A Report on Discoveries and Achievements at the University of California
Volume 5, Number 6, May 1997
The following is a glimpse of some recent achievements by the faculty, students and staff of the University of California
Guggenheim Fellowships . . . Sixteen UC faculty members were awarded 1997 Guggenheim Fellowships out of 164 nationwide. One is from UC Riverside, two each are from UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, three are from UC Berkeley, and six are from UCLA. Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of unusuallyl distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.
Sloan Fellowships . . . Young researchers at the University of California earned 22 of the 100 fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of New York. Each fellowship is worth $35,000 over a two-year period and recognizes exceptional talent. UC Berkeley received six fellowships: UCLA, five; UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz, four each; and UC Davis, UC Irvine and UC Riverside, one each.
Supercomputing . . . UC San Diego's Supercomputer Center is one of two chosen by the National Science Foundation to lead a nationwide campaign making high-performance supercomputers more accessible to scientists and engineers. This effort involves 37 national research institutions including UC Berkeley and will concentrate on problems ranging from climate and weather prediction to drug and new materials design.
A Poet Among Us . . . UC Davis English professor and poet Gary Snyder received the Bollingen Prize in Poetry, one of the nation's most prestigious literary honors awarded by Yale University. Every two years, the $50,000 prize goes to a living poet whose work represents the highest achievement in the field of American poetry.
Senior Makes USA Today Team . . . UCLA senior Gloria
Amador was one of only 20 students nationwide selected by USDA Today
as a member of the paper's All-USA College Academic First Team.
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Teen Health . . . A new report by adolescent medicine specialists at UC San Francisco warns of a decline in the overall health status of the nation's 36 million teems. UCSF's Elizabeth Ozer, the lead author of "America's Adolescents: Are They Healthy?," says adolescent health is on the decline because of behavior such as drug use, unsafe sex, unsafe driving and increases in violence.
Sun Damage . . . A potentially protective substance in skin that absorbs ultraviolet light from the sun may also cause damage under certain conditions. Test tube studies by UC San Diego chemistry professor John Simon show urocanic acid in the skin reacts with ultraviolet rays in sunlight to generate chemicals that break down elastin and age the skin. This reaction also may lead to immune suppression and skin cancer.
Estrogen and the Elderly . . . Women who begin estrogen therapy after age 60 can achieve similar bone mineral density to women who started taking estrogen at menopause. But according to a UC San Diego study, led by Diane Schneider, this benefit disappears once estrogen is stopped. This research provides some of the strongest evidence to date that estrogen therapy should be continued into late life for the maintenance of high bone density.
A One-Two Punch . . . Consumers may be shortchanging themselves by taking vitamin E supplements because those available today contain an imbalance of the two major forms of the vitamin. Commercially available supplements contain Vitamin E, primarily in the form of alpha-tocopherol, but UC Berkeley researcher Stephan Christen found that a second form of the vitamin, gamma-tocopherol, plays a crucial and complementary role in the body by helping alpha-tocopherol protect the body from cancer, heart diesease and other degenerative diseases.
New Way to Heal Heart . . . Researchers from the UCLA School of Medicine led by Alan Garfinkel, a mathematical biologist, found the erratic beating that strikes the heart during the serious disorder known as fibrillation is not random but follows the complex mathematical pattern known as chaos. The finding suggests a means to improve drug therapies.
Vitamin E vs. Ozone . . . If you're plagued by bad skin and live in the city, the culprit is likely air pollution. UC Berkeley researcher Jens Thiele says ozone rapidly strips vitamin E, an important component of healthy skin, from the upper-most skin layer. Skin conditions reportedly aggravated in urban environments include atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and other ailments which generate itchy, red, inflamed and scaly skin.
Breathing Life into Infants . . . UC San Francisco pediatrics specialist Jeffrey Fineman took part in finding a simple treatment for newborns with a rare but life-threatening condition known as persistent pulmonary hypertension. According to the study, treatment with nitric oxide by inhalation doubled the blood oxygen level in half of the treated infants, thereby filling the lungs of these infants with sufficient levels of life-sustaining oxygen.
Mid-life Crisis . . . Bad news for men fighting middle-age spread.
Research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory indicates
weight gain in men over the age of 50 may be inevitable, even among serious
athletes. LBL researcher Paul Williams discovered waistline
expansion is a force of nature and occurs with age even in those who are
physically active and avoid high fat diets. While the underlying
cause remains a mystery, some studies suggest declining testosterone and
weight regulating genes may be a factor.
A Model Mouse . . . A team of researchers from UC San Diego School of Medicine, led by Kenneth Chien and the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Switzerland have created a mouse model that mimics a wide range of conditions associated with human heart failure. This was accomplished by the disruption of a single gene which produces protein only in heart and skeletal muscle. This animal model will make possible studies on the genetic and cellular events leading to heart failure.
Another Environment . . . In researching breast cancer, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have shown that, in some cases, what is happening immediately outside of a cell is just as important as the presence of cancerous genes within. This research points to the possibility that breast cancer may be treated through means other than conventional genetic therapy.
Helping Hyper Kids . . . Pioneering neurological research by UC Irvine's Pauline Filipek may help put doctors and other researchers on the path to finding a specific, organic cause for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which afflicts about 5 percent of school-age children. Filipek used specialized brain scans and custom computer software to show that the children may lack some of the critical neural wiring in the brain that is needed for attention tasks.
Detecting Dementia . . .UC San Francisco and Veterans Affairs researchers found evidence that certain HIV-infected immune system cells cause AIDS-related dementia by programming brain cells to self destruct. Study leader Lynn Pulliam found that rising numbers of these immune system cells may serve as an early warning for dementia before the brain is damaged.
Digging up Treasures . . . UC Santa Barbara art historian Fikret Yegul has unearthed a massive marble head thought to represent emperor/philospher Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.) or his son, Commodus (180-192 A.D.). Yegul made the discovery in a trench excavated in the east porch of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis, Turkey. Measuring more than four feet high, the partially preserved head exhibits an impeccable surface finish and excellent workmanship.
Expressive Genes . . . A UC San Francisco hearing specialist has reported a significant first step in future use of gene therapy to treat the deaf and hearing impaired. Anil Lalwani and his colleagues introduced a "foreign" gene into the inner ear of animal models and then saw the gene appear, or be "expressed," within the cells of a variety of inner ear tissues. According to Lalwani, gene expression is a significant first step in the future use of gene therapy for the hearing impaired.
Cheaper Rent? . . . If you think tract housing originated in
the 20th century suburbia, think again. A team of UC San Diego
archeologists have discovered the remnants of a 4,000-year-old planned
community in Southeastern Turkey. Lead archeologist Guillermo
Algaze found the ancient city was remarkably similar to the typical
master planned community found in the United States today.
A Better View . . . Los Alamos National Laboratory space scientists have patented a high-speed amplifier used to convert light into electronic signals in video camcorders, and other high-performance scientific instruments. These devices could be used to transmit from space, since they are 10 times faster than technology currently in use and are sensitive to very dim conditions.
Nature's Own . . . Can the shell of the abalone, or other natural products, serve as a model for manufacturing new and more durable high tech materials? Yes, says Daniel E. Morse, a UC Santa Barbara molecular biologist, who received $5 million from the U.S. Army Office of Research to continue with the emerging science of synthesizing new composite materials by imitating natural processes.
Is There A Doctor In The House? . . . UC Berkeley engineers
and UC San Francisco physicians are promoting minimallyl invasive
surgery with the help of remote controlled robots. Electrical engineering
professor S. Shankar Sastry says the goal is to use "telesurgery"
to provide medical intervention immediately following trauma, even if the
doctor is not yet on the scene.
Fishy Evidence . . .In a unique, real-world test of the theory of evolution, a research team, led by UC Riverside biology professor David Reznick, has demonstrated that animals can adapt to sudden changes in their environment with surprising speed, a finding that suggests characterizing evolution from the paleontological record alone may yield a misleading picture.
Changing Climate . . .High in the snow-packed meadows above Half Dome, one of Yosemite National Park's most popular sites, researchers have found serious declines in most of the amphibian populations, which are sensitive indicators of environmental change. With the aid of UC Berkeley's Research Expeditions Program, Walt Sadinski of UC San Francisco will lead three teams of volunteers early this summer to investigate what is causing the decline.
Global Warming . . .New research, conducted at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, indicates a "super greenhouse effect" caused by a buildup of water vapor in the atmosphere warms the surface of more than half of the world's tropical oceans, a phenomenon that could play a significant role in global climate change. Francisco P.J. Valero, director of the Atmospheric Research Laboratory at Scripps, says the super greenhouse effect caused a rise in sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.
Air Friendly Cars . . .A Los Alamos National Laboratory research team was recognized by the Green Car Project, a partnership between the nation's Big Three auto makers and the federal government, for reducing automobile emissions. Researchers developed a high temperature catalytic converter to adequately meet future pollution control regulations by working with "lean-burn" gasoline efficient engines.
Making a Big Splash . . .Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers Norman Miller and Jinwon Kim developed a pioneering climate model called the "Regional Climate System Model," which garnered much media attention by successfully predicting flooding along Northern California's Russian River in January.
Save the Coast . . . UC Santa Cruz is at the forefront
of a worldwide campaign to save the world's precious coral reefs from increasing
environmental damage. UCSC will coordinate the global partnership
between the University of California and the International Coral Reef Initiative
to prevent these rich marine ecosystems from becoming wiped out by pollution
from rapid human population growth, overfishing, development and global
warming.
Quality Child Care . . .Children do better on tests of knowledge, intelligence and language when caregivers are more attentive, responsive and stimulating. These were the findings of a national study led by UC Irvine professor Alison Clarke-Stewart on the effects of early child care which shows a significant connection between high quality day care and a child's cognitive and language development.
Quien Es Mas Macho? . . .Contrary to prevailing conceptions of Latino culture, men who were born in Mexico or Latin America are less stereotypically macho than Latino men born in the United States, finds UC Riverside sociologist Alfredo Mirande in his new book, "Hombres y Machos: Masculinity and Latino Culture." In interviews with 105 Latino men in California and Texas, Mirande found that 57 percent of Latino men view machismo in a negative light.
Three Strikes Is Not a Hit . . .While the intense public pressure for harsher treatment and sentencing of criminals has put record numbers of felons behind bars in California, these statistics have done little to alleviate the public's concern about personal safety. In this paradoxical situation, the authors of a major new UC Berkeley study of state crime policy, led by professor Edward Rubin, suggest policy makers should deal with the real source of public concern: violent crime.
Art & The Economy . . .Art has become an integral part of the Los Angeles economy. So writes UC Santa Barbara sociologist Harvey Molotch in a chapter in the book, "The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century," which demonstrates how L.A.'s local entertainment, furniture and clothing manufacturing create a thriving, art-based industrial economy.
Smoking on the Rise . . .According to John Pierce, director of the UC San Diego Cancer Prevention and Control Program, teen susceptibility to smoking jumped dramatically last year as the number of adult smokers in California increased 11 percent. Susceptibility is a key indicator of future trends and suggests that the state could soon see an increase in teenage smokers.
HMO Care Lacks Parity . . .A UCLA School of Medicine study, led by internist David Carlisle, suggests there are variations in health care provided by health maintenance organization insurance companies for different racial groups. In a Los Angeles County survey, researchers found that African Americans and Latinos were less likely to have expensive procedures than white patients with similar plans.
Religion in Good Health . . . A UC Santa Barbara study,
compiled by graduate student David W. Machacek, has found that Generation
X'ers are no less religious than baby boomers, and in some respects faith
is more important in their lives.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
HIV Award . . . The Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award of more than $675,000 has been given by the Pediatric AIDS Foundation to Marta Marthas, a UC Davis virologist and one of the nation's leading researchers in studies of simian immunodeficiency virus--the monkey form of AIDS. This is one of five such awards presented annually.
Looking into Depression . . . UC Irvine professor William Bunney is among 10 established U.S. researchers who will receive funding this year from the New York-based National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Bunney will use the $100,000 grant to study if depression is linked to disturbances in brain development.
Arts Funding . . . The Pew Charitable Trust has awarded $300,000
to UC Santa Cruz art historian Carolyn Dean and two colleagues
to study the emergence of Christianity in the Andean regions of South America.
Science Award . . . C. Judson King, senior vice president of academic affairs in UC's Office of the President, was the recipient of the Separation Science and Technology Award of the American Chemical Society. King was honored for his lifelong scholarly accomplishments, as well as his role in establishing the discipline of separation science.
An Influential Dean . . . Thomas Cesario, UC Irvine College of Medicine dean, has been named one of the 100 most influential people in health care by the publication California Medicine, which described Cesario as an outstanding physician leader who has established effective links with the biomedical industry to further research at UCI.
Lifetime Achievement . . . Walter Munk, professor of geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, won the Oceanology International Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Rolex. Munk is a leading force in the study of waves, tides, ocean circulation, the earth's rotation and the use of sound to study global oceans.
Science Fellowship . . . Los Alamos National Laboratory
scientist Diane Albert has been awarded a resident fellowship by
the National Academy of Engineering. Albert will work in Washington,
D.C. on "The Impact of Academic Research on Industrial Performance: A Multi-Industry
Study," a project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of New York.
Compiled by the Office of the Vice President for University Affairs. For more information, call (510) 987-9200.
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