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Washington Post Profiles Operation Rescue Founder Randall Terry
The Washington Post on Wednesday profiled Randall Terry, the founder and former head of the antiabortion-rights group Operation Rescue. According to the Post, Terry is known as a "shock jock of the antiabortion movement" with a "theatrical bent." The Post reports that Terry was arrested dozens of times in the late 1980s and 1990s during his protests. For a short period, his "tactics transformed the antiabortion movement," earning him praise from conservative Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. However, after a 1994 federal law made blocking clinics a federal crime, Terry"s group "started to unravel" after he struggled to pay fines for violating the law. He lost in several lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood -- resulting in him owing $1.6 million to the group -- and he filed for bankruptcy in 1998. Although Terry left as the leader of Operation Rescue in 1991, he now has moved to the Washington, D.C., area to "try to reclaim the prominence he once enjoyed within the antiabortion movement," an effort he is making "much to the consternation of people on both sides of the abortion debate," according to the Post. Most recently, he has been leading protests outside the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The Post reports that leaders in the antiabortion-rights movement "are cringing at Terry"s sudden return," saying that "his incendiary rhetoric and showy tactics turn off ordinary Americans and reflect Terry"s struggle to regain his glory years." He also is focused on starting a new organization, Operation Rescue Insurrecta Nex, a Latin term translated to mean "insurrection against death" (Salmon, Washington Post, 7/15). The Post also included a timeline of Terry"s personal life and history with the antiabortion-rights movement (Washington Post, 7/15).
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DACH1 A Key Protein For Tumor Suppression In ER+ Breast Cancer
Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have identified a protein relationship that may be an ideal treatment target for ER+ breast cancer. The study was reported in the July 15 issue of Cancer Research.
News of the day
Immune Genes Adapt To Parasites
Thank parasites for making some of our immune proteins into the inflammatory defenders they are today, according to a population genetics study that will appear in the June 8 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine (online May 25). The study, conducted by a team of researchers in Italy, also suggests that you might blame parasites for sculpting some of those genes into risk factors for intestinal disorders.
Oncology

Advanced Image Analysis Can Provide Better Risk Assessment In Hardening Of The Arteries

Ultrasound examination of the carotid artery is a patient-friendly and inexpensive method for assessing atherosclerosis and thereby predicting the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Peter Holdfeldt, who recently defended his doctoral thesis at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has developed new analytical methods for ultrasound images that can provide more reliable and more exact assessments of atherosclerosis. Cardiovascular diseases brought on by hardening of the arteries are the most common cause of death in the Western world. Hardening of the arteries means a thickening of the walls of blood vessels and the appearance of so-called atherosclerotic plaque, which consist of stored fat, among other things. With the aid of ultrasound images, it is possible to find individuals who are at risk by measuring the thickness of the walls in the carotid artery. Another ultrasound method is to analyze whether the character of various types of plaque can predict the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Peter Holdfeldt has developed new and more refined methods of image analysis that are based on dynamic programming. "Measurements of the thickness of the walls of the carotid require the detection of boundaries between different layers of tissue in the blood vessel," he says. "Previously dynamic programming has been used to automatically detect boundaries in still images. But the new method uses dynamic programming for detection in image sequences of one and the same blood vessel instead." Examining an entire image sequence instead of a single image provides a more correct result, since it is possible to make use of the similarity between the images in the sequence - a boundary ought to be found in roughly the same place in two images in a row. The method comprises two steps. First, several alternative locations of the boundary are determined in each image. Then one of the alternatives is selected from each image, and it is in this step that the program factors in the movement of boundaries between images. "This has proven to provide more correct detections of boundaries than what you can get from a program that detects boundaries on the basis of a single image," says Peter Holdfeldt. He has also developed a method to automatically classify atherosclerotic plaque. This plaque can burst and form blood clots that cause heart attacks or strokes. In ultrasound images it is possible with the naked eye to see the type of plaque that often leads to stroke, but such an assessment is subjective and is influenced by disturbances in the image. The new automatic method entails a technological advancement of ultrasound technology that can lead to more objective and quantifiable analysis. Peter Holdfeldt"s research has been part of a collaborative project between Chalmers and the Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg. Bjç¶rn Fagerberg, a physician and professor of cardiovascular research, is responsible for the clinical evaluation of the new methods together with the doctoral candidate Ulrica Prahl. "We"re now busy testing the new automatic method for plaque classification in patient groups," he says. "In its final form it should be an excellent aid in identifying high-risk patients." Measurement of the carotid artery is already in use today in cardiovascular research. There are other methods of measurement, but they are not as well validated as the method that has been developed by the researchers at Chalmers and Sahlgrenska. "Dynamic image analysis is an exciting new method that will no doubt offer great potential for elaboration," says Bjç¶rn Fagerberg. "The advantage of using ultrasound is that is practical, inexpensive, and patient-friendly." The dissertation "Dynamic Programming for Ultrasound Image Analysis of Atherosclerosis" was defended on May 15. Vetenskapsradet (The Swedish Research Council)


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