A Sampling of Clips for
March 26 th, 2007
* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office
Young, Fat and Facing Liver Disease
Los Angeles Times, March 26 -- It's often said, these days, that we're a nation of fatties. And, not coincidentally, we're also a nation of fatty livers. Increasingly, millions of those livers belong to children — though most of them don't know it, and neither do their parents and doctors. "If you were to go into any large California high school with a couple thousand students and screen, you'd expect 200 children with fatty livers," says Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer, director of the Fatty Liver Clinic at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego and associate professor of pediatrics at UCSD. More
Stem Cell Treatment Could
Save Patients with Heart Failure
ABC News, March 26 -- Scientists have announced that they have been able to use stem cells to treat patients with heart failure, some of the first evidence that the much-hyped therapy could have significant clinical benefits. The study's leader, Nabil Dib, who will soon lead clinical cardiovascular cell therapy at UCSD, said one of the most notable aspects of the treatment was how minimally invasive it was — patients don't even require anesthesia. Dib’s contract with UCSD has yet to be finalized. More
Young and Restless:
Ancient Earth Shows Moving Crust
Science, March 24 -- After Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, its cooling surface eventually developed continental plates and ocean basins that move as they do today. But scientists haven't known just when this transition to plate tectonics occurred. The new evidence, from a much older rock formation in southwestern Greenland, pushes this date back by 1.3 billion years, nearly to the time when heavy bombardment by asteroids kept Earth's crust largely molten Hubert Staudigel of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD was one of the study’s co-authors. More
A Latino Perspective on Gonzales
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, March 26 – Mexican-Americans – even those who find reasons to be proud of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales because of his humble origins and his meteoric rise to power – face the inescapable irony that Gonzales is joined at the hip to George W. Bush. (Written by Jorge Mariscal, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, who teaches literature and history at UCSD) More
New PBS Documentary Explores
Rich History of America's Deaf Community
KPBS, March 21 -- This evening public television stations around the country will air a special two-hour history of deaf life in America. The program is called "Through Deaf Eyes," and it tells the story of America's changing attitudes toward the deaf. It also tells of how deaf people have come to demand greater acceptance and civil rights. These Days host Tom Fudge interviews UCSD researchers Carol Padden and Tom Humphries, who appear in the documentary. More
Defusing the Platelet Time Bomb
ScienceNOW, March 23 -- Cut your finger, and specialized blood cells called platelets rush in and plug the leak. Major wounds can overwhelm this rescue mission, however, and the donated platelets hospitals use are scarce and short-lived. Now, a team of researchers has isolated the proteins that spur platelets to kill themselves--a discovery that could double the cells' donated shelf life and boost their numbers in weakened patients. (Quotes Amy Geddis, a pediatric hematologist at UCSD) More
Consultant Hired to Help
Get Environmental Grant
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 26 -- At a meeting last week, the City Council approved spending up to $15,000 to hire Mikhail Ogawa Engineering to help refine the Tijuana River Bacteria Source Identification Study. The city submitted a request for $1 million in funds from the California Clean Beaches Initiative in January, a move supported by the International Boundary and Water Commission, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD and San Diego County, among other agencies. More
UCSD Transportation
Department Wins "Best Practice" Awards
San Diego Daily Transcript, March 26 -- UCSD will receive three awards at the annual University of California Transportation Conference. The awards recognize the "Best Practice" efforts of UCSD's Department of Transportation and Parking Services. More