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In a sample of 195 first graders selected for poor reading performance, the authors explored four cognitive predictors of later reading comprehension and reading disability (RD) status. In fall of first grade, the authors measured the children's phonological processing, rapid automatized naming (RAN), oral language comprehension, and nonverbal reasoning. Throughout first grade, they also modeled the students' reading progress by means of weekly Word Identification Fluency (WIF) tests to derive December and May intercepts. The authors assessed their reading comprehension in the spring of Grades 1-5. With the four cognitive variables and the WIF December intercept as predictors, 50.3% of the variance in fifth-grade reading comprehension was explained: 52.1% of this 50.3% was unique to the cognitive variables, 13.1% to the WIF December intercept, and 34.8% was shared. All five predictors were statistically significant. The same four cognitive variables with the May (rather than December) WIF intercept produced a model that explained 62.1% of the variance. Of this amount, the cognitive variables and May WIF intercept accounted for 34.5% and 27.7%, respectively; they shared 37.8%. All predictors in this model were statistically significant except RAN. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the accuracy with which the cognitive variables predicted end-of-fifth-grade RD status was 73.9%. The May WIF intercept contributed reliably to this prediction; the December WIF intercept did not. Results are discussed in terms of a role for cognitive abilities in identifying, classifying, and instructing students with severe reading problems.

Screening for glucose intolerance during pregnancy provides an opportunity to offer management to those women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus. However, there is a need to diagnose gestational diabetes early to minimize exposure of the developing fetus to suboptimal conditions and prevent perinatal complications and their sequelae. The purpose of this study was to identify potential biomarkers for impending gestational diabetes that appear in the plasma before impaired glucose tolerance. Pregnant women were prospectively recruited to the study and blood was collected at the first antenatal visit and at the time of routine oral glucose tolerance test. Women diagnosed with gestational diabetes were matched with an equal number of normal pregnant (control) women. Biomarkers under investigation included endocrine and metabolic hormones, cytokines and chemokines, and surrogate markers of oxidative stress. Compared to controls, women with gestational diabetes exhibited elevated plasma insulin and reduced plasma adiponectin concentrations at 28 weeks gestation. Significant differences in insulin and adiponectin concentrations were also observed in plasma at 11 weeks gestation. Bivariate logistic regression analysis showed that both insulin and adiponectin are associated with subsequent development of gestational diabetes. Plasma insulin and adiponectin concentrations, when measured at 11 weeks, may be predictive of impending gestational diabetes. Further studies are warranted to determine the reliability of these biomarkers.

Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 958 women attending the antenatal clinic at Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne, to ascertain their choice of title during pregnancy Midwifery, nursing and medical staff (376 in total) were also invited to respond to a similar questionnaire., Results: The response rate was 73.6% from the survey of all women who were overwhelmingly in favour of being called 'patient' as their first choice (34%), followed by 'other' (20%) and then 'mother' (19%). Virtually all women requesting 'other' wished to be called by their name. Women wishing to be called 'patient' for first choice did not significantly differ from the remainder of the study group in age, gestation, number of previous pregnancies, or number of children. When women from the Family Birth Centre (FBC) were analysed as a separate group, they had a clear preference to be called 'other' (unanimously, by their name) than the general antenatal population (odds ratio (OR) 5.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.1, 8.3; p < 0.0001). The staff survey, with a response rate of 84%, also demonstrated that 'patient' was the most popular first choice for patient title. Medical staff were significantly more likely to choose 'patient' (OR 4.2, 95% CI 2.3, 7.7; p < 0.0001), though the term 'patient' was the preferred choice of all staff.