A Sampling of Clips for December 2^nd, 2009

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

Serious Pregnancy Complication Detected With MRI
USA Today, Dec. 1 -- A magnetic resonance imaging test is highly effective at detecting a life-threatening pregnancy complication called placenta accreta, researchers report. The condition occurs when the placenta surrounding a fetus attaches too deeply to a woman's uterus. During delivery, the placenta can pull out parts of the uterine wall, rupturing blood vessels and putting the mother at risk of severe hemorrhaging. "Due to the increase in cesarean sections and other surgeries that leave scarring on the uterine wall, coupled with women giving birth later in life, the incidence of accreta has increased dramatically over the past 20 years," lead researcher Dr. Reena Malhotra, a radiologist at UCSD in La Jolla, said in a news release. More

Loneliness, Like the Flu, is Contagious, American Research Shows
Fox News, Dec. 1 -- It can spread among groups of people and women are more likely than men to become "infected," according to researchers at the University of Chicago, UCSD and Harvard. Using data from a large-scale study, they found lonely people tend to transmit their sad feelings to those around them, which eventually led to them being isolated from society. "We detected an extraordinary pattern of contagion that leads people to be moved to the edge of the social network when they become lonely," said University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, a leading U.S. expert on loneliness. More

Similar stories in
Seattle Times
Shanghai Daily

Autism Treatment Works in Kids as Young as 18 Mos.
Guardian U.K., Dec. 2 -- The first rigorous study of behavior treatment in autistic children as young as 18 months found two years of therapy can vastly improve symptoms, often resulting in a milder diagnosis. The study was small as just 48 children evaluated at the University of Washington but the results were so encouraging it has been expanded to several other sites, said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks. Dawson, a former University of Washington professor, led the research team. (Quotes Laura Schreibman, an autism researcher at UCSD) More

A First: '10 Property Taxes Will Dip
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 2 -- San Diego County homeowners can look forward to a very slight decrease in property taxes next year — the equivalent of two tall mochas at Starbucks — as a result of the first decline in the state consumer price index on record. The state Board of Equalization estimates that the index dropped 0.2 percent over the past year, meaning that the Proposition 13-controlled property tax will drop accordingly for taxes due in December 2010. It’s the first time that’s happened since the voters passed the tax-reduction measure in 1978. (Quotes Steve Erie, a political science professor at UCSD) More

Voices from Around the County on Obama’s Afghan Strategy
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 2 -- Barbara Walter, 45 Residence: Del Mar. Occupation: political science professor, Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD. “(Obama) knows in his heart of hearts that this is an unwinnable war, and so I think he does something that’s very smart. He basically threw the ball back in the Afghan government’s court. He said we’re not there to rule Afghanistan. “I think what is going to happen 18 months from now is Obama is going to come back and say we have given the Afghan government every possible chance. … And then I think he’s going to pull out and say we did the best that we could.” More

Roger Reynolds: The Benefits of Being Outside the Loops
New Music Box, Dec. 1 -- The year 2009 has been bookended by major music festivals celebrating the eclecticism of composers based in California. In January, the Juilliard School mounted a week-long festival devoted to 100 years of music from our most populous state. And we're currently in the midst of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's West Coast, Left Coast, an unprecedented three-week celebration that offers an extremely broad range of Californian music-making. So for our final cover of 2009, we're featuring a composer who has been based in San Diego for over 40 years, Roger Reynolds, professor in UCSD’s Department of Music. More

Scripps Oceanographers to Kick off Lecture Series
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 1 -- The Birch Aquarium at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography is holding a public lecture series that will include a look at garbage in the ocean, new technology in sea research and the effects of climate change on the California Current. The first lecture is Dec. 14, when Miriam Goldstein and her colleagues at Scripps will discuss a recent 20-day expedition to the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Trash collects in that remote ocean region that the Scripps trip helped bring to the public’s attention. More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically