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Selected AbstractsCross-linguistic transfer of phonological skills: a Malaysian perspectiveDYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2002Caroline Gomez Abstract This study examined the phonological and reading performance in English of Malaysian children whose home language was Bahasa Malaysia (BM). A sample of 69 Malaysian Standard Two pupils (aged 7,8 years) was selected for the study. Since commencing school at the age of 6 years, the children had been learning to read in BM and had subsequently also been learning to read in English for some 12 months. The study was part of a larger scale research programme that fully recognized the limitations of tests that had not been developed and standardized in Malaysia. Nevertheless, as a first step to developing such tests, a comparison with existing norms for the Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB) and the Wechsler Objective Reading Dimension (WORD) was undertaken in relation to information about the children's L1 and L2 language competencies. Results showed that the children's performance on PhAB was at least comparable to the UK norms while, not surprisingly, they fared less well on WORD. The results are discussed in terms of L1 and L2 transfer, whereby the transparency of written BM and the structured way in which reading is taught in BM facilitates performance on phonological tasks in English. This has implications for identifying children with phonologically based reading difficulties. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Disseminated intravascular coagulation in acute leukemia: clinical and laboratory features at presentationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Masamitsu Yanada Abstract:,Background:,Although there are two major scoring systems for the clinical diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), the validity of these systems for leukemia-associated DIC remains to be confirmed. Methods:,By analyzing 125 newly diagnosed acute leukemia patients, we investigated clinical and laboratory features of leukemia-associated DIC, and determined the validity of the two established criteria. Results:,A total of 36 patients (29%) were diagnosed with DIC according to expert opinion, a method regarded as the de facto gold standard. Leukemia-associated DIC is characterized by rare manifestation of organ failure because of thrombosis and no relevance of the platelet count for the diagnosis. The results of receiver operating characteristics analysis favored fibrin degradation product (FDP) rather than D-dimer as the fibrin-related marker test. Although prothrombin time, plasma fibrinogen, and serum FDP levels were significantly different for patients with and without DIC, multivariate analysis identified FDP levels to be the only factor associated with DIC diagnosis. The cut-off level of 15 ,g/mL for FDP was found to be the most effective to differentiate DIC from non-DIC, resulting in diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 92% and 96%, respectively. The diagnostic results for our patients produced with this FDP-based system were at least comparable with or superior to those obtained with the two currently available scoring systems. Conclusions:,Our findings suggest that an FDP-based criterion may be applicable for the diagnosis of leukemia-associated DIC. Although it appears to be simple and practicable enough for clinical use, prospective validation of this criterion is needed. [source] Surgery for Cardiac Valves and Aortic Root Without Cardioplegic Arrest ("Beating Heart"): Experience with a New Method of Myocardial PerfusionJOURNAL OF CARDIAC SURGERY, Issue 6 2007Tomas A. Salerno M.D. Similarly, beating heart mitral valve surgery via the trans-septal approach with the aorta unclamped, is a novel technique. We, herein, report a series of 346 patients with a variety of cardiac pathologies who were operated upon utilizing a new modality of myocardial perfusion. Among this group of patients, there were 55 patients who were diagnosed with endocarditis of one or more valves. These patients were excluded from this series of patients. Mean age was 59 ± 12, and there were 196 (67.3%) males and 95 (32.7%) females. There were six aortic root procedures, 90 mitral valve replacements (MVR), 46 mitral valve repairs, 20 MVR+ coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), 28 tricuspid valve repairs, 106 aortic valve replacements (AVR), 17 AVR+CABG, and 8 AVR/MVR. Crude mortality for the group was 20 of 291 (6.8%). Intra-aortic balloon pump utilization at time of weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass was 6/291 (2.06%), and re-operation for bleeding was needed in 12 of 291 (4.1%) patients. Postoperative stroke occurred in 4 of 291 (1.3%) patients. In these patients, the clinical diagnosis of stroke was made prior to surgery. This initial experience with this new method of myocardial perfusion indicates that results are at least comparable, if not superior, to conventional techniques utilizing intermittent cold blood cardioplegia. [source] Analysis of alcohols, as dimethylglycine esters, by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometryJOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY (INCORP BIOLOGICAL MASS SPECTROMETRY), Issue 3 2001Dr David W. Johnson Abstract Dimethylglycine (DMG) esters are new derivatives for the rapid, sensitive and selective analysis of primary and secondary alcohols, in complex mixtures, by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). Their development was inspired by the use of the complementary dimethylaminoethyl esters for the trace, rapid analysis of fatty acids. DMG esters are simply prepared by heating a dichloromethane solution of the imidazolide of dimethylglycine, containing triethylamine, and an alcohol. DMG esters of long-chain fatty alcohols, isoprenoidal alcohols and hydroxy-acids are analysed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with a precursor ion of m/z 104 scan. Diols, glyceryl esters, glyceryl ethers and some sterols are analysed by a neutral loss of 103 Da scan. Trimethylglycine (TMG) ester iodides, prepared by alkylation of DMG esters with methyl iodide, are more sensitive derivatives for molecules containing secondary alcohol groups, such as cholesterol and gibberellic acid. They are analysed by a precursor ion of m/z 118 scan. DMG or TMG derivatives were shown to be at least comparable and sometimes an order of magnitude more sensitive than N -methylpyridyl ether derivatives for ESI-MS/MS analysis of the different classes of alcohols. Applications of these derivatives for the diagnosis of inherited disorders and the analysis of natural products are presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evidence for a large fraction of Compton-thick quasars at high redshiftMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: LETTERS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2007Alejo Martínez-Sansigre ABSTRACT Using mid-infrared and radio selection criteria, we pre-select a sample of candidate high-redshift type 2 quasars in the Subaru XMM,Newton Deep Field (SXDF). To filter out starburst contaminants, we use a Bayesian method to fit the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) between 24-,m and the B -band, obtain photometric redshifts, and identify the best candidates for high- z type 2 quasars. This leaves us with 12 zphot, 1.7 type 2 quasar candidates in an area ,0.8 deg2, of which only two have secure X-ray detections. The two detected sources have estimated column densities NH, 2 & 3 × 1027 m,2, i.e. heavily obscured but Compton-thin quasars. Given the large bolometric luminosities and redshifts of the undetected objects, the lack of X-ray detections suggests extreme absorbing columns NH, 1028 m,2 are typical. We have found evidence for a population of ,Compton-thick' high-redshift type 2 quasars, at least comparable to, and probably larger than, the type 1 quasar population, although spectroscopic confirmation of their active galactic nuclei nature is important. [source] | ||||||||||