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SCOTUS Ruling Reversing Decision From Sotomayor's Court Not Expected To Affect Nomination
The Supreme Court"s 5-4 reversal of a decision endorsed by a three-judge appellate panel that included Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is attracting criticism from the judge"s conservative opponents but is not expected to have a significant effect on delaying her confirmation, the Washington Post reports. The appellate panel in 2008 upheld New Haven, Conn."s decision to discard a promotion test for firefighters after no blacks and only two Hispanics qualified for advancement after taking the test (Markon/Kane, Washington Post, 6/30). The panel"s ruling affirmed a lower court"s decision that the city had a right to discard the test based on a segment of civil rights law involving actions that have a "disparate impact" on minorities. A group of white and Hispanic firefighters who would have received promotions under the test sued, alleging reverse discrimination. Democrats and legal analysts said that Sotomayor was following legal precedent in the 2008 ruling and that it was the Supreme Court, which has the ability to exercise more discretion, that chose to make law by reversing the decision (Friedman, CongressDaily, 6/29). The Supreme Court typically reverses about 75% of the cases it reviews, according to legal experts. The court previously has reversed four of Sotomayor"s rulings and upheld three of her decisions, the Post reports. Tom Goldstein, a lawyer and founder of the SCOTUSblog Web site, said, "I don"t think it will persuade anybody who is inclined one way or another to change their views about Sotomayor" (Washington Post, 6/30). Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, "The main charge against Sotomayor is that she will be an activist judge, but this decision clearly shows that she won"t." He said that the results of the case "won"t change things a wit," adding that "in fact, it bolsters (the claim) that she is mainstream" (CongressDaily, 6/29). Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the New Haven case "sharpens our focus on [Sotomayor"s] troubling speeches and writings" that "indicate ... that personal experiences and political views should influence a judge"s decisions." He added that the issue "will clearly be the subject of questioning" at Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, which is scheduled to begin on Monday (Phillips, "The Caucus," New York Times, 6/29).
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'Tasting' Mechanism Used By Airway Cells To Detect And Clear Harmful Substances
The same mechanism that helps you detect bad-tasting and potentially poisonous foods may also play a role in protecting your airway from harmful substances, according to a study by scientists at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. The findings could help explain why injured lungs are susceptible to further damage.
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Consensus Forming Among Most Democrats
Democratic leaders have begun moving the rank and file closer to acceptance of basic tenets of health reform proposals, but concerns remain among the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats on how it will be paid for, Politico reports.
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Researchers Show New Antioxidant Could Help Treat Cardiovascular Disease

Researchers at the University of Glasgow believe they have found a potential new treatment for cardiovascular disease which reduces blood pressure. Scientists at the British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre (BHF GCRC) used a recently-developed antioxidant called MitoQ10 to prevent damage to the mitochondria of cells in an experimental model of hypertension and stroke. The researchers found that MitoQ10 improved the function of the endothelial cells which line blood vessels and play an important part in controlling blood pressure, as well as reducing thickening of the heart muscle (cardiac hypertrophy) which results from high blood pressure (hypertension). Lead researcher Professor Anna Dominiczak, Head of the BHF GCRC and BHF Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine, said: "We have shown that this particular type of antioxidant can substantially reduce the damage caused by oxidising molecules. "Given the apparent role that mitochondrial damage plays in cardiovascular disease, this research opens up new possibilities for novel treatments which will reduce high blood pressure in patients with this condition." Mitochondria are sub-units within a cell which provide energy to the cell, help control cell metabolism and play a part in cell signalling, which if damaged can result in a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Mitochondria are susceptible to damage caused by reactive oxygen species which are highly-reactive molecules containing oxygen atoms which have lost an electron as a natural result of respiration. The antioxidant used by the researchers - MitoQ10 - is able to penetrate the layers of a cell better than other antioxidant treatments and can be taken orally, and has already been used in phase two trials of patients with hepatitis C and was shown to protect against liver damage. It has also been trialled by patients with Parkinson"s Disease. However, the Glasgow study found that MitoQ10 did not completely prevent the development of high-blood pressure suggesting that mitochondrial oxidative damage is just one of a number of factors contributing to hypertension. The research was funded by the BHF, Wellcome Trust Cardiovascular Functional Genomics Initiative and the European Union Sixth Framework Programme Integrated Project and is published online by the journal Hypertension this week. The project was conducted in collaboration with Dr Mike Murphy of the Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Cambridge and Prof Rob Smith, University of Otago, New Zealand, who designed the MitoQ compound. The British Heart Foundation (BHF)


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