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Home and garden calendar for the week of May 27 - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:06:31 PDT

Home and garden calendar for the week of May 27
Sacramento Bee
10 am Nature's Gallery Court, Garrod Drive, UC Davis, Davis. (530) 752-4880. • Gold Country Garden Tour, 10 am-4 pm, offering tours of seven El Dorado County gardens, and lunch at Holly's Hill Vineyards (3680 Leisure Lane, Placerville; 11 am-2 pm), ...

Regional Digest: UCD discus thrower Hearn qualifies for nationals - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:01:22 PDT

Regional Digest: UCD discus thrower Hearn qualifies for nationals
Sacramento Bee
By Bee Sports staff UC Davis' Ashley Hearn's school-record discus throw of 54.13 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary track and field meet in Austin, Texas, on Friday qualified her for next month's national championships, UCD reported.

Community Favorite: Southern globe thistle - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:06:34 PDT

Community Favorite: Southern globe thistle
Sacramento Bee
This is one part in a weekly series featuring the UC Davis Community Favorites, 75 can't-fail, easy-care plants well-adapted to our region and recommended by local gardeners. Snapshot: This artichoke cousin is a hit with bees, butterflies and birds.

Garden detective: Fire blight, crown rot plague pears - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:06:33 PDT

Garden detective: Fire blight, crown rot plague pears
Sacramento Bee
According to UC Master Gardener Mary Griggs, fire blight is a bacterial disease that infects apple and pear trees, especially during wet springs like we had last year. The disease gets its name from the characteristic blackening and shriveling of ...

Green power sources and baby products win at Big Bang! business competition

(author unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:15:00 PDT

The biggest bang in this year's UC Davis business plan competition came from the S2E Energy founder who touted a thin, clear windowlike material said to conduct the sun's power more cheaply and efficiently than existing solar technology.

As first-prize winner, Jon Servaites received $10,000 in the 12th annual Big Bang! Business Plan Competition, run by MBA students in the Graduate School of Management.

Second prize of $4,500 went to the creators of Happy Baby vending machines, for on-the-go access to diapers, organic snacks and other baby products.

The People's Choice Award, worth $2,000, went to Roadwise Technologies, which has developed a thin film that can be installed under asphalt to capture energy created by the sun’s heat and the pressure of passing vehicles.

A $15,000 award went to a team that is commercializing a drug, CuroGen, that can deliver medication directly to tumors in bladder cancer patients. The innovation is in the preclinical trial stage.

That award came from a Partnerships for Innovation grant from the National Science Foundation — a grant that established the UC Davis Medical Technology Commercialization Clinic. GSM graduate Gabriela Lee ’04, the chief knowledge transfer officer at the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology at UC Davis, presented the award aimed at encouraging students to pursue innovative breakthroughs in medicine.

The presentations were made Thursday evening (May 25) at the UC Davis Conference Center.

S2E Energy, formerly known as Simple Cleantech, sells a platform solar cell component that, according to Servaites, outperforms existing components by a factor of four, which leads to efficiency gains of 25 percent to 30 percent or higher compared to existing technology.

“Just as a faster computer chip can enable a faster computer, a more conductive transparent conductor will enable a higher efficiency solar cell, or higher power solar cell,” said Servaites, S2E Energy’s chief executive officer. He is a 2010 graduate of UC Davis’ Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy, now run by the GSM’s new Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Servaites earned a doctorate in materials science and engineering at Northwestern University, where the initial technology was developed for the S2E Energy solar cell.

Erica Harris said the idea for Happy Baby Vending came from an incident a few years back when she ran into a woman in need of a diaper for her baby. The woman ended up leaving a cheerleading competition, in which another child was participating. “I thought: There should be a better way for mothers to do this — there should be vending machines,” Harris said.

“I don’t have children, so I asked my mother, my aunts, my friends, (and) they all agreed it was a good idea,” said Harris, a UC Davis graduate (bachelor’s degree in clinical nutrition, 2008).

In two years, with the help of her mother as primary investor, Harris has installed four Happy Baby Vending machines at shopping malls in the Los Angeles area, with plans to expand to Ventura County in July and to have 180 vending machines statewide in five years.

In winning the People’s Choice Award, third-year UC Davis law student Ryan Lore, team leader for Roadwise Technologies, won over the audience of more than 100 with his description of how to collect energy from crowded freeways. “The pressure of the passing cars, combined with the hot roadway, create a lot of energy that we can use,” he said.

Lore explained that, with the technology that his team of chemists, engineers and law students helped develop, energy can be harnessed and to utilities or companies. The Dynafilm technology can be used on freeways and parking lots, he said, on existing asphalt.

Joanie Cheung, team leader for Integrated Cancer Therapeutics and a student in the GSM’s Bay Area MBA program, said the team’s goal with CuroGen is to improve the efficacy and lower the side effects of bladder cancer chemotherapy.

“As this therapy will become the most effective bladder cancer treatment, it will control the growth of cancer cells effectively and reduce pain,” said Cheung, who also is a systems engineer at Genentech.

GSM graduate Brian Woodall ’06, a Big Bang! judge, said the quality of entries was especially high this year.

“The ideas we saw today were more developed than a lot of business plan I’ve seen — there were a lot of new and better ideas here today,” said Woodall, CEO of Lamplighter Financial and has judged the competition for a few years.

Professor Andrew Hargadon, faculty director of the Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship — a sponsor and adviser for the competition — encouraged the student participants to keep pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams.

He said the gloomy job environment provides opportunities. “The prospect for starting a company has never been better,” he said. “Starting a business is more accessible and acceptable than it ever has been.”

Each year, the Big Bang! competition brings together interdisciplinary teams of students, university researchers and faculty, with mentors from the region’s business community. Some of Northern California’s largest employers, venture capitalists and law firms provide the prize money, coaching and volunteer judges. The Big Bang! has produced many teams that have become successful start-ups since its founding in 2000.

About the UC Davis Graduate School of Management

Dedicated to preparing innovative leaders for global impact, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management is consistently ranked among the premier business schools in the United States and internationally. The school’s faculty members are globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, the school provides a bold, innovative approach to management education to 110 full-time MBA students at the UC Davis campus and more than 450 part-time MBA students in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. A Masters in Professional Accountancy program launches this fall. http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu.

Meteorite hunt goes on, needs public's help

(author unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:02:00 PDT

A University of California, Davis, geologist is appealing for public help in tracking down pieces of the meteorite that blew up over El Dorado County on April 22.

The meteorite, about the size of a minivan, was the rarest type to hit the Earth -- a "carbonaceous chondrite" containing dust and grains, thrown from nearby stars, that went on to form the planets of our solar system billions of years ago, said Professor Qing-Zhu Yin of the UC Davis Department of Geology.

By studying fragments of the meteorite, Yin hopes to learn more about exactly how and when the Earth, Mars and other planets formed. His lab at UC Davis is one of a few in the country equipped to make the most accurate measurements of the age and composition of meteorites.

Studying the meteorite could also give insight into the origins of life on Earth, as this type of meteorite is known to contain amino acids, sugars and other organic molecules that are the basic building blocks of life.

Fragments collected so far have attracted high prices from collectors, and some have gone out of state. Yin said he has access to some pieces collected by local residents, but would like to encourage anyone finding a meteorite to donate it to his laboratory.

"We want to realize the scientific value of this event," he said. "It can't be measured in dollars."

So far, most of the search has been around the towns of Lotus and Coloma. But Yin said that there may well be larger pieces farther west, as the meteorite was apparently traveling in that direction when it broke up.

Meteorite fragments will be black or grayish, with a "goose bump" surface and characteristic cracks. If pieces have broken off, specks of minerals will be visible inside, embedded in a charcoal-like matrix. They should look quite distinct from surrounding rocks. Photographs of specimens can be sent to Yin at qyin@ucdavis.edu for authentication.

If you find a fragment, record the location and avoid touching it with bare hands. Wrap it in tin foil and place it a sealable plastic bag. Mapping the exact location of any pieces is important for determining where the debris spread, Yin said.

Yin advises people not to test pieces with a hand magnet, because this could imprint magnetic signals into the rock and compromise its scientific value for later studies of the magnetic field of the early solar system.

Yin said he's grateful for the support and enthusiasm he's received from the local community over the past few weeks. On May 20, he gave a public talk to a packed house at Gold Trail Grange in Coloma.

"I very much enjoyed the opportunity to talk to the public about this work, and we had a lot of good questions," Yin said.

Donations of meteorites to the university can be considered as in-kind donations at the current market price. Donations to support Yin's work, and the training of future scientists, are also welcome.

Math predicts size of clot-forming cells

(author unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:30:00 PDT

UC Davis mathematicians have helped biologists figure out why platelets, the cells that form blood clots, are the size and shape that they are. Because platelets are important both for healing wounds and in strokes and other conditions, a better understanding of how they form and behave could have wide implications.

"Platelet size has to be very specific for blood clotting," said Alex Mogilner, professor of mathematics, and neurobiology, physiology and behavior at UC Davis and a co-author of the paper, published this week in the journal Nature Communications. "It's a longstanding puzzle in platelet formation, and this is the first quantitative solution."

Mogilner and UC Davis postdoctoral scholars Jie Zhu and Kun-Chun Lee developed a mathematical model of the forces inside the cells that turn into platelets, accurately predicting their final size and shape.

They were collaborating with a team led by Joseph Italiano and Jonathon Thon at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.

Platelets are made by bone marrow cells called megakaryocytes. They bud off first as large, circular pre-platelets, form into a dumbbell-shaped pro-platelet, then finally divide into a standard-sized, disc-shaped platelet. A typical person has about a trillion platelets in circulation at a time, and makes about 100 billion new platelets a day, each living for 8 to 10 days.

Inside the pre- and pro-platelets is a ring of protein microtubules, which exerts pressure to straighten and broaden the nascent cells. But overlying the ring is a rigid cortex of proteins that prevents the platelets from expanding.

By tweaking the number of microtubules in the bundles, Mogilner, Zhu and Lee found that they could correctly predict how pro-platelets would flip into a dumbbell shape, as well as the size and shape of mature platelets.

The work grew out of a long-standing collaboration between Mogilner and the Harvard team -- the kind of cross-disciplinary research that makes UC Davis a center for innovation. It was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Viewpoint: State's future depends on higher education - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:06:52 PDT

Viewpoint: State's future depends on higher education
Sacramento Bee
Clark Kerr, the former University of California president, was probably not the first person to say it and he won't be the last, but he was on target when he noted, "The best investment that any society makes is in the education of its young people.

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On Sale: continuing ticket sales - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:24:15 PDT

On Sale: continuing ticket sales
Sacramento Bee
The Avett Brothers June 23, Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley; June 24, Grove Amphitheater at the Woodlake Hotel, Sacramento. Big Time Summer Tour, with Big Time Rush, Cody Simpson, Rachel Crow, July 22, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View; Sept.

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Relatively Speaking: Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley Researchers Identify ... - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:08:41 PDT

Relatively Speaking: Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley Researchers Identify ...
Sacramento Bee
A new study published in Science by Carnegie Mellon University's Charles Kemp and the University of California at Berkeley's Terry Regier shows that kinship categories across languages reflect general principles of communication.

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The Sacramento Bee, LA Times sue to force release of UCD officer names in ... - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:04:03 PDT

The Sacramento Bee, LA Times sue to force release of UCD officer names in ...
Sacramento Bee
By Sam Stanton Arguing that the public has a right to know the names of the police officers involved in the November pepper-spray incident at UC Davis, The Bee and the Los Angeles Times sued Wednesday to force disclosure of their identities.

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Oleg Deripaska's Further Criminal Complaints Dismissed by Swiss Legal Authorities - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:05:34 PDT

Oleg Deripaska's Further Criminal Complaints Dismissed by Swiss Legal Authorities
Sacramento Bee
By Interros Holding Company Just three weeks after the Swiss Federal Criminal Court rejected an objection lodged by Oleg Deripaska (UC Rusal) to a previous such ruling, the Swiss Federal Attorney General's Office has announced that it will not be ...

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Judge limits defense in UC Davis 'sweethearts' murder trial - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:04:04 PDT

Judge limits defense in UC Davis 'sweethearts' murder trial
Sacramento Bee
By Andy Furillo With a judge's promise and ruling, it appears the UC Davis "sweethearts" murder trial will begin sooner rather than later and last shorter instead of longer. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael W. Sweet said from the bench Wednesday ...

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Workplace fatalities rise in confined spaces - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:25:45 PDT

Workplace fatalities rise in confined spaces
Sacramento Bee
"We've learned enough over the years that there's no reason that people should be dying in confined spaces," said Michael Wilson, director of the Labor Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. Confined spaces are enclosed ...

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Bee, LA Times sue to force UC disclosure of pepper spray officer names - Sacramento Bee (blog)

(author unknown) — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:36:50 PDT

Bee, LA Times sue to force UC disclosure of pepper spray officer names
Sacramento Bee (blog)
By Sam Stanton The Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times filed suit today against the University of California Board of Regents in a bid to force the release of police officer names that have been kept secret from the public since last November's ...

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WEB CONTENT: Updated Interactive Voter Resource Launches, Voters Tackle New ... - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:24:17 PDT

WEB CONTENT: Updated Interactive Voter Resource Launches, Voters Tackle New ...
Sacramento Bee
California Choices is presented in partnership by Next 10, the Institute of Governmental Studies at University of California, Berkeley and the Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. In anticipation of the June 5th ...

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'All clear' at UC Davis West Village after gas leak and evacuations

(author unknown) — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

A gas leak scare at UC Davis West Village ended without incident around 11 a.m. today (May 22), when campus Fire Chief Nate Trauernicht gave the "all clear" and lifted an evacuation order that had been in place for some apartments as a precautionary measure.

A construction crew accidentally severed a 2-inch underground line around 9:30 a.m. in the vicinity of the northernmost section of the Ramble apartments, off Sage Street. The Sacramento City College Davis Center was not affected.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. stopped the leak at about 10:30, and the Fire Department kept the evacuation order in place until the power came back on and the air checked out clear.

New TB test promises to be cheap and fast

(author unknown) — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:52:00 PDT

Biomedical engineers at UC Davis have developed a microfluidic chip to test for latent tuberculosis. They hope the test will be cheaper, faster and more reliable than current testing for the disease.

"Our assay is cheaper, reusable, and gives results in real time," said Ying Liu, a research specialist working with Professor Alexander Revzin in the UC Davis Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The team has already conducted testing of blood samples from patients in China and the United States.

About one-third of the world's population is infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, a disease that kills an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most infected people have latent TB, in which the bacteria are kept in check by the immune system. Patients become sick only when the immune system is compromised, enabling the bacteria to become active. People with HIV are at especially high risk.

Current tests for latent TB are based on detecting interferon-gamma, a disease-fighting chemical made by cells of the immune system. Commercially available tests require sending samples to a lab, and can be used just once.

Liu and Revzin used a novel approach: They coated a gold wafer with short pieces of a single-stranded DNA segment known to stick specifically to interferon-gamma. They then mounted the wafer in a chip that has tiny channels for blood samples. If interferon-gamma is present in a blood sample, it sticks to the DNA, triggering an electrical signal that can be read by a clinician.

"If you see that the interferon-gamma level is high, you can diagnose latent TB," Liu said.

The researchers plan to refine the system so that the microfluidic sensor and electronic readout are integrated on a single chip.

A patent application has been filed for the technology, and the researchers hope the test can be commercialized after FDA approval. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation.

"GiveYourGap" College Grads Wrap Up Four-Month Volunteer Projects In Asia - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:28:08 PDT

"GiveYourGap" College Grads Wrap Up Four-Month Volunteer Projects In Asia
Sacramento Bee
By GiveYourGap.org SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Four recent University of California-San Diego graduates have just finished four months of volunteering their time at non-profit groups throughout Asia, traveling on behalf of their ...

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UC Davis/Sacramento State notes: Aggies sprinter sets sights on NCAA meet - Sacramento Bee

(author unknown) — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:04:40 PDT

UC Davis/Sacramento State notes: Aggies sprinter sets sights on NCAA meet
Sacramento Bee
By Dave Carpenter Sprinter Melanise Chapman's two victories helped the UC Davis women win their first Big West Conference track and field championship earlier this month. But she's not done. After winning conference titles in the 100 and 200 meters, ...

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