ARTS&CULTURE
OPINION
IN THIS ISSUE
The answer to your existential crisis? » PAGE 10
A blog that catalogs mishandling of pipettes. » PAGE 10
Time-Wasting Tips
Underneath the Lintel Review
News Briefs » PAGE 3 Journal Club » PAGE 4 Puzzles » PAGE 11
Synapse TRAVEL The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Tamil Nadu, India
synapse.ucsf.edu
Volume 58, Number 8
Ahuas, Gracias a Dios, Honduras: Travel Nursing in a Rural Hospital
Dr. Ovelio, Hannah Patzke, and patient in la sala operatoria at Clinica Evangelica Moravia. Photo courtesy of Hannah Patzke After taking Darshanam and watching the evening aarti ceremony at the majestic Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameshwaram, I was able to capture the serenity of two religious priests strolling through one of the temple’s colorful passageways.
Photo and story by Mitul Kapadia
I
spent the summer working on developing a community-based rehabilitation program in rural Sargur, in the state of Karnataka, India. Following my month of volunteer work, I did some traveling in the state of Tamil Nadu. As we approached the train station, we saw the wrap-around lines at the ticket counter to buy our train ticket. Fortunately, we had arrived well in advance of the departure time and had bottles of water to quench our thirst in the 100-plus degree weather. Once we had our tickets, we decided to try to board early to get a good seat. Only then did we see that literally every square inch of seats and floor space was occupied. There were even people lying in all the baggage shelf space. Left with only one option, we claimed the steps onto one of the trains as our space for the next three hours. This ended up being quite a blessing in disguise — we got free “air-conditioning,” some fresh air, and got to see rural life in India in its uninhibited glory. Before we knew it, our feet were dangling over the Laccadive Sea with the most breathtaking sunset. Immediately, I grabbed my camera and captured a moment of serenity in an otherwise chaotic trip.
Mitul Kapadia, MD, MSc, is an Assistant Clinical Professor and Clinical Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation.
Puyallup, Washington
By Hannah Patzke
“I
s p a r a a i k l a k a n , d o c t o r. L a t w a n , d o c t o r. Latwan!”
Rides at the Puyallup Fair. Yes, we were there from opening to close, eating fair scones and purple cotton candy. The most interesting food: a side of rice for $5. Being Asian, I had to have rice with my BBQ, so went to another booth just to get rice. My Asian side flinched when I saw the price. Photo by Clara Abejuela, food service worker, UCSF Patient Food Services.
“The machete cut me, doctor. It hurts, doctor. It hurts!” I heard the cry ringing through the halls of our tiny rural hospital in Ahuas, Honduras, and I knew I needed to get ready to scrub into surgery. Already that week, we’d had three people come in with serious tendon damage from machete wounds. Machetes (or ispara as they are called in Miskito) are the tools of choice for many laborers here in La Moskitia. Farming, cutting grass, harvesting yucca, splitting open a coconut — everything is done with the machete. Boys of barely 4 years of age are already wielding these giant blades to cut grass. Our first case of the day was indeed 4 years old. The machete had sliced through his palm and severed his fourth and fifth fingers. His pinky finger was only barely attached to the ring finger. The ring finger had been amputated completely through the bone, but a flexor tendon was still attached, and there was some blood flow to the digit. Somewhat miraculously, the pinkie finger also had capillary refill, although we could not see how. The doctors scrubbed in, and I monitored
AHUAS » PAGE 5
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EVENTS MISSION BAY EVENTS J-1 ORIENTATION
Thursday, Oct. 31, noon-2 p.m., Rock Hall, 102, Mission Bay J-1 immigration regulations mandate that all new J-1 visa holders who have started their appointment at UCSF must attend one orientation. At orientation, you will learn about traveling during your program, employment and reimbursement policies, extending your program and other helpful information about living in San Francisco and doing research at UCSF. Bring your passport and your DS-2019.
SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER
Friday, Nov. 1, noon-1 p.m., Graduate Division Conference Room, third floor, Mission Bay Community Center Synapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. RSVP to synapse@ucsf.edu.
MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES
Friday, Nov. 1, 1-2 p.m., Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing. All are welcome.
MISSION BAY RIPS
Friday, Nov. 1, 4-5 p.m., Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission Bay RIPS is a seminar series wherein one student and one postdoc present their current research. Talks are 15 minutes in length and are preceded by a 20-minute social. Snacks and beverages are provided.
SATURDAY SNACKTIME
Saturday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m.-noon, Student Resource Center, Mission Bay Do you love breakfast? Come to the Student Resource Center for some bagels, cereal and coffee. You can learn about campus events and make some new friends.
UNWIND: STRESS MANAGEMENT FOR WOMEN
Monday, Nov. 4, noon-1 p.m., Student Health and Counseling Services, Rutter Center, third floor, Mission Bay Take a breather and learn helpful techniques to relax and manage your stress from Felicia De La Garza Mercer, Ph.D. This workshop will focus on Overcoming Perfectionism. Free lunch for students who RSVP. felicia. mercer@ucsf.edu.
INVESTMENT CLUB: COREY GOODMAN, VENBIO
Monday, Nov. 4, 6-7:30 p.m., Genentech Hall, 114, Mission Bay Investment Club UCSF Meeting, featuring Corey Goodman from venBio.
BAGEL TUESDAY
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 8:30 a.m., Student Lounge, Genentech Hall, second floor, Mission Bay Come enjoy some free bagels, pastries and coffee. Learn about campus services and events and build a community at Mission Bay. Open to students and postdocs.
MISSION BAY FARMERS’ MARKET
BAGEL WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 9:30 a.m., Nursing Mezzanine Lounge, Parnassus Come enjoy some free bagels, pastries and coffee. Learn about campus services and events and build a community at Parnassus.
PARNASSUS FARMERS’ MARKET
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Gene Friend Way Plaza, Mission Bay Shop healthy, shop fresh, shop Californiagrown at the UCSF Farmers’ Market every Wednesday (rain or shine). Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association.
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., ACC, 400 Parnassus Ave. Shop the Farmers’ Markets on Wednesdays to pick up locally grown produce and more. Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association.
PERKS OF BEING AN INTROVERT
SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER
Wednesday, Nov. 6, noon-1 p.m., Rock Hall, 102, Mission Bay Have you ever been called “shy,” “quiet,” “a thinker” or a “wallflower”? Do you appreciate alone time? Do you find it exhausting to operate in large social gatherings or on teams? Do you experience social anxiety? Congratulations, you may be an introvert! Come learn more about the power of introversion in a world that often seems dominated by the extroverted and outspoken, and how your temperament can help you thrive. Free lunch for students who RSVP to james.lyda@ucsf.edu.
PARNASSUS EVENTS UC ORACLES TOASTMASTERS CLUB SPEECH-A-THON: “SPEAK WITHOUT FEAR!”
Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, noon-1p.m., Medical Science Building, S214 We will feature speakers of different communication levels who will speak on various fun and engaging topics. Stop by and experience how UC Oracles can improve your public speaking and leadership skills. Everyone has room to grow. Join us! Contact: maria.deguzman@nursing.ucsf.edu
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARTY
Thursday, Oct. 31, noon-1 p.m., Millberry Union, Golden Gate Room, Parnassus UCSF Campus Life Services Arts & Events, Outdoor Programs & Recreational Sports and the UCSF Multicultural Resource Center present the Annual Halloween Party, featuring DJ Jay Bee. Great prizes will be awarded to Best Individual Student and Best UCSF School Group Theme. Free nacho bar and aguas frescas while supplies last.
DIWALI NITE
Friday, Nov. 1, 7-11 p.m., Aldea Community Center, Parnassus The Indian Student Association is celebrating Diwali Nite — the festival of lights. This is the biggest Indian festival, celebrated all around the globe by the Indian community. There will be dinner, dancing and drinks.
ASUC MEETING: DENTISTRY, MEDICINE AND PHARMACY STUDENTS
Wednesday, Nov. 6, noon-1 p.m., Millbery Union 123W, Parnassus Synapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. Email for more information and to RSVP: synapse@ucsf.edu.
LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS AND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Wednesday, Nov. 6, noon-1 p.m., Health Science West, 301, Parnassus Are you interested in working with underserved populations in a community clinic? Representatives from the National Health Service Corp (NHSC) and the California State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) will provide information on their scholarship and loan repayment programs for dentists, primary care physicians and nurse practitioners. Lunch will be provided! Sponsors: OCPD, SFA, FGSS, ASDA.
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE NETWORK INFORMATIONAL MEETING
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 5-5:45 p.m., Health Science West, 303, Parnassus This will be the first meeting of the Integrative Medicine Network (IMN). We will discuss the history of the IMN and the future IMN events that will take place this school year. This meeting is for current members and those interesting in learning more about becoming members for the 2013-2014 school year.
SCIENCE POLICY GROUP WORKSHOP
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 6-8 p.m., Nursing Building, 417 If you think you may be interested in science policy but don't know how to get involved (or if you have an idea and want to find like-minded people to share it with), join us for an informal get-together to discuss science policy topics in the focus areas of Advocacy, Reform, Education, Health Care, and Outreach.
OFF-CAMPUS MISSION CENTER BUILDING HALLOWEEN
Monday, Nov. 4, 5:30 p.m., Library, CL 221, Parnassus Meet your executive board members at the monthly ASUC meeting and be a part of the discussion on topics relating to student priorities. Visit the ASUC website for more details and to RSVP. http://bit.ly/ ASUCwebsite.
Thursday, Oct. 31, noon-1 p.m., location to be announced Join Campus Life Services Arts and Events’ Mission Center Building Outreach Team for Halloween snacks and a costume contest. Sponsored by Campus Life Services Arts & Events.
BUSINESS CLUB: ONESTART BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION LAUNCH
Thursday, Oct. 31, noon-1 p.m., Garden Room and the View Café Prizes will be awarded for best costume and door decorations, and there will be a photo booth and treats. Sign up for the door-decorating contest by contacting cindy.cheng@ucsf.edu. Costume contest registration will be on the day of the event, from noon-12:15 p.m. The door-decorating contest winners will be announced at 12:30 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Outreach and produced by
Monday, Nov. 4, 6-9 p.m., Health Science West 300, Parnassus Join the Business Club to learn about the OneStart Business Plan Competition for the United States, launched by the Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable. The winner will receive $150,000 in seed funding, plus lab space at Johnson & Johnson.
LAUREL HEIGHTS HALLOWEEN
Campus Life Services Arts & Events and the Laurel Heights Outreach Team.
MOUNT ZION HALLOWEEN
Thursday, Oct. 31, noon-1 p.m., Lunch Stop Cafeteria Join the Mount Zion Outreach Team for an afternoon of fun, cake and costumes. Costume judging will begin at 12:30 p.m. Sponsored by Campus Life Services Arts & Events.
OFF-CAMPUS CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: CREATURES OF THE NIGHTLIFE
Thursday, Oct. 31, 6-10 p.m., Cal Academy, Golden Gate Park The creatures come out at night, as NightLife partners with the Bay Area Science Festival for an evening of spine-tingling delight on Halloween. Discover the science and spectacle behind werewolves, vampires, zombies and other creatures that go bump in the night. Come in costume and catch a drag show and costume contest hosted by hostess of horror and local drag queen legend Peaches Christ. Face off with your inner monster with the help of manic makeup artists, touch slimy specimens (including human brains!) in an Organ Lab, and take part in a giant squid dissection. http://bit.ly/NightLifeTickets, http://bit.ly/CLSDiscounts.
OFF THE GRID: UPPER HAIGHT
Thursday, Oct. 31, 5-9 p.m., Stanyan and Waller Streets, SF Off the Grid is a roaming mobile food extravaganza that travels to different locations daily to serve delicious food, with a free side of amazing music, craft and soul.
FRIDAY NIGHTS AT THE DE YOUNG
Friday, Oct. 31, 5-8.45 p.m., de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park Friday Nights at the de Young offer a variety of interdisciplinary arts programs, including live music, dance performances, film screenings, panel discussions, lectures, artist demonstrations, special performances, hands-on art activities and more. Programs are free and open to the public, but do not include admission to the museum’s galleries.
DISCOVERY DAYS AT AT&T PARK
Saturday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., AT&T Park, SF AT&T Park will become a science wonderland, when the Bay Area Science Festival concludes again with this free science extravaganza. Last year, more than 30,000 people enjoyed a nonstop program chock-full of interactive exhibits, experiments, games and shows, all meant to entertain and inspire. With more than 150 exhibits, there is something for everyone to unleash their inner scientist. http://bit.ly/BASFscienceconversations2011.
BANK OF AMERICA FREE MUSEUM WEEKEND
Saturday, Nov. 2–Sunday, Nov. 3, various locations, SF Holders of Bank of America credit cards and debit cards get free admission to several Bay Area museums for one weekend each month. http://bitly.com/BofAmuseums
BENEFIT FOR PROJECT OPEN HAND
Saturday, Nov. 2, Treasure Island The Ultimate Towner Obstacle Course Race is taking place on Treasure Island. It’s a 4-mile course with Fast and Fun classes and 25 obstacles — climbing over walls, crawling through mud, zigzagging over wine barrels. Come run, walk, climb, or just spectate and have a complimentary beer from Lagunitas. Event registration: ultimatetowner.com.
synapse.ucsf.edu | October 31, 2013 | 3
ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE YOU A FIRST-GENERATION-TOCOLLEGE STUDENT (FG2C)?
Register with the First Generation Support Services Office to give you access to all of the First Generation Support Services and to help the office advocate for you! http://bit. ly/17jD4R5
25TH ANNUAL UCSA STUDENT OF COLOR CONFERENCE: REGISTER
Friday, Nov. 15–Sunday Nov. 17, UCLA The UCSA Student of Color Conference provides a venue for students of color and allied leaders from all 10 UC campuses to strategize around statewide actions and build leadership. If you are interested in attending, please contact Aaron Dolor (aaron.dolor@ ucsf.edu). Sponsors: GSA and ASUC. http:// bit.ly/1ibQq3s
UC BERKELEY-UCSF MASTER OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE PROGRAM: APPLY NOW FOR FALL 2014
The Master of Translational Medicine (MTM) program is a professional master's program run jointly between the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley and the Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy at UCSF. More information is available at bioeng.berkeley. edu/mtm. Interested applicants may contact the MTM Executive Director, Kyle Kurpinski, PhD, kkurpins@berkeley.edu, with specific questions. Applications are due Feb. 3, 2014.
UCSF SCHOOL OF PHARMACY MUSICALS PRESENTS AMALUNA
Thursday, Nov. 21, 8-10 p.m., Grand Chateau, AT&T Park, SF Sunday, Nov. 24, 4:30-6:3 p.m., Grand Chateau, AT&T Park, SF Tickets are on sale for Amaluna — the newest Cirque du Soleil touring show. Tickets are available ranging from $50-$95, based on seating area. All proceeds benefit third- and fourth-year students at the UCSF School of Pharmacy. freewebs.com/ucsfsopmusicals/.
a competition for the most effective and creative video showing how biomedical and biological research is funded in the United States and how the results of federally funded research benefit Americans. Ideas for submission include, but are not limited to: interviews, animation and music/ dance videos. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000. Video submissions will be accepted through Nov. 30. The winner will be announced in February 2014. faseb.org/ About-FASEB/Scientific-Contests/StandUp-for-Science/About-SUFS.aspx.
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) is sponsoring
Synapse
Spend some time with friends and family at CLS Outdoor Program’s winter cabin in Truckee (North Lake Tahoe). The cabin sleeps up to 15 people. Conveniently located near North Tahoe’s best ski areas, this winter home comes fully equipped. Reservations for students can be made at both Parnassus and Mission Bay Fitness & Recreation Centers at 8 a.m. First come, first served. In person reservations only. Please call (415) 476-2078 for more details.
SEP RECRUITING FOR 20132014 CLASSROOM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS
The Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) offers opportunities for UCSF volunteers to work with San Francisco K-12 teachers to co-plan and co-teach a series of four investigative science lessons in the teachers’ classrooms during the spring semester. The commitment is only 20 hours, flexibly scheduled from January to May. Professional students, graduate students, postdocs, research scientists and faculty are all eligible to apply. Applications are on SEP’s website: ucsf.edu/sep.
FREE SYNAPSE CLASSIFIEDS
UCSF students and staff can now post online classified ads for free on the Synapse website. All you need is an @ucsf.edu email account. Try it out! synapse.ucsf.edu/classifieds.
CLASSIFIEDS Sunset SF retail stores for rent: $2,800/ month each, 2132 and 2134 Taraval St., easy transportation, 1 bedroom, kitchen, full bath in the back of store. (415) 665-4567.
500 Parnassus Ave. Millberry Union 108W San Francisco, CA 94143 tel: (415) 476-2211 | fax: (415) 502-4537 synapse@ucsf.edu
The UCSF Student Newspaper synapse.ucsf.edu STAFF
Yi Lu | EDITOR Jenny Qi | EXECUTIVE EDITOR Alexandra Greer | SCIENCE EDITOR Angela Castanieto | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Steven Chin | MANAGING EDITOR Victoria Elliott | COPY EDITOR
About
Synapse is the UCSF student-run weekly newspaper, which runs on Thursdays during the academic year and monthly during the summer. Synapse seeks to serve as a forum for the campus community. Articles and columns represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Board of Publications or the University of California.
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Announcements and letters should be submitted six days before publication. All submissions can be either emailed or mailed. All material is subject to editing. Letters to the Editor must be signed by the author.
Subscriptions Subscriptions cost $20/year ($40/outside US).
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NEWS
Paid advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of Synapse. Synapse and its editorial board reserve the right to decline advertisements promoting false or misleading claims, known health risks, or content deemed by the editors to be antithetical to the interests of UCSF students or the UCSF community. Synapse does not accept advertisements from tobacco or alcohol manufacturers, or sexually oriented personal ads. Synapse reserves the right to run any ad with a disclaimer.
Staff Report
L
et scientists demonstrate how you can play with your food at the local farmers’ market. Learn how to survive a zombie attack on Halloween night. Or sip a cocktail in the company of robots. The third annual Bay Area Science Festival is rolling out a variety of fun, informative events for all ages to celebrate the role of science, engineering and technology in the region and around the world. Produced by the Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UCSF, the 10-day festival involves a number of science institutions, including UC Berkeley, Stanford University, the California Academy of Sciences, the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland and the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. The festival kicked off last Thursday at the new Exploratorium in The City with an “After Dark” event that featured a series of guest lectures and the debut of Homouroboros, a large-scale interactive zoetrope by the artist Peter Hudson, in the public plaza at Pier 15. More than 30 events later, the festival culminates in Discovery Days at AT&T Park on Saturday, November 2, when the entire ballpark will be transformed into a playground for science exploration. The free daylong event, which drew more than 30,000 people last year, will have 150 exhibits, as well as the first-ever Robot Zoo, showcasing innovations curated by Silicon Valley Robotics, a nonprofit business association. Check out the full event schedule at bayareascience.org/schedule/.
OPINION
Letter to the Editor In Support of Parents at UCSF Dear Editor, Thank you for publishing Debbie Ruelas’ piece, “Dear PI, I’m Pregnant,” in the October 17 issue of Synapse. I started my PhD program with a 1-year-old daughter and was pregnant again in my third year. So Debbie’s experience struck a chord and gave me a reason to reflect on how I, like Debbie, was lucky to have an understanding supervisor back then. I want students and faculty to know that I am committed to making UCSF a place where women (and men) feel supported not only as students, but also as parents. On the practical side, the Graduate Division has instituted a program of child care grants for students who demonstrate financial need. It is my priority to create a caring campus atmosphere at UCSF, in which students can do pioneering experiments, write original papers and dissertations and start (or, as I did, expand) their families. Elizabeth Watkins Vice Chancellor, Student Academic Affairs Dean, Graduate Division
NEWS BRIEFS AB 154: UCSF Study Leads to Expanded State Abortion Care By Kate Mitchell/MEPN1 On October 9, 2013 Governor Brown signed AB 154 into law. The bill expands abortion access to rural California women by authorizing trained Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs), and Physician Assistants (PAs) to perform first trimester manual aspiration abortions (MVA). Prior to AB 154, over half of California counties lacked abortion services. The bill, authored by State Assembly member Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), follows a five-year research study conducted by UCSF, which showed that specially trained advanced practice nurses (APRN) provide high quality early abortion care with complication rates clinically equivalent to that of physicians. California follows Oregon, Montana, Vermont and New Hampshire in recognizing the reproductive needs of rural women and the competencies of advanced practice nurses.
Gladstone Scientist Receives Prestigious Pacesetter Award Lennart Mucke, MD, Director of Neurological Research at the Gladstone Institutes and Professor of Neurology at UCSF, has received the ARCS Foundation’s 2013 Pacesetter Award for his lifelong dedication to overcoming Alzheimer’s disease — and for mentoring students to take a similar approach. The award, the second received by a Gladstone scientist, underscores the quality of research being conducted at this independent biomedical-research organization, which was founded in San Francisco in 1979. The ARCS Foundation, which provides awards to academically outstanding U.S. citizens studying science, engineering and medical research, presented the award to Mucke at a October 28 luncheon. Mucke gave the luncheon’s keynote address, speaking about what it will take to defeat Alzheimer’s disease. To be sure, this acknowledgement of Mucke’s success in Alzheimer’s research comes at a critical time. No effective treatments exist at present to slow, prevent or halt this neurodegenerative disease, which robs people of critical brain functions, including their ability to retain memories.
City/UCSF Welfare-to-Work Partnership Honors Graduates Newly minted UCSF interns from EXCEL, the model welfare-to-work program run jointly by UCSF and the City and County of San Francisco, graduated last Friday. EXCEL (Excellence through Community Engagement and Learning) is a job-training program that UCSF established in 1998 to extend opportunities to the economically distressed neighborhoods near its campus and the surrounding biotech hub at Mission Bay. With support from the City and County of San Francisco and the Salesforce.com Foundation, EXCEL is cited by city leaders as an example of what can be done when employers who need entry-level workers carefully manage training programs. Over a 15-year period, EXCEL has graduated more than 180 San Francisco residents, including many who ultimately obtained career employment throughout UCSF. This year, the program was expanded with the financial support of the Salesforce.com Foundation, and UCSF now enrolls about 40 interns per year. Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) runs the 10-week course, which includes training in computers, administration, customer service and medical terminology. Participants are then placed in paid, four-month clerical/administrative internships at UCSF.
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Introducing the CLARIOstar
®
Recent research by UCSF Scientists By Alexandra Greer Science Editor
Any Wavelength. Any Bandwidth. Any Assay.
CANCER BIOLOGY: PTEN expression is consistent in colorectal cancer primaries and metastases and associates with patient survival. Atreya, C.E. et al. (Warren). Cancer Medicine. 2(4):496-506.
The First High Performance Microplate Reader with Advanced LVF MonochromatorsTM, Spectrometer and Filters Advanced Detection for Fluorescence and Luminescence Assays: Continuously adjustable wavelengths (320 - 850 nm) and bandwidths (8 - 100 nm) for excitation and emission Increased sensitivity over conventional monochromators Integrated fluorophore library for easy wavelength selection Use monochromators, filters, or a combination of both Fluorescence and Luminescence spectral scanning CLARIOstar Additional Features: Full spectral absorbance with ultra-fast UV/Vis spectrometer Laser-based Alpha Technology Fluorescence Intensity, FRET, Fluorescence Polarization, TRF/TR-FRET/HTRF®, Luminescence, and BRET Reagent injectors for kinetic or cell-based assays Low volume DNA measurements Visit us at the Mission Bay Campus Vendor Show Sept 19th, and Parnassus Campus Vendor Show on Oct 3rd for more information.
Tel. +1 877 BMG-LABS (877-264-5227) usa@bmglabtech.com · www.bmglabtech.com
Digital accuracy.
UCSF JOURNAL CLUB
Amazingly simple.
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UCSF Match Fund Purchase Program
VistaLab UCSF Special Fall Promotion
Purchase an ergonomic non-axial pipette (OVATION), receive 50% reimbursement (up to $500 per qualifying employee!). See: http://or.ucsf.edu/ehs/ergo.defined/8283
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Visit www.vistalab.com for full information on Ovation pipettes.
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Every cancer is unique. As a hypothetical scenario, take 10 individual diagnoses of colorectal cancer, and you’ll see 10 very different courses of the disease: Some may be rapidly lethal despite aggressive treatment, some may initially respond but ultimately become lethal, others may regress after only aggressive treatment, and some may regress easily. This kind of variation makes it extremely difficult to decide upon treatment options and often leaves patients with diminished confidence about their future. How can we better identify how each cancer will behave? Increasingly, the answer seems to lie in genetics. In this paper, researchers sought to find a robust way of identifying more aggressive colorectal cancers by looking for the presence or absence of PTEN, a gene involved in regulating the cell cycle. They looked at tissue from primary or secondary metastases from a group of colorectal cancers and found around 10 percent had lost PTEN expression and validated this method for primary tumors (meaning that it works if you test it on the original tumors before they metastasize — that is, much earlier in the course of the disease). PTEN-deficient tumors were associated with an overall survival of nine months, as compared with 49 months for tumors that still had PTEN expression. PTEN expression can therefore be used as a way of determining the aggressiveness of colorectal cancer. NEUROSCIENCE: Soluble guanylate cyclase generation of cGMP regulates migration of MGE neurons. Mandal, S.; Stanco, A.; Buys, E.S.; Enikolopov, G.; Rubenstein, J.L. Journal of Neuroscience. 33(43):16897-914. During brain development in the neocortex, neurons from a deep layer of the brain migrate upwards, then divide, causing a relative increase in the surface area of neurons at the top of the brain (neocortex) compared to the deeper layers of the brain. This surface area mismatch causes folding of the neocortex and the typical wrinkled appearance of our brains. During development, then, there is a lot of movement of neurons from deep in the brain to more superficial areas, so that this process can occur. The medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) is one of those deep brain regions that neurons migrate through to get to the neocortex. In this paper, researchers wanted to identify the control mechanisms that govern neuron movement from the MGE into the neocortex. By using a panel of different mouse genetic knockouts that don’t have proper neuron migration for different genetic reasons, they were able to identify the common thread that causes defective neuron migration from the MGE. Nitric oxide-cyclic GMP is a circularized version of the nucleotide guanine bound to nitric oxide and is made by soluble guanylate cyclases extracellularly in the brain. Knockout mice for nitric oxide or guanylate cyclases had defective neuron migration from the MGE, indicating the importance of this molecule in neuron movement. IMMUNOLOGY: Interaction of allergy history and antibodies to specific Varicella zoster virus proteins on glioma risk. Lee, S.T. et al. (Wiemels) International Journal of Cancer. October 11. [Epub ahead of print] Gliomas, the most common type of brain or spinal cancer, present in highly diverse ways: Some are slow growing and don’t metastasize, while others can be extremely aggressive, metastatic and rapidly lethal. Gliomas are also poorly understood: Little is known about what causes them, and they can appear to strike patients at random. Significant effort has been devoted to identifying associations between glioma and unique exposures or other health conditions of glioma patients, in order to identify potential risk factors. Interestingly, the presence of allergies and a history of chicken pox or shingles are negatively associated with the risk of glioma — meaning that people who have been infected with the varicella zoster virus and people with allergies have a lower risk of developing glioma. Here, scientists wanted to explore this potential relationship by testing glioma patients and healthy individuals for antibody responses to varicella zoster viral proteins. As compared with healthy individuals, glioma patients were found to have reduced antibody reactivity against the viral proteins. The healthy individuals were then separated into two further groups, low- and highly allergic individuals. Viral reactivity was associated with reduced glioma risk only in the highly allergic group. The authors conclude that the interaction between the allergic immune environment and specific antiviral antibodies may interact to help prevent gliomas.
Alexandra Greer is a sixth-year Biomedical Sciences student. For comments or paper suggestions, email Alexandra.Greer@ucsf.edu.
synapse.ucsf.edu | October 31, 2013 | 5
Puerto Rico: Swimming in Fire
El Yunque National Forest.
A beach in Vieques.
Photos and story by Ernesto Diaz-Flores
booked a kayak tour at night to see it. After a bumpy road in an old bus that could put the best roller-coaster in the world to shame, we arrived at Mosquito Bay. Within a few moments, we were kayaking in a pitch-black bay, where the only thing I could see was darkness — until I looked down into the water. There below was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen: glowing water! Every movement — paddling, touching the surface, even swimming fish — made the water light up. And if you scooped water in your hands, every falling droplet looked like fire. At one point, far inside the bay, in the calm of the night, they let us take a dip in the water. Although you cannot see yourself, you can see the luminescence when you move the water. I started swimming, and I could see my hands, arms and body shaped by light. It was magical and mesmerizing. I felt as though I was swimming in fire. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I
t doesn’t happen often that I get to enjoy two different vacations in one summer, and one of them to a Caribbean destination: Puerto Rico. I booked my flight and the first night in a hotel in the capital, San Juan. The next nine days were pure adventure. The weather was sunny, hot and humid, with occasional storms. I loved it. Old San Juan is beautiful, with city fortresses that stood for 400 years to keep it a Spanish colony, until the United States took over the island. On my second day, I made it to El Yunque National Forest, a beautiful rainforest of lush green and picturesque waterfalls. I hiked under the sound of birds and the coqui frogs — one of the symbols of Puerto Rico. The next day, I took a ferry to the island of Vieques, where I discovered that island time passes at a different pace. Five hours after departure time, I finally boarded the ferry, but that long wait was about to pay off. Upon arrival, I learned about the bioluminescent bay, so I
Ernesto Diaz-Flores, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Pediatrics/Hematology Department.
Nepal: Escape to the Top of the World
Ahuas
» FROM HOME PAGE
Patient's severed hand at the Clinica Evangelica Moravia in Ahuas, Honduras. Photo by Hannah Patzke
Above and below: Along the Annapurna Trekking Circuit in Nepal.
Photos and story by Theresa Poulos
D
espite the fact that I’ve absolutely loved my experiences as a third-year medical student, the hours on the wards mixed with the demands of studying — while constantly trying to learn, impress and care for others in ever-changing environments — can take its toll. One night this summer, I found myself at my kitchen table after a particularly long call day, thinking, “I need to get as far away from all of this as possible.” The world’s highest mountain, on the opposite side of the globe, was the best I could come up with, so by the next evening, I had booked a trip to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. A f t e r n on s t op w or k a n d s tu d y ing since Januar y, simply sitting on that plane to Nepal at the beginning of October felt downright indulgent. Unfortunately, weather kept thousands of eager explorers — including myself — from the Everest region this fall (climate change is no joke, friends!). So instead, I embarked on a 10-day trek through the Annapurna region of Nepal, traversing lush green forests, hillside rice fields and glacial waterfalls, dipping into hot springs
and frigid rapids and finally ascending to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), where snowcapped peaks reigned in majesty against a clear azure sky. Standing at ABC, I felt as free and far from San Francisco as I had desired on that cold, dreary, post-call summer night at my
kitchen table. Well, until I got called away from my moment of peace to help take care of a sick Sherpa. And in that role, thousands of miles away and on the top of the world, I somehow felt at home.
Theresa Poulos is a third-year medical student.
the tiny patient and administered ketamine as needed. Despite six years of Intensive Care Unit experience, I felt a small surge of nausea watching the torn fingers flop about as they were bathed in Betadine. It was the first time something has affected me like that since nursing school. Soon my interest overcame this slight weakness, and I was amazed yet again at the skill the doctors here possess with tendon repair. Each finger had multiple points of reattachment, and sometimes the tendons were not readily obvious. Torn ends had to be sought out from where they had retracted into the tissue. It took three hours, but at the end, both fingers were attached and pink. The child spent several days in the hospital receiving antibiotics, and then was sent home with his mother and physical therapy instructions for his hand. I hear from the nurses that he is able to use all five fingers.
Hannah Patzke is a first-year student in the Advanced Practice Public Health Nursing program.
6 | October 31, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Montana: Capturing the Sunrise Photos and story by Ernesto Diaz-Flores
M
y friend and I decided to do a photography, hiking and camping trip this summer to Wyoming, to see the oldest national park in the country, Yellowstone. We flew to the Jackson Hole airport, located on the beautiful outskirts of the Tetons. There, nature took over, and we found ourselves surrounded by mountains, meadows, rivers and wildlife. The views couldn’t have been more amazing. On the first day, we discovered Oxbow Bend, which offers one of the most spectacular views of the Teton Range. The Snake River makes a wide turn, flanked by colorful alpine trees, with the mountains as a backdrop. There we contemplated the first of many breathtaking sunsets on this adventure. Every day, we would wake up at 5 a.m., shoot the sunrise and spend the rest of the day hiking and encountering wildlife before moving to a new campground. Entering Yellowstone was like entering into a new world, filled with geysers, fumaroles, mud pots, colors and the smell of sulfur. Bison, pronghorn antelopes, wild horses, deer and elk became part of our daily encounters. We drove up to Montana to find a land of endless valleys, majestic mountains, mirror-like lakes and picturesque rivers. There was the Gallatin River, where you see fly fishermen just like those featured in A River Runs Through It. Back at the West End of Yellowstone, we got to relax at the boiling river. Here a hot spring meets the cooler river, creating a natural spa. At the Grand Tetons, I saw, for the first time, a massive grizzly bear. In the early morning of my last day, when the mountains and river were still shrouded in morning mist, I went back to Oxbow Bend to capture the sunrise. While waiting with my camera, I heard the unexpectedly melodious howling of wolves around me. This haunting, alluring sound was the ultimate realization that I was in harmony with nature. This magical moment will forever dwell in my mind, heart and soul.
Above: Oxbow Bend along the Snake River, Yellowstone National Park. Below: Horse in Tetons.
Photo and story by Priya Jayacha
B
eing accepted to the Sch moment that I’ve experie tersweet, because it was a had forfeited my rights to enjoy Since I still had four prerequi eted “Final Admit” letter, I spent dreaming about a European esca nomics. Shortly after completin with a bunch of clothes and toil my dearest travel companion, m Alkmaar is Holland’s cheese and myself, we were enraptured last Friday-morning cheese mar Known as Kaasmarkt, the ma til today, weighing and selling hu Waaggebouw, a sixteenth-centu The low-lying geography of it is far better suited to raising c largest exporter of cheese. Arriving about an hour befo plored the neat rows of cheese w 10 a.m., a bell was rung to signa by a narration of the ensuing ev ing of cheese is an ornate and co ternities of the cheese carriers’ g cheese wheels on cheese-barrow
Ernesto Diaz-Flores, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Pediatrics/ Hematology Department.
Dahab and Cairo, Egypt: From Paradise to the City Photos and story by Jennifer Neglerio
U
ntil this past June, the first thoughts to come to mind when I thought about Egypt were delicious food, uncomfortable camels, mosquitos, plenty of sun and par-
adise. These were all based on my experience in June of 2012, when I visited a friend who had moved out there to study Arabic. Most of my time was spent in Dahab, a laid-back town on the Sinai Peninsula, along the Red Sea. Being the SoCal girl that I am, I absolutely loved being by the water, and enjoyed Dahab and the people so much that I decided to cut out the rest of my itinerary just so I could stay. This was paradise for me. Little did I know I was visiting when election results would be revealed, announcing the successor to then-President Hosni Mubarak. This was a big deal, and a major turning point in Egypt’s history. It was intriguing listening to the different perspectives locals had on the candidates. Many expressed hope that tourism would return to where it once was. It had been declining for the past two years, and many shop owners were struggling. During the hour before the results were to be announced, the whole town fell silent in anticipation. Fast forward to exactly one year later. I found myself back in Cairo, right where I left off, but with a slight twist — in over a week, it was going to be the one-year anniversary of Mohamed Morsi’s inauguration as president. It was also the day millions of people would protest in an attempt to oust him from office, because they were not happy with many of his decisions and actions. It was exciting knowing locals and to have my friend Aprille give me insight into the events of the past year, although it was one-sided, because they were all supporting the protests. Everyone I met shared the same viewpoint and planned to go to Tahrir Square for the big day; nobody really knew if this would be the start of a revolution. Unwittingly, I had booked my flight out of Egypt on the day before the big protest, so I would not be around to see what happened. We would occasionally pass by organized protests throughout the week, see posters on the streets being put up, only to be taken down later, and on occasion, drive by checkpoints and corners guarded by military tanks.
Alkmaar: Holland’s
Despite the political mayhem, I still enjoyed my stay and never really felt unsafe. When we weren’t sleeping in, waiting for the temperatures to drop in the afternoon (it was hot!), we spent our time exploring the many districts of Cairo, hanging out at outdoor coffee shops, visiting hidden rooftop bars and attending free concerts. I got my Advanced PADI scuba diving certification in Hurgada, and of course, finally visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza. I had hoped to make my way back to paradise, Dahab, but there were so many other things to see and do that I felt I had to give my attention to Cairo this time around. I hope the country finds a way to stabilize, so the rest of the world won’t fear visiting.
Iceland is for (Natu
Jennifer Neglerio is a fourth-year dental student. A camel hanging out by one of the Seven Wonders, Giza, Egypt.
Left: A windswept church near the
Photos and story by Angela Broad
A Sizing up one of the pyramids, Giza, Egypt.
rugged island nation wi of arctic fjords, boiling ning cliffs, Iceland offe and endless opportunities for ou With only six days of vacation and I worried that we wouldn't sense of the country during our with some careful planning and a
synapse.ucsf.edu | October 31, 2013 | 7
Saddlebag Lake, California
Cheese Capital
andran
hool of Pharmacy was the most treasured enced all year, but the acceptance was bitaccompanied with the sad realization that I my very last summer vacation. isites to take before I could receive the covt the foggy months of June through August ape between lessons in cell biology and econg my final exams, I jammed my backpack letries and set off for the Netherlands with my mom. capital, and for cheese lovers like my mom by the thought of attending Alkmaar’s very rket of the summer. arket opened in 1593 and has continued unundreds of rounds of cheese in front of the ury weigh house located in the main square. Holland is not ideal for crop growing, but cows, making Holland the world’s first and
ore the market opened, my mom and I exwheels stacked in doubles in the square. At al the opening of the market, accompanied vents, provided in four languages. The sellolorful event in which members of four fraguild (red, yellow, blue and green) shuttle ws to and from the weigh house and square.
Above and below: Located in the Eastern Sierras, right before the entrance of Yosemite on the Highway 120, is the hidden, but fantastic, Saddlebag Lake. You need to drive a few miles on a dirt road to access it, but it is so worth it. You are then rewarded with amazing vistas and skies. Photos by Guillaume Desachy, a biostatistician working at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute.
Cheese carriers’ guild members carry cheese wheels on a traditional Dutch cheese barrow.
The wooden cheese barrows are tied to ropes that are slung across the shoulders of two men who share the weight of eight cheese wheels — or about 295 pounds of cheese between them. The gait of each carrier is unique to watch, because it is out of step with his partner. This ensures that the barrow remains still, as they run to and fro. After watching the sale of cheese for a while, my Mom and I explored the open-air markets of Alkmaar to sample the cheeses and to purchase our very own miniature wooden cheese barrow to bring home with us to San Francisco.
Priya Jayachandran is a first-year pharmacy student.
ure) Lovers
e remote Breiðavík beach in Iceland’s West Fjords. Right: Cozy, eco-friendly guest cabin at sundown on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland.
d
ith 40,000 square miles g hot springs and stuners spectacular scenery utdoor adventure. n to spare, my boyfriend have time to get a real r August trip. However, a little luck, we saw and
did a great deal. Due to the cost and hassle of domestic flights within Iceland, we decided to stick to exploring the west side of the island. We flew into Reykjavik, the funky capital city, rented a 4x4 and headed north. Since many sights are only accessible by unpaved roads, a four-wheel drive is necessary. We cruised around the Snæfellsnes peninsula, taking in the dramatic coastline on one side and the verdant, glacier-capped mountains on the other. Along the way, we stopped periodically to stroll
the ancient lava fields and hike up volcanic craters. A ferr y took us from the peninsula to the sparsely inhabited West Fjords, where we exp l ore d t h e r u g g e d b e a c h e s a n d c a m e f e e t away from puffins nesting on the cliffs. Circling back to Reykjavik, we encountered the only crowds we saw outside of the capital at the Thingvellir National Park. Lying at the boundary of two tectonic plates, the park boasts deep crevices filled with the im-
possibly clear fresh water that only frigid water temperatures can produce. Visiting Iceland in the summer precluded seeing the famous Northern Lights. Still, after a long day’s adventuring, watching the sun drop behind a mountain at 11 p.m. from the porch of our grass-roofed wood cabin seemed like a perfect consolation prize.
Angela Broad is a first-year medical student.
8 | October 31, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
Spain/Guatemala: Last Summer of Freedom 72 Hours Under the Tuscan Sun of Italy — La Dolce Vita!
Pacaya Volcano near Antigua, Guatemala. Photo courtesy of Jeannie Celestial
By Jeannie E. Celestial
A
fter completing the first year of my clinical psychology doctoral program, advanced students warned me that Year 1 summer was going to be the last summer of “free time” for the next several years. So, in lieu of starting my psychotherapy rotation during summer vacation, I chose to spend a few weeks traveling. I used frequent flyer miles to visit friends living in Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain—a town founded in the 12th century and a center for the Catalan wine industry. One highlight of this trip was visiting the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí. I attended mass in the crypt with elderly Spanish women, wearing delicate lace veils on their heads. Another highlight was making a little pilgrimage by train to the coastal town of Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dalí, and exploring his larger than life Theatre-Museum and mausoleum. After Spain, I made a quick stop back in the United States to pick up my niece, who had just graduated from high school. My parents paid for her to join me in Antigua, Guatemala, to study Spanish for two weeks. We enjoyed a home stay with a warm, hospitable local family, spending evenings chatting and laughing in Spanglish. An unforgettable memory from Guatemala was a side-trip to Tikal National Park, a major Mayan archaeological site. My niece and I hired a local guide, Roxy Ortiz, who led us on a 4 a.m. hike in the darkness through the jungle. While howler monkeys wailed in the canopies above, we cautiously avoided giant spider webs and slippery mud puddles. Our hiking group eventually trekked to one of the tallest pyramids in Tikal — Temple IV. At the top of the pyramid, we watched in reverent silence as the sun rose over the rainforest. Our guide Roxy told us to listen intently as the forest birds, one by one, broke into their morning song until finally, the whole forest resonated with their diverse melodies.
Jeannie E. Celestial, LCSW, is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology and a predoctoral psychology trainee in the UCSF Epilepsy Center and Memory & Aging Center.
Pretoria, South Africa
Sunrise at the Piazzale Michelangelo, Florence, Italy. Photo by Tina Tran
By Nicha Tantipinichwong and Tina Tran
T
his summer, we conducted our six-week international advanced pharmacy practice rotation in Western Europe. Nicha Tantipinichwong was at King’s College, London, in the United Kingdom, and Tina Tran at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. We took advantage of our one‐ week break at the end of the rotation to explore Bella Italia! Our trip began in the romantic city of Venice. A two‐and‐a-half hour early-morning train ride took us from the touristy Venice to Florence, home of the Renaissance, and our first destination in the region of Tuscany. Day 1: Florence — “Magnificent!” We checked into Casa Rabatti, run by Marcella, a lovely, old Italian mother who spoke minimal English but loved to chat in Italian as if we understood everything she said. We immediately headed to the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s famous David, the Uffizi Gallery to gaze at The Birth of Venus, by Bot-
ticelli, and the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (aka the humongous cathedral in the heart of Florence). The perfect way to end our first day in Tuscany was a perfectly cooked T-bone Florentine steak, paired with a bottle of Montepulciano, of course. Day 2: Pisa — “Tipsy Tower!” From Pisa Centrale train station, we took an easy stroll to the Field of Miracles (Campo dei Miracoli) where the famous Leaning Tower is located. We climbed to the very top of this “tipsy tower,” both in awe of the miraculous view of the Duomo and the Baptistery below. No wonder the Italians named it the “Field of Miracles.” After soaking in the view from Pisa, we caught a bus to the neighboring city, Lucca, a tiny, relaxing city contained within its own Renaissance wall, known as the ramparts. If you ever find yourself in Lucca, you must do two things: one, rent a bike, and two, eat. We cycled around the ramparts lined with chestnut trees on both sides, under the warm evening sun, and with a view of the beautiful city beneath. Afterwards, we replenished our energy with the most delizioso
homemade bright-yellow Tuscan pastas from the friendly family‐ owned restaurant Osteria Via San Giorgio. It deserves six Yelp stars. Day 3: Siena — “Palio!” This world‐famous horse race only happens twice a year in this hill town of Tuscany, and we unexpectedly happened to visit Siena when all 17 neighborhoods were waiting to get their horses at Il Campo. People walked around in groups, strutting their pride scarves or neighborhood flags, chanting and drumming loudly. No matter where we were, enjoying our charcuterie plate on the side street or sipping wine inside the Tuscan Wine School, we could hear them. What a festivity! The next morning, we bid farewell to Marcella and beautiful Tuscany to continue on our next exciting adventure in the eternal city of Rome. Noi non potremo avere perfetta vita senza amici. (We cannot have a perfect life without friends.) — Dante
Nicha Tantipinichwong and Tina Tran are fourth-year Pharmacy students.
Catacamas, Honduras: Good Samaritan Clinic By Mayela Gutknecht
H
The jacaranda trees are in full bloom in Pretoria, South Africa. The landscape of the entire city is dotted with these trees and the streets are covered in purple leaves. Photo by Paul Adamson, MS4
onduras has a reputation as the new hub for drug trafficking and as the country with the world’s highest murder rate and the most dangerous airport. That did not stop me or Hegla Fielding, however, from joining Medical Teams International’s two-week Adolescent Holistic Health team in the summer of 2012. It was an opportunity for Hegla to return to her homeland and for me to gain nursing experience working with youth in a developing country alongside a more experienced nurse. A passion for and a commitment to pubWorking with young people in Catacamas, Honduras, to identify challic health nursing runs deep in our veins, as lenges facing their community. Photo courtesy of Mayela Gutknecht recent graduates of the Advanced Practice Public Health Nursing (APPHN) specialty in the Master’s in Nursing program at UCSF. Hegla and I were able to meet the needs of the Good Samaritan Clinic, the only community clinic in the town of Catacamas, run by the Christian health care organization Predisan. Through the identification of evidence-based clinical tools, we screened for depression in youth, and trained health care professionals in the use of these tools. Following principles of public health nursing, we also completed a community health assessment with the young people of Catacamas, in which they identified the strengths and challenges of their community. The top challenges they identified were: drugs and alcohol, trash in the streets, lack of water and hygiene, and violence. When all environmental challenges were combined, the environment ranked as the No. 1 challenge facing the community. Hegla and I believe that working with youth on environmental challenges is a health prevention and promotion solution to depression and suicide among young people, one that will positively impact Honduras in a multitude of ways.
Mayela Gutknecht (2013) and Hegla Fielding (2012) are graduates of School of Nursing.
synapse.ucsf.edu | October 31, 2013 | 9
Uganda: Nurse-to-Nurse Global Initiative
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Some of the 25 participants, including licensed nurses, master’s students and faculty of Makerere University, at the 2013 Summer Partnership-Building Workshop. Photo courtesy of Schola Matovu.
By Schola Matovu and Linda Gregory
I
n the summer of 2013, as doctoral students at UCSF, we committed to initiate the first collaborative partnership with Makerere University’s Department of Nursing in Uganda under the Nurse-to-Nurse Global Initiative (NTNGI). The summer workshop was one of the first steps towards NTNGI’s mission of fostering international collaborations through collegial dialogue and exchange of knowledge between nurses in the United States and those in developing countries, starting with East Africa. Nursing is the largest professional sector of the global health care workforce and delivers the majority of primary care in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is a shortage of nurses in this region, which can partly be attributed to the exodus of highly trained nurses to more affluent countries. This inability to develop a sustainable workforce is influenced by other professional
barriers, such as inadequate educational advancement, lack of promotion and leadership opportunities, unsafe practice environments and poorly funded health care systems. Consequently, nurses in sub-Saharan Africa routinely confront daunting challenges that are beyond their control. Nevertheless, they are responsible for delivering quality care to a large population vulnerable to a myriad diseases. The Nurse-to-Nurse Global Initiative is committed to the development of workforce capacity and empowerment of nurses as leaders, scholars and research scientists in sub-Saharan Africa through collaborative partnerships. For more information on the Nurse-ToNurse Global Initiative, contact Schola Matovu at Schola.Matovu@ucsf.edu or Linda Gregory at Linda.Gregory@ucsf.edu.
Schola Matovu, RN, BSN, and Linda Gregory, RN, MSN, are doctoral students in the School of Nursing.
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10 | October 31, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
PUZZLES
ARTS&CULTURE
The Weekly Crossword
ACROSS 1 Pond scum 5 Flower part 9 Eagle's claw 14 Ring of light 15 Auction giant 16 Foil the Feds 17 Ham's handoff 18 Edible root 19 DEA invasions 20 1983 Streisand film 22 Eminem's music 23 Central spot 24 Form 1040 figure, briefly 26 Like some lawsuits 28 Rower's need 31 Fasten with fetters 33 Trail the pack 36 Genealogy diagram 38 Moriarty, to Holmes 39 Mexican dish in a cornhusk 41 Encourage 43 Leader of a cause 44 Make beloved 45 Objective 46 White-tailed, eg. 47 Liotta of film 48 Resistance to change 51 Mobile to Dayton dir. 52 In the air 53 Zero 55 Street talk 58 In shape 60 Finger or toe
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Copyright 2013 by The Puzzle Syndicate
64 Line often seen at wedding receptions 65 Canyon sound 67 Point on a curve 68 Group of eight 69 Dressed 70 Hazzard deputy 71 Period of time 72 Take care of 73 Music character
Theater: “Underneath the Lintel” Is the Answer to Your Existential Crisis
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37 Poetic adverb 40 70's satirical magazine 42 Parking lot party 43 Mine excavation 45 Ezine item 49 Cause follower? 50 Helping hand 52 Any of Charlie's girls 54 Cruise ship, e.g. 55 Flat-bottom boat 56 Scottish lake 57 One opposed 59 Larger ___ life 61 Departed 62 Altar words 63 SAT or GMAT 66 Simon's couple
Edited by Margie E. Burke
Difficulty : Medium
HOW TO SOLVE: (Answer appears elsewhere in this issue)
Copyright 2013 by The Puzzle Syndicate
By Jenny Qi Executive Editor
A
lintel is the horizontal beam that spans an opening, such as a doorway, the quixotic old librarian explains to the audience in one of his many digressions. You feel as if it’s story time with Grandpa. If your grandfather has a sad secret and has read everything about everything, that is. Also like story time with Grandpa, it starts a bit slowly, and you spend the first 20 minutes humoring his digressions, until he hits you with a major bombshell, like the sad truth about foxhunting or a strained lament about his lost love. It’s an intimate set-up. Underneath the Lintel follows a sole character: the anonymous Librarian. The Librarian has become obsessed by a book that was returned 113 years past due, and a clue scribbled in the margins takes the audience with him on a globe-trotting adventure in search of a man who may have lived for thousands of years. You can’t obsess over a 2,000-year-old vagabond without getting a little existential, and maybe a little spiritual. “All death has a way of making life seem insignificant and small,” the Librarian remarks.
Jenny Qi is a third-year BMS student.
OPINION
Time-Wasting Tips for the Overworked Grad Student By Alexandra Greer Science Editor
G
ot a long incubation time to kill? Waiting for your cells to spin? Bored in between classes? In class? Why not spend some time watching untrained actors manhandle pipettes, as a way to remind yourself that “while you may feel like a monkey can do your job, it would at least have to be a somewhat trained monkey, since these people can’t even use a pipette properly.”
Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham
Solution to Sudoku
But how sad too, to remain alive and invisible for so long, he says of the mysterious object of his search, and his anguish is too thinly veiled to stem merely from empathy. Before you get too sad, he presents more evidence for the existence of this mythical man — a tattered jacket, a recording of him whistling at the World Fair, “I AM HERE” scrawled across all the landmarks of the world. And it is in these things — in someone’s memory of a tune, in our small joyful discoveries — that we are significant. As a one-man play, it’s an impressive feat, and David Strathairn is convincing in his role, by turns absurdly kooky and tremendously thoughtful, able both to invoke and to soothe an existential crisis in 90 minutes. His performance was met with a standing ovation on one recent evening. Underneath the Lintel is playing at the American Conservatory Theater on 405 Geary St., San Francisco, through November 17.
title: "Taking work home" - originally published 9/30/2013
www.phdcomics.com
That’s Not How You Pipette is a new tumblr that catalogs the mishandling of scientific pipettes by actors all over the world. They’ve got a good smattering of popular TV show examples (Sherlock, Breaking Bad, and Fringe are some recent examples) along with movies and some apparently stock scientific imagery. Remember Sigourney Weaver’s odd “index finger” plunging in Avatar? No? That’s weird? Anyway. Despite the questionable spelling of “pipette” (Pipette? Pipet? Does anyone really know?), this blog does a great job of showing some good examples of how to pipette properly (including some great pipette/food inspiration) along with some Hollywood examples of how not to. Moving small amounts of liquid into tubes with other small amounts of liquid has never been so exciting! To check out the blog, go to thatsnothowyoupipette.tumblr.com; and if you have any good examples, let them know. Check next week for another grad-student approved distraction — suggestions are welcome.
Alexandra Greer is a sixth-year graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences and promises her PI that she doesn’t waste that much time when she is in the lab.
Solutions
synapse.ucsf.edu | October 31, 2013 | 11
Solution to Sudoku
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Vision Optical Look sharper. See better. Find us easier, too. Contemporary prescription glasses, sunglasses, and contact lens fitting Millberry Union, B1 For appointment & information 415.476.3100 Hours: M-F 8:30 am-5:00 pm
look sharper Vision Optical
Open at Parnassus & Mission Bay Campuses
for your convenience we accept: All major Credit Cards • Recharge for catering Bear Hugs • UCSF Resident Meal Card
breakfast, lunch, or dinner…
Parnassus: Millberry Union I Level, Parnassus, 415.661.0199 Open Daily 7:00 am-10:00 pm Mission Bay: 550-B Gene Friend Way, Mission Bay, 415.865.0423 Mon-Fri 7:00 am-9:30 pm / Sat-Sun 8:00 am-9:00 pm
You’re Funding Fun! A portion of every dollar you spend at campus retail vendors helps support Arts & Events at UCSF
Get a gourmet taste of Italy. panini, insalate, zuppa, hot pasta, gelato, dolci We offer student discounts. Millberry Union, Plaza Level 415.681.9925
Mon-Thu, 6:30 am-6:00 pm Fri, 6:30 am-4:00 pm Closed Sat & Sun
You’re Funding Fun! A portion of every dollar you spend at campus retail vendors helps support Arts & Events at UCSF
You’re Funding Fun! A portion of every dollar you spend at campus retail vendors helps support Arts & Events at UCSF
12 | October 31, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
Guanajuato, Mexico
Wallace Falls State Park, Washington
Above and below: My wife and I went to Mexico at the end of May to visit some colonial cities around Mexico City. Guanajuato, a city with multiple personalities, was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Its architecture, its music players leading tourists in the tiny streets when the sun goes down, its bakeries selling delicious pan con queso, and its welcoming people make this place unique on earth. Photos by Guillame Desachy, a biostatistician working at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute.
A sea of fog and trees at Wallace Falls State Park, Washington State. Photo by Yi Lu, MS2
Sedona, Arizona
Indonesia
Yeeeeha! Sedona, Arizona, this summer. Photo by Suzanne Tay-Kelley, CN III, 5 North Mount Zion
Serengeti, Tanzania
One of the best vacations ever. A safari in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Unspoiled wilderness with much game to view. The animals mostly ignore people in safari cars. Photo by Morton A. Lieberman, Professor of Psychology (Emeritus). Top left: Steaming Mount Bromo at sunrise, Java, Indonesia. Bottom left: Jatuliwih rice terraces, Bali, Indonesia. Photo by Joe Rodrigues, MS1.