A Sampling of Clips for June 30^th, 2008

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

WHO Urges Countries to Adopt Smoking Bans
Reuters, June 30 -- Smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit and protecting children from second-hand smoke, a World Health Organization report issued on Monday said. The researchers involved in the WHO report -- who included John Pierce of UCSD, and Maria Leon at the International Agency for Cancer Research --- reviewed more than 900 studies and government reports looking at the impact of smoking bans across the world. More

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Forbes

Want Scientific Immortality? Name a Sea Worm
Newsweek, June 30 -- The Scripps Institution of Oceanography unveiled its name-a-species program earlier this year. This modern twist on taxonomy is a way to raise research money, and lots of groups have been doing it. More

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CBS News
MSNBC
FOX News
ABC News
San Francisco Chronicle
Forbes
Seattle Times
Sacramento Bee

New Molecular Trigger Described for Hypertension, Diabetes
U.S. News & World Report, June 30 -- A newly discovered molecular malfunction may explain the development of high blood pressure, diabetes and immune problems, researchers report. The study was authored by Frank DeLano, a research scientist with the department of bioengineering at UCSD. More

Similar story in
The Washington Post

The Secret of Happiness: Grinning on the Internet
Nature, June 26 -- How happy you are is influenced by your social links to people you've never heard of and never met. That's the conclusion of a US study co-authored by UCSD researcher James Fowler, looking at the spread of happiness and depression across social networks. More

Plan to Vote? Thank Your Lucky DNA
Los Angeles Times, June 27 -- Whether you choose to vote in November may be determined more by genetic factors than upbringing or education, suggests a new study on political participation. Researchers at UCSD and USC applied a mathematical model to the voting patterns of 396 identical and fraternal (non-identical) twins in Los Angeles County and 806 identical and fraternal twins in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. More

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Agence France Presse

The Itch
The New Yorker, June 30 -- Plenty of non-skin conditions can cause itching. Dr. Jeffrey Bernhard, a dermatologist with the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is among the few doctors to study itching systematically (he published the definitive textbook on the subject), and he told me of cases caused by hyperthyroidism, iron deficiency, liver disease, and cancers like Hodgkin’s lymphoma. (Quotes UCSD researcher V.S. Ramachandran) More

Alzheimer’s Drug Fails Clinical Trial
The New York Times, June 30 -- A drug under development by Myriad Genetics to treat Alzheimer’s disease failed in a closely watched late-stage clinical trial, dealing another blow to efforts to combat the illness. (Quotes Dr. Paul S. Aisen, an Alzheimer’s expert at UCSD) More

Facial-Recognition Software Could
Give Valuable Feedback to Online Professors
Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27 -- Many professors who teach online complain that they have no way of seeing whether their far-away students are following the lectures — or whether the students have fallen asleep at their desks. But researchers at UCSD say they have a solution. They recently tested a system that can detect facial expressions of online students and determine when they find the material difficult, so that cues could be sent to the professors telling them to slow down. More

S.D. Stem Cell Efforts Awarded $5 Million Total
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 28 -- San Diego scientists were awarded $5 million in grants yesterday from a pool of $24 million approved by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. UCSD’s Steven Dowdy, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine, will get $1.388 million over three years to create stem cell lines using human skin. More

Calif. Hospitals Begin Reporting 'Adverse Events'
Los Angeles Times, June 30 -- In all, 1,002 cases of serious medical harm were disclosed by California hospitals between July 2007 and May of this year. The disclosures are the first under a state law that requires hospitals to inform health regulators of all substantial injuries to their patients. (Mention the UCSD Medical Center)  More

Similar story in
Contra Costa Times
San Diego Union-Tribune

Anti-Immigrant Fever Grips the Nation
Miami Herald, June 29 -- Ever since Congress failed to approve immigration reform last year, a pro-enforcement mind set has taken hold at every level of government. (Mentions research by the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UCSD) More

Winners Sidestep Challenges
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 30 – Julie Ertel, a UCSD alum formerly known as Julie Swain, is to make her second appearance in the Olympics at Beijing this year after winning a silver medal with the U.S. women's water polo team in the 2000 Games. More

Man Who Raped 2 UCSD Co-Eds Sentenced
10News, June 27 -- A travel agent who raped two UCSD medical students in their University City apartments over a nine-month period was sentenced Friday to 90 years to life in state prison. More