Growing Up in Australia

    Since 2004, Australia has been holding its largest study of children's health ever. This project, “Growing Up in Australia,” is following two groups of children from early childhood until they become adults. The project is being supported by the Australian government and involves hundreds of researchers visiting the homes of 10,000 children. Researchers hope to find a relationship between the children's future behavior and their health, education, and family environments.

    When the study began, the first group of children was aged 0-1, while the second group was aged 4-5. In order to make sure that children from every kind of environment and background were chosen, the study found volunteers from each area. Some volunteers are in the countryside, while others are in big cities. The volunteers for both groups were chosen from a variety of different social and ethnic (种族) backgrounds.

    The researchers visit the participants' (参与者) homes every two years to gather information. They interview the parents about parenting styles and the child's daily activities. They also take measurements of the children's health and how well the children perform in school. The researchers also collect information such as the income of the child's family, the school the child attends, and the kind of community (社区) in which the child lives. They plan to use the information to improve children's lives.

    Researchers have already begun to publish some interesting results. For instance, after examining information from the second group of children when they were 10-11 years old, researchers found that children who spend a lot of time doing organized activities, such as music lessons or sports, have good control of their emotions and behavior. The study also found that they are able to complete their homework without their parents around. On the other hand, it found that children who watch a lot of television get upset easily and have worse behavior. The Australian government is now using this information to make better educational and health policies for Australian children.

    When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.

    For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫无掩饰的).

    In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.

    In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated.

    My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.

    I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.

    Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don't think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.

    We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we've got to have. We're so self-conscious about our “right” to it that it's making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren't necessarily happier.

    Happiness isn't about what happens to us—it's about how we see what happens to us. It's the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.

    A chip inserted in a young quadriplegic's (四肢麻痹患者) brain is already improving his quality of life. Soon the benefits may be more widespread.

    A 25-year-old man unable to move from the neck down recently did what many assumed impossible. After a knife attack that had left him paralyzed, all he could move was his head, which he used to push a switch and call for a nurse. And he could turn his wheelchair by blowing into a straw near his face. That was it.

    Then last June, a Foxborough (Mass.) company called Cyber Kinetics opened the man's skull and inserted a special chip no larger than a baby aspirin. That insert has given him a few additional and precious abilities. When connected to a special computer via a cable, the chip translates the young man's thoughts into commands that let him move a cursor across a PC screen and open e-mail. He can draw a circle with a computer painting program. And he can use a robotic hook(钩) to perform simple tasks like picking up a candy and sliding it across a table.

    All he has to do is to think.

    Several new studies have begun or been completed in the past year. In fact, more than half of the scientific papers in this field, called brain-to-computer interaction (BCI), have been published in the past two years, notes Jonathan Wolpaw, a research physician at Wadsworth Center, the New York State Health Dept.'s research laboratory.

    Brain surgeries (手术) are no longer rare: Thousands of Parkinson's disease patients have had special devices inserted in their brains to ease uncontrollable shaking and other symptoms. The inserts themselves have improved, so the body doesn't reject them as furiously(猛烈地). And significant development has been achieved in software used to interpret the brain's signals and change them into commands understood by computers.

    But increased demand for thought technology remains the biggest reason for the field's progress. Today, 4 million Americans live with paralysis according to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

    Scientists hope that thought technology will reduce the impact of such disabilities. People with spinal-cord injuries, for example, often lose their ability to walk because the communications network between their brain and their legs has been interrupted. The brain still commands the leg muscles to move, but they don't hear its orders.

    Thought technology, scientists hope, will bridge this communications gap. "Our goal is for you to see paralyzed people eating at a restaurant and for you not to know that they are paralyzed," says John Donoghue, founder and chief scientific officer at Cyber Kinetics.

    I live a different life in every season. Life in the summertime is often full of pests. Like most Long Island homeowners, I want to ensure my suburban life with pest-free living. So it was with wide-eyed surprise that I greeted the smiling exterminator (灭虫者) who rang my bell.

    “We'll be serving your neighbors, Mike and Sarah (I'm not familiar with either one by name),” he waved in the other direction. “Since we'll have a team here tomorrow, we're offering a discount. ” He came out with numbers beginning from $299 then in seconds to $89.

    “You've probably been seeing the ant hills around.” he moved toward my front walkway and lawn. “And have you seen the bees that dig nests in the ground?” he continued with his head shaking up and down pushing me to do the same.

    “What we do is spray three feet out from your foundation and three feet up.” As he was talking, and without breaking eye contact, he opened his iPad cover and began operating at the screen to show me frightening images. “It also kills other pests, like spiders. It is the best pesticide (杀虫剂),” he said, pausing for effect.

    He then went into soft talk to close the deal, correctly foreseeing that I would be concerned about safety and the environmental impact on my vegetable garden, plants and our little patch of planet here on Long Island. “The products are environmentally responsible, safe with children and pets,” he said.

    I'm unkind when it comes to unwanted visitors entering on my out-of-doors moments. Any insect found in my house or on my deck is bound to be poisoned or pancaked.

    Unfortunately for the exterminator, just as I was considering buying the pesticide, Billy, my fearless husband, pulled into our driveway, which made me ask for a business card out of politeness instead.

    WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation. We are a self﹣funding agency of the United Nations, with 191 member states.

    Our mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property （IP） system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.

    Our mandate, governing bodies and procedures are set out in the WIPO convention, which established WIPO in 1967.

    We run workshops and seminars throughout the year. The presentations and meeting documents are made available for downloading wherever possible here.

Current and upcoming

    Case Study Workshop on Support for Intellectual Property Management in SMEs （IP Advantage）

    National Workshop on Intellectual Property Policies for Universities and Research Institutions

    Consultation meetings with the Industrial Property Protections Directorate of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and supply and the main relevant institutions

    National seminar on collective management

    Monthly Talks at London Canal Museum

    Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August. Admission is at normal charges and you don't need to book. They end around 21:00.

    November 7th

    The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis. James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of canal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made such a positive contribution to the education of that group of early "civil engineers".

    December 5th

    Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker. Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London's ice trade grew.

    February 6th

    An Update on the Cotswold Canals, by Liz Payne. The Stroudwater Canal is moving towards reopening. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.

    March 6th

    Eyots and Aits-Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames had many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.

    Online bookings: www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book

    More info: www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson

    London Canal Museum

    12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT

    www.canalmuseum.org.uk   www. canalmuseum.mobi

    Tel: 020 7713 0836