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New Strategy May Be Valid Alternative To Traditional Antibiotics
Certainly there is strength in numbers, but only if those numbers can effectively communicate with one another. Now, a new study finds that administration of a novel small molecule which effectively disrupts a key bacterial communication process protects an animal host from infection. The research, published by Cell Press in the July 31st issue of the journal Molecular Cell, may lead to more effective treatments for bacterial infection that won"t encourage growth of treatment resistant bacteria.

Tongue Drive System Enables Quadriplegics To Operate Powered Wheelchair In Clinical Trial
An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.
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Advocates Eager To Learn More About Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor's Abortion-Rights Views
Abortion-rights groups on Wednesday offered their support for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor but said that they were eager to learn more about her views on abortion rights, an issue on which she has made few major rulings in her time as a judge, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, groups on both sides of the abortion-rights debate tend to believe that Sotomayor would uphold Roe v. Wade because she was nominated by President Obama, who supports abortion rights. However, when asked on Tuesday if Obama questioned Sotomayor about her views on abortion rights before the nomination, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that the president "did not ask that specifically." In addition, none of her rulings has directly dealt with the underlying issues of constitutional privacy that are the foundation for the Roe decision, according to the Times. The abortion-related cases Sotomayor has handled in the past have "turned on other legal issues," rather than privacy, and they have resulted in rulings in favor of abortion-right opponents, the Times reports. For example, in 2002, she wrote an opinion upholding the Bush administration"s "global gag rule" policy banning federal funding of international groups that offer abortion information or services. "The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the antiabortion position over the pro-choice position and can do so with public funds," Sotomayor wrote in the opinion. In 2004, she said that antiabortion-rights protesters were permitted to sue police who they claimed used excessive force in stopping a demonstration at a clinic. Sotomayor also has ruled on several immigration cases related to people fighting deportation orders to China over its family planning policies, the Times reports. Because of the limited information on Sotomayor"s abortion-rights views, advocates have stressed that senators ask questions about her views during her confirmation hearing. NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan in a letter to supporters urged them to press senators to ask Sotomayor about privacy rights. Keenan wrote, "Discussion about [Roe] will -- and must -- be part of this nomination process. As you know, choice hangs in the balance on the Supreme Court as the last two major choice-related cases were decided by a 5-to-4 margin" (Savage, New York Times, 5/28). Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that she would be surprised if an Obama nominee did not support abortion rights but added that "other presidents have been surprised before" when their nominees" views did not align with their assumptions. Northup said that "no one has been able to give us an assurance" of Sotomayor"s views on abortion rights, adding that she would be "very concerned if the question is not asked and answered during the Senate hearings." Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal said, "What we know about [Sotomayor] we like, but I don"t know that answer on abortion rights" (Savage/Nicholas, Los Angeles Times, 5/28). The New York Times reports that more about Sotomayor"s views on abortion rights could come to light if a past writing on the subject surfaces, as was the case during Justice Samuel Alito"s confirmation process. Steven Waldman, editor in chief of beliefnet.com, said, "Everyone is just assuming that because Obama appointed her, she must be a die-hard pro-choice activist, but it"s really quite amazing how little we know about her views on abortion" (Savage, New York Times, 5/28). Thomas Goldstein, a leading appellate attorney and founder of scotusblog.com, said that the "fact that she hasn"t gone off on these sorts of questions" on contentious topics like abortion rights and gay marriage, "I think shows that honestly she"s not a dyed in the wool liberal." He added that there are issues on which Sotomayor could prove to be more conservative than retiring Justice David Souter (Lerer, Politico, 5/27).According to the Washington Post, many antiabortion-rights supporters are critic
Diagnostics

US To Start Human Trials Of H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine In August

The United States will start human trials of an experimental vaccine for preventing the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in August; the first study will involve 1,000 volunteer adults and children in 10 centres throughout the country. The announcement was made yesterday by the University of Maryland School of Medicine"s Center for Vaccine Development, one of 8 of a nationwide network of Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs) that will start recruiting volunteers and testing the vaccine in August. The VTEU network, which will evaluate the safety of the vaccine and measure its ability to stimulate immune responses to the H1N1 virus, is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This step is the first toward the US government"s goal to have a safe and effective vaccine available to the public before the flu season starts in the fall. The US government has declared the H1N1 flu outbreak a public health emergency, following the World Health Organization"s declaration last month that the virus spread was now a global pandemic. Experts anticipate that the virus will cause significant illness during the US flu season this fall and winter, including hospitalizations and deaths. Dr Karen L Kotloff, who is a lead investigator at the VTEU, and also professor of pediatrics, and a researcher in the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told the press that: "Vaccines have always been a vital tool for controlling influenza. The results of these studies will help to guide the optimal use of the H1N1 vaccines in the US and elsewhere in the world." The idea of VTEUs is not new: the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has been an NIAID centre for more than 30 years. Dr E Albert Reece, dean of the School, who is also Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z and Akiko K Bowers Distinguished Professor at the School of Medicine, said they were very pleased to lead the effort to stop the H1N1 pandemic before the start of the 2009 flu season. "Our VTEU is now one of just eight in the country, and it is the only one in the mid-Atlantic region," said Reece. The trial vaccine will first be tested on healthy adults and elderly volunteers. If they show good tolerance to the vaccine, it will then be tested on children. The researchers anticipate enrolling as many as 200 adults, 200 seniors and 600 children on the trial. The trial will also test two strengths of the vaccine and evaluate which of them offers the best protection against the H1N1 swine flu. All the volunteers will receive two doses of vaccine three weeks apart, and also give blood samples each time so the researchers can compare the response after one dose with the response after two doses. The volunteers will be asked to keep a log of how they feel and any symptoms they experience. The researchers will continue to keep an eye on the volunteers for another two months, and check them after four and six months. Kotloff told CNN: "The purpose of these trials is always to make sure they are safe." "But even after six weeks, if things look good, we"re pretty sure the vaccine will work," she added. Kotloff said in a press statement that because young people have not experienced a flu virus like this one before, she and her colleagues expect that the response may be different in different age groups. "Learning the responses of different age groups of people to the vaccine will not only tell us the best way to use the vaccine in an individual, but we also learn ways to use the vaccine supply most efficiently to protect the greatest number of people," added Kotloff. "Older adults might have some immunity to the new H1N1 virus as a result of being exposed to similar flu viruses in the past. As a result, older adults might need fewer doses or a lower strength of the vaccine than younger individuals," she explained. Further trials will look at how the vaccine works when combined with the seasonal flu vaccine, and whether adding an adjuvant to boost the immune response helps the vaccine remain effective at lower doses. The other 7 VTEU sites are: Baylor College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children"s Hospital Medical Center, Emory University, Saint Louis University, Seattle Group Health Cooperative, the University of Iowa, and Vanderbilt University. The Children"s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and Duke University Medical Center are also expected to join the VTEU network. Earlier this week, a spokesperson for CSL Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company based in Melbourne, Australia, told CNN that they were planning to start the first human trials of a swine flu vaccine on Wednesday, with 240 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 64, who will also receive two shots, three weeks apart, and give blood samples so researchers can evaulate their immune response. University of Maryland School of Medicine, CNN. Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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