101 research outputs found
Anti-viral drugs for human adenoviruses
No full textThere are many stages in the development of a new drug for viral infection and such processes are even further complicated for adenovirus by the fact that there are at least 51 serotypes, forming six distinct groups (A-F), with different degree of infectivity. This review attempts to address the importance of developing pharmaceuticals for adenovirus and also review recent development in drug discovery for adenovirus, including newer strategies such as microRNA approaches. Different drug screening strategies will also be discussed. © 2010 by the authors.published_or_final_versio
Should we invest in biobanking in Hong Kong? Using biobanking for dyslexic studies in Hong Kong as an example.
No full textShould we invest in BioBanking in Hong Kong?: Using BioBanking for dyslexic studies in Hong Kong as an example
No full textStudy of Genetic Association With DCDC2 and Developmental Dyslexia in Hong Kong Chinese Children
No full textpublished_or_final_versio
Models of speech perception and production, meta-linguistics skills and reading development in Chinese children learning to read English as a second language
No full textThe 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR 2010), Berlin, Germany, 7-10 July 2010
The interplay among speech, phonology and word recognition in Chinese children learning English as a second language
No full textPURPOSE: The relationships among speech, phonology and reading abilities in first language reading development are postulated by various theoretical viewpoints, for example, 1) Autonomous Phonology, 2) Bootstrapping, 3) Independent Phonology, and 4) Lexical Restructuring. In this study, we studied the extent to which these theoretical frameworks are applicable to explain second language (L2) reading development among Chinese learners of English. METHOD: A sample of 287 Chinese children aged from 3 to 11 years was tested with a battery of English tasks measuring speech perception, phonological awareness, phonological memory, vocabulary and visual word recognition. Adopting the "component skills analysis" approach, we constructed four path analysis models and evaluated the overall fit of the models. Using a model-modification approach, the models with optimal goodness-of-fit were obtained. RESULTS: First, the model fitting results confirmed the significance of all the component skills in English reading development among the Chinese learners. Second, the results showed that each component skill influenced the L2 reading system in multiple ways. CONCLUSIONS: Speech, phonology and reading abilities in second language reading development are not only linked casually but interactively. Therefore, it is important to keep track of the dynamics in the L2 reading system in the course of L2 reading development.link_to_OA_fulltex
Genetic and environmental etiology of speech and word reading in Chinese
No full textPURPOSE: The present study examined the genetic and environmental etiology of the connection between speech and word reading in Chinese. METHOD: A total of 371 pairs of Chinese twins (278 pairs of monozygotic twins and 93 pairs of same-sex dizygotic twins) were tested on speech, phonological skills, semantic skills, and Chinese word reading at the mean age 7.5 years. RESULTS: Results of univariate genetic analyses showed moderate genetic influences on speech, semantic skills, and Chinese word reading, while moderate shared environmental influences on phonological skills. The genetic correlations among all the variables were significant. Results of testing several models on the link between speech and reading supported a common genetic factor underlying speech, phonological skills, semantic skills, and word reading in Chinese. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that around 50% of individual differences of speech, semantic skills, and word reading in Chinese are due to genetic factors. Individual differences of phonological skills are relatively less heritable while semantic skills are more heritable in Chinese than those in English. This may be partly due to the fact that more phonics instruction was carried out in English-speaking schools while more word compounding activities in Chinese-speaking schools. The genetic linkage between speech and Chinese word reading is both phonological and semantic in nature. A single common genetic etiology for speech, phonological skills, semantic skills, and word reading suggests that those who are good in speech, may also develop better phonological and semantic skills, and in turn facilitates the development of reading skills.link_to_OA_fulltex
Examining an extended simple view of reading in Chinese
No full textPURPOSE: The simple view of reading (SVR) proposes that reading comprehension is the product of two constructs, namely decoding and language comprehension. Although this view has received much support in alphabetic languages, it has been challenged for missing some important constructs like fluency. The present study examined the adequacy of an extended SVR in a nonalphabetic writing system, Chinese. METHOD: Participants were 199 Chinese children of Grades 1 to 4 recruited in Hong Kong. The children were given Chinese measures on decoding (character reading, word reading, and spelling), language comprehension (morphological awareness, vocabulary, morphosyntactic skills, and discourse skills), fluency (Chinese digit RAN, English digit RAN, and English letter RAN), and passage reading comprehension. RESULTS: We examined the contributions of decoding, language comprehension, and fluency to reading comprehension in four models using Structural Equation Modeling. The best fitting model was the one with a significant direct effect of language comprehension but a nonsignificant direct effect of decoding on reading comprehension. The effect of decoding on reading comprehension was fully mediated by fluency. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that apart from decoding and language comprehension, fluency may also be an essential component for adequate reading comprehension as automatic word retrieval may free up capacity for meaning extraction and integration in text comprehension. To attain good comprehension in reading, separate instruction on promoting accurate word recognition, various levels of oral language skills, fluent and automatic text retrieval and processing would be important
Less is more in Hong Kong? Investigation of biscriptal and trilingual development among Chinese twins in a (relatively) small city
No full textDo genetic factors contribute to individual differences in children's communicative ability and its links with reading skill?
No full textThe 6th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, London, U.K., 11-12 July 2011
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