Media coverage of top UCI stories: March 13, 2006

The Washington Post, March 13, 2006
Dengue-resistant mosquitoes (brief)
UCI MENTIONED: By transforming and cloning genetic material from the virus and then injecting it into embryos of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, researchers at the University of California at Irvine were able to breed a version of the insect that is resistant to the virus. Mosquitoes that survived the procedure were able to reproduce and produce young that were similarly resistant – and unable to pass the virus on.

First Paragraph: Researchers have created a genetically engineered mosquito that could help combat the insect-borne dengue fever virus, a painful and sometimes fatal disease that infects 50 million people a year.

NewKerala.com (India), March 13, 2006
Researchers create GE mosquito resistant to dengue
UCI MENTIONED: Washington: Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have successfully created a genetically engineered mosquito that shows a high level of resistance against the most prevalent type of dengue fever virus, thus providing a powerful weapon against the disease.

Second Paragraph: The mosquito was created by injecting DNA into mosquito embryos, creating the first stable transgenic mosquito resistant to Type 2 dengue fever virus, the most prevalent strain of the disease.

The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 10, 2006
Businesses have remedies for sale, but a cure is not guaranteed
UCI MENTIONED: In mathematics, MyMathLab and Academic Systems Interactive Math appear to be the dominant programs in the college market. A newer product, ALEKS, developed by cognitive scientists from the University of California, Irvine, who formed a company with the same name to sell it, is also beginning to gain traction.

First Paragraph: From a numbers perspective, companies like Sylvan Learning Systems and Kaplan Inc. certainly looked like they were onto something in the late 1990s when they began venturing into the business of providing remedial education on college campuses.

San Francisco Chronicle, March 12, 2006
Prison reform needs reform
UCI MENTIONED: “In essence, we’re blaming the wrong person for the prison problem,” argues Joan Petersilia, a nationally-known corrections expert at UC Irvine. “Prison reform can’t really happen inside prisons.” Scholars such as Petersilia who have studied California’s overcrowded, $8 billion corrections system have repeatedly concluded that many of the system’s troubles stem from poorly thought out criminal justice policies.

First Paragraph: When Roderick Hickman abruptly quit his job as California’s top prisons official last month, a chorus of critics chided him for bungling the effort to turn around one of the nation’s most dysfunctional law enforcement agencies.

The San Jose Mercury News, March 12, 2006
Human error always a possibility
UCI MENTIONED: Elizabeth Loftus, a University of California, Irvine professor, has studied memory and mistaken identification for two decades. In recent years, DNA testing has established what she has long warned: Too often, eyewitnesses are mistaken. “DNA testing has confirmed just how unreliable eyewitness identification can be,” Loftus said. “It is the cause of most cases of wrongful conviction.”

First Paragraph: Michael Hutchinson was convicted of robbing a Milpitas 7-Eleven based largely on the eyewitness identification of the clerk who was on duty when a masked intruder burst through the doors.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 11, 2006
The right to know belongs to the public, not just the media (editorial)
UCI MENTIONED: In one recent example, a FOIA request by the Los Angeles Times revealed that more than 30 people died while waiting for liver transplants over two years at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, while the hospital turned down scores of donated organs.

First Paragraph: Since 1966, the Freedom of Information Act has been the public’s principal means of looking into the workings of government. But, over the years, FOIA requests filed by the public and the news media increasingly are rejected or mysteriously delayed, and those who wish to obtain information through the law must be willing to put forth a great deal of patience and determination – to say the least.

Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2006
Wallflower Dana Point is ready to hustle
UCI MENTIONED: Marlon Boarnet, professor and chairman of UC Irvine’s department of planning, policy and design, said Dana Point’s development plans showed the continuing urbanization of Orange County and its emergence from the shadow of its larger neighbor to the north. As cities grow and attract residents and businesses, “there’s a demand for urban, downtown experiences in Orange County,” he said.

First Paragraph: When guests of the luxurious St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort ask about local highlights, the hotel is likely to direct them to San Clemente’s bustling downtown or hip spots in nearby Laguna Beach. That’s a sore subject in Dana Point, the resort’s home.

The Orange County Register, March 11, 2006
San Francisco’s ‘06 quake the ultimate teaching tool (column)
UCI MENTIONED: Engineering research at places like UC San Diego, UC Irvine, Caltech and USC also has led to better ways to make buildings and freeways more resistant to the power of a quake.

First Paragraph: If you want to grasp the scope of the earthquake that laid waste to San Francisco 100 years ago this spring, consider this: Traveling at about 7,000 mph, energy from the 7.8-7.9 temblor jiggled windows and doorways 400 miles away in Santa Ana, waking people up as the sun rose on an April morning.

The Orange County Register, March 13, 2006
UCI studies woman who can’t forget
UCI MENTIONED: “I have studied learning and memory for over 50 years, and I had never read of or even heard about a person who has a comparable ability to remember,” McGaugh [UC Irvine neurobiologist] said. “However, we do not know whether she is unique or whether there may be others with comparable remembering ability who have not as yet been identified.”

First Paragraph: The “human calendar.” That’s what some people call the woman who contacted UC Irvine neurobiologist Jim McGaugh six years ago and said, “I have a problem. I remember too much.”

The Orange County Register, March 12, 2006
Insider Q&A: UCI’s new guru (blog)
UCI MENTIONED: Kerry Vandell’s the new guy in town. He’ll soon take charge of UC Irvine’s real estate program. The professor is no stranger to The O.C. He already owns a beach-town home here and has been commuting back and forth from his current job at U. Wisconsin over the past few months. So he knows enough about this town but he’s still new enough to offer a fresh perspective on the local market.

Second Paragraph: Q. What’s your basic outlook for the OC housing market in the next year? A. A period of adjustment to a new set of conditions especially higher mortgage rates which – along with a strong labor market and increasing real incomes continuing constraints on the supply side – have generated much of the past speculative fervor and house price increases. This means working through the higher inventory of homes on the market to bring it more back into balance. I want to emphasize that this does NOT imply a significant decline in prices, so long as: interest rates do not spike and stay there; job creation continues at a reasonable pace; and there is not some “event” such as a natural disaster or major terrorist action.

The Orange County Register, March 12, 2006
Three planting seeds of hope (column)
UCI MENTIONED: Start with the college student. His name is Ryan Langan, and he’s a biomedical engineering student at UC Irvine. Last fall I wrote a column about Ryan and his dream of doing something to help military amputees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – more specifically, his dream of helping to design a better prosthetic hand.

First Paragraph: It’s interesting how such different people sometimes bump into each other in life, and sometimes even in this column. Today, for example, I’ll be talking about a 19-year-old college student from Cypress, an Orange County heiress and philanthropist, and a former U.S. Army corporal from Oregon.

Orange County Business Journal, March 13, 2006
Funding, UCI ties (brief)
UCI MENTIONED: The company was started in 2004 to commercialize National Science Federation – supported DNA assembly and protein expression technology from the laboratories of two University of California, Irvine professors – Richard Lathrop and G. Wesley Hatfield.

First Paragraph: Coda Genomics Inc., a biotechnology company based in Irvine, said last week it closed a second round of funding worth about $1.6 million. The Life Science Angels, an angel capital fund sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Silicon Valley Bank and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, led the investment.

Orange County Business Journal, March 13, 2006
Giving
UCI MENTIONED: The Reeve-Irvine Research Center at the University of California, Irvine, has received a $10,000 gift from Joan Irvine Smith for research to improve the function and appearance of prosthetic hands and arms. Smith made the gift after reading a story in the Orange County Register about a 19-year-old UC Irvine student, Ryan Langan, working on a project to advance prosthetic technologies at the center. Smith is the great-granddaughter of James Irvine, founder of the Irvine Ranch.

First Paragraph: Irvine-based law firm Burkhalter, Michaels, Kessler & George LLP and financial services firm Aspen Advisory Group Inc. donated a General Motors vehicle to the Orangewood Children’s foundation. Alton Burkhalter, managing partner of BMKG, and Oz Abregov, manager partner of Aspen, decided to give away the $25,000 vehicle they had won as part of a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball promotion. The car is set to be auctioned on March 19 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point. Proceeds will go toward Orangewood’s scholarship and other programs for foster teens in the county.

Daily Pilot, March 12, 2006
Parents of slain journalist advocate tolerance
UCI MENTIONED: The luncheon was the latest event organized by UCI’s Center for Unconventional Security Affairs, a body that formed after Sept. 11 to enlighten the public on the changing aspects of terrorism. Over the last year, the group has hosted speeches by anti-landmine activist Heather Mills McCartney and Third World women’s activist Zainab Salbi, and it plans a seminar on genocide in the fall. “We believe it is important to solve problems by building bridges,” said Richard Matthew, director of the Center for Unconventional Security Affairs.

First Paragraph: It is one of the most famous and chilling statements of identity in recent years. In January 2002, captured by Pakistani terrorists, American journalist Daniel Pearl faced the camera in front of him and uttered a speech that ended with 11 concise words before he was executed: “My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.”

Daily Pilot, March 13, 2006
Students tackle tough issues
UCI MENTIONED: After hearing presentations by two UCI professors, students asked a panel of three professors questions about immigration.

First Paragraph: For many local students – just as it is with their parents – questions about immigration have no simple answers. Some Estancia High School students think Costa Mesa’s plan to train police for immigration enforcement makes sense. Others worry it would harm the community’s relationship with the police and punish people who just came here to work.

CBS News Online, March 11, 2006
Muhammad cartoons shown peacefully at UCLA
UCI MENTIONED: The UC Irvine panel on Feb. 28 was entitled “The Unveiling of the Cartoons & A Discussion to Confront Terror.” More than 400 people attended the discussion and another 200 people met outside the auditorium. Friday’s UCLA debate drew about 180 people.

First Paragraph: Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that have sparked riots worldwide were displayed peacefully at UCLA Friday. The philosophy club L.O.G.I.C. hosted the panel discussion and displayed the cartoons Friday night as part of a debate over free speech and the response of Western governments and the media to the violence generated by the cartoons

California Chronicle (Beverly Hills, Calif.), March 13, 2006
Assemblyman Tran receives global citizen award
UCI MENTIONED: Assemblyman Van Tran was honored last week with the Global Citizen Award, bestowed by Global Connect at UCI, an educational partnership developed by the School of Social Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.

Second Paragraph: “As an American citizen who was born in Vietnam, I’m passionate about addressing injustice around the globe,” said Assemblyman Tran upon accepting the award. “As global citizens we have a responsibility to spread freedom and opportunity.”

India-West (San Leandro, Calif.), March 10, 2006
Two named to ‘USA Today’ College All Stars First Team
FULL TEXT: Vivek Mehta of the University of California, Irvine and Hari Prabhakar of Johns Hopkins University have been named to the USA Today’s 2006 College Academic All-Stars First Team, the top 20 college students selected from a nationwide competition in the U.S. by the nation’s largest circulated newspaper. Four times a year, USA Today honors outstanding students and educators with the All-USA Academic and Teacher Teams. Students named to First teams receive $2,500; runners-up named to the Second and Third teams receive certificates of achievement.

Chemical & Engineering News, March 13, 2006
Nitrous acid from sun and soil
UCI MENTIONED: This could be a major daytime source of HONO, says Barbara J. Finlayson-Pitts, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Irvine, who has studied atmospheric HONO production.

First Paragraph: A deceptively simple sounding interaction of sunlight and soil may be turning voluminous quantities of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) into nitrous acid (HONO), a precursor to the atmospheric “cleanser” hydroxyl, which oxidizes numerous pollutants.

BioX.cn, March 13, 2006
A bird flu pandemic could create shortage of hospital ventilators
UCI MENTIONED: “It is a really controversial topic, but if you look at an overall goal of achieving the maximum benefit for the most number of people, it would make sense to put people to work who can help save lives,” said the doctor who proposed the approach, Kristi Koenig, director of public health preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of California at Irvine. “We know that in many cases if people cannot assure the safety of their own families, they will not be effective at work.”

First Paragraph: When a person catches the flu, the infection can affect the lungs and cause difficulty breathing. In serious cases, people need a breathing machine, or ventilator, to help them stay alive. But if there was a worldwide outbreak of the bird flu among humans, the number of people who need a ventilator could far exceed supply.

Managed Care Law Weekly, March 19, 2006
Oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity occurred after chemotherapy for colon cancer
UCI MENTIONED: “Acute neurotoxicity is cold induced and transient. Chronic neurotoxicity usually has a predictable clinical course. It is manifested by paresthesias and dysesthesias of gradually prolonged duration that occur between treatment cycles, and increase in intensity and duration with the cumulative dose,” explained J. Choi and colleagues, University of California, Irvine.

First Paragraph: Delayed oxaliplatin-associated neurotoxicity occurred after adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer. According to a study from the United States, “Oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy regimens are utilized commonly for metastatic colorectal cancer and increasingly in the adjuvant setting following surgical resection. The dose-limiting toxicity is neurotoxicity.”

Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, March 19, 2006
Researchers’ work adds to diabetes pathogenesis body of knowledge
UCI MENTIONED: Z. Li and colleagues working with the University of California, Irvine explained, “The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that renal disease in this model may be associated with downregulation of endothelial (eNOS) and neuromal NO synthases (nNOS) in the kidney. The study further sought to explore expressions of caveolin-1, phospho AKt, and calmodulin, which regulate activities of constituitive NOS isoforms, as well as soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), which is involved in NO signaling.”

First Paragraph: Diabetes pathogenesis data are the focus of recent research from the United States and France. Study 1: Study finds enhanced role for RhoA-associated kinase in adrenergic-mediated vasoconstriction in gracilis arteries from obese Zucker rats.

Law & Health Weekly, March 19, 2006
Treatment targeted on transitional hurdles may improve child behavior patterns in ADHD
UCI MENTIONED: C.K. Whalen and colleagues from the University of California, Irvine, wrote, “Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 children with ADHD taking stimulant medication; 25 children without ADHD; ages 7-12 years) provided electronic diary reports every 30±5 minutes during non-school hours.

First Paragraph: Treatment targeted on transitional hurdles may improve child behavior patterns in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). According to recent research published in the Journal of The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, “This study was designed to examine context effects or provocation ecologies in the daily lives of children with ADHD.”

Mental Health Law Weekly, March 18, 2006
Vertigo vestibular prosthesis prototype developed
UCI MENTIONED: “The sensing unit of the prosthesis is a custom-designed one-axis microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope,” explained A.M. Shkel and coauthors at the University of California, Irvine. “Similar to the natural semicircular canal, the MEMS gyroscope senses angular motion of the head and generates voltages proportional to the corresponding angular acceleration,” the collaborators said. “The voltage is then converted into electric current pulses according to the physiological data relating angular acceleration to the spike count in the vestibular nerve.”

First Paragraph: A novel electronic prosthesis may restore vestibular function to patients with vertigo and similar disorders. In a paper published in the journal Audiology and Neuro-Otology, scientists in the United States described the “functional architecture, system level design, and electronic

New Scientist (London), March 11, 2006
Stem cells: miracle postponed?
UCI MENTIONED: For instance, Hans Keirstead of the University of California, Irvine, has got human ESCs to start turning into the precursors of nerve support cells called oligodendrocytes, which in animal experiments seem to repair damaged nerve cells, boosting recovery if injected a week after a spinal injury (but not 10 months after). On the basis of his work, stem cell company Geron of Menlo Park, California, is planning a clinical trial.

First Paragraph: Hyeoni Kim believed. He had been paralyzed at just 8 years old when he was hit by a car on his way home from school. So when South Korea’s science superstar, Woo Suk Hwang, asked if his team could take skin cells from Kim and use them to obtain stem cells that might one day provide a cure, Kim and his family were delighted. When Hwang visited him in hospital in April 2003, the boy, then 9, asked him if he would walk again. “I promise,” Hwang replied.

Corrections Professional, March 10, 2006
New corrections research project to bail out failing system
UCI MENTIONED: In a campaign to improve its ailing prison system, which now has its medical care programs in federal receivership, California will provide $1.95 million for corrections research at the University of California, Irvine.

Second Paragraph: The funding will be distributed over three years to the Center for Evidence-Based Corrections at the university. Joan Petersilia, professor and author who advised California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Roderick Hickman for more than a year, will serve as director of the center.

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