Researchers have found new evidence that explains how some aspects of our personality may affect our health and wellbeing, supporting long-observed associations between aspects of human character, physical health and longevity.

A team of health psychologists at The University of Nottingham and the University of California in Los Angeles carried out a study to examine the relationship between certain personality traits and the expression of genes that can affect our health by controlling the activity of our immune systems.

The study did not find any results to support a common theory that tendencies toward negative emotions such as depression or anxiety can lead to poor health (disease-prone personality). What was related to differences in immune cell gene expression were a person's degree of extraversion and conscientiousness.

The study used highly sensitive microarray technology to examine relationships between the five major human personality traits and two groups of genes active in human white blood cells (leukocytes): one involving inflammation, and another involving antiviral responses and antibodies.

A group of 121 ethnically diverse and healthy adults were recruited. These were comprised of 86 females and 35 males with an average age of 24 (range 18-59) and an average body mass index of 23. The participants completed a personality test which measures five major dimensions of personality -- extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness -- (NEO-FFI McCrae and Costa, 2004). Blood samples were collected from each volunteer for gene expression analysis and their typical smoking, drinking and exercise behaviors were also recorded for control purposes. Gene expression analysis was carried out at the Social Genomics Core Laboratory at UCLA.

Leading the research, Professor Kavita Vedhara, from The University of Nottingham's School of Medicine, said: "Our results indicated that 'extraversion' was significantly associated with an increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes and that 'conscientiousness' was linked to a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes. In other words, individuals who we would expect to be exposed to more infections as a result of their socially orientated nature (i.e., extraverts) appear to have immune systems that we would expect can deal effectively with infection. While individuals who may be less exposed to infections because of their cautious/conscientious dispositions have immune systems that may respond less well. We can't, however, say which came first. Is this our biology determining our psychology or our psychology determining our biology?"

These two clear associations were independent of the recorded health behaviors of the participants and subsets of white blood cells which are the cells of the body's immune system. They were also independent of the amount of negative emotions people experienced. The study also found that expression of antiviral/antibody-related genes was not significantly associated with any personality dimension.

In the remaining three categories of personality, 'openness' also trended towards a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes and 'neuroticism' and 'agreeableness' remained unassociated with gene expression.

The research concludes that although the biological mechanisms of these associations need to be explored in future research, these new data may shed new light on the long-observed epidemiological associations between personality, physical health, and human longevity.

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ST. LOUIS (KTVI) St. Louis County Police say 19-month-old Elijah Ebberson was stabbed to death by his own mother. Valisa Ebberson, 24, is charged with murder in the second degree.

Sunday night the grandmother of the murdered child spoke out, saying she believes mental illness contributed to her daughters deadly actions.

She said her baby had demons inside him, said a tearful Valarie Ebberson. She ran out of the bathroom and said, I did it.

Valarie Ebberson said thats when she ran outside the familys Bel-Ridge apartment on Torchlite to contact police. Police say the child was rushed to DePaul Hospital Friday but did not survive.

Certain issues that my daughter was having, we would brush it off, said Valarie Ebberson. She says her daughter had been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Valisa Ebberson is jailed in St. Louis County on a $100,000 bond. Her mother wonders if something could have been done to prevent the death of her grandson.

There is no indication from police mental illness contributed to the childs murder. A statement from police indicates investigators are still looking for a motive.

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Mother charged in stabbing death of infant son

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Grandmother of toddler stabbed to death sheds light on why it happened

KENDAL Police have issued a plea to the publicto make sure their sheds and stables are secure following a number of burglaries in the area.

The first burglary occurred at some point between 9am onNovember 16 and 2pm on December 2 at a property on Valley Drive, Kendal. Offenders entered an insecure house and stole a 40inch Sony television.

The second burglary occurred at Birkrigg Park, Stainton, between midnight and 6.30am on December 3. Offenders approached a rural stable yard andforced entry into two stable tack rooms, say police.

They then stole a variety of horse equipment worth over 6000.

The third burglary occurred at a property on Low Park Lane, Endmoor, between 7.30pm onDecember 2 and 8.29am on December 3.Offenders broke a lock to a detached garage and entered but did not steal anything.

Inspector Paul Latham, Kendal Neighbourhood Policing team, said:

Officers are currently investigating a number of burglaries and we ask for anyone with information to get in touch.

Id like to take this opportunity to remind those who hold expensive equipment in sheds, garages or stables to be vigilant in their security processes. Security should not be an after-thought, protecting property now can help to prevent heartache in the future. Investing in security alarms can help deter thieves and help give some peace of mind.

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Isang emosyunal na Marian Rivera ang bumungad sa mga tagapanood ng Eat Bulaga ngayon hapon sa segment nitong "Juan for All, All for Juan."

Malayo sa karaniwang bridal shower ang ibinigay ng Eat Bulaga family sa soon-to-be married primetime queen na si Marian.

Bago magsimula ang pagsugod sa bahay ay inalayan ng mga taga-Barangay UP Campus, Quezon City, ng mga pulang rosas si Marian habang nakasakay ito sa tricycle.

Ibinigay naman ng mga kasama niya sa kanyang pagba-Baranggayan na sina Wally Bayola, Jose Manalo, at Paolo Ballesteros ang isa sa limang regalo nila para sa primetime queen.

Agad itong binuksan ni Marian at nakita ang picture frame na naglalaman ng baby picture nila ni Dingdong.

Aniya, Gusto ko lang mag-thank you kasi hindi pa naman ako masyadong katagalan pa sa Eat Bulaga pero yung pagmamahal at pagtanggap nyo sa akin sobra-sobra.

Para isipan nyo pa ako na mag-bridal shower kahit na napakarami ko nang ginagawa. Alangan namang tanggihan ko ang mga nagmamahal sa akin. Salamat sa effort nyo... sa lahat ng nandito.

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A new study from the Human Resources Department suggests Ottawa is looking at ways to get people receiving employment insurance to move to other regions with more jobs. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

The Canadian economy shed 10,700 net jobs last month and nudged the unemployment rate up slightly to 6.6 per cent, the latest labour-market survey said Friday.

However, the overall employment change recorded by Statistics Canada for November was so narrow it fell within the studys margin of error, making it statistically insignificant.

The monthly data for November followed healthy back-to-back employment increases of 43,100 jobs in October and 74,100 in September. The October rise had dropped the unemployment rate to 6.5 per cent, its lowest level since November 2008.

Looking back over the last 12 months, the federal agency found there were 146,000 net new jobs across the country.

The November jobs report saw the Canadian economy giving back some of the past months gains, Brian DePratto of TD Economics wrote Friday in a note to clients.

It should be cautioned though, that one month doesnt make a trend.

He pointed out that Canada saw significant gains in full-time employment in recent months, rising by 101,500 jobs between August and November.

DePratto said TD expects to see continued modest trend employment growth down the road, thanks to expectations the Canadian dollar will stay relatively low and help from the improving U.S. economy.

On Friday, fresh data showed strong employment growth in the U.S. economy, which added 321,000 jobs last month.

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Economy sheds 10,700 jobs in November, unemployment rate rises to 6.6%

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