Lectures sponsored by the University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. http://library.ucsc.edu/pod/index.html © 2006 The Regents, University of California http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:54:50 -0800 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:02:34 -0800 FeedForAll Mac v1.6 (1.6.0.10) UC Santa Cruz University Library Speakers sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz University Library. Library, libraries, education, academic Various Speakers ahubble@ucsc.edu Ann Hubble no Academic Libraries of the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities. Guest speaker: library design visionary Geoffrey Freeman, Principal, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott Architects, Boston http://library.ucsc.edu/pod/ Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:00:13 -0800 Guest speaker library design visionary Geoffrey Freeman The Future of the University Library: a symposium to honor Virginia Steel, UCSC's new University Librarian library, libraries, academic libraries, future, challenges, design, architecture, UC Santa Cruz, Geoffrey Freeman no Treating Skin Cancer with Light? Not a Fallacy Anymore! http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:00:00 -0700 Treating Skin Cancer with Light? Not a Fallacy Anymore! Dr. Mascharak will discuss the fundamentals and potentials of an intriguing treatment of cancer with light and will highlight the unconventional use of nitric oxide in this process. During the past two decades, the connection between skin cancer and long exposure to sunlight has been established quite firmly. The recent changes in climate related to global warming and identification of ozone holes further add to this concern. Interestingly, many skin-cancer patients are treated with light of selected frequencies following administration of topical or systemic drugs. This is often referred to as Photodynamic Therapy. Dr. Mascharak’s research group has recently designed and synthesized several molecules that can selectively deliver high doses of nitric oxide to malignant sites under the total control of light exposure and cause cell destruction. They are now testing the feasibility of these unusual nitric-oxide donors for Photodynamic Therapy for skin cancer. In addition, these nitric-oxide donors can be employed to combat other localized cancers such as prostate- and breast cancer. cancer, light, skin cancer Pradip Mascharak no Why We Age, What Makes Us Age, and What Can Be Done About It http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:55:41 -0700 Why We Age, What Makes Us Age, and What Can Be Done About It Dr. Mangel will address the issue of why we age (or why we live as long as we do) and will explain some fundamental concepts in demography concerning lifespan. He will also explain why aging is the inevitable outcome of natural selection and that, even so, aging itself can evolve. The mechanism of aging can be understood as the accumulation of damage to molecules, cells, and tissues that express themselves in mortality and declining physiological capacity. Anti-aging intervention takes three possible routes: avoiding causes of premature death, making various kinds of dietary changes, and applying nanomedicine technologies to repair damage. Dr. Mangel will explain why the effects of these interventions on human lifespan are not clear. aging, age, lifespan Marc Mangel no Swimming in the Stomach: the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobactor pylori and disease http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:55:41 -0700 Swimming in the Stomach: the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobactor pylori and disease In the past few decades, scientists have discovered that most ulcers are caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium has many attributes that allow it to grow in the stomach and cause disease. Dr. Ottemann's lab studies one of these attributes--the ability to swim. H. pylori possesses several motors called flagella, which it uses to propel itself. It doesn't, however, swim at random. Instead it navigates toward beneficial compounds and away from harmful ones. The lab studies why H. pylori has this ability and how it helps the microbe infect and cause ulcers. These studies are carried out by engineering H. pylori mutants to lose the ability to direct their swimming and then figuring out how these mutants differ from their normal parents. Dr. Ottemann and her team have discovered that H. pylori hunts down specific nutrients by swimming and this ability helps it grow. The microbe also uses swimming to get close to the stomach cells and this ability initiates the development of an ulcer. Helicobacter, pylori, ulcer-causing bacterium, stomach Karen Ottemann no Reconstructing 100 Million Years of Human Evolutionary History http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:55:41 -0700 Reconstructing 100 Million Years of Human Evolutionary History Dr. Haussler is a Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and the Director of the UCSC Center for Biomolecular Science & Engineering. Dr. Haussler is best known to the public for his work with Jim Kent, in which he provided the computational solution that allowed the International Human Genome Project to complete the first working draft of the human genome, which they published on the Web for public access in 2000. Most recently Dr. Haussler made headlines worldwide for discovering a rapidly evolving “brain gene” that may account for why the human brain is three times larger than the chimpanzee brain. Currently, Dr. Haussler participates in broad international efforts in genomic research aimed at discovering and characterizing all regions of the human genome that are crucial to biological function. In this lecture he will discuss his current work on reconstructing the genome of the common ancestor of all placental mammals. From this genome reconstruction, scientists hope to be able to document most of the genomic changes that occurred in the evolution of the human lineage from the placental ancestor over the last 100 million years. Understanding these changes promises insights into human health and disease. Dr. Haussler’s talk will highlight some of his recent findings. Human Genome Project, brain gene, genomic David Haussler no Reconstructing 100 Million Years of Human Evolutionary History http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/past/silver0603.html msilver@ucsc.edu Thu, 02 Mar 2006 17:00:28 -0800 Red Tides, Shellfish, and Cultural Dietary Traditions Dietary traditions of seafood-consuming peoples suggest that waterborne toxins have been recognized and avoided for millennia. Since the early- to mid- 1900s, the western world has also used shellfish-monitoring programs to assure the safety of mussels and other shellfish for human consumption. The Winter 2006 Synergy Lecture will feature Dr. Mary Silver, who will discuss her research on aquatic microbes that produce toxins responsible for deaths of local marine birds and mammals. She will review the phenomenon of "red tides" and will speculate on possible links between marine toxins and culinary traditions in seafood-consuming cultures. waterborne toxins, mussels, shellfish, aquatic microbes, marine mammals, marine birds, Mary Silver no Great Earthquakes and Tsunamis: How, Why, and Where? http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/past/schwartz0510.html susan@es.ucsc.edu Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:00:00 -0700 Great Earthquakes and Tsunamis: How, Why, and Where? The December 2004 and March 2005 Sumatra earthquakes were the two largest earthquakes to occur in the past 40 years. While the human tragedy that accompanied these events is hard to comprehend, the location of these earthquakes, at a subduction zone plate boundary, is well known to generate the greatest earthquakes and tsunamis worldwide. The Fall 2005 Synergy Lecture will feature Dr. Susan Schwartz, who will explore the tectonic environment of subduction zone faults. She will address questions of how and why great earthquakes and tsunamis occur at these faults and what factors control the mode and localization of strain release. earthquakes, tsunamis, tectonic, subduction zone, faults, strain release, earth sciences Susan Schwartz no Wiring the Nervous System From Tip to Toe: How Do Neurons Go to and Fro? http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/past/hinck0505.html hinck@biology.ucsc.edu Tue, 03 May 2005 16:00:10 -0700 Wiring the nervous system from tip to toe: how do neurons go to and fro? Have you ever wondered how cells in an embryo organize themselves into specialized structures that function as a unit---as a lung or heart or brain? The Spring 2005 Synergy Lecture will feature Dr. Lindsay Hinck whose research focuses on the specialization of cells that create our nervous system. During the development of the nervous system, billions of nerve cells must grow to the right place at the right time in order to generate elaborate networks of neural connections. Over one hundred years ago, Ramon y Cajal proposed that neurons are guided to targets by diffusible cues in much the same way that white blood cells are guided to wound sites. It is only in the last ten years that these cues have been identified. Dr. Hinck will discuss general features of guidance cues that organize the nervous system and describe her laboratory's investigation into how a neuron knows where to go. neurons, nervous system, nerve cells, neural connections, Ramon y Cajal Lindsay Hinck no What Is Our Universe? How Large Is It? What Was the Universe Like in the Past? http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/past/koo0503.html koo@ucolick.org Tue, 01 Mar 2005 16:00:26 -0800 What is our universe? How large is it? What was the universe like in the past? In the third of the S&E Library’s Synergy Lecture Series, UCSC Astronomy Professor David Koo will discuss the use of telescopes to glimpse the universe’s past as a way to answer these and other intriguing questions. Professor Koo will discuss an experiment called Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) where the Keck Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope are used to survey over 40,000 distant galaxies as they appeared when the universe was young. This project is led by UC Santa Cruz astronomers in collaboration with UC Berkeley, University of Hawaii Manoa, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology Astronomy, Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe, DEEP, Keck Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope David Koo no Mad Cow Disease: Why We All Have the Prion Protein and How It Can Go Wrong in Disease http://library.ucsc.edu/science/synergy/past/millhauser0410.html Thu, 14 Oct 2004 17:00:00 -0700 Mad Cow Disease: Why We All Have the Prion Protein and How It Can Go Wrong in Disease According to Professor Millhauser, despite nearly 20 years of research on the prion protein, its physiological function remains unclear. In modern biochemistry, understanding the structure of a protein and how it interacts with other materials can unlock the mysteries of its function. Prof. Millhauser's research on the analysis of proteins involved in metabolic and neurological diseases has assisted our understanding of how the prion protein works in maintaining our neurological health. Prof. Millhauser will discuss general features of prion diseases and late-breaking insights into the prion protein's proposed function. 0:00 mad cow disease, prion protein, biochemistry Glenn Millhauser no The End of Cyberspace http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/mosaic/index.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:00:56 -0700 The End of Cyberspace Mosaic: Intersections in the Humanities & Social Sciences - A McHenry Library Lecture Series Focusing on UCSC research, teaching and grants in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a view towards their impact on society. cyberspace Alex Soojung-Kim Pang no Lou Harrison, Musical Trailblazer http://library.ucsc.edu/mosaic/index.html Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:02:56 -0700 Lou Harrison, Musical Trailblazer Mosaic: Intersections in the Humanities & Social Sciences - A McHenry Library Lecture Series Focusing on UCSC research, teaching and grants in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a view towards their impact on society. Lou Harrison, Leta Miller no Santa Cruz Coast: Then & Now http://library.ucsc.edu/mosaic/index.html Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:02:56 -0700 "Santa Cruz: Then & Now" a talk by Professor Gary Griggs and Deepika Shrestha Ross Gary Griggs, Professor of Earth Sciences at UCSC, and architect Deepika Shrestha Ross will talk about their recent research on the physical evolution of the Santa Cruz coastline. Using specific examples from their new book published by Arcadia Press, Griggs and Ross examine the scientific and cultural impact of the natural erosion process and the effects of the changing coastline on the Santa Cruz community between Rio Del Mar and Davenport. Santa Cruz coastline, natural erosion, Rio Del Mar, Davenport Gary Griggs and Deepika Shrestha Ross no