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Background: Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) is an effective treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have highly active disease, despite the use of standard disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). However, the optimal time for offering AHSCT to patients with 'aggressive' MS is yet to be established. Objectives: The objective was to explore the safety and efficacy of AHSCT as a first-line DMT in patients with 'aggressive' MS. Methods: All patients with 'aggressive' MS who received AHSCT as a first-line DMT in five European and North American centres were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Twenty patients were identified. The median interval between diagnosis and AHSCT was 5 (1–20) months. All had multiple poor prognostic markers with a median pre-transplant Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 5.0 (1.5–9.5). After a median follow-up of 30 (12–118) months, the median EDSS score improved to 2.0 (0–6.5, p < 0.0001). No patient had further relapses. Three had residual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disease activities in the first 6 months post-transplant, but no further new or enhancing lesions were observed in subsequent scans. Conclusion: AHSCT is safe and effective as a first-line DMT in inducing rapid and sustained remission in patients with 'aggressive' MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to examine the nature of the working memory and general cognitive ability deficits experienced by university students with a specific reading comprehension deficit. A total of 32 university students with poor reading comprehension but average word-reading skills and 60 age-matched controls with no comprehension difficulties participated in the study. The participants were assessed on three verbal working memory tasks that varied in terms of their processing demands and on the Das–Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System, which was used to operationalize intelligence. The results indicated first that the differences between poor and skilled comprehenders on working memory were amplified as the processing demands of the tasks increased. In addition, although poor comprehenders as a group had average intelligence, they experienced significant difficulties in simultaneous and successive processing. Considering that working memory and general cognitive ability are highly correlated processes, these findings suggest that the observed differences between poor and skilled comprehenders are likely a result of a deficient information processing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Gough and Tunmer's Simple View of Reading, Reading Comprehension = Decoding (D) × Listening Comprehension (C). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the model with a sample of First Nations children, known to have average decoding and listening comprehension but poor reading comprehension. In addition, the authors examined the contribution of naming speed and phonological awareness to reading comprehension beyond the effects of D and C. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, the children exhibited poor reading comprehension despite average performance in decoding and listening comprehension, a finding that challenges the simple view of reading. The results also revealed that an additive model (D + C) fitted the data equally well as a product model (D × C). Neither naming speed nor phonological awareness accounted for unique variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-five Grade 3 students from a reservation school in Western Canada were divided into two remedial groups and a no-risk control group. One remedial group was given a classroom-administered cognitive enhancement program (COGENT) throughout the school year. The second group received COGENT for the first half of the year followed by a pull-out cognitive-based reading enhancement program (PREP). Children were assessed across phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and cognitive ability at the beginning of the year, midterm, and at the end of the school year. MANOVA results showed a significant interaction for reading measures, with students receiving classroom intervention over the school year making the greatest gains. Results are discussed in terms of group, remediation program, and individual participant improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to examine the extent to which Chinese dyslexic children experience deficits in phonological and orthographic processing skills and (b) to examine if Chinese dyslexia is associated with deficits in Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processing. A total of 27 Grade 4 children with dyslexia (DYS), 27 Grade 4 chronological age (CA) controls, and 27 Grade 2 reading age (RA) controls were tested on measures of phonological awareness, rapid naming, phonological memory, PASS, reading accuracy, and reading fluency. The results indicated that the DYS group performed significantly poorer than the CA and RA groups on both measures of phonological awareness and on a measure of orthographic processing but comparably to the RA group on a measure of rapid naming and both measures of phonological memory. In regard to the PASS processing skills, the DYS group performed worse than the CA controls on Successive and Simultaneous processing but comparably to the RA group on all PASS processing skills. Implications of these findings for early identification and intervention of reading difficulties are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over six million people in nine districts of West Bengal, India are exposed to very high levels of arsenic primarily through their drinking water. More than 300,000 people showed arsenic-induced skin lesions in these districts. This is regarded as the greatest arsenic calamity in the world. Chronic arsenicosis causes varied dermatological signs ranging from pigmentation changes, hyperkeratosis to non-melanocytic cancer of skin, and also malignancies in different internal organs. Higher incidences of opportunistic infections are found in the arsenic-exposed individuals, indicating that their immune systems may be impaired somehow. We have thus investigated the effect of arsenic on T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in 20 individuals with arsenic-induced skin lesions and compared the results with 18 arsenic-unexposed individuals. A marked dose-dependent suppression of Concanavalin A (Con A) induced T-cell proliferation was observed in the arsenic-exposed individuals compared with the unexposed (P < 0.001) individuals. This correlated with a significant decrease in the levels of secreted cytokines by the T cells (TNF-α, IFN-γ, 1L2, IL10, 1L5, and 1L4) in the exposed individuals (P < 0.001). Thus it can be inferred that arsenic exposure can cause immunosuppression in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]