UCLA In the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription to view. See more UCLA In the News.
Central Americans have long migrated north. Today, their studies are getting their due | Los Angeles Times
“People would study Mexicans with no problem,” said Cecilia Menjívar, professor of sociology at UCLA. “But Central Americans were seen as a niche, a small group of people that didn’t seem as relevant.” But on a recent afternoon, Menjívar, a native of El Salvador, stood inside a packed UCLA lecture hall introducing a notable lineup of professors invited to speak about Central American migration. They were social scientists from Los Angeles, Texas and different parts of Mexico including Chiapas, Tijuana and Mexico City. “So many people showed up, we have two overflow rooms,” Menjívar said.
UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital uses girl’s heartbeat to create song for her healing family | KTLA-TV
Thanks to the music therapy team at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, a Downey family have a special memory of their 8-year-old daughter that she helped create before she died. Jaelyn Glaz died in June 2018, just days before turning 9. But before passing, a team of music therapy specialists at the hospital, where she spent years receiving treatment for cancer, recorded her heartbeat. They collaborated closely with Jaelyn’s family to create a song dedicated to her and symbolizing all she stood for and loved…. UCLA Medical Center has been creating this type of musical recording for end-of-life patients for the past four years. Ratna Behal, a pediatric doctor at the hospital, said that music often plays a role in a family’s healing process. “Music is, I can’t even tell you the impact it’s had on our patients,” she said. “It’s so fundamental in the care of these children and the whole family really.”
Patients often puzzled by medical test reports | Reuters
Even the most educated, take-charge individuals may have a hard time deciphering the test results they can access after a doctor visit, two new studies suggest…. “The physicians who responded to our survey perceived that reading their pathology reports increased patient worry and confusion,” said the senior author of this study, Dr. Joann Elmore of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
First male to join UCLA’s dance team gets down to ‘This Is How We Do It’ | NBC-TV
The UCLA Dance Team appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” with a performance that had Clarkson shouting, “Yes! That was amazing!” The show opened with Devin Mallory, the first male dancer on the team, talking about how welcoming the team has been to him, and ended with the whole team dancing to Montell Jordan's “This Is How We Do It”!
‘Gayle on the Go’ | KTLA-TV
It’s Black History Month! It’s an opportunity to learn about the “Hidden Figures” of Southern California in general and of Los Angeles in particular…. Emmy Award winning photographer John Simmons, ASC, has a special museum exhibit of his photography titled “No Crystal Stair: The Photography of John Simmons.” Simmons has been on the faculty at UCLA teaching cinematography and influencing and guiding the careers of students for more than 20 years.
$32 trillion for ‘Medicare for all’? It’s a bargain | Los Angeles Times
Gerald Kominski, a professor of health policy and management at UCLA, tells me the problem with communicating these ideas is that the scope of the problem is so large, and the underlying components so complex, many people can’t get their heads around such difficult policy matters. “This easily slips into Nerd Land,” he said.
Astronomers spy near-Earth asteroid that has its own moon | Washington Post
“The Arecibo radar is the most prolific discovery instrument for binary asteroids,” said Jean-Luc Margot, a planetary scientist at University of California at Los Angeles. “About 60 binary and triple asteroids have been detected with radar to date.”
L.A.’s Kamasi Washington goes ‘Live at the Apollo’ | Los Angeles Times
Last year when the saxophonist Washington brought his overpowering band to the Apollo Theater in Harlem for the first time, a crew was there to document it. The resulting 90-minute film, which came out last week on Amazon Prime, captures the energy that has made the Los Angeles tenor player one of the key jazz bandleaders and players of the last decade… A student at UCLA’s famed school of ethnomusicology, Washington appreciates the Apollo’s place in black music history.
Mysterious ‘ghost population’ of ancient humans discovered | CNN
This “archaic ghost population” appears to have diverged from modern humans before Neanderthals split off from the family tree, according to the research published by the “Science Advances” journal. The split appeared to have taken place between 360,000 and a million years ago, say the researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles. These ancient humans had babies with the ancestors of present-day Africans, much as Neanderthals reproduced with the ancestors of modern Europeans, wrote geneticists Arun Durvasula and Sriram Sankararaman. (Also: Reuters, The Scientist, Cosmos, Der Spiegel, KABC-TV)
As passenger angst grows, Japan to let some off ship, but fewer than hoped | New York Times
“People in the ship’s surroundings are kind of in a cesspool of probability of being infected,” said Dr. Peter Katona, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “We don’t really understand the transmission of this virus very well,” he added. “So I think that keeping people in their rooms and letting them out briefly is about as good as you are going to be able to do on a ship, but the psychological impact of that is hard to measure.”
Use Amazon, Uber or Walmart.com? You’ve probably signed away your right to sue them | CNN
To be sure, arbitration has its advantages over traditional lawsuits. The private process tends to be faster and cheaper for both sides, and companies often agree to pay the arbitrator’s fee, said UCLA Law School professor and arbitrator Jeffrey Dasteel. Proponents also argue the system helps relieve the nation’s overburdened court system.
Forget face masks. Wash your hands. | Medium
“Fear spreads a lot faster than the virus,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease expert at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health. “A mask makes you feel better, but you’re missing the more important protective measures.”
UCLA researchers: Soft tissue sarcoma treatment can be shortened by weeks and still effective | KCBS-TV
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles found that certain cancer treatments may be shortened without lowering its effectiveness. The new study focused on soft tissue sarcoma, which is a rare cancer that starts in soft tissues such as muscle, nerves, fat and tendons, according to the National Cancer Institute… “Shortening the radiation therapy from five weeks to five days has been a very meaningful change for patients,” said lead author Anusha Kalbasi. (Also: Medical Xpress)
These supper clubs are using food to cross cultural divides | Smithsonian
One of the key components of each evening: the host and the guests cook and dine together, negating what Laurie Hart, a sociocultural anthropologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, calls a “pre-established contract” that usually exists between the two. “This does away with any former structures,” says Hart, “and creates a neutral space among all of the participants.”
Solar system’s distant snowman comes into sharp focus | Nature
Arrokoth is probably typical of the Kuiper belt objects that share similar orbits, says David Jewitt, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles. But it would take another spacecraft visit to find out conclusively, he says. “We’ll never know for sure until we look.” (Also: Associated Press)
Sitting for too long is hurting you | Medium
Sitting is one of the worst things we can do for our health. A new UCLA study reports that people who are more sedentary have thinning in brain regions linked to memory. It finds that sitting isn’t just a physical health risk — it’s a neurological risk as well. The authors write in their paper, “it is possible that sedentary behaviour is a more significant predictor of brain structure, specifically [medial temporal lobe] thickness, and that physical activity, even at higher levels, is not sufficient to offset the harmful effects of sitting for extended periods of time.”
Pet owners are rushing to buy face masks for their pets | Business Insider
Robert Kim-Farley, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, told Business Insider while it may be possible for the virus — which researchers believe jumped from animals to humans — to spread to pets, there is no evidence to suggest it will at this point in time.
Common drugs might help prevent death from a ‘broken heart’ | HealthDay News
Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, reviewed the findings. He noted that earlier studies have indicated that the emotional stress of grief can cause physical changes, including increases in heart rate, blood pressure, as well as in inflammatory and clotting factors. This study suggests that aspirin and metoprolol may help reduce the adverse physiologic effects of bereavement, Fonarow said.
UCLA student spreads love, warmth | KCBS-TV
The Hugs in a Blanket club at the University of California Los Angeles started in January 2016 at Taft Charter High School and was then established at Hamilton High School before opening a chapter at UCLA.
Why your Valentine might want hot chocolate for that walk on the beach | Reuters
Even though participants were not told whether they drank real cocoa or a substitute, it is possible they tasted the difference and that this impacted the results, said Dr. Joseph Ladapo, a researcher at the University of California Los Angeles who was not involved in the study. “Exercise is obviously not as attractive or sexy as cocoa, but it’s inexpensive, more beneficial, and doesn’t come with harmful calories or sugars,” Ladapo said.
Epidemiologists offer divergent views on how to respond to U.S. coronavirus cases | Chico News and Review
Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, an epidemiology professor with the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA, is among the experts endorsing calm. The new coronavirus appears to be spreading through respiratory droplets, expelled by a sneeze or cough, that do not remain airborne for long and would require close contact for transmission, Kim-Farley said.
Ranking honeys by how healthy they are | Mel
So, grab your honey and some honey (hawt), and come along as I try to convince Dana Hunnes, senior dietitian at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, to help me rank various kinds of honey by how healthy they are — from somewhat healthy in moderation to, well, maybe a little less healthy in moderation.
How to make a sweat sensor for drugs | Chemical and Engineering News
Correct dosing for certain drugs, especially for babies and the elderly, can be tricky since weight, age, other medicines, diet, and a patient’s unique body metabolism all affect drug concentration. Patients can submit to regular blood tests to monitor levels, but both patients and doctors would welcome a faster, noninvasive method. If properly made, wearable sweat sensors could let patients know painlessly when it is safe to take their next medication dose, says Sam Emaminejad at the University of California, Los Angeles.
