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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.

CHI lauds California state Assembly's proclamation of Feb. 28, as Rare Disease Day

CHI-California Healthcare Institute, a non-profit public policy research organization, applauds the state Assembly’s proclamation of Feb. 28, as Rare Disease Day. This day helps bring awareness of the biomedical companies that are dedicated to researching and developing treatments for patients suffering from rare diseases.

27 Feb 2010

Health Policy Research Roundup: Length of hospital stays, analyses of Obama's reform proposals

Archives Of Internal Medicine: Hospital Cost Of Care, Quality Of Care, And Readmission Rates - This study compares patients treated for pneumonia and congestive heart failure (CHF) and finds that high-cost hospitals don't always deliver better care. The researchers, who based their analysis on the data from 3,146 hospitals in the 2004 to 2006 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR), report that "risk-adjusted costs of care for CHF and pneumonia varied widely between hospitals, although hospital cost-of-care patterns seemed stable over time and correlated across conditions."

27 Feb 2010

Neural differences in map of the brain when learning new nouns and verbs

Two Spanish psychologists and a German neurologist have recently shown that the brain that activates when a person learns a new noun is different from the part used when a verb is learnt. The scientists observed this using brain images taken using functional magnetic resonance, according to an article they have published this month in the journal Neuroimage.

26 Feb 2010

AST now offers programs and services to treat children with developmental disorders

Autism Spectrum Therapies, an agency providing comprehensive autism services throughout Southern California, is expanding its services to include speech and language programs and occupational therapy, in addition to behavior therapy. The focus of the new services will be early intervention for children from infancy to age three and developmental catch-up for young children who have fallen behind in any developmental area.

26 Feb 2010

Fetuses exposed to high levels of stress hormone may have solving problems later on: Study

A mother's nurture may provide powerful protection against risks her baby faces in the womb, according to a new article published online today in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The research shows that fetuses exposed to high levels of stress hormone - shown to be a harbinger for babies' poor cognitive development - can escape this fate if their mothers provide them sensitive care during infancy and toddler-hood.

26 Feb 2010

Passing Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act will break monopoly power of some health insurers

"This vote is an important step towards breaking the monopoly power of some health insurers," responded Dr. Stuart Bussey, President of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, to the news of a vote taken Wednesday by the US House of Representatives.

26 Feb 2010

Maternal sensitivity may influence language development among children in early stages of autism

A new study by researchers from the University of Miami shows that maternal sensitivity may influence language development among children who go on to develop autism. Although parenting styles are not considered as a cause for autism, this report examines how early parenting can promote resiliency in this population.

26 Feb 2010

Lack of chemistry between Obama and GOP leaders could strain summit; Gingrich urges series of smaller bills

The New York Times reports on a lack of chemistry between President Barack Obama and leading Republicans such as Rep. John A. Boehner, the House Republican leader, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

26 Feb 2010

Toys"R"Us fundraising campaign to benefit Autism Speaks

Toys"R"Us, U.S. today announced that its fundraising campaign to benefit Autism Speaks will begin Sunday, February 28 and continue through Friday, April 30. Throughout the campaign, monetary donations will be collected at all Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores and online at Toysrus.com/AutismSpeaks.

25 Feb 2010

Abortion, public option questions remain

The Wall Street Journal: "Abortion was one of the final matters to be resolved in December when the Senate created its version of the health-care bill, with a carefully crafted compromise that left neither side in the debate happy.

24 Feb 2010

Incidence rate for all causes of dementia in older people to increase with age: Study

University of California researchers found that the incidence rate for all causes of dementia in people age 90 and older is 18.2% annually and significantly increases with age in both men and women. This research, called "The 90+ Study," is one of only a few to examine dementia in this age group, and the first to have sufficient participation of centenarians.

24 Feb 2010

Sopris and Tufts University to publish reading intervention program for students

Sopris, a business unit of Cambium Learning Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABCD), announced today that the company has signed an agreement with Maryanne Wolf, Ed.D. and Tufts University to publish RAVE-O (Reading through Automaticity, Vocabulary, Engagement, and Orthography), an innovative, intensive, multisensory, small group reading intervention for grades two through four.

24 Feb 2010

Doubts, questions loom over planned bipartisan health summit

More reactions to President Obama's health proposal are trickling in from Capital Hill, as the White House attempts to parry Republican criticism by asking GOP lawmakers to put their own plan on the table.

24 Feb 2010

Unique resource for families facing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer

When she was forty-two, Joi Morris learned that she has a genetic mutation on a gene known as BRCA2. This meant that her risk of getting breast cancer could be as high as 84 percent by age seventy, and that her risk for ovarian cancer was also high.

23 Feb 2010

Melamine-contaminated dairy products leave 12% children with kidney abnormalities

While the majority of children who were affected by consuming toxic melamine-contaminated products in China recovered, kidney abnormalities remained in 12% of the affected children.

23 Feb 2010

Early Cochlear implantation removes word-learning skill defects in deaf children

Learning words may be facilitated by early exposure to auditory input, according to research presented by the Indiana University School of Medicine at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting in San Diego, Feb. 18-22.

22 Feb 2010

Cash-strapped school districts are making mistake by cutting music from K-12 curriculum: Neuroscientist

At an 11 a.m. press briefing, Saturday, Feb. 20, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, a Northwestern University neuroscientist will argue that music training has profound effects that shape the sensory system and should be a mainstay of K-12 education.

22 Feb 2010

Let babies sleep: Napping supports abstract learning

Anyone who grew up in a large family likely remembers hearing "Don't wake the baby." While it reinforces the message to older kids to keep it down, research shows that sleep also is an important part of how infants learn more about their new world.

22 Feb 2010

Research Roundup: Financing boomers' care; California's budget cuts; Racial disparities in surgical outcomes

Health Affairs: Chronic Conditions Account For Rise In Medicare Spending From 1987 To 2006 - "Medicare beneficiaries' medical needs, and where beneficiaries undergo treatment, have changed dramatically over the past two decades." For example, the authors write, "heart disease ranked first among the top-ten conditions in terms of attributable share of growth from 1987 to 1997, accounting for nearly 14 percent of the increase in Medicare spending."

20 Feb 2010

Obama plans to offer own health bill before summit as parties stake claims

President Obama will offer "comprehensive" health reform legislation in advance of next week's planned summit with Republicans, The New York Times reports. "Democratic officials said the president's proposal was being written so that it could be attached to a budget bill as a way of averting a Republican filibuster in the Senate. The procedure, known as budget reconciliation, would let Democrats advance the bill with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote supermajority."

20 Feb 2010

Language News and Research

Further Reading

CHI lauds California state Assembly's proclamation of Feb. 28, as Rare Disease Day

Health Policy Research Roundup: Length of hospital stays, analyses of Obama's reform proposals

Neural differences in map of the brain when learning new nouns and verbs

AST now offers programs and services to treat children with developmental disorders

Fetuses exposed to high levels of stress hormone may have solving problems later on: Study

Passing Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act will break monopoly power of some health insurers

Maternal sensitivity may influence language development among children in early stages of autism

Lack of chemistry between Obama and GOP leaders could strain summit; Gingrich urges series of smaller bills

Toys"R"Us fundraising campaign to benefit Autism Speaks

Abortion, public option questions remain

Incidence rate for all causes of dementia in older people to increase with age: Study

Sopris and Tufts University to publish reading intervention program for students

Doubts, questions loom over planned bipartisan health summit

Unique resource for families facing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer

Melamine-contaminated dairy products leave 12% children with kidney abnormalities

Early Cochlear implantation removes word-learning skill defects in deaf children

Cash-strapped school districts are making mistake by cutting music from K-12 curriculum: Neuroscientist

Let babies sleep: Napping supports abstract learning

Research Roundup: Financing boomers' care; California's budget cuts; Racial disparities in surgical outcomes

Obama plans to offer own health bill before summit as parties stake claims

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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