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Shanghai To Relax One-Child Policy As China Faces Aging Population, Shrinking Work Force
Nearly three decades after China implemented its one-child policy, the city of Shanghai is planning to encourage young couples to have a second child in an effort to address the country"s aging population and shrinking work force, the New York Times reports. The city"s plan is the most public effort made by the government to counteract a program that is "considered both a tremendous success and a terrible failure," the Times reports. The policy has managed to keep population growth under control but also has led to forced abortions, according to the Times.The country is not abandoning the one-child policy, which applies mostly to residents in urban areas. Rather, the government is allowing more exceptions to the rule, with Shanghai -- where about 22% of its 20 million residents are older than age 60 -- leading the effort. China as a whole faces a similar problem seen in Shanghai, the Times reports. About 8% of the country"s population was older than age 65 in 2006. That figure is expected to increase threefold by 2050 to about 322 million people, or nearly 25% of the population, according to the United Nations.In Friday"s issue of China Daily, Xie Lingli, director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, was quoted as saying, "We advocate eligible couples to have two kids because it can help reduce the proportion of the aging people and alleviate a work force shortage in the future." City officials plan to visit homes, pass out leaflets, and offer counseling and financial incentives, the Times reports. Current exceptions to the one-child policy are in place for ethnic minorities and rural residents, who can have a second child if the first child is a girl. Couples made up of two parents who have no siblings have always been allowed to have a second child and are now being encouraged to do so (Barboza, New York Times, 7/24).
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Laughter - The Best Medicine? Spain Hosts The Most Renowned International Symposium On Sense Of Humor And Its Applications
Spain hosts this week, for the first time in history, this event, the most renowned international symposium on humour and laughter, where scientists and experts from four continents will discuss the latest advances and research of this field of study. The ninth occasion of the "International Summer School and Symposium on Humour and Laughter: Theory, Research and Applications" is being hosted by the University of Granada, and they will analyse the relationship between sense of humour and different fields such as anthropology, sociology, medicine or philosophy.
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Programming Tools Facilitate Use Of Video Game Processors For Defense Needs
Video gaming computers and video game consoles available today typically contain a graphics processing unit (GPU), which is very efficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics. However, the unit"s highly parallel structure also makes it more efficient than a general-purpose central processing unit for a range of complex calculations important to defense applications.
Mental Health

What Is The Risk Of Obesity While Taking Antidepressant Drugs?

Cross-sectional studies have reported an association between major depressive episode (MDE) and obesity. The objective of this longitudinal analysis was to determine whether MDE increase the risk of becoming obese over a 10-year period. Data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) were used, a longitudinal study of a representative cohort of household residents in Canada. The incidence of obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30, was evaluated in respondents who were 18 years or older at the time of a baseline interview in 1994. MDE was assessed using a brief diagnostic instrument. At the end of the investigation, the risk of obesity was not elevated in association with MDE, either in unadjusted or covariate-adjusted analyses. The strongest predictor of obesity was a BMI in the overweight (but not obese) range. Effects were also seen for (younger) age, (female) sex, a sedentary activity pattern, low income and exposure to antidepressant medications. Unexpectedly, significant effects were seen for serotonin-reuptake-inhibiting antidepressants and venlafaxine, but neither for tricyclic antidepressants nor antipsychotic medications. MDE does not appear to increase the risk of obesity. The cross-sectional associations that have been reported, albeit inconsistently, in the literature probably represent an effect of obesity on MDE risk. Pharmacologic treatment with antidepressants may be associated with an increased risk of obesity, and strategies to offset this risk may be useful in clinical practice. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics


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