A Report on Discoveries and Achievements at the University of California
Volume 5, Number 5, March 1997
The following is a glimpse of some recent achievements by the faculty, students and staff of the University of California
AAAS Fellows . . . The American Association for the Advancement of Science named 33 of its UC members as fellows among 283 selected nationwide -- almost 12 percent of the total. Fellows are selected because of their efforts toward advancing science or for scientifically or socially distinguished work. UC Berkeley had six fellows; UC Davis had three; UC Irvine and UCLA had two each; UC Riverside had 11; UC San Diego and UC San Francisco had three each; and UC Santa Cruz, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory had one each.
Rhodes Scholar . . . Annette Salmeen, a UCLA honors student majoring in chemistry and the winner of a gold medal in swimming at the 1996 Olympic Games, was named a 1997 Rhodes Scholar. Salmeen, 22, is the ninth UCLA student to be named a Rhodes Scholar and the first since 1973. She will attend Oxford University to pursue her doctorate in biochemistry.
Insurance Out of Reach . . . Health insurance is too expensive for one fourth of working Californians, despite reforms aimed at making coverage more accessible and affordable, according to a report co-written by health policy experts Helen Halpin Schauffler of UC Berkeley and Thomas Rice and E. Richard Brown of UCLA. The report says high cost is the main reason many employers don't provide health benefits, and recommends that California enact reforms to make health insurance affordable and accessible to everyone.
Hill on Campus . . . Anita Hill, a former law professor with the University of Oklahoma who has been outspoken on issues of gender and racial equality in the workplace, will spend spring semester at UC Berkeley as a visiting scholar. She will do research for a new book, a comprehensive study of sexual harassment in the workplace, and also plans to be a resource for graduate students, faculty and colleagues.
Don't Touch That Levee . . . Lots of warm rain and a melting
snowpack may have contributed to the recent disastrous flooding in California,
but the problem boils down to an overdependence upon levees, according
to UC Davis geologist Jeffrey Mount. Mount says the levee system performed
about as well as could be expected, and instead of building up the system
further, proposes more scientifically based flood control policies: changes
in land use and zoning laws to limit further development of flood plains;
possible relocation of perennially flooded towns or homes; setting back
or removal of some levees; and increased, deliberate use of some lands
for floodwater storage.
Stain Removal . . . Port wine stain birthmarks can now be removed with individualized treatments tailored for each patient, instead of by guesswork, thanks to a four-year collaboration between researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Irvine. The researchers converted a computer code developed by LLNL electronics engineer Dennis Goodman into a diagnostic tool that helps doctors pinpoint the precise laser parameters needed to remove port wine stains on an individual patient.
Dual-Purpose X-rays . . . Dental X-rays have the potential to save lives, according to a study by oral and maxillofacial surgery associate professor Arthur Friedlander of UCLA. X-rays called lateral cephalometric radiographs, taken by dentists for a variety of purposes, also show whether calcified plaques, which can block blood to the brain, have formed in the carotid arteries lining each side of the neck, increasing risk of stroke. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Health and Beauty . . . Associate director Georgia Sadler of the UC San Diego Cancer Center was awarded a $300,000 grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation for the Black Beauticians Health Promotion Program. The program recruits and trains beauticians working in neighborhood beauty salons to educate their clients on the importance of breast cancer screening and other healthy lifestyles.
Learning From Pain . . . Stress can be a learning experience, according to three studies by Carolyn Aldwin, UC Davis professor of human and community development. For years, stressful life events generally have been considered damaging both physically and emotionally. Yet Aldwin says the majority of the 2,000 people in her studies said they learned from their lowest moments, and could point to advantages gained through their pain.
Improving Immunization . . . Pediatrician Mark H. Sawyer of UC San Diego received a $6.5 million grant from the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve immunization levels for young children in underserved areas. The program will target children and parents in downtown San Diego, San Ysidro, Chula Vista and El Cajon, where only 50 to 60 percent of children receive adequate immunizations for diseases such as measles, and whooping cough.
In Excellent Health . . . UC San Francisco was named one of six National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health by the US Department of Health and will serve as a model for improving health care for women. UCSF, the only center on the West Coast, was awarded an 18-month contract.
Tickling's Not Funny . . . Two recent studies by UC San Diego
psychologists Christine Harris and Nicholas Christenfeld suggest that even
though we laugh when tickled, it's not because we think something is funny.
The researchers found that, unlike laughter in response to a joke, laughing
when tickled is a reflex action, more closely aligned with social
anxiety and nervous laughter.
Developments and Discoveries
Muffling Jet Engines . . . Dimitri Papamoschou, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Irvine, developed a patented technique called the Mach Wave Eliminator that reduces the noise created by high-performance jet engines. The simple, inexpensive technique involves injecting a flow of air into the engine's exhaust, which muffles the sound and actually improves the engine's performance. The technique has the potential to help the aerospace industry develop an environmentally friendly aircraft that can fly supersonically without excessive noise or reduced performance.
Infrared Eye . . . Three UC astronomers -- Eric Becklin of UCLA, Harland Epps of UC Santa Cruz and Hyron Spinrad of UC Berkeley -- are on the science team for the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, a powerful new observing tool installed in the Hubble Space Telescope in February. Sensitive to infrared radiation rather than visible light, the spectrometer will search for newborn solar systems around relatively nearby stars, peer into the dust-shrouded cores of galaxies and look back in time to the primeval stages of galaxy formation.
Catching E. coli In Time . . . Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers led by chemist Raymond Stevens developed a sensor that can instantly detect the presence of toxic E. coli bacteria, which has been responsible for recent illnesses and deaths in the United States involving fruit drinks and fast-food hamburgers, a massive outburst of food poisoning in Japan and a current outbreak in Scotland linked to 10 deaths. The inexpensive test allows foods to be tested before being shipped to stores.
Better, Stronger Cement . . . Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are developing an environmentally friendly process that hardens cement and creates a new class of strong and lightweight building and fabrication materials. The process treats common portland or lime cement with carbon dioxide under high pressure, making it chemically stable, nearly impermeable and stronger. The process also makes inexpensive building products out of waste materials, including fly ash from coal-burning power plants, alum sludge from water treatment plants and blast furnace slag. Treated cement also may improve the safe storage of radioactive waste.
Gene Discovery . . . A team led by UC Santa Barbara microbiologist Michael J. Mahan identified more than 100 genes involved in causing typhoid fever in mice and food poisoning in humans. Mahan believes the discovery will eventually lead to ways to turn off those genes.
Jupiter Surprise . . . Unexpected new insights about Jupiter's
largest moon, Ganymede, were reported by space physicist Margaret Kivelson
and geophysicist Gerald Schubert of UCLA. The biggest surprises were the
discovery of a hot iron core and a magnetic field similar to Earth's. The
findings are stunning because no planetary scientist had even considered
the possibility that Ganymede might have its own magnetic field.
If You Can't Find It, Make It . . . The American Cancer Society granted more than $500,00 to UC Santa Cruz chemist Joseph Konopelski to try to synthesize "diazonamide A," a chemical that kills colon-cancer cells in the laboratory. Originally, the chemical was found in a soft-shelled marine animal living in an undersea cave off the Philippines -- but divers haven't been able to find the animal again. Konopelski hopes to create an artificial compound that can do what the natural one does.
Four Colors, No Waiting . . . Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed a new kind of laser that produces four visible colors. The laser can be tuned to produce red, orange, green and blue light and may be useful in full-color projection displays or high-density optical data storage. One of the most exciting features, the researchers say, is the laser's ability to produce blue light, a color difficult to generate efficiently and reliably from solid materials.
Prototype Robot . . . Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists agreed to advance the design of a Ukrainian prototype remote-controlled robot -- a small, agile machine capable of moving through confined spaces. Robots of this type may one day be used for hazardous waste site cleanups, law enforcement, bomb disposal and localized toxic waste decontamination.
Extra-Galactic Gamma . . . UCLA astronomers reported thatgamma-ray bursts -- huge, intense flashes of energy that occur randomly in space -- may originate in other galaxies and not in our own Milky Way. The finding challenges conventional thinking about the mysterious blasts that may be the most powerful explosions in the universe, more powerful than a supernova. Graduate student Samuel B. Larson, working with astronomy professors Ian S. McLean and Eric E. Becklin, led the study.
Automated Drivers . . . UC Berkeley engineer Daniel P. Empey is working with Honda Corp. engineers to build a prototype computer-controlled car that uses video cameras to avoid obstacles and keep to its own lane. The project's goal is to produce a working demonstration by August 1997, in which two automated cars will follow each other down the highway entirely under computer control.
How Plants Resist Disease . . . Geneticist Steven Scofield of
UC Davis and a team of researchers discovered the molecular mechanism that
leads to disease resistance in plants: an interaction between a protein
in the plant and a protein in the disease. The mechanism might be useful
in genetically engineering disease-resistant crops.
Tracking Space Storms . . . Earth-orbiting instruments designed and built at Los Alamos National Laboratory helped chart the path of a major space storm -- a huge eruption of radiation from the sun -- that swept around Earth during January. Thanks to the Los Alamos data, researchers now can better understand why and how these solar events sometimes produce big effects such as major interference with TV and radio signals.
Curbing Global Warming . . . UC Santa Barbara economists Charles Kolstad and David Kelly argue that modest worldwide controls on the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, are justified despite the absence of definitive data on global warming. The researchers also say that the wealth and size of the world's population, particularly in developing nations, might be key considerations in the effort to curb climate change. They say some worldwide population control measures might not be a bad idea.
Monkey Medicine . . . Wild monkeys in the rain forests of Costa Rica anoint themselves with plant materials that have natural medicinal properties, according to UC Riverside anthropology graduate student Mary Baker. Almost all of the plants used by the monkeys are used by people native to the region as herbal remedies. The findings add to previous research on the use of medicinal plants by wild chimps and baboons which suggests that humans aren't the only primates who use plants for medical purposes.
Wine Sediment Into Water . . . Besides wine, wineries produce thousands of gallons of water contaminated with sediments. Instead of conventional chemical treatment, UC Davis graduate student Heather Shepherd is purifying the water using a large-scale constructed wetland. The processed water could be re-used for irrigation. According to Shepherd, her system is inexpensive, doesn't use much energy and would be easy for a small winery to set up and maintain.
Coral and World Climate . . . A team led by Los Alamos National
Laboratory chemical and technology researchers Steve Goldstein and Mike
Murrell is developing techniques for dating ocean corals that will help
explain recent and historical global climate change. The clues gleaned
from corals could tie into current models of ocean circulation and help
distinguish between natural climatic variation and human-caused effects.
Child Scientists . . . Traditional elementary science education seriously underestimates children's power of complex reasoning, according to education researcher Kathleen Metz of UC Riverside. Metz studied second-, fourth- and fifth-graders at a Riverside County elementary school who successfully conducted scientific experiments at the high school level. In the process the children learned to use mathematics as a tool in complex, multi-step problem-solving.
Unreformed Welfare . . . Gov. Pete Wilson's showcase welfare reform effort, Work Pays, which sought to move people off welfare and into jobs, had little or no effect on recipients enrolled in the state's largest welfare program, according to the preliminary results of a five-year evaluation led by Rosina Becerra, UCLA professor of social welfare and policy studies. The Work Pays program allowed recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children to keep a larger percentage of job earnings without a corresponding decrease in their benefits.
Screening Teens from Tobacco . . . A study by UC Irvine marketing
professor Cornelia Pechmann found that teenagers are likely to think smoking
is "cool" after they've watched their Hollywood idols light up on screen
-- unless they've just seen an advertisement reminding them of the dangers
of smoking. Pechmann found that showing one 30-second anti-smoking ad immediately
before a film in which cigarettes play a role makes teens resistant to
images that glamorize smoking.
Looking to the Future
HIV Research Grant . . . The UC San Francisco Center for AIDS Prevention Studies received a five-year, $17.8 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to continue its research on the prevention and consequences of HIV infection and to address emerging advances and concerns in HIV research. Among recent changes in AIDS research: powerful drugs that can almost eliminate viral load in HIV-infected people, which could have a huge impact on prevention efforts.
Healthy Habits . . . UC Riverside psychologist Barbara Tinsley received a 4-year, $1.25 million grant from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development to study how children learn good health habits. Tinsley will follow 240 elementary school children and their parents to better understand how children learn to behave in healthy ways and how they learn to engage in preventative health behaviors such as regular exercise and healthy diets.
A Grant With Teeth . . . The National Institute of Dental Research
awarded a $1.2 million grant to launch a biomedical research training program
at the UCLA School of Dentistry. The five-year grant will provide research
stipends for doctoral candidates in oral biology and postdoctoral fellows
conducting oral health research.
Research of MERIT . . . Pamela Mellon, a professor of reproductive medicine at UC San Diego, received a rarely-given National Institutes of Health MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award for her research on the role of the pituitary gland in formation and function of the reproductive system. The award will extend Mellon's research for five additional years, with the opportunity to extend for two to five more years after that.
Volcanic Award . . . UC Santa Barbara geologist Richard V. Fisher received the Thorarinsson Medal, the highest honor awarded by the International Association of Volcanologists. Fisher has written more than 100 articles and conducted research on volcanoes and volcanic rocks all over the world.
Career Awards . . . UC Santa Barbara biochemist John Perona and geographer James D. Proctor have won federal grants totaling more than $500,000 under the National Science Foundation's prestigious "Career" program. The awards are intended to encourage gifted young scientists both in the lab and in the classroom.
Winning Transfers . . . Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
researchers won three awards for excellence in technology transfer from
the Federal Laboratory Consortium. The award-winning technologies are a
machine to help manufacture flat panel displays; a device that uses radar
as an "electronic dipstick" for measuring fluid levels in tanks; and a
new electron beam system for processing materials.
Compiled by Communications, Office of the President, steve.tokar@ucop.edu" -->