A Report on Discoveries and Achievements at the University of California
Volume 9, Number 6, May 2000

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

In The News

Space Object Found . . . UC Berkeley and UC Davis astronomers, using the unparalleled light-collecting power of the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, report they have found the most distant object in the universe, a quasar that must have been among the first objects ever to form. Quasars are thought to be the early stages of galaxy formation, seen today as bright but distant star-like objects.

Breaking the Code . . . Researchers at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, CA, operated by Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley and Los Alamos national laboratories, have decoded in draft form the genetic information on human chromosomes 5, 16 and 19. The chromosomes contain an estimated 10,000-15,000 genes, including those whose defects may lead to genetically linked diseases such as certain forms of kidney disease, prostate and colon/rectal cancer, leukemia, hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

What Wind? . . . The San Francisco Giants knew it wanted one thing from a new baseball stadium at China Basin: a less windy environment for fans and players than the previous yard at Candlestick Point. So they called in wind-studies specialist Bruce White of UC Davis, who found the design favored by the architects would have been twice as windy as the 'Stick. He recommended an alternative design--the one the Giants built. White attended opening day April 11, but admits he spent more time watching wind effects in Pacific Bell Park than the game.

Drugs in Space . . . Alexander McPherson of UC Irvine's Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry has received two NASA contracts totaling $14 million to design and build facilities for the growth and study of protein crystals in the low-gravity environment of the International Space Station. Ultimately, the information gathered can help design drugs to treat conditions such as cancer and immune system disorders and to develop nutritionally enhanced foods.

Former President Honored . . . UCLA will name its new hospital the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in recognition of a $150 million pledge from a group of prominent Southern California civic and cultural leaders. The combined gift will constitute the largest donation in UCLA's history. Construction of the $702-million hospital, to replace a 50-year-old facility weakened in the Northridge earthquake, began in December. It's set to open in 2004.

New Entrepreneurial Center . . . An entrepreneur will lead an initiative to raise up to $20 million to create an international center for the teaching and study of entrepreneurial management as part of UC Riverside's Anderson Graduate School of Management.  Gov. Gray Davis recently helped announce plans for the Richard J. Heckmann International Center for Entrepreneurial Management, to be built in Palm Desert. Heckmann, founder of USFilter and chairman of the board of Vivendi Water, and his wife, Mary, made a commitment of $6 million for the center.

Physical Therapy for Ponies . . . Borrowing from human medicine, the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital has opened the nation's first physical therapy program for horses. The new Equine Physical Therapy Program uses a variety of technologies, including ultrasonic waves, electromagnetic pulses and short-wave lasers, to reduce pain and inflammation and stimulate healing.
 

Health and Nutrition

Well-done Meat Okay . . . Contrary to previous findings, well-cooked meat does not appear to increase the risk of breast cancer, according to a UC Irvine College of Medicine study. Researchers Hoda Anton-Culver and Ralph Delfinofound that women at risk of cancer who ate grilled, fried, or otherwise well-done meat had no greater risk of breast cancer than women who didn't eat as much well-done meat.

Melanoma Test . . . A genetic test to help pathologists identify melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, has been developed by researchers Philip LeBoit, Boris Bastian and Dan Pinkel of UC San Francisco, and may be available to pathology laboratories within a year. The test detects chromosomal abnormalities.

Prostate Cancer Treatments . . . A study led by researchers Robert Reiter and Mark Litwin at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center has found that radioactive seed implantation for early stage prostate cancer can significantly impair a patient's quality of life. The findings challenge the perception that prostate cancer patients who undergo this procedure experience better quality of life than those who have radical prostatectomy, or surgery.
 

Developments and Discoveries

Dive and Glide . . . UC Santa Cruz researchers have resolved the paradox of how dolphins, seals and other marine mammals perform deep dives that seem to exceed their aerobic capacities. Video cameras mounted on the mammals' backs revealed they began dives with a few powerful swimming strokes, then made the rest of the descent mostly in a relaxed glide that reduced oxygen consumption by 10 to 50 percent.

Rapid Detection Dosimeter . . . Firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel soon may wear a more practical dosimeter developed by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory that immediately determines radiation exposure. The prototype dosimeter, called Radiation Litmus Paper, uses nano-scale catalysts that change the color of a chemical solution inside, signifying radiation exposure.

Moon-Earth Correlation . . . A new chronology of meteoroid impacts on the moon shows correlations with biological events on Earth. By dating minute glass beads thrown out by impacts over the millennia, scientists at UC Berkeley and colleagues have not only confirmed expected intense meteor activity 3 to 4.5 billion years ago, when the large lunar seas were formed, but have discovered another peak of activity that began 500 million years ago and continues today. The tapering off of the first peak of activity coincides with the earliest known evidence of life on Earth.
 

The Cutting Edge

Race for Elusive Particles . . . UC Santa Barbara physicists and colleagues, among a handful of the world's leaders in the race to discover the elusive particles called dark matter, report their results do not confirm a breakthrough announced by their main competitors, a research group in Italy. The search for dark matter is intense since scientists agree that dark matter comprises some 90 percent of the mass of the universe. The discovery of dark matter would mean that we are not even made of the most dominant form of matter in the universe.

Quantum Leap . . . Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have made another experimental leap forward in the quest for a functional quantum computer capable of solving large mathematical problems or cracking secret codes faster than today's fastest supercomputers. Using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, the researchers created a seven-qubit quantum computer within a single drop of liquid.

Sexual Orientation . . . UC Berkeley researcher Marc Breedlove measured finger length to gather evidence that the level of male hormones in the womb can influence an unborn child's future sexual orientation. He found that higher levels of male hormones--androgens--can create a greater than normal tendency for both males and females to develop a homosexual orientation. Finger length is influenced by androgen levels in the womb. In most people, the index finger is very slightly shorter than the ring finger, but, at least in the right hand, the difference is accentuated by higher levels of androgens during fetal development.

Galaxies and Gamma Rays . . . The Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics at UC Santa Cruz will take the lead in designing and building one of the principal components of NASA's Gamma ray Large Area Space Telescope--the silicon strip detectors used to record the direction of gamma rays. The telescope, scheduled for launch in 2005, will explore the most energetic and violent events in the universe, including galaxies powered by supermassive black holes at their centers and remnants of stars that have exploded as supernovae.

A Flat Universe? . . . A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory computer analysis of data supports the hypothesis that the curvature of the universe is not positive or negative, but flat. The data were obtained by the international BOOMERANG ("balloon observations of millimetric extragalactic radiation and geophysics") project, which also involved UC Santa Barbara researchers. The BOOMERANG results support the emerging "concordance model" of a flat universe filled with dark energy that may correspond to the cosmological constant first proposed by Albert Einstein in 1917.
 

Planet and Environment

Lake Tahoe Clearer . . . In an optimistic outlook for the health of Lake Tahoe, the UC Davis Tahoe Research Group has found a second consecutive year of slight improvement in the Sierra lake's clarity. But the researchers add that the long-term trend of declining transparency in Lake Tahoe continues, despite occasional improvements in water clarity that may last as long as five years

Coral Damage Continues . . . Despite the apparent recovery of one third of the world's coral reefs thought to have been killed by high seawater temperatures, new information about coral damage in Fiji confirms that the global outlook for reefs remains bleak, according to UCLA researcher Gregor Hodgson. He says a major new bleaching event is in progress in Fiji, and the latest survey confirms previous findings of severe exploitation of fish and shellfish to the extent that they could not be found on most reefs.

Sea Salt/Smog Link . . . A UC Irvine research team has discovered how airborne sea salt particles may play a role in the development of air pollution in coastal urban areas. The team has been able to show that sea salt particles--a common ingredient of coastal and ocean air--undergo a previously unrecognized chemical reaction in daylight to release chlorine molecules, which can influence ozone levels in the lower atmosphere.

Toxic Blooms . . . Researcher Raphael Kudela of UC Santa Cruz has discovered that urea from urban waste, generally ignored as a pollutant by environmental agencies, contributes to growth of potentially toxic blooms of a common type of marine algae. The new findings suggest that urea in urban and agricultural runoff may play a greater role than previously thought in triggering or sustaining the algal blooms known as "red tides" found off California's coastline.

Ocean Conditions Affect Climate . . . Scientists with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego report evidence of pronounced changes in Earth's climate that can be tracked in cycles of ocean conditions over thousands of years. The cycles reveal that Earth is currently in a period when a natural rise in global temperatures, combined with warming from the greenhouse effect, will push the planet through an era of rapid global warming. Strong oceanic tides are the engines behind this warming-cooling cycle that may help determine future climates.
 

Insights on Society

Peace Can Happen . . . In a world plagued by civil wars, many of them involving ethnic clashes, the peace process that ended Guatemala's bloody 36-year civil war is evidence that seemingly intractable conflicts can be resolved at the negotiating table, says researcher Susanne Jonas of UC Santa Cruz. She reports in a new book that the accords are not perfect, but they do set in motion the mechanisms for major change, while implementation has generated a second round of struggles.

Bus Stop Safety . . . Poorly maintained bus stops plagued with trash and graffiti are common elements among the 10 most crime-ridden bus stops in Los Angeles, according to the results of a UCLA study of 60 bus stops in the city. Researcher Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris found the worst stops were located near alleys or mid-block passages and in seedy, litter-filled commercial areas.

Chechen-English Dictionary . . . UC Berkeley Slavic language professor Johanna Nichols is working on a definitive Chechen-English dictionary. Nichols hopes the dictionary will help preserve the language--and, thereby, the culture, heritage and history--of the approximately one million Chechen people, whose language is indigenous to the Caucasus mountains.

Menopause Attitude and Ethnicity . . . When it comes to aging and menopause, African American women feel the best, and Chinese American and Japanese American women feel the least positive, according to a new UC Davis study of more than 16,000 women. Both African American and white women agreed that menopause meant more freedom and independence, while Hispanic women said they would feel regret once they reached menopause.

Bachelor Blues . . . A UC Riverside study shows that divorced and separated men are twice as likely to commit suicide as men who are still in a relationship. They are also four times more likely to end their own lives than are women who are divorced or separated. Sociologist Augustine Kposowa analyzed the cause of death of nearly 472,000 men and women before publishing her study.
 

Looking to the Future

DNA Repair Proteins . . . Researchers from Los Alamos and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories and colleagues have made surprising new discoveries about DNA repair proteins and the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres. Their discoveries may one day lead to new paths in cancer research and a better understanding of human cell biology. The researchers found that, for reasons unknown, specific DNA repair proteins typically found around broken DNA ends also surround mammalian telomeres, which are natural chromosome ends.

Model Mouse . . . The first mouse model genetically programmed to simulate motor deficits and brain alterations found in Parkinson's disease and related disorders has been developed by a team of scientists at UC San Diego and UC San Francisco and colleagues. The investigators report that mice bred to express a human protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain develop protein deposits in specific brain regions associated with Parkinson's disease, and also have impaired motor function.

Pain Trigger . . . Scientists have shown that a protein lodged on the surface of many sensory nerves triggers them to fire pain signals when exposed to Death Valley-like heat or the fiery properties of peppery food. Now, research at UC San Francisco is the first to demonstrate that the protein, known as the capsaicin receptor, performs this function in living animals, boosting confidence that blocking the receptor would ease some kinds of pain.

From Anemones to Immunity . . . A toxin used by sea anemones to stun their prey may provide a blueprint for new immunosuppressant drugs. UC Irvine College of Medicine researchers Katalin Kalman and Heiko Rauer found that part of a Caribbean sea anemone venom called ShK blocks a cellular protein that in turn prevents T-cell activation. While ShK itself is too toxic to use safely on people, the researchers think it can be used as a model for designing drugs that suppress the immune system to prevent graft rejections. It might also be used to treat diabetes and other disorders.

Ground-breaking Contract . . . Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has signed a contract with the Avanguard Foundation in Russia to support the manufacture of kidney dialysis equipment in the closed city of Sarov. The partnership marks the first time a federal Department of Energy laboratory has signed a contract with a former Russian nuclear weapons manufacturer.
 

Kudos

NAS Membership . . . One of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist or engineer has gone to nine UC-affiliated researchers. All nine were elected to the National Academy of Sciences in May, bringing the total of UC and UC-managed national laboratory NAS members to 309, more than any other college or university in the United States. The new NAS members are: Jean M.J. Frechet, Barbara J. Meyer, Kenneth A. Ribet and Tim D. White, UC Berkeley; William A. Jury, UC Riverside; James P. Kennett, UC Santa Barbara; Richard D. Kolodner, UC San Diego; Robert W. Mahley, UC San Francisco; and David R. Nygren, Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Scholars, Scientists Honored . . . Nine University of California researchers have been awarded Guggenheim fellowships for 2000. Guggenheim fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement and exceptional promise. This year's Guggenheim fellows from UCare: Donald J. DePaolo, Lauren B. Edelman, Alexei V. Filippenko and Daniel S. Rokhsar of UC Berkeley; Patricia Wenjie Cheng, Susanne Lohmann and Donka Minkova of UCLA; Amelia Jones of UC Riverside; and Vicente L. Rafael of UC San Diego.

Another Pulitzer . . . For the third time in five years, a UC Santa Cruz graduate has received a Pulitzer Prize, journalism's most prestigious honor. Martha Mendoza, who graduated in 1988, won the 2000 prize for investigative journalism as part of an Associated Press team. In a special report published last year, Mendoza and two other AP reporters told a chilling story of U.S. soldiers gunning down hundreds of South Korean civilians in the early weeks of the Korean War.

Former Chancellor Honored . . . Herbert F. York, the founding chancellor of UC San Diego , who also founded and directed UC's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, received this year's Vannevar Bush Awards for his leadership in the arms control movement and his work in nuclear energy. York received the award May 3 from the National Science Board, the policy-making arm of the National Science Foundation.
 

Investing in Education

Cancer Research Gift . . . Carol and Saul Rosenzweig of Beverly Hills have given $1 million to UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center to support the Carol and Saul Rosenzweig Endowed Chair for Cancer Therapies Development, a newly endowed professorship that will support scientific and clinical research programs for a variety of cancers. Carol Rosenzweig is a breast and ovarian cancer survivor.

Cancer Research Consortium . . . The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $16.5 million grant to researcher Thomas Kipps of UC San Diego to study chronic lymphocytic leukemia by establishing and leading a national research consortium. The consortium brings together top scientists from different disciplines--genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, immunology and pharmacology--to focus research on a single disease.

Equipment Donation Program . . . Higher education institutions around the country can receive excess research equipment from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Under the new Laboratory Education Equipment Gift Program, excess equipment, including computers, computer accessories, photographic and communication equipment, measuring tools, and special industrial and metal-working machinery, can be donated.
 
 
 

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