Language News and Research

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Language skills are essential to a child’s ability to communicate and develop. These skills enable children to engage with other people and learn from their surroundings and in the classroom.

Research reveals that practicing Tetris increases brain efficiency

Researchers at the Mind Research Network today announced the findings of a scientific study that used brain imaging and Tetris to investigate whether practice makes the brain efficient because it increases gray matter. Over a three-month period, adolescent girls practiced Tetris, a computer game requiring a combination of cognitive skills. The girls who practiced showed greater brain efficiency, consistent with earlier studies. Compared to controls, the girls that practiced also had a thicker cortex, but not in the same brain areas where efficiency occurred.

1 Sep 2009

Brain research reveals that juggling practice increased gray matter in the motor areas of the brain

1 Sep 2009

GenoCAD project receives financial support from NSF

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year $1,421,725 grant to Jean Peccoud, associate professor at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, to develop GenoCAD - a web-based Computer Assisted Design environment for synthetic biology.

1 Sep 2009

AAO-HNSF to issue the first guideline for helping physicians manage dysphonia

The American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) will issue the first--and only--national clinical practice guideline to help healthcare practitioners identify and manage patients with hoarseness, also known as dysphonia. The guideline emphasizes evidence-based management of hoarseness by clinicians, and educates patients on the prevalence of this common vocal health issue.

1 Sep 2009

New research shows how brain function reflects the process of learning new words

Our vocabulary continues to grow and expand even in adulthood. Just ten years ago, the word 'blog' did not yet exist - and now we no longer remember when we heard this word for the first time or when we learned its meaning. At some stage new words become just as familiar to us as words we have learned earlier. One of the areas of interest in the Academy of Finland's Neuroscience Research Programme (NEURO) is how the process of learning new words is reflected in the function of the brain.

29 Aug 2009

Rhonix - a new online medical translation community forum from ENLASO

ENLASO Corporation, a leading provider of medical and life sciences translation and localization solutions, today announced that it has launched a new social networking forum dedicated to helping improve the quality in medical and life sciences translations.

28 Aug 2009

Research study associates KIAA0319 gene on Chromosome 6 with variability in language abilities

A new candidate gene for Specific Language Impairment (SLI) has been identified by a research team directed by Mabel Rice from the University of Kansas, in collaboration with Shelley Smith, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Javier Gayán of Neocodex, Seville, Spain.

28 Aug 2009

New technology based on the Lombard effect for improving speech and voice in Parkinson's patients

Researchers have developed a new technology that helps Parkinson's patients overcome the tendency to speak too quietly by playing a recording of ambient sound, which resembles the noisy chatter of a restaurant full of patrons.

28 Aug 2009

Trident(R) donates proceeds for children's oral health

Trident(R), the best selling sugar-free gum brand in the world[4], is donating a portion of its proceeds during the first week in September to Smiles Across America(R) (SAA), the signature program of Oral Health America that supports dental services to thousands of children in underserved communities nationwide.

27 Aug 2009

ACPM launches a web page on lifestyle medicine

The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) has launched a web page featuring an extensive literature review on lifestyle medicine -the practice of changing health behaviors to promote health and prevent and treat disease.

27 Aug 2009

$201,339 grant offered to a professor for developing a database on enzyme functions

Since the advent of the Human Genome Project an explosion of data has sent the science world scrambling. There is a growing demand to fine-tune genomic codes, which list the "ingredients for life," but do not adequately explain how those ingredients function. A Rutgers University-Camden biochemist is addressing this knowledge gap through the creation of a database for quick "background checks" on all known enzyme functions. Thanks to a National Institute of Health grant, Peter Palenchar, an assistant professor of chemistry at Rutgers-Camden, will categorize decades-worth of scholarship on enzymes into a database, beginning with those that bind to molecules that contain adenosine.

27 Aug 2009

Illegal aliens to benefit from health care reform bill: Congressional Research Service

Tuesday, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the "research arm" for the United States Congress, issued a report validating an analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), that illegal aliens would be able to receive benefits under the House health care reform bill, America's Affordable Health Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200).

27 Aug 2009

Obama's rhetoric fails to capture voters' support

The rhetoric being used by Democrats on health care has been carefully planned but it doesn't appear to be capturing voters' support for health care reform. Wall Street Journal reports: "In the rhetorical battle over health care, the forces backing President Barack Obama's overhaul have spent years polling and using focus groups to find the precise language that would win over voters -- an effort that doesn't at the moment appear to be working."

26 Aug 2009

Scientists develop new technology that helps Parkinson's patients to overcome speech problems

26 Aug 2009

Aetna promotes patient safety measures through informative website

Aetna (NYSE:AET) is strengthening its efforts to promote patient safety with easy-to-find online information for members. New policies also require health care facilities, physicians and other health care professionals to take action to prevent medical errors and changes the way they are paid when medical errors do occur.

26 Aug 2009

Vtech's Bugsby Reading System helps young learners keep an active mind

Vtech has focused their 2009 line of products to incorporate the innovative play contemporary kids ask for, with the educational value moms require. With everything from an award winning high-tech reading system to a cool new Web-connected laptop, Vtech's new line delivers high-quality fun and learning to today's connected kids.

25 Aug 2009

FRC urges Obama to support the exclusion of abortion coverage from healthcare plans

Over the weekend, the White House released President Obama's weekly video address in which the President falsely stated that abortion coverage is not mandated under his health care reform plan. Last week the President accused FRC and other opponents to his plan of breaking the 9th Commandment.

25 Aug 2009

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Reflection and Reaction piece says while PEPFAR's "investment of over US$228 million into Mozambique in 2008 alone" resulted in "an exponential increase in the number of people on" ARVs and boosted prevention programs, "[t]here is more money available for HIV/AIDS than can reasonably be spent, especially given Mozambique's poor infrastructure and large geographical area. Unfortunately, one side-effect has been an associated increase in corruption." To maximize aid money and limit corruption, "careful and creative resource management will be needed," the author concludes (Johnson, 9/09).

24 Aug 2009

PTSD could be treated with Craniosacral therapy according to a research study

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is impacting people worldwide. In the United States alone, more than five million people will suffer from PTSD this year. There are major emotional, financial, and negative health implications associated with PTSD making it a timely priority.

21 Aug 2009

Common Sense Advisory's report highlights effects of health care reform on non-English speaking patients

With an estimated 50 million people who speak languages other than English at home, the United States health care system serves one of the most linguistically diverse patient populations in the world. A new report from market research firm Common Sense Advisory answers the question, "How will health care reform affect patients with limited English proficiency (LEP)?" The firm's new report, "Health Care Reform and Language Services," pinpoints 14 sections of "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" that will influence the nation's provision of health care interpreting and translation services.

21 Aug 2009

Language News and Research

Further Reading

Research reveals that practicing Tetris increases brain efficiency

Brain research reveals that juggling practice increased gray matter in the motor areas of the brain

GenoCAD project receives financial support from NSF

AAO-HNSF to issue the first guideline for helping physicians manage dysphonia

New research shows how brain function reflects the process of learning new words

Rhonix - a new online medical translation community forum from ENLASO

Research study associates KIAA0319 gene on Chromosome 6 with variability in language abilities

New technology based on the Lombard effect for improving speech and voice in Parkinson's patients

Trident(R) donates proceeds for children's oral health

ACPM launches a web page on lifestyle medicine

$201,339 grant offered to a professor for developing a database on enzyme functions

Illegal aliens to benefit from health care reform bill: Congressional Research Service

Obama's rhetoric fails to capture voters' support

Scientists develop new technology that helps Parkinson's patients to overcome speech problems

Aetna promotes patient safety measures through informative website

Vtech's Bugsby Reading System helps young learners keep an active mind

FRC urges Obama to support the exclusion of abortion coverage from healthcare plans

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

PTSD could be treated with Craniosacral therapy according to a research study

Common Sense Advisory's report highlights effects of health care reform on non-English speaking patients

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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