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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release on Feb. 2 the Summary for Policymakers of its Fourth Assessment Report, an ongoing United Nations-sponsored analysis of climate change, its potential societal impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. The first component of the report from the IPCC's Working Group I will contain several key findings and estimates about effects of climate change.

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Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is disease that was first described in children only 20 years ago, but has shown a rising incidence in both children and adults. An inflammatory condition of the esophagus, its symptoms including vomiting, heartburn and difficulty in swallowing.

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On Monday, NASA announced $750,000 in funding for development of an instrument to detect signs of life on Mars proposed by a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

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Renowned marine ecologist Jeremy Jackson, a professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has been selected as co-recipient of the International Award for Research In Ecology and Conservation Biology by the BBVA Foundation, Madrid, Spain.

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A physics professor at the University of California, San Diego who uncovered the basic mechanisms for how plants and bacteria use photosynthesis to convert light into chemical energy, has been awarded the prestigious 2007 Wolf Prize in Chemistry. Israel's Wolf Foundation, which promotes "science and art for the benefit of mankind," announced the award today.

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The Triton Innovation Network (TIN), a UC San Diego student organization, has officially launched the UCSD $50,000 Entrepreneurship Competition. The competition culminates in May when $50,000 in prize money will be awarded to the student teams with the best business plans.

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Engineers at UC San Diego have synthesized a long-sought semiconducting material that may pave the way for an inexpensive new kind of light emitting diode (LED) that could compete with today's widely used gallium nitride LEDs, according to a new paper in the journal Nano Letters.

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A team of American and French scientists has developed a method to determine the influence of past volcanic eruptions on climate and the chemistry of the upper atmosphere, and significantly reduce uncertainty in models of future climate change.

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A team of University of California, San Diego physicists and neuroscientists has discovered a bottleneck in the network of blood vessels in the brain that makes it vulnerable to strokes. The finding may explain the origin of the puzzling damage to the brain's gray matter often detected in brain scans, especially among the elderly.

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In work with mice, researchers at UCSD School of Medicine discovered a factor that could be responsible for many unexplained cases of elevated triglyceride levels. The team found that heparan sulfate in the liver helps the body clear triglycerides from the blood.

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Solving a 100-year-old genetic puzzle, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have determined that the same genetic mechanism that drives tumor growth can also act as a tumor suppressor. Their findings could lead to new drug targets for cancer therapies.

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University of California, San Diego biologists have shown that the chemical language with which neurons communicate depends on the pattern of electrical activity in the developing nervous system. The findings suggest that modification of nerve activity could have potential as a treatment for a wide range of brain disorders.

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Barry Naughton can provide commentary on trade and trade disputes between China and the United States, on economic reform in Chinese cities, and on economic interactions among China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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It's that time again. Time to give back to the community and decide which nonprofit organizations will receive your charitable gifts by December 31, while you get a nice tax deduction for 2006. For alumni, parents, faculty, staff and other supporters of public universities, year-end giving is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on the lives of students, researchers and faculty...

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In surprising results, a study of more than 1,200 patients with extremely low or high blood pressure by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine showed that the influence of genes on blood pressure may vary based on gender.

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The Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop, the nation's oldest and most respected program of its kind, has a new home at the University of California, San Diego, beginning with its 40th anniversary workshop, June 25 through August 3, 2007.

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Researchers at UCSD School of Medicine have discovered how neutrophils "“ specialized white blood cells that play key roles in inflammation and in the body's immune defense against bacteria "“ navigate to sites of infection and inflammation. These findings could potentially lead to new treatments for serious infections and inflammatory diseases in patients.

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The dance of the chromosomes during cell division, first described in the late 1800s and familiar to all high-school students from movies shown in biology classes, has long fascinated biologists. However, the molecular nature of a key component of cell division, the "chromosome-spindle" connection, which is critical for the inheritance of genetic information as cells divide, has remained elusive.

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If visions of dancing sugarplums are keeping you awake nights, you're not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation some 40 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders that can affect their physical and mental health. Add the stress of the holidays and the lists of things you have to do, and you can count on at least a few sleepless nights during this otherwise joyous time of year. The big question is why.

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It may look like mistletoe wrapped around a flexible candy cane. But this molecular model shows how some proteins form loops in DNA when they chemically attach, or bind, at separate sites to the double-helical molecule that carries life's genetic blueprint.

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Researchers at UCSD School of Medicine have identified a genetic regulator of brain development that sheds new light on how immature neural cells choose between proliferation and differentiation. Defects in regulating this choice result in brain malformations. Their research will be published on line the week of December 4, in advance of publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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New research from the University of California indicates that reductions of human-generated air pollution could create unexpected agricultural benefits in one of the world's poorest regions.

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A study led by University of California, San Diego biologists shows that invasive Argentine ants appear to use genetic differences to distinguish friend from foe, a finding that helps to explain why these ants form enormous colonies in California.

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The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has established the George E. Palade Endowed Chair to honor Nobel Laureate and Del Mar, California resident George Palade, M.D., considered to be the father of modern cell biology. Funds for the endowed chair will be used to support a faculty member in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

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It's that time of year again ~ yep, time to gain weight! But according to Director of the Center for the Treatment of Obesity at UCSD Medical Center, Santiago Horgan, M.D., with a little planning and effort people can avoid this annual holiday tradition that destroys good eating habits and challenges well-toned physiques.

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Research conducted at the University of California, San Diego is among the most highly cited in the world and has placed UCSD 7th among U.S. universities for scientific impact, according to a national survey of published research.

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A visiting biologist at the University of California, San Diego and her colleagues in Africa and Britain have shown that there are close linkages between outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in human and wildlife populations, and that climate may influence the spread of the disease.

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Nuno Bandeira, a computer science and engineering Ph.D. candidate at UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering has won the 2006 Human Proteome Organization's Young Investigator Award for work on snake venom proteins. The award-winning protein analysis technique is expected to aid drug development efforts, help scientists better understand cancer proteins and, perhaps, let scientists dive into dinosaur genetics.

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Researchers in computational biology and marine science have combined their diverse expertise and found that trace-metal usage by present-day organisms probably derives from major changes in ocean chemistry occurring over geological time scales. Using protein structures for the first time in such a study, the research establishes one of the influences that geochemistry has had upon life.

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None of our now-necessary devices, from the most fearsome research-computing arrays to run-of-the-mill office computers to cell-phones to iPods, can work without storage. That's why Richard Moore, director of Production Systems at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), smiles as he ponders the new IBM tape drives being added to the storage "silos" in the center's already crowded computer room.

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Students attending The Preuss School at the University of California, San Diego don't have to worry as much about transportation troubles this year thanks in large part to support from The Jack in the Box Foundation. For the fourth year in a row, The Jack in the Box Foundation is providing $25,000 for busses to transport students to and from Preuss, an innovative public charter school for low-income middle and high school students.

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During the holidays most people worry about putting on a couple of pounds, but in addition they should be concerned about what they're doing to their hearts. Every year during the holidays, emergency rooms see patients with symptoms of palpitations and light-headedness. Further evaluation usually confirms the patient has an abnormal heart rhythm, often atrial fibrillation. This condition is a result from over-indulgence of alcohol.

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Physicists at the University of California, San Diego have for the first time observed the spontaneous production of coherence within "excitons," the bound pairs of electrons and holes that enable semiconductors to function as novel electronic devices.

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University of California, San Diego biologists have discovered that disruptions in genes they call Tweedles make fruit flies short and stout like Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Alice in Wonderland.

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In a paper published on-line in advance of publication in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Sanjaya Saxena, M.D., Director of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD) Program at UCSD School of Medicine, reports the surprising finding that the serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) medication, paroxetine, is effective in treating patients with compulsive hoarding syndrome.

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A University of California, San Diego study has for the first time identified brain cells that influence whether birds of a feather will, or will not, flock together. The research demonstrates that vasotocin neurons in the medial extended amygdala - which are present in most animals - respond differently to social cues in birds that live in colonies compared to their more solitary cousins.

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For the first time, a research study has shown that fishing can promote boom and bust swings in supplies of targeted fish stocks. The study, authored by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (National Marine Fisheries Service), Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, shows that beyond the potential for fishery exploitation to cause systematic declines in targeted fish stocks, fishing carries with it a "double jeopardy" impact by also amplifying the highs and lows of natural population variability.

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The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), a federally established consortium directed by Leon Thal, M.D., Director of the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at UCSD School of Medicine, will receive $52 million over six years to conduct several new clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease.

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Four UC San Diego students are among the 32 nationwide recipients of the 2006 Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship, a program run by the U.S. Department of Defense.

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Three leading University of California, San Diego authorities on North Korea and Asia will participate in a panel discussion to consider the likely impact on the United States, and the world, of the recent North Korean nuclear weapons test. The event will be held on (Wednesday) Oct. 11, at 6 p.m., at the Weaver Center of the Institute of the Americas on the UCSD campus. The public is invited and press coverage is encouraged.

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North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon raises a serious challenge to the international community. Experts from the University of California, San Diego are available for comment on the impact of the test, the likely responses from key players, and the consequences for North Korea's own economic and political predicament.

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To raise funds for University of California, San Diego undergraduate scholarships, more than 1,500 runners and walkers are expected to lace-up their sneakers and participate in the11th annual Chancellor's Challenge 5K Run/Walk for Scholars on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 12:15 p.m.

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Until now little was known about the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children. To gauge its occurrence a UCSD School of Medicine-led team studied 742 autopsy reports and tissue analysis of San Diego County children aged two to 19 who died from traumatic accidents, homicide or suicide and had a medical examiner autopsy between 1993 and 2003.

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Florencio Salazar, one of Mexico's President-elect Felipe Calderón's chief political advisors and a member of the Presidential transition team will speak on "The Political Environment in Mexico and the New Government under President Felipe Calderón" in an address sponsored by the University of California, San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, at 5 p.m., Oct. 5. The talk will be presented in the Weaver Auditorium at the Institute of the Americas on the UCSD campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

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Amartya Sen, professor of economics at Harvard University and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, a scholar who has been called "the conscience of his profession" for work on famine, poverty and social change, will speak at the University of California, San Diego on Oct. 5 at 5:30 p.m. The lecture, sponsored by the UCSD Center for the Humanities, is free and open to the public.

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The phrase "easy on the eyes" may hit closer to the mark than we suspected. Experiments led by Piotr Winkielman, of the University of California, San Diego, and published in the current issue of Psychological Science, suggest that judgments of attractiveness depend on mental processing ease, or being "easy on the mind."

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Scientists at the University of California, San Diego and Yale University have discovered that a natural protein produced by Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium sprayed on crops by organic farmers to reduce insect damage, is highly effective at treating hookworm infections in laboratory animals.

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The University of California, San Diego, long recognized for its pivotal role in seeding what has become one of the largest and most dense biotech sectors in the nation, was ranked among the top universities in the world for its prowess in developing and translating biotechnology into medical treatments, drugs, and other commercial applications.

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Glenn Hubbard, one of the nation's most prominent economists, will address "Tax Policy and International Competitiveness: A Cross-Country Comparison," when he speaks at the University of California, San Diego Economics Roundtable, October 12, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the Faculty Club on the UCSD campus.

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Using newly available data on worldwide cancer incidence to map cancer rates in relation to proximity to the equator, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have shown a clear association between deficiency in exposure to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B (UVB), and kidney cancer.