A Sampling of Clips for October 27^th, 2009

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

A Virtual Voyage Through the Brain of a Mouse
The New York Times, Oct. 27 -- Mouse brain enthusiasts can finally relax. They have a place of their very own to hang out, swap stories and share information. Researchers from UCSD have released something they’re calling the Whole Brain Catalog. At its core, the catalog is meant to serve as a repository for data gathered about the mouse brain. Scientists around the globe can opt to pop their brain studies into the catalog and help create a richer, shared set of information than what’s available at each individual research institution. More

Gastric Bypass: Is it a Diabetes Fix?
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 26 -- The discovery came about by accident more than a decade ago: Weight-loss surgery often led to dramatic improvements in the control of Type 2 diabetes, often before patients had even left the hospital. Today, evidence of the connection is so solid that some doctors say surgery should be considered as a treatment for diabetes, regardless of a person's weight or desire to lose weight. (Quotes Dr. Santiago Horgan, director of the Center for the Treatment of Obesity at UCSD) More

How to Keep Track of Climate Change
Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 26 -- It’s a vexing problem – how to keep the public and policymakers informed and engaged on what many scientists say is the primary long-term challenge to humanity’s well-being: global warming. You could invite folks to burrow into the most recent 998-page climate-change opus by 620 leading scientists and editors. Or, for lighter reading, peruse the 34-page “frequently asked questions” primer on that same 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. (Quotes Richard Somerville, a research professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD) More

Should Pregnant Women get H1N1 Vaccine?
Orange County Register, Oct. 26 -- Dr. Bob Sears has tried to avoid controversy during the swine flu outbreak. But his recommendation that pregnant women not get the H1N1 vaccine departs from the rest of the medical community. The federal government and most physicians have spoken in unison on the issue, and they advise pregnant women to receive the injected form of the vaccine because of the virulence of the H1N1 strain and the vulnerability of a pregnant woman's immune system. Two Orange County pregnant women are among 28 who have died nationally since the pandemic began in April. But Sears says the vaccine has never been sufficiently tested for safety on this demographic. (Quotes Christina Chambers, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD) More

The Pressure
San Diego Reader, Oct. 26 -- The Canyonview East pool on the UCSD campus is back in operation eight weeks after a steam explosion in the main filter control room. In late August, a heat exchanger failed, allowing pressurized steam to short out the electrical control panels and melt auxiliary PVC piping for the filtration system. Both East and West pools at Canyonview were knocked off line. No one was injured in the explosion. More

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