Language News and Research

RSS

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.

Children with good understanding of cardinal principle do better in maths

Preschool children seem to grasp the true concept of counting only if they are taught to understand the number value of groups of objects greater than three, research at the University of Chicago shows.

15 Jun 2011

Exposure to cigarettes fosters tween smoking: New study

Exposure to secondhand smoke can create symptoms of nicotine dependence in non-smoking preteens, according to a new study from Concordia University and the University of Montreal.

14 Jun 2011

The perils of aid group over exaggeration

"The problem is that U.N. agencies, USAID, its European counterparts, and NGOs almost all think that to get attention for a given crisis, they must use apocalyptic language and err on the side of overestimating the death, damage, and displacement that has been caused," author David Rieff writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece.

13 Jun 2011

McMaster researchers: Routine autism screening not needed for children

Proposals recommending routine screening of all children for autism gets a thumbs down from researchers at McMaster University.

13 Jun 2011

Spanish scale measures concern about cancer in healthy people

When a person has a family history of cancer, their worry about developing the disease may lead to them refusing to have preventive tests. Advice from genetic counselling units reduces their anxiety but, until now, nobody knew how much. Now, a scientific team has validated the 'Escala de Preocupaci-n por el C-ncer - EPC' (equivalent of the Cancer Worry Scale), the first of its kind in the Spanish language, in order to evaluate it.

10 Jun 2011

CAMH receives $2.5 million PHAC grant to expand school-based violence prevention program

The CAMH Centre for Prevention Science is delighted that the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, today announced funding to expand the reach of CAMH's highly successful Fourth R Program. This $2.5 million grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) through its Innovation Strategy supports the regional adaptation of an effective program with a special focus on Aboriginal youth.

9 Jun 2011

State roundup: N.J. plan would cut Medicaid by $500 million

States and territories are eligible for up to $40 million to strengthen and coordinate efforts to prevent chronic disease, the Health and Human Services Department announced Tuesday. The initiative is funded by the healthcare reform law and targets the nation's five leading chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and arthritis.

9 Jun 2011

Autism caused by hundreds of different genetic mutations: Study

New research shows that autism is not caused by one or two gene defects but probably by hundreds of different mutations, many of which arise spontaneously. This comes from the study that has examined the genes of more than 1,000 families.

9 Jun 2011

NYU Cancer Institute scientists present new research findings at ASCO 2011

Experts from The Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center, at NYU Langone Medical Center presented new research findings at the 47th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2011 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.

8 Jun 2011

Tai Chi may help overcome cognitive decline in patients receiving chemotherapy

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 11.4 million Americans are currently living with cancer. While cancer treatments are plentiful, many have negative side effects. Previous studies have indicated that a significant number of patients who receive chemotherapy also experience cognitive declines, including decreases in verbal fluency and memory.

7 Jun 2011

Roundup: Poll finds growing support in Mass. for health law

Support for the Massachusetts universal health care law has increased since 2009, according to a poll of the state's residents -- even as the law has become the subject of blistering attacks in national and presidential politics, and health care costs soar.

6 Jun 2011

DFG to form new collaborative research centers as of 1 July 2011

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish 21 new Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) as of 1 July 2011. This was decided by the relevant Grants Committee at its spring meeting in Bonn.

4 Jun 2011

Longer looks: Is American medicine destroying itself?

Ever since Republicans took control of half the country's statehouses this year, the anti-abortion movement has won one victory after another. At least 64 new anti-abortion laws have passed, with more than 30 of them in April alone. The campaign is the largest in history and also the most creative.

3 Jun 2011

Free online WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool now available as version 3.3

The WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX-) is an important new calculation tool, available free online at http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX, that is being used by a steadily increasing number of physicians around the world to calculate a patient's 10-year probability of fracture based on scientifically validated risk factors.

2 Jun 2011

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid holds promise against familial frontotemporal dementia

A drug already approved for people with cancer shows early potential as a therapy for a common form of dementia, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

1 Jun 2011

Functional MRI acquired during speech stimulation predicts children with autism

Functional magnetic resonance imaging may provide an early and objective indicator of autism, according to researchers at Columbia University in New York City, who used the technique to document language impairment in autistic children.

31 May 2011

Ad Council, AHRQ launch new multimedia Spanish-language campaign for Hispanics

Conoce las Preguntas, a new, multimedia Spanish-language campaign announced today by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Ad Council, encourages Hispanics to get more involved in their health care and to talk with their doctors about their medical concerns.

30 May 2011

IBM expands Dallas Health Analytics Solution Center

IBM today announced the expansion of its Health Analytics Solution Center. Located in Dallas, the center is adding new technology and has doubled the number of healthcare solution architects and technology specialists working at the center.

27 May 2011

Report: Only 2% of nation's substance abuse treatment facilities offer counseling services in Asian languages

A new report shows that only 2-percent (291) of the nation's 13,513 substance abuse treatment facilities provide counseling services in various Asian languages. The report also showed that the proportion of facilities offering these services varied by geographic region.

27 May 2011

Difficulty to learn maths linked to neurocognitive disorder

Students who struggle to learn mathematics may have a neurocognitive disorder that inhibits the acquisition of basic numerical and arithmetic concepts, according to a new paper by University of Minnesota and British researchers. Called developmental dyscalculia, the disorder affects roughly the same number of people as dyslexia but has received much less attention (and research funding).

27 May 2011