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“ Autism affects one in 45 children in the United States, almost twice the rate from a few years ago, said a survey Friday that uses a new approach to assess the frequency of the developmental disorder. The latest figures may reflect a more accurate picture of autism spectrum disorder, said the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, and so does not necessarily mean that there is a ballooning autism epidemic.

In fact, the study found that while autism spectrum diagnoses are more frequent than in the past, the overall number of people affected by neurodevelopment problems has not risen, but has remained steady over time.

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that may cause a person to have difficulty behaving, learning, communicating and interacting with people. It is believed to be influenced by genetic and environmental factors, though scientists do not fully understand all its causes.”

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Over-stretching? Yoga
Half a century after the Beatles meditated in Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, a new wave of spirituality tourists have arrived for this week’s International Yoga Festival.
Some 300 million people now practise yoga around the world, according to the International Yoga Federation. Since it became popular in the West in the 1980s it has moved beyond mere activity; in popular language use, it has become a “lifestyle” – on which Americans spent $16 billion in 2016. The yoga market is growing by 7% a year, while novelty yoga proliferates: hot yoga, beer yoga, naked yoga, goat yoga.
Some worry the practice is losing its spirituality and that the Instagram generation has made it about posing not poses. Others think it fills a spiritual vacuum in the irreligious West, where navel-gazing is not a tricky yoga move. Devotees defend its health benefits and positive messages of love, compassion and serenity. A noble position to take.
(https://espresso.economist.com, 03.03.2018. Adaptado.)

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Mr. Brown was driving home from the city one Friday evening, when he noticed some lovely daffodils under the trees at the side of the road.

He saw a notice which said: “Private Property.” But there was no fence and there were no people, so he decided to get out of the car and pick some flowers for his wife.

He started picking the daffodils that were blooming near the road. And, as he went on walking through the trees into a field, he continued picking more and more flowers.

Suddenly he looked up and his face turned red, as he saw the owner of the property sitting at a table, waiting to count the daffodils ... and to receive her money.

The owner of the property was “waiting to count the daffodils... and to receive her money”.

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Loneliness can be deadly for elders

The circle shrinks. As the years pass, older people attend too many funerals. Friendships that sustained them for decades lapse when companions and confidants retire or move away or grow ill.

The way we prioritize friendships may evolve. Laura Carstensen, a Stanford University psychologist, developed an influential theory called “socioemotional selectivity”: As people sense their remaining time growing brief, they shed superficial relationships to concentrate on those they find most meaningful.

“They invest more in their remaining connections,” said Gary Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center. “They optimize friendships, rather than try to maximize them.”

A tide of recent research underscores the importance of such bonds. Social isolation and loneliness can take a serious toll on elders, psychologically and physically. They also suffer higher mortality rates and increased risk of depression, cognitive decline and illnesses like coronary artery disease.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, followed 1,600 participants (average age: 71) and found that those who reported loneliness were more likely to develop difficulties with activities of daily living. Even when the study controlled for socioeconomic status and health, the lonely had higher mortality: Nearly 23 percent died within six years, compared with 14 percent of those who weren’t lonely.

With strong evidence that friendship does, indeed, help save lives and promote health, social workers and researchers wish we could pay more attention to its central role. Activity directors, senior center staff members and family caregivers: Are there better ways to help elders stay in touch with the friends they care about, or meet new ones? We’re all willing to drive relatives to doctors’ appointments; driving them to spend time with friends may matter as much.

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Sine cera

Dishonest marble cutters in ancient Rome rubbed wax over the pillars and blocks they were selling to hide cracks. The Roman Senate tried to stop this cheating by passing a law saying that all marble bought by the government must be wax-free, which in Latin is sine cera. Sine cera came to mean 'honest. And sincere means 'honest to this day.

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When I got to the airport, I learnt that the plane from Cairo, on which my brother was travelling, had been delayed at Paris with engine trouble and was expected to be about an hour late. As a rule I can pass the time quite happily; watching the planes land and take off, but that evening I had a headache; which I thought that the noise of the engines might make worse. I decided, therefore to walk around to make the time pass quickly.

First of all I went back to the place where I had left my car to make sure that all the doors were locked. The walk in the fresh air did me good, for I felt slightly better as I entered the main airport building again. I made my way to the restaurant, where I ordered a cup of black coffee. As I stood drinking this at the counter, I studied the faces of the people around me. Some passengers were obviously anxious about the time, and kept looking at their watches; others checked to see that they had tickets, passports and money. Where there was a group of people, it was easy to tell which one was about to leave. He was the object of everyone’s attention and looked either very happy or very sad at the thought of departure.

There was one woman who burst into tears as she said goodbye to the relatives or friends who had come to see her off. When I had finished my coffee, I went along to the bookstall, where I bought a couple of magazines, both of them about travel, which would help to make the time pass pleasantly. Then I went into one of the waiting-rooms and made myself comfortable in a big armchair. I had hardly had time to open one of my magazines, when someone came up and put his hand on my shoulder. It was an old friend; who was just about to leave on a business trip to South America. Since we had not seen each other for a long time, we found plenty to talk about until the arrival of my brother’s plane from Paris was announced.

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“There are a trillion reasons why taking time to chill out might be the last item on your to-do list. But, here's why it should be a priority: "Being stressed will increase your susceptibility to catching a cold," says Ali. That may be because, over the long term, it leads to the ongoing release of stress hormones, such as glucocorticoids. These impede your body's ability to produce cell-signaling molecules called cytokines, which trigger a disease-fighting response from your immune system. "You're also less likely to take care of yourself — get ample sleep, eat right, exercise — when you're stressed," says Ali, which is crucial to upping your immunity.