A Sampling of Clips for Sept. 21, 2010

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

Can a Cold Lead to Childhood Obesity?
ABC News, Sept. 20 -- Researchers have found a possible link between infection with a strain of cold virus and the development of childhood obesity. Among a group of 124 children, antibodies to adenovirus 36 were detected in 22 percent of those who were obese, compared with only 7 percent of those whose weight was in the normal range, according to Dr. Charles Gabbert of UC San Diego and colleagues. More

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Alzheimer's Brain Tangles Offer Clue to Worsening
NPR, Sept. 20 -- That sticky gunk coating Alzheimer's patients' brains gets all the notoriety, but another culprit is gaining renewed attention: Protein tangles that clog brain cells and just might determine how fast patients go downhill. (Quotes dementia specialist Dr. Paul Aisen of UC San Diego) More

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In Depth: UCSD Celebrates Its Golden Anniversary
San Diego Union-Tribune. Sept. 20 -- There are milestones in each of our lives. Things like birthdays and anniversaries, births and weddings. Important markers that we pause to celebrate. The same is true for institutions such as UC San Diego, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. More

Friends Provide an Epidemic Early Warning
MIT Technology Review, Sept. 20 -- Epidemics spread quickly and erratically, and researchers have been hunting for better ways to predict outbreaks for some time. But although widespread technology is providing innovative ways to pinpoint emerging outbreaks--from social media to internet trackers--government organizations still can't get as great a jump on them as they'd like. James Fowler, who studies genetics and social networks at UC San Diego, has a novel proposal for them: Rather than trying to get a grasp on what everyone is doing by studying vast networks of data, focus on what the popular people do. More

Why Cell Phone Talkers are Annoys-Makers
U.S. News & World Report, Sept. 20 -- Cell phone users irritate so mightily because their background chatter forcibly yanks listeners’ attention away from whatever they’re doing, says psychology graduate student Lauren Emberson of Cornell University. (Quotes psycholinguist Benjamin Bergen of UC San Diego) More

Local Leaders Urge U.S. Senate to Pass DREAM Act
Los Angeles Daily News, Sept. 20 -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, students and civil rights activists will hold a news conference today to urge the U.S. Senate to pass the DREAM Act, which would provide illegal immigrant students with the opportunity to become citizens. (Quotes Jorge Mariscal of UC San Diego) More

Trius, Scripps to Mine Ocean Floor for Antibiotics
San Diego Union-Tribune. Sept. 20 -- The Defense Department has awarded a $29.5 million contract to a San Diego biotechnology company and a local research institution to search for treatments for biological weapons in the muck lining the bottom of the ocean, the groups said Monday. Scientists at Trius Therapeutics and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla expect to find several promising new antibiotics over the next four years that might work against Yersinia pestis, better known as the Black Death, and other bacterial infections that could be used by terrorists or rogue nations. More

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UCSD Announces Transfer Student Record
10News, Sept. 20 -- A record 2,600 transfer students will join 3,950 incoming freshmen when the fall session opens at UC San Diego on Thursday, it was announced Monday. More

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UCSD Engineers Shake Things Up in Simulated Earthquakes
KFMB, Sept. 20 -- When it comes to earthquakes, experts say it's not a matter of if the big one is coming, but when. On Monday, UC San Diego engineers are shaking a 24-foot bridge column to see how it handles earthquakes. In this News 8 video story, more on what the test could tell us about local bridges. More

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Engineer Designed ‘Elegant’ Solutions to Health, Transportation Problems
San Diego Union-Tribune. Sept. 20 -- With his keen analytical thinking and phenomenal patience, Charles “Chuck” Hill was actively engaged in solving a host of engineering problems throughout his 59-year career. Following what interested him and where he saw a need, he created trailblazing solutions for many industries, including mass transportation and the medical field. Mr. Hill died Sept. 3 at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla from injuries he sustained in a fall last month. He was 84. (A scholarship fund in his honor has been set up at the UC San Diego Foundation) More

Local Defaults, Foreclosures Up from July
San Diego Union-Tribune. Sept. 20 -- San Diego County foreclosures and defaults rose from July to August, but analysts said it is too early to tell if this marks the start of the long-expected burst of distressed sales as so many homeowners run out of options. (Quotes UC San Diego economist Ross Star) More

The Loft Opens a New Season
Del Mar Times, Sept. 20 -- A night of electronica, improvisation, visuals and a new art exhibit kick off The Loft's new season at UC San Diego. San Diego's own DJ Gaslamp Killer will perform with his friends Holy Mount Washington beginning at 8 p.m. Sept. 23 at the UCSD Price Center East, second floor. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door through (858) 534-TIXS or www.theloftucsd.edu. More

Artist, Architect to Speak at Forum
La Jolla Light, Sept. 17 -- The Bronowski Art & Science Forum, in its 12th year, will present "A Conversation with Artist Ruben Ochoa and Architect Teddy Cruz" at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at The Neurosciences Institute Auditorium, 1640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. Cruz is on the UC San Diego faculty. More

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