Narrow Results

Despite empirical evidence that individuals form their fertility preferences by observing social norms and interactions in their environments, the exact impact of these peer effects remains unclear. We thus use data from the 2014 and 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to investigate the association between community-level peer effects and fertility preferences among Chinese women aged 18–49. Whereas our baseline results indicate that 11.96% of these women would prefer 1 or no children, 74.1% would like 2 children and 13.93% would prefer 3 or more children. A one unit increase in community-level peer fertility reduces the preference of wanting only one child by 14.3%, whereas it increases the probability of preferring three children by 9.3% and four or more children by 4.8%. Hence, overall, we find a relatively strong peer effect on individual fertility preferences in communities characterized by generally low fertility rates, which provide support for the role of social norms in the fertility choices of reproductive-aged Chinese women.

In North America, a high proportion of pregnant women use herbal medications including North American ginseng. This medicinal plant contains high amounts of triterpene saponins (ginsenosides), which are the main bioactive compounds. It is important to assess ginseng’s impact on all reproductive functions to ensure the safety of pregnant women and fetuses. In this study, we defined the concentration-responsive effects of North American alcoholic and aqueous ginseng extracts on preimplantation development in vitro and on pregnancy and post-partum development in the mouse. Two-cell mouse embryos were cultured with 5 different concentrations of whole ginseng root extracts, or ginsenosides Rb1, Rg1 and Re alone, a combinatorial ginsenoside solution and a crude polysaccharide fraction solution. Embryonic development and recovery from each treatment was assessed. To investigate the in vivo effects of ginseng extracts, female mice were gavaged with 50mg/kg/day, 500mg/kg/day or 2000mg/kg/day of either extract (treatment) or water (sham) for 2 weeks prior to mating and throughout gestation. Gestation period, litter size, pup growth and pup sex ratio were evaluated. Oral ginseng consumption did not significantly affect fertility or pregnancy in the mouse. High doses of ginseng (2000mg/kg/day) decreased maternal weight gain. Direct treatment of preimplantation embryos in vitro demonstrated that ALC and AQ extract treatment reduced development in a concentration responsive manner, while only ALC extract effects were largely reversible. Treatments with individual or combinatorial ginsenosides, or the polysaccharide fraction solution alone did not impair preimplantation development, in vitro. In conclusion, maternal oral consumption of ginseng has little negative impact on pregnancy in the mouse, however, direct exposure to ginseng extract during mouse preimplantation development in vitro is detrimental.

This paper reviews the existing literature on impacts of pronatalist benefits on fertility in various countries, and estimates the impact of the Qualified Child Relief (QCR) on the total fertility rate (TFR) of Singapore. The studies surveyed in this paper generally find that pronatalist incentives contribute to raising the fertility rate, but only to a limited extent. In Singapore, a 1% increase in the QCR is estimated to increase the TFR by 0.1–0.2%. Singapore's fertility rate is also found to be positively correlated with men's earnings and the infant mortality rate, while negatively correlated with women's earnings and the unemployment rate. Evidence that the New Population Policy of 1987 has been effective in raising the fertility rate is also found.

It is shown, using a vintage model of education which is developed in this paper, that given the assumptions of the model, the optimal path of investment in education is to keep the level of investment per student constant and the optimal path of investment in physical capital is to keep the capital-labor ratio constant over time. The pressure to reduce current consumption caused by population ageing is partly mitigated by the fact that a younger population, in the current time, is relatively more efficient in producing utility than an older one, in the future.

We develop an overlapping generation model to examine how the relationship between status concerns, fertility and education affect growth performances. Results are threefold. First, we show that stronger status motives heighten the desire of parents to have fewer but better educated children, which may foster economic development. Second, the government should sometimes postpone the introduction of an economic policy in order to maintain the process of economic development, although such a policy aims to implement the social optimum. Third, status can alter the dynamic path of the economy and help to explain the facts about fertility during the great transition.

Below-replacement fertility is a common problem among the rich countries with far-reaching economic and social implications. The problem is more acute in some economically fast-growing Asian countries where the fertility decline has been more rapid and the current fertility rates have reached levels that are unprecedented in recent history. In this paper, data from a unique household survey have been used to understand the determinants of low fertility in one such country: Singapore. The total fertility rate in Singapore has dropped from 4.7 children per woman in 1965 to 1.2 in 2011. This is well below the replacement level of 2.1 and one of the lowest in the world. The authors identify three key determinants of fertility in Singapore: (1) age at marriage; (2) household income; and (3) number of siblings' children. They find that fertility is negatively related to age at marriage and positively related to the number of siblings' children. The relationship between fertility and household income is U-shaped: the relationship is negative for household incomes of up to S$21 000 (in 2010 Singapore dollars) and positive for higher incomes.

This paper analyzed whether the child quantity-quality (CQQ) trade-off is applicable in the case of Malaysia. Utilizing the instrumental variable (IV) method, our analysis produces results that are consistent with the hypothesis that the trade-off is unlikely to be applicable to Malaysia as a whole due to the generous public provision of education. However, the results show that the CQQ trade-off exists for the high-income group. Taken together, if both a larger stock of human capital and population are desired, the government should continue to provide education for its people while at the same time maintain policies that stimulate growth.

This study examines the effects of a fertility subsidy that was instituted in specific regions in Korea in 2004. The value of the subsidy ranged from $4000 to $9000 (2004 US$) depending on the area of residence. Using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we measure the effects of the policy on childbearing and migration in and out of the subsidized areas. Our estimates for migration suggest that the policy significantly increased the net inflow of females into the subsidized areas. This effect is driven roughly equally by a decrease in the outflow from and an increase into the subsidized areas. Our estimated effects on fertility are in line with previous results from the literature; we find that a $1000 increase in fertility subsidies leads to a 0.108% increase in the chance of bearing a child for all age groups (21 to 45). Our results show that the policy increased total births in 2005 by 11,000 and that the vast majority of this increase was from the 21 to 33 cohort.

We develop an overlapping-generations model with human capital accumulation and endogenous fertility containing a pollution externality. We study the effects of an environmental policy on individuals’ quality–quantity trade-off on children. In a Malthusian poverty trap, we show that a more stringent policy induces a reduction of fertility. In a state of perpetual development, we find a similar result and show that higher environmental quality, growth and welfare are compatible goals. Moreover, we show that the policy can be used as an instrument for initiating a country’s great transition from a state of poverty to a state of development.

This study investigates the determinants of fertility using a panel data set for 43 countries from 1900 to 2010 at five-year intervals. The regression results show that fertility increases with infant mortality and national disasters and decreases with total years of educational attainment and political development. Fertility rates fall initially and then rise with an increase in income. Average years of schooling of females has a significantly negative effect on fertility rates, whereas that of males are statistically insignificant. A woman’s educational attainment at the primary and secondary levels has a pronounced negative effect on fertility rates. On the contrary, an increase in a woman’s tertiary educational attainment, with the level of a man’s remaining constant, tends to raise fertility rates, particularly in advanced countries, indicating that highly educated women can have a better environment for childrearing in a society with greater gender equality.

Why in the World Do Patients Travel for Medical Care?

Is Medical Tourism For You? …a Look into the System of Healthcare Abroad

Asia Medical Tourism: First-Rate Healthcare for Sale

Medical Tourism and Clinical Trials: The New Silk Road

Aesthetic Medicine in 2007: Trends and Updates

Clinical Assisted Reproduction in Singapore — Challenges Posed by Medical Tourism and Future Prospects for Growth

Busting the Fear for Breast cancer

AUSTRALIA – Australia's First Full Genome Project to be Conducted on Corals.

AUSTRALIA – Scientists May have Discovered New Potential Cure for Cancer.

AUSTRALIA – First Genetically-engineered Malaria Vaccine To Enter Human Trials.

CHINA – Lead Poisoning Sickens 600 Kids in China.

CHINA – Groundbreaking Treatment for Oxygen-deprived Newborns.

CHINA – China Builds First Heavy Ion Therapy Center for Cancer Patients.

CHINA – Creating Live Mice from Skin Cells.

INDIA – Human Clinical Trial in 2010 for Needle-free Measles Vaccination.

INDIA – Indian Wonder Herb can Treat Male Infertility.

JAPAN – Flood Resistant High-yield Rice Developed.

SINGAPORE – Minimally Invasive Option for Knee Cartilage Repair.

SINGAPORE – Novel Immunization Method for Malaria Offers Insights into Human Anti-Malaria Immune Response.

TAIWAN – Taiwan Researchers Identify Sites of Breast Cancer Genes.

TAIWAN – Taiwanese Researchers Develop Cell Therapy For Immunodeficiency.

TAIWAN – Remote Healthcare Services for High-risk Patients.

TAIWAN – Marine-derived Compounds Holds New Treatment Premise for Neuropathic Pain.

OTHER REGIONS — UNITED STATES – New No-needle Approach to Prevent Blood Clots.

AUSTRALIA – Degenerative Disease Breakthrough.

AUSTRALIA – New Genetic Cancer Risk Found.

AUSTRALIA – Experts Find Way to Make Mosquitoes Dengue-free.

CHINA – Virus May Cause High Blood Pressure.

CHINA – Eleven Die from Suspected Tainted Vinegar in China.

HONG KONG – HK Study Finds Molecule that Offers Fertility Hope.

INDIA – Hyderabad Hospital Performs Rare Kidney Transplant.

INDIA – 20-minute Treatment for Blood Pressure.

INDIA – New Experimental Vaccine against Chikungunya.

JAPAN – ES Cells Turn Into Sperm.

JAPAN – Leading Japanese Pharmaceutical Scientists Advance Drug Discovery & Development with Mass Spectrometry and Chip LC Technology from AB SCIEX.

SINGAPORE – One Hundred and Twenty Aspiring Scientists Awarded Scholarships.

SINGAPORE – Pacific Healthcare Launches Pacific Surgical and Colorectal Centre in Singapore.

SINGAPORE – NTU Achieves Bacterium Breakthrough.

OTHER REGIONS — Killer T-cells Wipe Out Leukemia.

AUSTRALIA – Successful FDA end-of-Phase-2 for Hatchtech head lice product DeOVO^™

AUSTRALIA – Senz Oncology secures seed funding for promising cancer drug.

AUSTRALIA – Geneworks develops DNA barcodes for international security.

INDIA – Stress hormones: Good or Bad for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder risk?

SINGAPORE – New study shows fertility knowledge gaps may exacerbate Singapore's declining birth rate challenge.

SINGAPORE – World's first wearable robotic device for stroke rehabilitation comes to Singapore.

SRI LANKA – Conflicting reports highlight scientific data gaps in Sri Lanka's chronic kidney disease.

EUROPE – InDex Pharmaceuticals strengthens IP position for Kappaproct.

EUROPE – Novozymes and Terranol to market advanced biofuel yeast.

EUROPE – The world's first (official) biosimilar antibody goes to… Rheumatoid Arthritis.

USA – MRI reveals brain's response to reading.

USA – Novozymes partner Chemtex receives USDA commitment to build advanced biofuels plant in United States.

USA – Fossil fuel and renewable energy subsidies on the rise.

SINGAPORE – Sanofi Pasteur Launches Dengue Mission Buzz to Improve Public Awareness on 5th Asean Dengue Day

SINGAPORE – Singapore and the Republic of Korea collaborate to train MedTech Innovators

SINGAPORE – Strategic Partnership between A*STAR and Pyrobett

SINGAPORE – Engineers, Policy-Makers and Environmentalist meet to tackle Climate Change at the World Engineers Summit

SINGAPORE – Rebranding for New Growth: EmTech Singapore to EmTech Asia

SINGAPORE – Waters Introduces the New ACQUITY Arc System, Designed as a Bridge between HPLC and UPLC Methods

HONG KONG – Chinese Biotech 3SBIO launches up to $712 Million HK IPO

TAIWAN; TAIPEI – Advancement in New Treatments for Dengue: BRIM Biotechnology strategic collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation

KOREA – Poor Nations Concerned about coping with MERS

KOREA – Merck and Samsung Bioepis: Pivotal Phase III studies for Rheumatoid Arthritis

UNITED KINGDOM – Surprise Split in Population of Monkey Malaria Parasite

GERMANY – Merck Serono: Innovative Fertility Technologies Gavi and Geri of Partner Genea Biomedx Receive CE Mark

BRUSSELS – EFIR–GRÜNENTHAL Grant Honors 7 Young Scientists for their groundbreaking Pain Research Ideas

AUSTRIA – Pacritinib Phase 3 Study Shows Positive Results In Patient Reported Outcomes Measuring Quality Of Life In Patients With Myelofibrosis

UNITED STATES – Repatha™: Human Monoclonal Antibody for Treating High Cholesterol

UNITED STATES – Cancer Clinical Trials Expert assists Regen Biopharma, Inc. in addressing FDA questions regarding planned immunotherapy clinical trial for breast cancer (dCellVax)

UNITED STATES – Novartis gains FDA approval for Promacta^® providing new option for children, ages 6 and older, with Chronic ITP, a Rare Blood Disorder

SINGAPORE – NUS Researchers Uncover Potent Parasite-killing Mechanism of Nobel Prize-Winning Anti-Malarial Drug.

SINGAPORE – Robotic Glove Invented by NUS Researchers Helps Patients Restore Hand Movements.

UNITED STATES – Study Reveals Environment, Behavior Contribute to Some 80 Percent of Cancers.

UNITED STATES – Probing the Mystery of How Cancer Cells Die.

UNITED STATES – Liver Hormone Works Through Brain's Reward Pathway to Reduce Preference for Sweets & Alcohol.

UNITED STATES – How Three Genes You've Never Heard of May Influence Human Fertility.

UNITED STATES – Researchers Find Link between Processed Foods and Autoimmune Diseases.

UNITED KINGDOM – Is Evolution More Intelligent Than We Thought?

UNITED KINGDOM – Unravelling the Genetics of Pregnancy and Heart Failure.

SWITZERLAND – New Global Framework to Eliminate Rabies.

CANADA – Droughts Hit Cereal Crops Harder Since 1980s.

TAIWAN – Discovery of Key Autophagy Terminator that Contributes to Cell Survival and Muscle Homeostasis.

Machine transliteration is automatic generation of the phonetic equivalents in a target language given a source language term, which is useful in many cross language applications. Transliteration between far distant languages, e.g. English and Chinese, is challenging because their phonological dissimilarities are significant. Existing techniques are typically rule-based or statistically noisy channel-based. Their accuracies are very low due to their intrinsic limitations on modeling transcription details. We propose direct statistical approaches on transliterating phoneme sequences for English–Chinese name translation. Aiming to improve performance, we propose two direct models: First, we adopt Finite State Automata on a process of direct mapping from English phonemes to a set of rudimentary Chinese phonetic symbols plus mapping units dynamically discovered from training. An effective algorithm for aligning phoneme chunks is proposed. Second, contextual features of each phoneme are taken into consideration by means of Maximum Entropy formalism, and the model is further refined with the precise alignment scheme using phoneme chunks. We compare our approaches with the noisy channel baseline that applies IBM SMT model, and demonstrate their superiority.

The gender gap in labor force participation (LFP) in Iran is much larger than most other countries, but it has been declining. Also, the composition of women's employment has been shifting towards professional and entrepreneurial positions, especially in the private sector. Analyzing the forces behind these patterns is important from a policy perspective and for predicting the future trends in the Iranian labor market. Understanding the case of Iran has also implications for other economies, especially those in the Middle East and North Africa, which have similar labor market conditions. Using a large sample derived from Iran's 2006 census and employing IV Probit and multinomial Logit models, we examine the role of education and other individual and family characteristics in LFP and employment of Iranian men and women aged 25–54. We find that about 60% of the rise in female LFP rate between 1986 and 2006 can be attributed to the decline in fertility. The expansion of education, on the other hand, accounts for about 10% of the rise. The limited role of education is partly due to the limited range of jobs that are available for educated women, hence intensifying competition among them and reducing the returns to their education. Alleviating this jobs constraint may allow the role of education to rise two to three times. In addition, part of the fertility effect can be attributed to female education, which has played an important role in lowering the number of children ever born. Since fertility is unlikely to decline further, female education could become the main driving force in the continued rise of women's LFP. We also find that women who join the labor market as a result of tertiary education, especially at the graduate level, have a much higher chance of joining the private sector, especially as employers and self-employed, than the average person in their cohort. Contrary to the common perception, the association between education and public employment is stronger for men than for women. These findings imply that tertiary education, especially at the graduate level, may help address the important policy challenges that Iran and other MENA countries in alleviating unemployment, diversifying the economy, and empowering women.

Zika virus infection during pregnancy can have devastating effects on the foetus leading to congenital Zika syndrome. It is relevant therefore for couples living in countries with endemic Zika virus to understand the strategies they can utilise to reduce the chance of infection. In addition, couples planning pregnancy, or who are already pregnant, travelling to countries with Zika virus need to be informed of the potential risk and implications for future reproductive planning.

Background: Oocyte Cryopreservation has become an important part of infertility treatment for various reasons such as fertility preservation in women going for oncological treatment; in oocyte donation cycles; in eliminating several religious, ethical, and legal concerns of embryo freezing and in women who wish to delay childbirth. The newer ”vitrification” technique for freezing has further improved the success rates for actual conception than the earlier method of slow freezing. A successful oocyte freezing program can help in establishment of oocyte banks, which would help to provide compatible oocytes immediately, thus would eliminate the several problems of fresh donor cycles.

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, total 60 oocyte donation cycles were included (38 were fresh and 22 were vitrified oocytes cycle, respectively). After a thorough screening, controlled ovarian hyperstimulation for donors was performed using flexible antagonist protocol. All mature oocytes were allocated into “vitrified oocytes” and “fresh oocytes” groups. Vitrification technique using Cryotop method was used for oocyte freezing. Both clinical and laboratory outcomes of vitrified and fresh oocytes in donor cycles were compared.

Results: A total of 600 oocytes (226 “vitrified oocytes” and 374 fresh oocytes), were studied. After warming 218 oocytes survived resulting in survival rate of 96.4%. Fertilization rate and embryo formation rate was 86.2% and 93.6%, respectively. Results of frozen-thawed oocyte donor cycles were compared with fresh donation cycles. For fresh oocyte group, fertilization rate and embryo formation rate was 83.4% and 92.6%, respectively. On comparing clinical outcomes, clinical pregnancy rate was 60.5% in fresh group and 63.6% in vitrified group.

Conclusions: Both clinical and laboratory results obtained in the study suggest that oocyte cryopreservation can be performed with reproducible success, thus vitrification technique can be provided as a useful tool for achieving highly successful outcomes in an oocyte donor program.