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Individuals with dyslexia have difficulty generalizing from word identification training. This study compared 2 forms of word identification training to promote transfer of learning by children with dyslexia. Sixty-two children were randomly assigned to one of the training programs or to a study skills control program. One program trained phonological analysis and blending skills and provided direct instruction of letter-sound correspondences: the other trained the acquisition, use, and monitoring of 4 metacognitive decoding strategies. Results provided clear evidence of transfer of learning after treatment of the core reading deficits of these children. Both training approaches were associated with large positive effects, transfer on several measures, and generalized achievement gains. The phonological program resulted in greater generalized gains in the phonological domain and the strategy program in broader-based transfer for real words.

The development of arrays that can profile molecular activities in cells is important to understanding signaling pathways in normal and pathological settings. While oligonucleotide arrays are now routinely used to profile global gene expression, there is still a lack of tools for profiling enzyme activities in cell lysates. This paper describes the combination of peptide arrays formed on self-assembled monolayers and mass spectrometry to provide a label-free approach for identifying patterns of enzyme activities in cell lysates. The approach is demonstrated by profiling lysine deacetylase (KDAC) activities in cell lysates of the CHRF megakaryocytic (Mk) cell line. Class-specific deacetylase inhibitors were used to show that terminal Mk differentiation of CHRF cells is marked by a pronounced decrease in sirtuin activity and by little change in activity of KDACs 1-11. This work establishes a platform that can be used to identify changes in global activity profiles of cell lysates for a wide variety of enzymatic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retrospective chart review study was conducted to determine risk factors with falls. All patients on a 23-bed geropsychiatry service who fell during the course of one calendar year (17 patients, 30 falls) were compared to a control group of 30 non-fallers from the same service and time period. The group of patients who fell during hospitalization was characterized by more frequent history of falls (18% vs 0%, p <0.05) and ambulatory impairment (76% vs 47%, p<0.05) and longer length of hospital stay (81 days vs 46 days, p<0.02). There was no difference in number of medical diagnoses or standing medications between the fallers and non-fallers, but the fallers were frequently administered benzodiazepines (0.088 doses/day vs 0.034 doses/day, p<0.03) and neuroleptics (0.039 doses/day vs 0.014 doses/day, p<0.06) on a PRN basis for agitation. We conclude that falls among geropsychiatry inpatients are associated with the administration of PRN benzodiazepines and neuroleptics to control agitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of an article on the differences in healthcare costs related to the drugs armodafinil and modafinil for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness, that is published in this issue is presented.

The development of arrays that can profile molecular activities in cells is important to understanding signaling pathways in normal and pathological settings. While oligonucleotide arrays are now routinely used to profile global gene expression, there is still a lack of tools for profiling enzyme activities in cell lysates. This paper describes the combination of peptide arrays formed on self-assembled monolayers and mass spectrometry to provide a label-free approach for identifying patterns of enzyme activities in cell lysates. The approach is demonstrated by profiling lysine deacetylase (KDAC) activities in cell lysates of the CHRF megakaryocytic (Mk) cell line. Class-specific deacetylase inhibitors were used to show that terminal Mk differentiation of CHRF cells is marked by a pronounced decrease in sirtuin activity and by little change in activity of KDACs 1-11. This work establishes a platform that can be used to identify changes in global activity profiles of cell lysates for a wide variety of enzymatic activities.