A Study on the Growth and Formation of Single Person Households and Their Housing Decisions in Taiwan

The number of single person households has dramatically increased in Taiwan in the past several decades as it has elsewhere in the world, but this phenomenon has been largely neglected in the literature. This research explores the factors that affect the formation of single person households and their housing decisions. Taiwan¡¦s population census data for 1980, 1990 and 2000 are used. Some interesting trends can be found. First of all, people who are married or cohabiting have exhibited an increasing tendency to live alone census by census. This shows the increasing need in a modern society for the husband and wife to live separately due to employment or other reasons. Secondly, unmarried and widowed elderly persons have had an increasing probability of living alone over the decades. Thirdly, the number of female single person households has been increasing rapidly, and there is a higher probability that they are homeowners and also occupying a larger living space than their male counterparts. To sum up, the results of this study show that the demand for housing among single person households will continue to increase as their numbers increase. Their demand for homeownership and living space are also increasing.Single person household formation; Tenure choice; Living space; Binary probit model; Sample selection model

: o caso da China

It is well known that populations around the world - and in Pacific Asia in particular - are ageing, and ageing rapidly. China is no exception to this. While it has been widely agreed that gender is an important lens through which to define and develop appropriate policies for both adaptation and mitigation of the challenges of ageing, gender is rarely explicitly taken into consideration as a vector of consideration. In this paper, we demonstrate for the case of China how when viewing this intersection through a regional lens, the extent to which old age is ‘feminised’ differs sharply across the country. Taken together, this shows the importance of considering gender both in old-age, as well as inequalities across the life course, in the formulation and development of policies relating to ageing at both the national and the regional level. This is especially important in a country such as China, where provinces and other local governments yield important policymaking powers in certain key areas relevant to ageing.É bem conhecido que as populações em todo o mundo - e na Ásia do Pacífico em particular - estão envelhecendo e envelhecendo rapidamente. A China não é exceção para isso. Embora tenha sido amplamente aceito que o gênero é uma lente importante para definir e desenvolver políticas apropriadas tanto para a adaptação quanto para a mitigação dos desafios do envelhecimento, o gênero raramente é explicitamente considerado como um vetor de consideração. Neste artigo, demonstramos, para o caso da China, como, ao visualizar essa interseção por meio de uma lente regional, a extensão em que a velhice é "feminizada" difere acentuadamente em todo o país. Em conjunto, isso mostra a importância de se considerar o gênero tanto na velhice quanto nas desigualdades ao longo da vida, na formulação e no desenvolvimento de políticas relativas ao envelhecimento, tanto no nível nacional quanto no regional. Isso é especialmente importante em um país como a China, onde as províncias e outros governos locais geram importantes poderes de formulação de políticas em certas áreas-chave relevantes para o envelhecimento

Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells to Thyrocytes Requires Insulin and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1

[Abstract] The mechanisms controlling thyrocyte development during embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation have only been partially elucidated, although previous studies have suggested the participation of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in these processes. To further define the role of TSH in this context, we have studied a murine ES cell line in which green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA is targeted to the TSH receptor (TSHR) gene, linking the expression of GFP to the transcription of the endogenous TSHR gene. We demonstrate that, in the initial stages of embryoid body formation, activin A and TSH induce the differentiation of definitive endoderm and thyrocyte progenitors expressing Sox17, Foxa2, and TSHR. These thyrocyte progenitors are then converted into cellular aggregates that, in the presence of insulin and IGF-1, further differentiate into mature thyroglobulin-expressing thyrocytes. Our data suggest that, despite the fact that TSH is important for the induction and specification of thyrocytes from ES cells, insulin and IGF-1 are crucial for thyrocyte maturation. Our method provides a powerful in vitro differentiation model for studying the mechanisms of early thyrocyte lineage development.United States. National Institutes of Health; DK06805

Motor neuron-derived Thsd7a is essential for zebrafish vascular development via the Notch-dll4 signaling pathway.

BackgroundDevelopment of neural and vascular systems displays astonishing similarities among vertebrates. This parallelism is under a precise control of complex guidance signals and neurovascular interactions. Previously, our group identified a highly conserved neural protein called thrombospondin type I domain containing 7A (THSD7A). Soluble THSD7A promoted and guided endothelial cell migration, tube formation and sprouting. In addition, we showed that thsd7a could be detected in the nervous system and was required for intersegmental vessels (ISV) patterning during zebrafish development. However, the exact origin of THSD7A and its effect on neurovascular interaction remains unclear.ResultsIn this study, we discovered that zebrafish thsd7a was expressed in the primary motor neurons. Knockdown of Thsd7a disrupted normal primary motor neuron formation and ISV sprouting in the Tg(kdr:EGFP/mnx1:TagRFP) double transgenic zebrafish. Interestingly, we found that Thsd7a morphants displayed distinct phenotypes that are very similar to the loss of Notch-delta like 4 (dll4) signaling. Transcript profiling further revealed that expression levels of notch1b and its downstream targets, vegfr2/3 and nrarpb, were down-regulated in the Thsd7a morphants. These data supported that zebrafish Thsd7a could regulate angiogenic sprouting via Notch-dll4 signaling during development.ConclusionsOur results suggested that motor neuron-derived Thsd7a plays a significant role in neurovascular interactions. Thsd7a could regulate ISV angiogenesis via Notch-dll4 signaling. Thus, Thsd7a is a potent angioneurin involved in the development of both neural and vascular systems