A Sampling of Clips for July 14, 2011

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

Biologists Discover an “Evening”
Protein Complex That Regulates Plant Growth
Science Daily, July 13 -- In this week's early online publication of the journal Nature, biologists at  UC San Diego report their discovery of a protein complex they call the "evening complex" that regulates the rhythmic growth of plants during the night. More importantly, the biologists show how this protein complex is intricately coordinated through the biological clock with the genes that promote stem elongation in a way that could enable plant breeders to engineer new varieties of crops that grow faster, produce greater yields of food or generate more biomass per acre of land for conversion into biofuels. (Quotes Steve Kay, dean of UC San Diego's Division of Biological Sciences, who headed the research effort.) More

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Car Sharing Goes Electric
Forbes.com, July 14 -- San Diegans claim that a tenth of all electric Nissan Leafs are being sold in their city. Nissan declines to confirm that statistic, but there are definitely a lot of electric vehicles there. San Diego is planning to host 1,000 charging stations and that’s why Daimler chose to go there with a radical idea — an all-electric (and all two-seat) car-sharing fleet. No city is more committed to electric vehicles. Through public-private partnerships like CleanTech San Diego, and an activist mayor’s office, it is really preparing a city-wide warm embrace for EVs. UC San Diego, which runs a Zero Emission Vehicle Project, has 70 electric cars on order and is putting Envision solar charging at its owned and operated parking garage. (Quotes Byron Washom, who leads the ZEV program at UC San Diego.) More

Cooler Summer Our New Norm? Not Likely, Experts Say
Sacramento Bee, July 14 -- This winter was dominated by a strong La Niña, a cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The opposite of El Niño, it usually means south state drought and wet conditions in Northern California. This La Niña, however, surprised most everyone with its strength and volatility. Southern California was not dry but wet, and the rest of the state was even wetter. Recent studies led by Michael Dettinger, an atmospheric scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, focus on atmospheric rivers, a phenomenon that funnels heavy tropical moisture at California, and which are to blame for most of the state's worst floods. Dettinger used computer models to demonstrate that atmospheric rivers are likely to become more numerous with climate change. In a separate study, Dettinger and four colleagues documented how important these storms are to California. On average, he said, between five and 12 rainy days every winter usually deliver half of an entire year's water supply, usually via atmospheric rivers. One of his colleagues, he said, later confirmed that the winter just concluded brought more atmospheric rivers to California than ever before documented. More

Blue Shield to Pay for Autism Behavioral Therapy
San Francisco Chronicle, July 13 -- Parents of children with autism are hopeful they have scored a victory this week after Blue Shield of California has agreed to pay for a form of therapy for the developmental disorder that it previously refused to cover. (Quotes Dr. Joshua Feder, an autism expert who is a psychiatrist and assistant professor at UC San Diego.) More

Cracks Are Showing in North, American Scholar Says
International Herald Tribune (JoongAng Daily), July 14 -- A pre-eminent American scholar believes the isolated country [of North Korea] is witnessing a widening crack between the [communist] regime and the public. Stephan Haggard, a professor at UC San Diego, said at a seminar held by the East Asia Foundation in Seoul yesterday that discontent with the authoritarian regime and the way the country is managed is widespread, in particular among those involved in businesses. More

Indian Ocean Pirates Impede Climate Observations
PhysOrg.com, July 14 --Australian scientists have sought the help of the United States and Australian navies to plug a critical gap in their Argo ocean and climate monitoring program caused by Somali pirates operating in the western Indian Ocean. Over 30 nations contribute to the multi-million dollar Argo project, in which 3,000 robotic instruments provide near
real-time observations of conditions such as heat and salinity in the top 2,000 metres of the ocean. The International Argo Steering Team is co-chaired by CSIRO oceanographer Dr. Susan Wijffels and Dr. Dean Roemmich from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. More

New Means of Overcoming Antiviral Resistance in Influenza Found
NetIndia, July 13 -- A study has found a new approach to the creation of customized therapies for virulent flu strains that resist current antiviral drugs. UC Irvine researchers, Rommie Amaro and Robin Bush, used powerful computer simulations to create a method to predict how pocket structures on the surface of influenza proteins can be identified, allowing for possible pharmaceutical exploitation. (Mentions UC San Diego’s Supercomputer Center.) More

Five Search Strategies for Professionals
San Diego Daily Transcript, July 14 – (Article by Henry DeVries, assistant dean for external affairs at UC San Diego Extension.) "Answering online job postings is one of the least effective ways to find a job," counsels Elizabeth Gibson, director of UC San Diego Extension's Career Transition & Development for Professionals. Gibson advises professionals in the job hunt to concentrate on five strategies: Redefine personal branding; identify hidden employment opportunities; build action-oriented career plans; expand personal networks; and polish interviewing skills. More

Jen Shyu + Mark Dresser = Synastry
San Diego Reader, July 13 -- Bassist Mark Dresser, [professor of music at UC San Diego], and vocalist Jen Shyu, have a new CD for the Pi Recordings label, set for an August release. More

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