UCLA in the News May 16, 2024

UCLA in the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription. See more UCLA in the News.

After five years, deadly overdoses in the U.S. finally fall | Los Angeles Times

People who use fentanyl may turn to stimulants to get through daily activities, said Chelsea Shover, and assistant professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. For those facing the dangers of living outside, “you know what helps you stay up at night and stay vigilant? Meth.”

Drug overdose deaths fell for first time since 2018 | Agence France-Presse

Joseph Friedman, a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, told AFP he was cautious about interpreting provisional data, which were revised to show differing final totals. “However, big picture, what is clear is that the death rate is currently leveling out compared to prior increases,” he said. “Many factors are likely playing a role here, including scaling up addiction treatment, making naloxone more available, as well as the spread of fentanyl virtually exhausting new places to take hold,” Friedman added.

Inside the giant ‘sky rivers’ swelling with climate change | BBC

“There is a beneficial side of atmospheric rivers,” agrees Bin Guan, an atmospheric scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We tend to highlight the hazardous side but we have to remember that they provide important water supply in dry regions, such as California.” Overall, they contribute up to 50% of California’s rain and snow.

When saying “please” is more strategic than magic | Scienmag

The study, published in Social Psychology Quarterly and authored by a team of sociologists from UCLA, shows that people say “please” much less often than expected, and mostly when they expect a “no” response is forthcoming… “Any generic rule – like saying “please” and “thank you” — doesn’t take into account the specific situation, and may not always indicate respect or politeness,” said Andrew Chalfoun, a graduate student studying sociology and lead author of the study. “It may also not be very effective.” (UCLA’s Giovanni Rossi and Tanya Stivers were quoted. Also: Science Daily.)

These adults are not receiving sufficient mental health care | Medical Xpress

While 20% of California adults said they had four or more adverse childhood experiences, nearly 40% of that group reported an unmet mental health need in the last year, according to a new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research… “This study helps us more clearly understand how our childhoods shape the adults we become, in particular our mental well-being,” said Sean Tan, senior public administration analyst at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and lead author of the study.

How many did we save with COVID precautions? | Colorado Public Radio

Kissler, a mathematical epidemiologist, teamed up with Andrew Atkeson, a professor of economics at UCLA to write the paper. Together, they gathered national data from blood samples and did what Kissler called “back-of-the-envelope” calculations initially to estimate how many people had been vaccinated or infected at various points between February 2020 and February 2024.