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Protesters Disrupt Democrats' Best-Laid Plans For Health Reform 'Conversations'
Over the weekend, a series of protests at Democratic events meant to promote health reform "organized by loose-knit coalition of conservative voters and advocacy groups, were a raucous start to what is expected to be weeks of political and ideological clashes over the health care overhaul," the New York Times reports. "Republicans said that the protests were just the beginning of spontaneous opposition to the health care proposals and that they would only gain momentum as Americans learn more about the legislation." But Democrats said they were only an effort to block discourse, and were anything but a grass-roots campaign. "This is a very coordinated effort," said one Democratic Congressman who was confronted by protestors at a grocery store (Herszenhorn and Stolberg, 8/3).

Navitar Optics Used In Military Applications For Over Sixty Years
Navitar, Inc."s cutting edge optical technology dates back over 60 years when the company"s founder, David Goldstein, pioneered his way into the optics industry. Originally forming Elgeet Optical in 1946, Goldstein set out to make innovative optics for the most revolutionary applications and industries. His decision to develop and manufacture optical technologies for Military applications was fundamental in establishing the Navitar name brand. Today, Navitar continues to develop product lines to meet changing technological advancements and is one of the most recognized and respected names in the optics industry.
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Majority Of U.S. Residents Support Confirming Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor, Poll Finds
Sixty-two percent of U.S. residents want Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be confirmed, and 55% say she is "about right" on a liberal-to-conservative scale, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, the Post reports. For the survey, pollsters randomly surveyed a national sample of 1,001 adults by telephone between June 18 and June 21. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.The poll found that about three-fourths of abortion-rights supporters want Sotomayor to be confirmed, compared with less than half of abortion-rights opponents. According to the poll, six in 10 U.S. residents would want the new Supreme Court justice to vote to uphold Roe v. Wade. Most Republican men would want the next Supreme Court justice to vote to overturn Roe, while Republican women were split about evenly on the issue, the poll found. The poll also found that support for Sotomayor"s confirmation was equal between men and women. In addition, nearly eight in 10 Democrats and about two-thirds of independents said they supported Sotomayor"s confirmation, compared with 36% of Republicans. The poll found that most Republicans deemed Sotomayor a "more liberal" nominee than they would prefer. Among Republicans, those self-identifying as conservative Republicans were largely opposed to Sotomayor"s confirmation, with more than seven in 10 conservative Republicans saying she is too liberal. Sotomayor received support from Republicans self-identifying as moderate or liberal, with fewer than four in 10 saying she is too liberal. However, about one in five who opposed Sotomayor"s confirmation said that she is not liberal enough. The poll also found that among the 33% of U.S. residents who said that Sotomayor"s gender plays a role, more than twice as many said that is a positive attribute as opposed to a negative attribute (Cohen/Barnes, Washington Post, 6/28).Sessions Requests More InformationSenate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Jeff Sessions (Ala.) on Friday sent a letter to the White House requesting additional information on Sotomayor, the New York Times" "The Caucus" reports. According to Sessions, the Obama administration has yet to provide members of the committee with information about a number of cases that Sotomayor brought to trial while working as a district attorney in New York. In addition, Sessions requested information regarding a case that Sotomayor argued on appeal. He also requested information about her work with Latino Justice PRLDEF, formerly known as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin July 13. Republicans have criticized the schedule, saying it gives them insufficient time to review Sotomayor"s record. Democrats have said that Republicans are seeking to create unnecessary delays and noted that the timeline is similar to that of past nominees (Herszenhorn, "The Caucus," New York Times, 6/26).
Cardiovascular

UCLA Scientists Identify How Immune Cells May Help Predict Alzheimer's Risk; MP Biomedicals Granted Rights To Further Develop Screening Tool

UCLA scientists have discovered a way to measure the amount of amyloid beta that is being absorbed by immune cells in the blood. Amyloid beta forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer"s disease, and if the immune system isn"t adequately clearing amyloid beta, it may indicate Alzheimer"s risk, according to the researchers. MP Biomedicals LLC, a global life sciences and diagnostics company dedicated to Alzheimer"s disease research, has received an exclusive, worldwide license to commercialize the UCLA technology and create a diagnostic blood test for public use to screen for Alzheimer"s risk. "Early diagnosis is the cornerstone of preventive approaches to Alzheimer"s disease," said Dr. Milan Fiala, lead author of the UCLA study and a researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. "We are pleased that the process we"ve identified using immune cells to help predict Alzheimer"s risk will be further developed by MP Biomedicals." "We are excited by the opportunity to forward the UCLA science in creating a cost-effective blood test to screen for Alzheimer"s risk that could be used in any hospital or lab," said Milan Panic, CEO of MP Biomedicals. Dr. Miodrag Micic, vice president of research and development for MP Biomedicals, noted that other blood tests for Alzheimer"s diagnosis measure factors such as inflammation and infection, which are also present in other diseases like atherosclerosis and may complicate the interpretation of results. The recently published study on the process identified by UCLA, which uses the "innate" immune system present at birth, appeared in the May issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology. In the study, researchers took blood samples and isolated monocytes, which from birth act as the immune system"s janitors, traveling through the brain and body and gobbling up waste products - including amyloid beta. The monocytes were incubated overnight with amyloid beta, which was labeled with a fluorescent marker. Using a common laboratory method known as flow cytometry, researchers then measured the amount of amyloid beta ingested by the immune cells by assessing how much fluorescence was being emitted from each monocyte cell. The 18 Alzheimer"s disease patients in the study showed the least uptake of amyloid beta; the healthy control group, which consisted of 14 university professors, demonstrated the highest uptake. The method was able to distinguish with adequate sensitivity and specificity the Alzheimer"s disease patients. The results were found to be positive in 94 percent of the Alzheimer"s patients and negative in 100 percent of the university professor control group. In addition, the results were found to be positive in 60 percent of study participants who suffered from mild cognitive impairment, a condition that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer"s. "Patients and control subjects were also tracked over time to see if their immune response changed," Fiala said. For example, an Alzheimer"s disease patient over time showed declining results, while a university professor continued to demonstrate a high uptake of amyloid beta. Micic noted that the new method could be a flag for further testing and interventions. "Similar to screening patients for heart disease risk by a cholesterol test, a positive result for Alzheimer"s risk in some patients may suggest further interventions and advanced diagnostics, such as a brain PET scan and neurocognitive testing." The study was funded in part by MP Biomedicals LLC. Fiala is a consultant for the company and also served in the company"s speakers bureau. The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA


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