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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.

New terms for describing gene products involved in microbial-host interactions

An international group of scientists has announced a major expansion of a lingua franca used to describe the activities of genes in living organisms.

28 Feb 2007

New toy helps teach words to autistic childre

Helma van Rijn has developed a toy that uses a new method for teaching words to autistic children. She developed this toy as part of her graduation project at Delft University of Technology's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

27 Feb 2007

Ohio Gov. Strickland to remove name from effort to back law that would limit use of Mifepristone

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) has filed a brief with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requesting that his name be removed from a lawsuit defending an Ohio law (HB 126) that would restrict how Danco Laboratories' Mifeprex is used to induce a medical abortion, the AP/Coshocton Tribune reports.

25 Feb 2007

Genetic mutations make people susceptible to schizophrenia

Gene mutations governing a key brain enzyme make people susceptible to schizophrenia and may be targeted in future treatments for the psychiatric illness, according to MIT and Japanese researchers.

20 Feb 2007

California Appellate Court panel hears arguments in challenge of State proposition promoting embryonic stem cell research

A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Wednesday heard oral arguments in two consolidated cases challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 71 -- approved by voters in 2004 to provide $3 billion for human embryonic stem cell research -- the Los Angeles Times reports.

19 Feb 2007

The present and future for influenza vaccines

The near inevitability that influenza will explode into a pandemic in the coming few years has kept researchers searching for a way to prevent the worst effects of infection. The ultimate prize is a highly effective vaccine that could be produced and deployed rapidly.

18 Feb 2007

Vasectomy linked to dementia

Researchers in the United States have linked male sterilization surgery to a certain form of dementia.

14 Feb 2007

Response to "The HIV/AIDS Crisis in Papua New Guinea"

The report titled The HIV/AIDS Crisis in Papua New Guinea by Miranda Darling Tobias which was released on 8 February by The Centre for Independent Studies is conceptually and methodologically problematic in its analysis of the impact of the HIV epidemic in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

14 Feb 2007

Vasectomy and trouble with words

Northwestern University researchers have discovered men with an unusual form of dementia have a higher rate of vasectomy than men the same age who are cognitively normal.

13 Feb 2007

One in every 150 U.S. children autistic

According to new research, by the age of 8 as many as one in every 150 children in the United States develops autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome.

12 Feb 2007

South Africa starts major HIV/AIDS vaccine trial

The launch of the first large-scale study to evaluate a candidate HIV vaccine on the African continent was announced today by study collaborators in the United States and South Africa. The trial will involve up to 3,000 participants at five sites throughout South Africa and is expected to continue for four years.

11 Feb 2007

Autism, hyperactivity and Tourette's syndrome on the increase in children

A comprehensive Danish study has found that over a 10-year period there has been in Denmark a substantial rise in cases in children of autism, hyperactivity and Tourette's syndrome.

7 Feb 2007

Childhood psychiatric disorders on the rise

The incidence of three childhood neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism, increased among Danish children between 1990 and 2004, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

6 Feb 2007

Risperidone may help people with autism

Risperidone, a drug used to control schizophrenia symptoms, may also help treat behaviors found in autism spectrum disorder, according to a new review of studies.

30 Jan 2007

Impact of birth defects on families and nation

Two separate government reports highlight the economic costs of birth defects, focusing attention on the ongoing need for prevention.

22 Jan 2007

CogState issued US patent

CogState has announced that it has been issued a patent from the Unites States Patent & Trade Mark Office (US patent no. 7,163,513) for the key technology platform used in its computer-based tests of brain function.

16 Jan 2007

UK education system "fails" children from poorer backgrounds

One the UK's most comprehensive investigations into fairness in education has uncovered disturbing failures in the way the system treats children from poorer backgrounds.

From The University of Manchester 14 Jan 2007

Piolitazone shows promise for preventing brain injury from radiation therapy

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to report that in animal studies, a common diabetes drug prevents the memory and learning problems that cancer patients often experience after whole-brain radiation treatments.

10 Jan 2007

BioMed Central launches BMC Systems Biology

BioMed Central has announced the launch of BMC Systems Biology, the first open access journal focussed solely on the entire emerging subject of systems biology.

8 Jan 2007

FDA updates health claim for calcium and Vitamin D for osteoporosis

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to allow new claims on foods and dietary supplements containing calcium and Vitamin D to show their potential to reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

7 Jan 2007