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Scientists Race to Outpace Lethal Bacterial Infections

The race is on between new antibiotics and drug-resistant bacteria—and scientists are challenged to keep up. By 2050, according to a Wellcome Trust study, deaths from deadly infections will be more common than cancer deaths. Scientists report that currently antimicrobial resistance causes 23,000 deaths annually in the U.S.; 700,000 deaths worldwide. Better methods to treat bacterial infections are urgently needed. So researchers, including a University of California San Diego professor, are gaining ground by demonstrating the first example of an effective gene therapy for deadly bacterial infections.

Distinguished Math Professor’s Road to Success Takes her Full Circle

The headaches of heavy traffic may be universal, but University of California San Diego’s Ruth Williams works to ease the pain. The Department of Mathematics professor analyzes traffic congestion within the field of stochastic networks. This area of math describes real-world systems running at near-maximum capacity. It applies to things like the Internet when congested, assembly line glitches, customer service queues and freeways at rush hour. For this work, and for her many contributions to probability theory and collaborative research, Williams has been selected as a Corresponding Member of the Australian Academy of Science. The U.K.’s Professor Richard Ellis joins her as a new academy member.

Single Injection Alleviates Chemotherapy Pain for Months in Mice

UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that treating mice with a single spinal injection of a protein called AIBP — and thus switching “off” TLR4, a pro-inflammatory molecule — prevented and reversed inflammation and cellular events associated with pain processing. As reported May 29 by Cell Reports, the treatment alleviated chemotherapy pain in mice for two months with no side effects.

UC San Diego Nets No. 20 Spot on New List of Globe’s Best Universities

A new world ranking names the University of California San Diego among the globe’s top 20 best universities; the campus netted the 16th spot on among U.S. universities. The annual rankings from the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), released today, measure universities’ quality of research, faculty, influence, enterprise and successful alumni.

Hot Cars Can Hit Life-Threatening Levels in Approximately One Hour

Researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Arizona State University found that if a car is parked in the sun on a summer day, the interior temperature can reach 116 degrees F. and the dashboard may exceed 165 degrees F. in approximately one hour — the time it can take for a young child trapped in a car to suffer fatal injuries.

Missing World War II B-24 Bomber Discovered By Project Recover Off Papua New Guinea

A B-24 D-1 bomber associated with 11 American servicemen missing in action from World War II was recently found and documented in Hansa Bay off Papua New Guinea by Project Recover—a collaborative team of marine scientists, archaeologists and volunteers who have combined efforts to locate aircraft associated with MIAs from WWII.