A Report on Discoveries and Achievements at the University of California
Volume 9, Number 4, January 2000

The following is a glimpse of some recent achievements by the faculty, students, and staff of the University of California.

In The News

Major Boost to Engineering. . . Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, have donated $50 million to the schools of engineering at UCLA and UC Irvine. He is co-founder of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. and received his undergraduate, master's and doctorate degrees from UCLA. Samueli has been a faculty member in UCLA's electrical engineering department since 1985 (he is currently on a leave of absence). The Samuelis' donation will be used to help both schools enhance their roles in the development of the region as one of the nation's high-tech business hubs. The Samuelis designated $30 million to UCLA and $20 million to UCI, which is the largest single gift in Irvine's history. In recognition of the gift, both engineering schools will be named for Henry Samueli.

Peer Influence . . . Margaret Gibson, a professor of education and anthropology at UC Santa Cruz, has received a federal grant of nearly $500,000 to expand exploration of peer influence in achievement among students of Mexican descent. The three-year grant will enable her to follow her research subjects at an Aptos high school through their graduation in 2002.

A 21st Century Hospital . . . UCLA celebrated the start of construction on its $1.3 billion hospital and research complex with a Dec. 6 groundbreaking ceremony. The technologically innovative hospital will replace UCLA's existing medical center, a 1951-vintage structure weakened nearly six years ago in the Northridge earthquake. The new hospital is scheduled to open in 2004.

Reducing Violence Against Women . . . UC Davis has been awarded $543,000 by the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a comprehensive program to prevent and respond to violence against women on campus. The program's benefits promise to spread across the country as other colleges and universities use materials developed at Davis.

SWA Seeks Mate . . . UC Santa Barbara researchers are searching for a male partner for a single white abalone named Abigail. White abalone have been nearly decimated because of overfishing. Researchers hope to replenish the population with a captive breeding program, beginning with Abigail, the only white abalone in captivity.
 

Health and Nutrition

Flu Clues . . . UC Irvine scientists studying the influenza A virus have uncovered information that may lead to the development of more effective flu vaccines. Research by Walter Fitch and Robin Bush provides clues as to which strains of the influenza virus may spawn future flu epidemics.

Birth Risks . . . In a study of 583,340 single births in the California between 1992 and 1994, UC Davis obstetricians found that the risk of death and injury to newborns was low with all modes of delivery and that abnormal labor, rather than mode of delivery, may be responsible for poor outcomes. The findings shed light on the controversy over the safe use of vacuum extraction devices during childbirth.

Anti-smoking Programs and Savings . . . Anti-smoking programs, if effective, would immediately pay for themselves by reducing the number of low birth weight babies and by cutting the incidence of heart disease, according to a study by UC San Francisco researchers. The evidence on low birth weight babies adds to a 1997 report by the researchers projecting significant short-term health care savings from reduced incidence of stroke and heart attacks if smoking is cut just one percent.

Hopeful Drug . . . Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center are seeking patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia to participate in a study of an experimental drug, STI-571, that has produced dramatic responses in some patients in early testing. Co-investigator Charles Sawyers said he is "tremendously encouraged" by the tests. Taken once a day in pill form, the drug is a targeted therapy, meaning it attacks only cancerous cells and ignores healthy cells.

Early Autism Check . . . A panel of national experts led by UC Irvine College of Medicine's Pauline Filipek has recommended that family doctors start looking for autism in early infancy. The panel found that children with autism often go undiagnosed until age five or six. One culprit: too-brief well-child visits that don't provide adequate time for doctors to talk with families and screen children for autism.

Working Poor Health . . . The children of California's working poor are more likely to experience barriers to health care than other children, report UC Berkeley and UCLA researchers. That's because more of those children live 150 percent below the federal poverty level, more heads of their households have little education, their families are larger and many more of them are foreign-born or ethnic/racial minorities, according to the study, funded and published by UC's California Policy Research Center. Such difficulties have been documented for poor children in general, but not specifically children of working poor.
 

Developments and Discoveries

Perfect Pitch . . . Perfect pitch, a highly coveted faculty among musicians, has always been thought to be a rare occurrence, appearing in less than one per 10,000 persons. However, a new study by UC San Diego psychologist Diana Deutsch suggests that perfect pitch may not be so rare, and that it even could be universally attainable at an early age. In her study, Deutsch found that perfect pitch is common among native speakers of tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese.

Rare Disease Cause . . . Carla Koehler a UCLA researcher, and colleagues have discovered that a rare disease resulting in deafness, blindness, severe neurological problems and, frequently, premature death is the first known mitochondrial disease caused by a defect in protein import and assembly. The disease, called deafness/dystonia syndrome or Mohr-Tranebjaerg syndrome, afflicts all of the men throughout generations in about a dozen families in the U. S., Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia.

Soccer's harmful effects . . . UC Irvine researcher Dan Cooper has found that vigorous soccer practice triggered high levels of cellular messengers known as cytokines in the blood of 10- to 12-year-olds. Cytokines are usually seen in inflammation and other cell damage. High levels can be beneficial, but prolonged levels can cause damage. Cooper is now looking at why cytokines appear in children and how they can be used to determine the right amount of exercise during a child's development.

Star Wobble . . . UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz astronomers and colleagues have witnessed for the first time a distant planet passing in front of its star, providing direct and independent confirmation of the existence of extra-solar planets that to date have been inferred only from the wobble of their star. Berkeley researcher Geoffrey Marcy reports the finding demonstrates that previous indirect evidence for planets really is due to . . . planets.

Glowing Biosensor . . . Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method of using certain polymers as luminescent sensors to detect and identify biological and chemical agents almost instantaneously. The sensors may be able to detect viruses such as influenza and HIV, as well as bacteria and proteins, which could lead to developing a lightweight, portable, real-time diagnostic tool.

Whither Warming? . . . Using a new technique to analyze air trapped in ancient ice cores, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and colleagues have determined that the end of the last ice age was triggered by an abrupt period of warming that began 15,000 years ago in the North Atlantic, rather than in the tropics. Scientists have debated for years which region of the globe is responsible for triggering periods of rapid warming.

Smallpox, HIV Link . . . UC San Francisco scientists have discovered that a virus related to smallpox uses the same route of entry as HIV to invade its host. This is the first virus other than HIV known to exploit structures called chemokine receptors on the surface of immune cells; its discovery strengthens a new theory on the origins of a rare, life-saving immunity to the AIDS virus.
 

The Cutting Edge

An Even Tinier Transistor . . . Engineers at UC Berkeley have created a new type of semiconductor transistor so small that a single computer chip can hold 400 times more of the devices than ever before. Researcher Chenming Hu reports the record-breaking development could lead to significantly faster and cheaper chip technology.

Taking Shape . . . UC San Francisco researchers and colleagues have made a finding in the mouse embryo that provides a fundamental insight into how the body forms in mammals. The investigators discovered that the tiny mass of cells that forms in the first days following fertilization of the egg has already taken on an organizational structure and begun to initiate events that predict the spatial patterning of the later embryo. The information may someday be useful in regulating the differentiation of embryonic stem cells.

Into Space . . . A decade of work by UC Santa Barbara researchers went into space with the December launch of the European XMM observatory satellite. A team led by France Córdova, UCSB vice chancellor for research, designed a digital electronics module to interpret data from one of the satellite's telescopes.

Cat Brain Movies . . . Scientists at UC Berkeley have recorded signals from deep in the brain of a cat to capture movies of how it views the world. The images they reconstructed from the recordings were fuzzy but recognizable versions of the scenes that played out before the feline's eyes. The team recorded and then decoded signals from a total of 177 cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus - a part of the brain that processes visual signals from the eye - as they played a digitized movie of indoor and outdoor scenes for the cat.

Piercing the Depths . . . A newly developed laser instrument designed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography allows ocean explorers to peer through the dark depths of the ocean like never before. Using a sophisticated scanning device and laser technology, the instrument produces vivid three-dimensional "movies" of life on the sea floor.

Turning Genes On and Off . . . UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists have obtained the first good picture of a major chunk of the machinery that turns genes on and off. With the help of electron microscopy and a technique called single particle image analysis, they reconstructed a 3-D picture that shows for the first time how the proteins are arranged and gives clues to the inner workings of the machinery that transcribes genes - the complex of proteins that latches onto and copies DNA into an RNA blueprint for building proteins.

Bean Gene Discovery . . . UC Riverside scientists Abdelbagi Ismail, Anthony Hall and Timothy Close have identified a gene in blackeye beans that can enable the crop's seed to germinate and the plants to emerge in cool soil. The discovery could lead to development of warm-season crops with less chance of failing when spring temperatures turn cold after sowing.
 

Planet and Environment

Seeds Suffer . . . In a finding that could have important implications for rain-forest preservation, research from UC Davis shows that seeds that fall to the ground in small fragments in tropical rain forests are three to seven times less likely to sprout than those that fall in larger, continuous forests. The researchers report seeds in rain forest fragments are subject to less-hospitable hotter and drier conditions, with more light penetration, than seeds in continuous forests.

Support for Global Warming . . . Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory may have dispelled a major objection to global-warming theory. Critics of the theory argue that if global warming is occurring, observers should be able to document warming trends in the atmosphere as well as on the surface. The researchers say satellite atmospheric temperature and surface temperature trends probably do agree when one considers the effect that massive ozone depletion caused by large volcanic eruptions has on the stratosphere and upper troposphere.

Stay-at-Home Fish . . . By studying the growth rings of a coral fish's inner ear stone, UC Santa Barbara researchers have discovered that coral fish often live and spawn in the reefs where they began life. The finding challenges the prevailing thought that these fish were spawned elsewhere and provides insight on how overfishing can affect a marine habitat.
 

Insights on Society

Does Three Strikes Work? . . . An unprecedented study from UC Berkeley raises doubts that California's "three strikes" law has played a significant role in California's drop in crime. The study says repeat felons continue to be arrested for new felonies today in roughly the same proportion that they were arrested before the 1994 law went into effect.

Suicide and Gun Buyers . . . In a study of 238,292 individuals who legally bought handguns in California in 1991, researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center report that suicide is the leading cause of death among recent handgun purchasers. The researchers found that in the first week following a handgun purchase, the firearm suicide rate for handgun purchasers was 57 times higher than the adjusted rate for the state's population as a whole. Within the first year after the purchase, suicide accounted for 24 percent of all deaths and 52 percent of deaths among women aged 21-44.

HIV Conflicts . . . One-third of the nation's HIV patients say they have either gone without or postponed medical care because they needed to attend to necessities such as paying rent or going to work, report UCLA researchers and colleagues. In addition, about 8 percent of the patients said they went without food, clothing or housing because they needed to spend their money on medical care. The findings suggest that in order for all HIV patients to benefit from improved medical therapies, more resources must be devoted to supporting patients' non-medical needs.

Art Appreciation . . . The ability to appreciate art may be in the brain of the beholder, according to recent research at UC San Diego aimed at codifying how the brain appreciates art. Psychologist V.S. Ramachandran has found that there are constant, underlying pathways of perception in the brain - involving color, form, line and texture - that make certain works of art universally appealing. They are not rooted exclusively in culture, but in the brain as well.
 

Looking to the Future

Why Smoke? . . . Researchers at UC Irvine's College of Medicine and School of Social Ecology have received $9.3 million from the National Institutes of Health to establish a center to research why people take up smoking. The center, headed by Frances Leslie and Dan Stokols, will look at how changes in the brain, genetics, social conditioning and development play a role in determining addiction to tobacco.

Vascular Plumbing . . . UC San Francisco researchers report a protein recently found to increase blood vessel growth now appears to protect vessels from leaking as well. That is a potential boon to treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases and for new therapies that grow healthy blood vessels in damaged hearts and limbs. The protein, known as angiopoietin-1, or Ang1, can restore leaky vessels to normal, block the effects of substances that make vessels leaky and complement the action of another natural blood vessel growth stimulant known as VEGF.

Fixing Chinese Refrigerators . . . Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has embarked on a five-year program to reduce the production of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons from Chinese-made refrigerators. China's refrigerator industry is the world's largest. The program expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from China by more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide during the 15-year lifetime of the new refrigerators.
 

Kudos

Computing Honored . . . A team led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists has won two of high-performance computing's most prestigious awards, Gordon Bell Prizes. Among other things, the groundbreaking Livermore work solved a supercomputer problem with broad applications, including supernova evolution, combustion physics and supersonic vehicle propulsion.

An ACE Program . . . The Academic Excellence (ACE) Honors Program at UC Santa Cruz was among 15 organizations and individuals honored in December by the White House for efforts to encourage minorities, women and persons with disabilities to earn degrees in science, mathematics and engineering. ACE has helped 2,000 students succeed in introductory courses in biology, calculus, chemistry and physics

AAAS Fellows . . . Nine UC Riverside faculty have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). UCR and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led all other universities in the number of new AAAS fellows in 1999. The new Riverside fellows are chemist Steve Angle, mathematician John C. Baez, electrical engineer Gerardo Beni, psychologist Howard S. Friedman, psychologist David Funder, physicist J. William Gary, environmental engineer Joe Norbeck, psychologist David H. Warren and biologist Marlene Zuk.

Minority Mentor . . . Nuclear physicist Fred Begay of Los Alamos National Laboratory has won the 1999 Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Begay, a Navajo who joined the laboratory's laser program in 1971 and continues research on controlled thermonuclear fusion, earned his doctorate in physics from the University of New Mexico without having attended high school.

National Honor from Students . . . Ellen Beck, a UC San Diego associate clinical professor of family and preventive medicine, is one of 44 physicians selected nationwide by medical students for the 1999 Association of American Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award. The awards are based on characteristics of humanism in medical education: Mentoring skills, compassion, collaboration, tolerance, sensitivity, community service and observance of professional ethics.
 

Investing in Education

Hellman Gift . . . UC San Francisco has received $5 million from Mr. and Mrs. F. Warren Hellman to encourage young, non-tenured faculty members whose research shows great capacity for distinction. The Hellman Family Faculty Fund will allow UCSF to support junior faculty members as they build their research programs, before they apply for outside funding from foundations and federal agencies.

Endowed Drama Scholarships . . . With his wife, Dorcas, Theodore Hatlen, UC Santa Barbara professor emeritus and founder of the campus' dramatic arts department, has established an endowed scholarship fund in the department. Longtime donors, the couple joins the Lancaster Society, UCSB's premier donor recognition society that honors donors who have contributed $100,000 or more.

A Boost for K-12 . . . The UC Riverside School of Education has received a series of grants geared to improving education in California, one part of a reform movement spearheaded by Gov. Gray Davis. The National Science Foundation has awarded the campus $2 million to boost two projects related to K-12 science learning. In December, the Bank of America Foundation awarded $1 million to create leadership forums and seminars to serve K-12 principals and teachers.
 
 
 

Compiled by University Affairs. For more information, call (510) 987-9200 or look under "News & Facts" on the UC Office of the President Home Page: www.ucop.edu