described above, we were only needed on the day of the program.  The before and after was being handled by Monica, so we just needed to be attentive on the day of the program, check everyone in, and tend to the speakers' needs.
3. Think about unexpected scenarios. Talk about what to do when presented with various scenarios.  You may not be able to predict everything that will happen during the event, but the more prepared you can be the better.  Some things could be, what to do if a speaker doesn't show up or an attendee is allergic to the meal being served.  What should you do in the event of an emergency or where can you make last minute copies?
4. Identify the important decision makers.  If you run across a situation where you aren't able to make a decision yourself, find out who in attendance is able to make such key decisions.  These people will likely be able to fill in the gaps that you might not have known about beforehand.
5. Debrief. There is always something to be learned from an event.  In this case, Cindy and I recommended that Monica use a typed sign in sheet in the future because it was difficult to read the attendees handwriting to know if they were there.  Even though Monica would be the one deciphering the handwriting we collected, it was a good tip for her regardless.  We also recommended that she take an allergy order prior to the program to submit to the caterer.  Someone in the group was VERY allergic to gluten and had to wait for a separate plate from the caterer, which didn't arrive until the end of lunch.  

Obviously, the event I described was a pretty straightforward one to handle.  Not all events are so easy.  What kind of tips do you have when you have to step into someone else's shoes mid-game?

Tune in tomorrow to read 5 more tips to peacefully pass along your programs, but from the other side of the table.  What to do when you are preparing to pass your programs to someone else as opposed to taking them over.

PART 2

http://www.eventssimplified.info/blog/2015/7/31/5-more-tips-for-a-peaceful-passing-of-the-program-part-2

5 MORE Tips for a Peaceful Passing of the Programs (Part 2)

For those of you that missed the post yesterday, you can read that above for what you should do when you're taking over someone else's program.  Today's focus is on what you can do to prepare to pass your program along to someone else.  I had this experience when I was preparing for maternity leave last year.  

It was this time last year that I was putting the final touches on my programs and getting them in "tip-top" shape for someone else to run them and complete the post-program tasks.  I was working incredibly hard to get everything done, and as a whole I think it was successful.  Here are my 5 tips for preparing your programs for a peaceful takeover.  

1. Make a list. Find a way to make a checklist of everything that needs to be done before the program, during the program, and after the program.  No task is too small!  This can be down to how many copies need to be made before the event or how much food to order for meal. 
2. Remind yourself that your successor is not a mind reader.  If it's in your head and not on paper then don't count on the task being completed upon your return.  Even the best event planners haven't developed the unique skill of telepathy.  If someone has, please email me and teach me the ways!!
3. Work ahead.  I know this is difficult, but work ahead as far as you can, that way the tasks you leave your successor are less in number.  Chances are they are still trying to do their own job in addition to yours.  
4. Communicate expectations. Make sure that you communicate the expectations that you have and that your clients have about the event. You can't expect someone to succeed unless you give them clear expectations and goals.  Go over the items that will make your event successful. This will help the next person prioritize which tasks are important and which ones can wait.  
5. Modify your expectations.  All event planners have a certain way of running events.  I like making sure that things are done for the people I'm serving before they ask. However, not everyone has this same priority. Understand that when you give up control of something that another person might not complete tasks in the same manner that you do, and that's okay.  Everyone has their own work flow, so it's important for you to modify your expectations on how each task it getting done.  
6. BONUS TIP: Let it go, breathe, and enjoy! This item is about trust. If you've done everything you can to prepare you need to trust that the person taking over is going to do the best possible job they can. It may not be your way, but it will get done. Take a breath and enjoy your vacation, leave, or whatever you're stepping away to. I bet that whatever that thing is deserves your undivided attention. For me it was my new baby, and it was nice knowing that my programs were taken care of in my absence. 

What tips do you have when you are transitioning job responsibilities to others? Leave your comments below!

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/20-things-remember-you-love-highly-creative-person.html?dgs=2

20 Things Only Highly Creative People Would Understand

There’s no argument anymore. Neuroscience confirms that highly creative people think and act differently than the average person. Their brains are literally hardwired in a unique way. But that gift can often strain relationships. I’ve seen it firsthand while working with New York Times bestselling authors and Grammy-winning musicians.

If you love a highly creative person, you probably experience moments when it seems like they live in a completely different world than you. Truth is, they do. But trying to change them isn’t nearly as effective as trying to understand them.

It all begins by seeing the world through their lens and remembering these 20 things:

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1. They have a mind that never slows down.

The creative mind is a non-stop machine fueled by intense curiosity. There is no pause button and no way to power it down. This can be exhausting at times but it is also the source of some crazy fun activities and conversations.

2. They challenge the status quo.

Two questions drive every creative person more than any others: What if? and Why not? They question what everyone else takes at face value. While uncomfortable for those around them, it’s this ability that enables creatives to redefine what’s possible.

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3. They embrace their genius even if others don’t.

Creative individuals would rather be authentic than popular. Staying true to who they are, without compromise, is how they define success even if means being misunderstood or marginalized.

4. They have difficulty staying on task.

Highly creative people are energized by taking big mental leaps and starting new things. Existing projects can turn into boring slogs when the promise of something new and exciting grabs their attention.

5. They create in cycles.

Creativity has a rhythm that flows between periods of high, sometimes manic, activity and slow times that can feel like slumps. Each period is necessary and can’t be skipped just like the natural seasons are interdependent and necessary.

6. They need time to feed their souls.

No one can drive cross-country on a single take of gas. In the same way, creative people need to frequently renew their source of inspiration and drive. Often, this requires solitude for periods of time.

7. They need space to create.

Having the right environment is essential to peak creativity. It may be a studio, a coffee shop, or a quiet corner of the house. Wherever it is, allow them to set the boundaries and respect them.

8. They focus intensely.

Highly creative people tune the entire world out when they’re focused on work. They cannot multi-task effectively and it can take twenty minutes to re-focus after being interrupted, even if the interruption was only twenty seconds.

9. They feel deeply.

Creativity is about human expression and communicating deeply. It’s impossible to give what you don’t have, and you can only take someone as far as you have gone yourself. A writer once told me that an artist must scream at the page if they want a whisper to be heard. In the same way, a creative person must feel deep if they are to communicate deeply.

10. They live on the edge of joy and depression.

Because they feel deeply, highly creative people often can quickly shift from joy to sadness or even depression. Their sensitive heart, while the source of their brilliance, is also the source of their suffering.

11. They think and speak in stories.

Facts will never move the human heart like storytelling can. Highly creative people, especially artists, know this and weave stories into everything they do. It takes longer for them to explain something, explaining isn’t the point. The experience is.

12. They battle Resistance every day.

Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, writes:

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”

Highly creative people wake up every morning, fully aware of the need to grow and push themselves. But there is always the fear, Resistance as Pressfield calls it, that they don’t have what it takes. No matter how successful the person, that fear never goes away. They simply learn to deal with it, or not.

13. They take their work personally.

Creative work is a raw expression of the person who created it. Often, they aren’t able to separate themselves from it, so every critique is seen either as a validation or condemnation of their self-worth.

14. They have a hard time believing in themselves.

Even the seemingly self-confident creative person often wonders, Am I good enough? They constantly compare their work with others and fail to see their own brilliance, which may be obvious to everyone else.

15. They are deeply intuitive.

Science still fails to explain the How and Why of creativity. Yet, creative individuals know instinctively how to flow in it time and again. They will tell you that it can’t be understood, only experienced firsthand.

16. They often use procrastination as a tool.

Creatives are notorious procrastinators because many do their best work under pressure. They will subconsciously, and sometimes purposefully, delay their work until the last minute simply to experience the rush of the challenge.

17. They are addicted to creative flow.

Recent discoveries in neuroscience reveal that “the flow state” might be the most addictive experience on earth. The mental and emotional payoff is why highly creative people will suffer through the highs and lows of creativity. It’s the staying power. In a real sense, they are addicted to the thrill of creating.

18. They have difficulty finishing projects.

The initial stage of the creative process is fast moving and charged with excitement. Often, they will abandon projects that are too familiar in order to experience the initial flow that comes at the beginning.

19. They connect dots better than others.

True creativity, Steve Jobs once said, is little more than connecting the dots. It’s seeing patterns before they become obvious to everyone else.

20. They will never grow up.

Creatives long to see through the eyes of a child and never lose a sense of wonder. For them, life is about mystery, adventure, and growing young. Everything else is simply existing, and not true living.

Featured photo credit: galaxy skin paint flickr/Hayley Riggins via rebloggy.com

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http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/relationships/a32088/husband-is-your-best-friend/

12 Signs Your Husband Is Your Best Friend

1. You'd rather spend a night hanging out on the couch with him than have a girls' night.

Doing nothing with him almost always winds up being better than anything else.

2. He tells you literally everything.

You wind up hearing all the secret "guys only" gossip because he doesn't want to hide anything from you.

3. You both nerd out over the same hobbies.

Game of Thrones is a sacred hour you share and no one is allowed to talk during it.

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4. You order for each other.

If you're picking up Chipotle on the way home, you don't even need to ask how he wants his burrito (steak, white rice, black beans, medium salsa, and guacamole). That's true love.

5. You have a secret handshake — or code word.

This is an important thing to have in case aliens ever bodysnatch him and you need to figure out if he's an impostor or not.

6. You don't need to spend every second together, but you do prefer it when he's around.

If you're out and he's not there, you often catch yourself thinking, Oh, man, he would've thought that was hilarious or, I wonder if he's looking at the same moon right now and thinking of me.

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7. You have tons of inside jokes.

Sometimes people can't even hold a conversation when you're both present because you keep laughing at what seems like absolute nonsense to everyone else.

8. You can share a look and know what the other one is thinking. 

It's pretty easy for you to glance over at him from across the room and know you're both ready to leave this boring party.

9. You're always having weird adventures.

You wind up on spontaneous road trips or discovering new friends in out-of-town bars. Your life feels like a sitcom.

10. You always go to each other for advice.

He knows every single personal crisis you're dealing with and vice versa. Not only that, but you actually listen to each other and follow through, because you're a team.

11. You've been through some rough times together.

Sure, every relationship feels great at the high points, but you've also survived some real struggles. At this point, you know he's not going anywhere.

12. You finish each other's…

Sentences? Sandwiches? Personal quests for vengeance? The way you finish that phrase says a lot about you as a couple.

NEXT: 11 Signs You Married the Right Man »

Related Stories:
• 19 Secrets of Couples Who Stay Together Forever
• 11 Signs He'll Be a Good Dad
• Signs Your Marriage Will Last a Lifetime

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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/alzheimers-disease-may-be-infectious-study-suggests-10493032.html

Alzheimer's disease may be infectious, study suggests

Scientists stress it is not possible to transmit Alzheimer’s by living with or caring for someone with the disease

Disturbing possibility raises questions about certain surgical procedures

A study into people who died of a separate kind of brain disease after receiving injections of human growth hormone suggests that Alzheimer’s may also be a transmissible disease.

The findings have raised questions about the safety of some medical procedures, possibly including blood transfusions and invasive dental treatment, which may involve the transfer of contaminated tissues or surgical equipment.

The investigation has shown for the first time in humans that Alzheimer’s disease may be a transmissible infection which could be inadvertently passed between people.

Scientists emphasised that the new evidence is still preliminary and should not stop anyone from having surgery. They have also stressed that it is not possible to “catch” Alzheimer’s by living with someone with the disease.

However, the findings of a study into eight people who were given growth hormone injections when they were children have raised the disturbing possibility that Alzheimer’s can be transmitted under certain circumstances when infected tissues or surgical instruments are passed between individuals.

 Scientists emphasised that the new evidence is still preliminary (AFP)

Until now, it was thought that Alzheimer’s occurred only as a result of inheriting certain genetic mutations causing the familial version of the disease, or from random “sporadic” events within the brain of elderly people, said Professor John Collinge, head of neurodegenerative diseases at University College London.

“What we need to consider is that in addition to there being sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and inherited or familial Alzheimer’s disease, there could also be acquired forms of Alzheimer’s disease,” Professor Collinge said.

“You could have three different ways you have these protein seeds generated in your brain. Either they happen spontaneously, an unlucky event as you age, or you have a faulty gene, or you’ve been exposed to a medical accident. That’s what we’re hypothesising,” he said.

“It’s important to emphasise that this relates to a very special situation where people have been injected essentially with extracts of human tissue. In no way are we suggesting that Alzheimer’s is a contagious disease. You cannot catch Alzheimer’s disease by living with or caring for someone with the disease,” he added.

Read more: High costs have thwarted attempts to find a cure
Trial shows new drug could slow the progression of Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's: What is solanezumab – and how does it work?

The eight adults, aged between 36 and 51, all died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) after receiving contaminated hormone injections as children. But autopsies on their brains also revealed that seven of them harboured the misfolded proteins associated with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. It is unheard of for people in this age group to have such proteins.

The scientists did not find the “tau” protein tangles associated with the later stages of the disease, which means the seven individuals did not have full-blown Alzheimer’s, although they may well have developed it had they not died of CJD, Professor Collinge said.

The study, published in the journal Nature, eliminated other possible reasons for the presence of these so-called amyloid-beta (A-beta) proteins and came to the conclusion that they were most probably transmitted as protein “seeds” in the growth-hormone injections.

Questions remain about whether these protein seeds could also be transmitted on surgical instruments used in other operations. It is well-established that the prion proteins behind CJD and Alzheimer’s stick to metal surfaces and can survive extreme sterilisation procedures such as steam cleaning and formaldehyde.

There is also the question of whether Alzheimer’s disease could be passed on in blood transfusions, given that animal experiments have shown this to be possible.

“It is not clear here that this is relevant to blood transfusions, and epidemiological studies have been done in the past looking for links between Alzheimer’s disease and blood transfusions and they have not shown an association,” Professor Collinge said.

The seven Alzheimer's risk factors

1 of 7

• 

Next

“Certainly with vCJD, which is the form of CJD associated with mad-cow disease, there is infectivity found in the blood and there have been four documented cases in the UK of vCJD from a blood donor who went on to get vCJD, so it can occur,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, Professor Collinge added: “Certainly there are potential risks in dentistry where it is impacting on nervous tissue, such as root-canal treatments and special precautions are taken for that reason... If you are speculating whether A-beta seeds are transmitted at all by surgical instruments one would have to consider whether certain types of dental procedures might be relevant.”

But in a statement issued later, Dr Collinge clarified that more research was needed before any conclusions could be drawn about any potential risks in current medical or dental treatments.

“Our findings relate to the specific circumstance of cadaver-derived human growth hormone injections, a treatment that was discontinued many years ago,” he said.

Read more: Scientists may have found potential cause of Alzheimer's
Finger-tapping tests could point to better diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
Ultrasound beams could help combat Alzheimer's, scientists believe

“It is possible our findings might be relevant to some other medical or surgical procedures, but evaluating what risk, if any, there might be requires much further research. Our current data has no bearing on dental surgery and certainly does not argue that dentistry poses a risk of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Between 1958 and 1985 some 1,848 people in Britain, mostly children, received growth hormone injections made from tens of thousands of homogenised pituitary glands derived from the brains of human cadavers.

The NHS switched to synthetic growth hormone in 1985 when scientists realised that pituitary-derived hormone could be a route for transmitting CJD. Up to 2000, there were 38 known cases of “iatrogenic” CJD resulting from growth hormone injections in the UK, but this figure is likely to rise further because of the exceptionally long incubation period of the disease.

Of the seven patients who had the early signs of Alzheimer’s, four had severe deposits of amyloid-beta protein, three had moderate deposits and one had traces.

Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, played down the significance of the research yesterday saying that it was a small study on only eight samples.

 The findings raise questions about some surgical procedures (AFP)

“There is no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted in humans, nor is there any evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted through any medical procedure,” Dame Sally said.

“I can reassure people that the NHS has extremely stringent procedures in place to minimise infection risk from surgical equipment, and patients are very well protected,” she added.

John Hardy, professor of Neuroscience at UCL, said: “I think we can be relatively sure that it is possible to transmit amyloid pathology by the injection of human tissues which contain the amyloid of Alzheimer’s disease. Does it have implications for blood transfusions? Probably not, but this definitely deserves systematic epidemiological investigation.”

Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “While these findings are interesting and warrant further investigation, there are too many unknowns in this small, observational study of eight brains to draw any conclusions about whether Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted this way.

“Injections of growth hormone taken from human brains were stopped in the 1980s. There remains absolutely no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease is contagious or can be transmitted from person to person via any current medical procedures.”

What is a prion?

Alzheimer’s disease is now considered a “prion disease”. Prions, short for proteinaceous infectious particles, are misfolded proteins that carry the ability to trigger further proteins to misfold, leading to debilitating brain disorders, such as CJD in humans, BSE in cattle and scrapie in sheep.

Prions are unique in being an infectious agent without any genes, unlike viruses or bacteria. They are extremely tenacious, sticking to metal surfaces of surgical instruments and surviving the high temperatures and chemical agents that kill off infectious viruses and microbes.

Stanley Prusiner, of the University of California, coined the word prion in the early 1980s and his pioneering work on them led to a Nobel Prize in 1997.

Sent from my iPhone

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/alzheimers-disease-may-be-infectious-study-suggests-10493032.html

Alzheimer's disease may be infectious, study suggests

Scientists stress it is not possible to transmit Alzheimer’s by living with or caring for someone with the disease

Disturbing possibility raises questions about certain surgical procedures

A study into people who died of a separate kind of brain disease after receiving injections of human growth hormone suggests that Alzheimer’s may also be a transmissible disease.

The findings have raised questions about the safety of some medical procedures, possibly including blood transfusions and invasive dental treatment, which may involve the transfer of contaminated tissues or surgical equipment.

The investigation has shown for the first time in humans that Alzheimer’s disease may be a transmissible infection which could be inadvertently passed between people.

Scientists emphasised that the new evidence is still preliminary and should not stop anyone from having surgery. They have also stressed that it is not possible to “catch” Alzheimer’s by living with someone with the disease.

However, the findings of a study into eight people who were given growth hormone injections when they were children have raised the disturbing possibility that Alzheimer’s can be transmitted under certain circumstances when infected tissues or surgical instruments are passed between individuals.

 Scientists emphasised that the new evidence is still preliminary (AFP)

Until now, it was thought that Alzheimer’s occurred only as a result of inheriting certain genetic mutations causing the familial version of the disease, or from random “sporadic” events within the brain of elderly people, said Professor John Collinge, head of neurodegenerative diseases at University College London.

“What we need to consider is that in addition to there being sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and inherited or familial Alzheimer’s disease, there could also be acquired forms of Alzheimer’s disease,” Professor Collinge said.

“You could have three different ways you have these protein seeds generated in your brain. Either they happen spontaneously, an unlucky event as you age, or you have a faulty gene, or you’ve been exposed to a medical accident. That’s what we’re hypothesising,” he said.

“It’s important to emphasise that this relates to a very special situation where people have been injected essentially with extracts of human tissue. In no way are we suggesting that Alzheimer’s is a contagious disease. You cannot catch Alzheimer’s disease by living with or caring for someone with the disease,” he added.

Read more: High costs have thwarted attempts to find a cure
Trial shows new drug could slow the progression of Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's: What is solanezumab – and how does it work?

The eight adults, aged between 36 and 51, all died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) after receiving contaminated hormone injections as children. But autopsies on their brains also revealed that seven of them harboured the misfolded proteins associated with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. It is unheard of for people in this age group to have such proteins.

The scientists did not find the “tau” protein tangles associated with the later stages of the disease, which means the seven individuals did not have full-blown Alzheimer’s, although they may well have developed it had they not died of CJD, Professor Collinge said.

The study, published in the journal Nature, eliminated other possible reasons for the presence of these so-called amyloid-beta (A-beta) proteins and came to the conclusion that they were most probably transmitted as protein “seeds” in the growth-hormone injections.

Questions remain about whether these protein seeds could also be transmitted on surgical instruments used in other operations. It is well-established that the prion proteins behind CJD and Alzheimer’s stick to metal surfaces and can survive extreme sterilisation procedures such as steam cleaning and formaldehyde.

There is also the question of whether Alzheimer’s disease could be passed on in blood transfusions, given that animal experiments have shown this to be possible.

“It is not clear here that this is relevant to blood transfusions, and epidemiological studies have been done in the past looking for links between Alzheimer’s disease and blood transfusions and they have not shown an association,” Professor Collinge said.

The seven Alzheimer's risk factors

1 of 7

• 

Next

“Certainly with vCJD, which is the form of CJD associated with mad-cow disease, there is infectivity found in the blood and there have been four documented cases in the UK of vCJD from a blood donor who went on to get vCJD, so it can occur,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, Professor Collinge added: “Certainly there are potential risks in dentistry where it is impacting on nervous tissue, such as root-canal treatments and special precautions are taken for that reason... If you are speculating whether A-beta seeds are transmitted at all by surgical instruments one would have to consider whether certain types of dental procedures might be relevant.”

But in a statement issued later, Dr Collinge clarified that more research was needed before any conclusions could be drawn about any potential risks in current medical or dental treatments.

“Our findings relate to the specific circumstance of cadaver-derived human growth hormone injections, a treatment that was discontinued many years ago,” he said.

Read more: Scientists may have found potential cause of Alzheimer's
Finger-tapping tests could point to better diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
Ultrasound beams could help combat Alzheimer's, scientists believe

“It is possible our findings might be relevant to some other medical or surgical procedures, but evaluating what risk, if any, there might be requires much further research. Our current data has no bearing on dental surgery and certainly does not argue that dentistry poses a risk of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Between 1958 and 1985 some 1,848 people in Britain, mostly children, received growth hormone injections made from tens of thousands of homogenised pituitary glands derived from the brains of human cadavers.

The NHS switched to synthetic growth hormone in 1985 when scientists realised that pituitary-derived hormone could be a route for transmitting CJD. Up to 2000, there were 38 known cases of “iatrogenic” CJD resulting from growth hormone injections in the UK, but this figure is likely to rise further because of the exceptionally long incubation period of the disease.

Of the seven patients who had the early signs of Alzheimer’s, four had severe deposits of amyloid-beta protein, three had moderate deposits and one had traces.

Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, played down the significance of the research yesterday saying that it was a small study on only eight samples.

 The findings raise questions about some surgical procedures (AFP)

“There is no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted in humans, nor is there any evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted through any medical procedure,” Dame Sally said.

“I can reassure people that the NHS has extremely stringent procedures in place to minimise infection risk from surgical equipment, and patients are very well protected,” she added.

John Hardy, professor of Neuroscience at UCL, said: “I think we can be relatively sure that it is possible to transmit amyloid pathology by the injection of human tissues which contain the amyloid of Alzheimer’s disease. Does it have implications for blood transfusions? Probably not, but this definitely deserves systematic epidemiological investigation.”

Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “While these findings are interesting and warrant further investigation, there are too many unknowns in this small, observational study of eight brains to draw any conclusions about whether Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted this way.

“Injections of growth hormone taken from human brains were stopped in the 1980s. There remains absolutely no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease is contagious or can be transmitted from person to person via any current medical procedures.”

What is a prion?

Alzheimer’s disease is now considered a “prion disease”. Prions, short for proteinaceous infectious particles, are misfolded proteins that carry the ability to trigger further proteins to misfold, leading to debilitating brain disorders, such as CJD in humans, BSE in cattle and scrapie in sheep.

Prions are unique in being an infectious agent without any genes, unlike viruses or bacteria. They are extremely tenacious, sticking to metal surfaces of surgical instruments and surviving the high temperatures and chemical agents that kill off infectious viruses and microbes.

Stanley Prusiner, of the University of California, coined the word prion in the early 1980s and his pioneering work on them led to a Nobel Prize in 1997.

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http://www.nextadvisor.com/blog/2013/11/06/top-7-credit-card-offers-for-those-with-excellent-credit/?kw=fbk_mtop7_cardcash_perkunrl_outrag2_621perk

Top 7 Credit Card Offers For Those With Excellent Credit

by Tasha Lockyer November 6, 2013

Updated: August 11, 2015

Do you have excellent credit?  If so, banks are actively looking to win you as a new credit card customer by offering some unprecedented deals.  Although banks have been more careful about acquiring customers with questionable credit since the 2008 Financial Crisis, they are now fighting harder than ever to win coveted customers with great credit. If you are in the excellent credit sweet spot, they are effectively giving you money (and a lot of it) to use their credit cards. These are the top 7 deals you can take advantage of today:

Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express: Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express (a NextAdvisor advertiser) is such a great cash back card that I have one. Cardholders earn a spectacular 6% cash back at supermarkets (on up to $6K in purchases annually), 3% on gas and at department stores like JCP, Kohl's and Macy's, and 1% on everything else. Plus you'll get a $150 intro bonus after spending $1,000 on purchases with your new Card in the first three months – that's a 15% cash back bonus on the first $1,000 you spend! In addition you'll enjoy a 0% 15-month intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. There is a $75 annual fee, but depending upon your spending patterns this card should easily pay for itself and then some. If you want a similar card that has no annual fee, check out Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express, which has the same 15-month 0% APR but lower cash back rates and a slightly lesser intro bonus.

Chase Slate: This card was designed with credit card balance consolidation in mind. It's the only card we've found with both a lengthy 0% introductory APR and no balance transfer fee. Its 15-month, 0% introductory APR on both balance transfers and purchases translates to interest-free payments until 2016. Plus, there are no balance transfer fees during the first 60 days of card membership. This is a big deal, as depending upon how much you plan to transfer, balance transfer fees can really add up. In fact, a $0 intro balance transfer fee can save you hundreds of dollars in fees, and the $0 annual fee is also a money-saver. So if you have excellent credit, you absolutely should not be paying any credit card interest. Get this card and transfer your balances.

Citi Simplicity:  Shopping for a special item for yourself or someone else? This card will let you make big purchases then carry that balance into 2017 without paying a dime of interest. Citi Simplicity (a NextAdvisor advertiser) features an incredibly lengthy 21-month 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers. And there are no late fees, convenient if you sometimes forget to pay your bill on time, as well as no annual fee. The combination makes this card perfect for anyone looking to make a large purchase (or several purchases) or who is interested in transferring balances from other high-interest credit cards to this one. Either way it's a smart choice.

Capital One Venture Rewards Card:  Like to travel? This is the card for you. You'll earn 2 miles per dollar for every purchase, and a bonus 40,000 miles – equal to $400 in travel – after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of card membership.  To use your miles, just book your travel and redeem your miles for a statement credit. You can make your travel arrangements however you'd like (by phone, online, using an agent, etc), fly any airline to any destination, and enjoy no blackout dates. Plus there are no foreign transaction fees, so you'll save money when you travel outside the US.  There is a $59 annual fee, but it's waived the first year. Overall this is a fabulous travel card and we highly recommend it.

BankAmericard Cash Rewards Credit Card:  If you're in the market for a great cash back rewards cards that also has a 12-month 0% APR, this is a smart pick.  Not only can you transfer over balances from your high-interest cards to the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card and pay zero interest for a full year, but you'll get the same 0% intro APR on new card purchases.  Plus you'll earn 3% cash back on gas and 2% cash back on grocery stores (for the first $1,500 in combined grocery and gas purchases each quarter) and 1% cash back on everything else. And the cherry on top is you'll earn an additional $100 cash back after spending $500 in the first 3 months.  This card really does have it all – cash back, an extra cash back bonus, a lengthy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers AND no annual fee.

Citi Double Cash Card: The recently-launched Citi Double Cash Card features an effective 2% cash back on ALL purchases, the best we've seen for a card that offers a single cash back percentage on everything you buy. There are two steps two getting the full 2% cash back. Use your card to purchase the item(s) for the first 1% cash back. You'll receive the second 1% cash back after you've paid for your purchase(s), for a total of 2% effective cash back. As long as you're paying the minimum due each month you can take as long as you want to pay off your balance and get the additional 1% cash back (aka, 2% total effective cash back). In addition to this high cash back percentage, you'll also enjoy 15 months of a 0% APR on both purchases and balance transfers, giving you a little bit of a cushion to help pay items off. And to top it all off there's no annual fee and no caps on the amount cash back rewards you can earn.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: This is a rewards cards with lots of flexibility.  It starts off by earning you 2 points for each dollar spent on travel and dining out, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. That's followed up by a 40,000 point bonus after spending $4,000 in the 3 months – equal to $500 in travel rewards. Redeeming your earned points via Chase's Ultimate Rewards saves 20% off travel costs, enabling you to stretch 40,000 worth of points to $500 in travel. You can also redeem your points for cash back, gift cards and merchandise.

The best part is that you can transfer your points 1:1 to many frequent travel programs with no transfer fees, including United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriot Rewards.  That means 1,000 points are equal to 1,000 partner miles/points, straightforward and simple.  This feature is likely to appeal to road warriors who are members of various partner programs, as users aren't limited to spending their points via Chase's rewards program. There is a $95 annual fee, but it is waived the first year.

TIP: If you're in the market for a new credit card but don't think your credit will qualify you for one of these cards, take a look at our top 7 cards for people with less than perfect credit.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers. This content was accurate at the time of this post, but card terms and conditions may change at any time. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuers' Affiliate Program.

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