UMMC Physiology Professor's research leads to national award, lectureship

JACKSON, Miss. - Dr. Alejandro Chade, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has been selected by the American Physiological Society to receive the 2010 Lazaro J. Mandel Young Investigator Award and the 2010 Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section New Investigator Award.

The $4,000 Mandel Award, established in 1999, is given annually to a scientist who demonstrates outstanding promise based on his or her research in epithelial or renal physiology. Chade can apply the monetary award toward his research expenses.

The award is named in memory of Lazaro J. Mandel, professor of physiology at Duke University and long-standing APS member. In addition, as recipient of the Water and Electrolyte Award, Chade has been invited
to make a presentation at the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, Calif. in April. Each recipient receives an honorarium of $1,000 and coverage of expenses.

The APS gives section awards yearly to young investigators based on outstanding contribution to physiology subject areas, one of which is water and electrolyte homeostasis. Chade's research focuses on identifying the mechanisms activated by chronic reduction in blood flow to the kidney. He found that chronic obstruction, brought on by inflammation and fibrosis of the arteries feeding blood to the kidneys, reduces the density of the kidney's tiniest blood vessels. That reduces circulation in the kidney and deteriorates function. By promoting new microvascular growth, kidney function significantly improves.

Chade holds an M.D. from the Universidad De Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Following residency and fellowship in cardiology he completed a post-doctoral research fellowship and worked as a research associate specializing in nephrology and hypertension at the Mayo Clinic's Department of Internal Medicine. Chade joined UMMC in 2007 as an assistant professor.

The Growth of Dependency on Government Threatens the Future of American Democracy

Today marks the seventh year that we have published the Index of Dependence on Government. And, for seven years running, our Index shows growing dependence. The Index now stands at 240, up from a value of 19 in 1962, or a nearly 13 fold increase since the Kennedy administration. The rate of growth, however, actually has increased over the last eight years. That period saw the second highest rate of growth in dependency creating programs: since 2001, the Index has increased 31 percent. Most disturbing of all, all of the evidence points to even more rapid increases in dependency ahead, which well could threaten democratic government.

From virtually the first day of his presidency, Barack Obama and his top deputies have advanced programs and initiatives that deepen and expand American citizens’ dependency on government. From new federal programs designed to boost economic activity to health care reform that could place the U.S. government at the center of the nation’s health care system, the central thrust of policy since January 2009 has been to increase Americans’ daily dependency on Washington.

However, the rapid expansion of dependency-creating programs did not begin with Barack Obama’s inauguration. Indeed, President Obama inherited substantial momentum toward greater dependency on government from the George W. Bush Administration and prior governments. President Bush’s years saw growth in all dependency creating categories, but particularly in programs aimed at health, education, and working-age income support.

The Heritage Foundation

Obama advisers set to recommend military tribunals for alleged 9/11 plotters

Move seen as a precursor to closing Guantanamo Bay Military Prison and move detainees to U.S. soil

By Anne E. Kornblut and Peter Finn

President Obama's advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be prosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City.

The president's advisers feel increasingly hemmed in by bipartisan opposition to a federal trial in New York and demands, mainly from Republicans, that Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators remain under military jurisdiction, officials said. While Obama has favored trying some terrorism suspects in civilian courts as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the rule of law, critics have said military tribunals are the appropriate venue for those accused of attacking the United States.

If Obama accepts the likely recommendation of his advisers, the White House may be able to secure from Congress the funding and legal authority it needs to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and replace it with a facility within the United States. The administration has failed to meet a self-imposed one-year deadline to close Guantanamo.

The administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the president's legal advisers are finalizing their review of the cases of Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators. Asked about the process, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that "no decisions have been made."

Washington Post

Safety Is Issue as Budget Cuts Free Prisoners

By MONICA DAVEY

In the rush to save money in grim budgetary times, states nationwide have trimmed their prison populations by expanding parole programs and early releases. But the result — more convicted felons on the streets, not behind bars — has unleashed a backlash, and state officials now find themselves trying to maneuver between saving money and maintaining the public’s sense of safety.

Jessica R. Cooper, a Michigan prosecutor, urges a more careful approach to releasing prisoners.

In February, lawmakers in Oregon temporarily suspended a program they had expanded last year to let prisoners, for good behavior, shorten their sentences (and to save $6 million) after an anticrime group aired radio advertisements portraying the outcomes in alarming tones. “A woman’s asleep in her own apartment,” a narrator said. “Suddenly, she’s attacked by a registered sex offender and convicted burglar.”

In Illinois, Gov. Patrick J. Quinn, a Democrat, described as “a big mistake” an early release program that sent some convicts who had committed violent crimes home from prison in a matter of weeks. Of more than 1,700 prisoners released over three months, more than 50 were soon accused of new violations.

An early release program in Colorado meant to save $19 million has scaled back its ambitions by $14 million after officials found far fewer prisoners than anticipated to be wise release risks. In more than five months, only 264 prisoners were released, though the program was designed to shrink the prison population by 2,600 over two years.

The New York Times

Abortion coverage dispute divides House Democrats

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)

WASHINGTON — On the other side of the obstacle course that President Barack Obama must clear to get his health care overhaul, a final trapdoor is lurking: the divisive politics of abortion.

The issue pits House Democrats against each other just when Obama is calling on them to unite for one last push on health care in a perilous election year. The fate of the sweeping legislation to expand coverage and revamp the health insurance market hangs in the balance.

House Democrats opposed to abortion, as well as their counterparts who support abortion rights, are resisting funding restrictions on the procedure spelled out in the Senate health care overhaul bill. But the plan Democratic leaders have worked out for the health care endgame calls for House Democrats to pass that same Senate bill, with little prospect of changing the abortion language.

Although each chamber is also supposed to pass a companion package of agreed-upon changes, abortion funding is not among them. It doesn't appear likely to be included.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi vented her frustration Thursday, telling reporters she will not stand for health care legislation getting dragged down in a battle over abortion. "This is not about abortion," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "This is a bill about providing quality affordable health care for all Americans."

She may not have a choice, says a leading abortion foe.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., says he and a dozen fellow Democrats who supported the House bill will vote against it this time unless the Senate language is replaced with stiffer restrictions previously adopted by the House. The House health care bill passed by 220-215 last November, only after Pelosi was forced to give Stupak a floor vote that incorporated his strict abortion funding provision in the measure.

Nothing has changed, says Stupak. "I don't think they have the votes to pass it," he said.

Associated Press