Selcitra

New research at the University of California in the USA shoes that as men age, the quality of their sperm deteriorates, marking it more likely they will have trouble becoming fathers and increasing the possibility of having a child with dwarfism. Since 1980, the researchers said, birth rates in the UAS have increased 40 percent for men aged 35 to 49, while there has been a decline in births involving men under 30. The study, which looked at 97 men aged 22 to 80, found that as men aged they experienced lower sperm count, less active sperm, and increased fragmentation of DNA.

Experts predict that by 2020 China’s middle class could expand to more than 500 million. market growth predictions are tantalizing, with China’s luxury goods market expected to grow by 20 per cent a year till 2008, then slows down to 10 per cent till 2015.

many luxury goods firms look forward to good times. LVMH is expected to add two to four stores a year to its 100 that already operate in China. Giorgio Armani intends to set up 20 to 30 stores by 2008, when Saks Fifth Avenue will also open a store in Shanghai. Siebu, controlled by Dickson Concepts (International) Limited, is opening a five-floor 140,000-sque-foot department store in Chengdu later this year. High-profile tenants will include. Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tod’s and Michael Kors, whose presence in second-tier cities reflects their confidence in the growing Chinese market.

Parents who are strict disciplinarians are far likely to wind up with children who are fat by six, according to a study conducted at Boston University School of Medicine in the USA. The study also found that children of parents who are indulgent and without discipline, also have weight problems but not the degree of the offspring of strict disciplinarians with low levels of sensitivity. The children of neglectful mothers and fathers, those who are emotionally uninvolved with no set rules, fared about the same as kids raised by permissive parents. The study covered 872 children who were part of a group enrolled at birth in 1991.

Some key summer fashion items, including shirt-dresses, pedal pusher shorts and peasant skirts, are simple enough to call for dramatic accessories. As a result, bold shoe designs are top sellers, with customers favoring natural wedges and ladylike flats. Look for shoes with bright colors, jewel embellishments and beading to add interest to an otherwise simple outfit key shoe styles for Summer 2006 include Grecian-inspired sandals with up-the-leg strap details; wedges with cork, wood or jute heels; sandals with macramé women uppers; shoes adorned with flowers, studs or colored stitching, and ones with metallic finishes.

A diet rich in whole gains my lower the likelihood of developing periodintitis (gum disease)report researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Diabetes and high levels of blood sugar are known to increase a person’s risk and severity of periodontitis, white whole grains and fiber have been shown to improve ability to process blood sugar. The researchers followed over 34,000 men over 14 years, gathering information about the men’s diet every four years.

Over a 14-years period, 1,897 men were diagnosed with periodontitis. Those who reported eating the most brown rice, dark breads, popcorn and other whole grains (about three servings per day) were 23 percent less likely to develop periodontitis than those who reported eating less than one daily serving of whole grains.