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First systematic study of China's one-child policy reveals complexity, effectiveness

The first systematic examination of China's fertility policy and practice reveals that, despite government exemptions in rural areas, 63 percent of Chinese couples are strictly limited to one child. Furthermore, the policy has proven remarkably effective, with actual birth rates decreasing nearly to the mandated levels.

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Keywords: systematic, study, china, one-child, policy, reveals, complexity, effectiveness, one, child, reveal

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1. First systematic study of China’s one-child policy reveals complexity, effectiveness
   04-18-2007 · EurekAlert!
   The first systematic examination of China's fertility policy and practice reveals that, despite government exemptions in rural areas, 63 percent of Chinese couples are strictly limited to one child. Furthermore, the policy has proven remarkably effective, with actual birth rates decreasing nearly to the mandated levels.
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2. Children who sleep more weigh less
   02-07-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Using data from a nationally representative survey, researchers found that children who slept more had lower BMI measures and were less likely to be overweight than children who slept less. The study followed 2,281 children ages 3 to 12 for five years and found that an additional hour of sleep reduced the likelihood that a young child would be overweight from 36 to 30 percent. These findings may inform policy efforts to reduce childhood obesity.
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3. Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
   02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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4. Climate change has surprising effect on endangered naked carp
   12-19-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Forthcoming in the January/February 2007 issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, a groundbreaking study reveals an unanticipated way freshwater fish may respond to water diversion and climate change. Endangered naked carp migrate annually between freshwater rivers, where they spawn, and a lake in Western China, where they feed and grow. However, Lake Qinghai is drying up and becoming increasingly more saline -- leading to surprising adjustments to the carps' metabolic rate.
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5. New study reveals gender disparity in anti-TNF treatment for rheumatoid arthritis
   06-14-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Findings reported today at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain, reveal a treatment disparity between female and male patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Data from a study at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, show that women receive anti-TNFs -- very effective but expensive modern medications against this disease -- at a higher perceived level of disease activity, and when they are reporting more severe pain than their male counterparts.
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6. Dental crowns reveal the diet of a species:
   12-14-2006 · EurekAlert!
   According to recent research, the complexity of tooth surfaces reveals the diet of a species. Scientists at the University of Helsinki's Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Geology showed that the more complex the surface of an animal's teeth, the greater the share of vegetables in its diet. For instance, the teeth of carnivores and rodents differ in almost every aspect, but if a carnivore and a rodent eat similar food, their teeth are equally complex. The results were published in Nature.
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7. Vehicle emissions monitoring validates inspection program and offers policy insights
   06-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
   A long-term Georgia Institute of Technology study continues to validate the effectiveness of Georgia's vehicle emissions inspection program in 13 metro Atlanta counties that are part of a federal ozone level non-attainment area.
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8. OPICAN study in 7 Canadian cities reveals prescription opioid abuse more prevalent than heroin
   11-20-2006 · EurekAlert!
   A new study conducted in seven Canadian cities reveals that prescription opioids, and not heroin, are the major form of illicit opioid use. These findings raise questions about the current focus of Canada's drug control policy and treatment programs.
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9. Dental crowns reveal the diet of a species
   12-14-2006 · EurekAlert!
   According to recent research, the complexity of tooth surfaces reveals the diet of a species. Scientists at the University of Helsinki's Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Geology showed that the more complex the surface of an animal's teeth, the greater the share of vegetables in its diet. For instance, the teeth of carnivores and rodents differ in almost every aspect, but if a carnivore and a rodent eat similar food, their teeth are equally complex. The results were published in Nature.
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10. Undergraduate research shows leaderless honeybee organizing
    06-11-2007 · EurekAlert!
    A new finding by an undergraduate scientist and a senior bee researcher gives new insight on the organization of honeybee colonies, which exhibit behavior rivaling human cultures in social complexity. The study reveals that major colony management activities are directed anonymously by hive workers using a nonspecific signal that modulates worker and queen behavior, and may have implications important for understanding other complex phenomena, from brain activity to terrorist networks.
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