A Sampling of Clips for Feb. 14, 2011

* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office

Second-hand Smoke Ups Risk of Abnormal Pap Test
Reuters, Feb. 11 -- Another reason second-hand smoke is bad: there's a chance it can damage the tissues in a woman's cervix, putting her at higher risk for cervical cancer, according to a new study led by UC San Diego researcher Dr. Kristy K. Ward. More

Study Shows Test Using Special Tape
to Collect Cells Can Spot Early Melanoma
WebMD, Feb. 14 -- An experimental, noninvasive test that relies on a special adhesive tape to collect cells from suspicious skin lesions can accurately identify both early and advanced melanomas, researchers say. William Wachsman, an associate professor of medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a staff physician at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, was one of the researchers working on the study. More

Science's Soap Opera Seen in 'The Lab'
USA Today, Feb. 13 -- A soap opera? Not really, it's an interactive online movie, The Lab: Avoiding Research Misconduct, newly-released by the federal Office of Research Integrity, the science misconduct investigating arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The ORI produced the film to help the nation's science and medical researchers avoid the kind of bad decisions that lead to misconduct allegations. (Quotes Michael Kalichman, director of the research ethics program at UC San Diego) More

Physical Video Games May Help the Elderly Psychologically
The Atlantic Monthly, Feb. 13 -- For years, increasingly sophisticated video games came with increasingly daunting controllers. Anyone who grew up with Pong or an NES could be forgiven for fearing today's byzantine rigs. So perhaps it's not surprising that the new, more intuitive interfaces of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect have opened up new markets for video games. What is surprising, however, is how psychologically beneficial these new activities are for a key new group: the elderly. (Mentions research at the UC San Diego School of Medicine) More

Medical Research Project Takes Root in Chattanooga
CNBC, Feb. 12 - Biomedical researchers using powerful computers to analyze data from hospitals, drug companies and others in a search for new medications and better patient treatment have a new workplace. Founders of the new Chattanooga Research Institute hope to harness the power of computational biology to analyze huge stores of existing medical and genetic data that could lead to more cost-efficient and effective drug development. (Quotes Philip Bourne, professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at UC San Diego) More

The Science of Kissing Explained
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 11 -- Sheril Kirshenbaum, a research scientist at the University of Texas, decided to take the kiss and put it under a microscope, in a way. She wanted to take the universal act and examine it from various scientific angles. The result of her research is her new book, “The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling.” (Mentions V.S. Ramachandran of UC San Diego) More

Nerves Light Up to Warn Surgeons Away
MIT Technology Review, Feb. 14 -- Surgeons take pains to avoid injuring nerves in and around surgical sites—a stray cut could lead to muscle weakness, pain, numbness, or even paralysis. In delicate operations like prostate removal, for instance, accidentally damaging nerves can lead to incontinence or erectile dysfunction. Scientists at UC San Diego have announced a new method for lighting up nerves in the body with fluorescent peptides, which could act as markers to keep surgeons away. More

City to Pay Out $93M to Retirees
Cincinnati Inquirer, Feb. 13 -- By squirreling away hundreds of hours of unused holiday, vacation and sick days, more than 900 Cincinnati employees - nearly one in five - may receive at least six months' extra pay when they retire, costing taxpayers more than $93 million. (Quotes Steve Erie, a political science professor and director of urban studies at UC San Diego) More

UCSD Hosts Wide-ranging Dialogue About Mexico
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 13 -- Mexicans with distinguished careers in science, the arts, business and government came together Thursday on the UC San Diego campus to engage in an open dialogue about their country’s future. The daylong symposium, called Mexico Moving Forward, was organized by UCSD’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies as the university celebrates its 50th anniversary. More

Using Trash to Track Tijuana's Trash
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 13 -- It’s one of San Diego County’s most intractable blights: Streams of garbage that flood the Tijuana River Valley after heavy rains. An unlikely pair of activists — a UC San Diego professor and a former real estate agent — are attacking it in a counterintuitive way, by adding more garbage. They call it tracking trash with trash. More

Anthony Davis at 60: Jazz, Opera and Beyond
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 13 -- For the past several decades, UC San Diego music professor Anthony Davis has consistently broken new ground as one of the nation’s foremost jazz-and-beyond pianists and as a composer of cutting-edge operas, symphonies and choral and chamber works. More

UCSD Biology Journal a Showcase for Undergrads
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 14 -- San Diego is home to a rare entry in the field of science communication — a journal written and published by college undergraduates. We talked with Leila Haghighat, editor of the Saltman Quarterly at UC San Diego, about the publication and its aims. More

Mubarak's Resignation Celebrated in Downtown San Diego
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 11 -- A small but vocal group of people gathered near the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego Friday night to show solidarity with Egypt’s pro-democracy protests and to celebrate the resignation of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. (Quotes Nadine Wassef, 32, a graduate student at UC San Diego) More

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Signal Disorder Links Neurological Defects
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 13 -- Research from the UC San Diego School of Medicine provides new clues for the compulsive behavior and cognitive defects associated with a rare childhood neurological disease called Lesch-Nyhan disease. More

French Modernists Shine at UC San Diego
SanDiego.com, Feb. 11 --  Chamber music concerts, especially those presented in San Diego, occupy the most conservative enclave of classical music. This is why UC San Diego’s resident conductor Stephen Schick’s programming vision is so refreshing: he starts with a Maurice Ravel song cycle form 1913 and surrounds it with challenging works from the mid-century avant garde, Pierre Boulez and Olivier Messiaen, and then garnishes the event with new works by a pair of UCSD graduate composers. More

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