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November 23, 2011
Research Report: UCSD team finds autism link to brain overgrowth BY LYNNE FRIEDMANN A study by researchers at the UCSD Autism Center of Excellence shows that brain overgrowth in boys with autism involves an abnormal, excess number of neurons in areas of the brain associated Lynne with social, communication, Friedmann and cognitive development. Relying on meticulous, direct cell counting, scientists discovered a 67 percent excess of cortical cells — a type of brain cell only made before birth — in children with autism. The findings suggest that the disorder may arise from prenatal processes gone awry and confirms a relatively recent theory about possible causes of autism. Small head circumference at birth, followed by a sudden and excessive increase in head circumference during the first year of life, was first linked to development of autism in 2003. The current study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Society (JAMA). News release at bit.ly/thup3F. Forecasting solar power production The space shuttle program may have ended, but data collected by astronauts during the past three decades are still helping advance science, this time with the assistance of the Triton Resource, a supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. For example, researchers at UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering recently used measurements from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission to predict how changes in elevation, such as hills and valleys, and the shadows they create, impact power output in California’s so-
lar grid. Heretofore, large-scale models used to calculate solar power output did not take elevation into account. The researchers used 60,000 processor hours to run calculations on Triton Resource to create a new model that includes detailed elevation data. The model is being made available publicly on a large scale, including all of Southern California, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area. Utility companies and homeowners can use the model to get a more realistic picture of the solar power output they can typically expect to produce. More information at bit.ly/sWcB4i. Pollution intensifies cyclones Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense. Traditionally, prevailing wind shear patterns prohibit cyclones in the Arabian Sea from becoming major storms. A study, involving scientists at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, suggests the weakening of winds aloft has enabled the formation of stronger cyclones in recent years — including storms in 2007 and 2010 that were the first recorded ever to enter the Gulf of Oman. The researchers note that the weakening wind pattern over the past 30 years has corresponded with a buildup of aerosols in the atmosphere over India. This aerosol buildup creates formations known as atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs) in which smog from diesel emissions, soot, and other by-products of biomass burning accumulate and become widespread to a degree significant enough to be a force in regional climate. More information at bit.ly/vB8blu. Lynne Friedmann is a science writer based in Solana Beach.
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Scripps Health and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego join forces to offer new weapon in the fight against childhood cancer Scripps Health and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego recently announced they will team up to provide advanced proton treatment at Scripps Proton Therapy Center to pediatric cancer patients who need this highly accurate form of therapy. According to the center’s medical director, Dr. Carl J. Rossi, Jr., proton therapy is generally preferable to conventional Xray radiation for pediatric patients. “X-ray radiation continues to play a vital role in treating childhood cancers, but its longterm side effects can be devastating, as growing organs are highly sensitive to radiation,” Rossi said. “Long-term effects can include growth and hormonal deficiencies and the risk of secondary cancers later in life.” In contrast, the accuracy of proton beams are ideal for pediatric patients and have been successfully used with children for more than 20 years. “Proton beams allow for significant sparing of normal tissue compared to X-ray therapy and their use has been shown to greatly reduce the incidence of long-term complications in children,” Rossi said. For certain cancers, proton therapy offers a more precise and aggressive approach to destroying cancerous and non-cancerous tumors, compared to X-ray radiation.
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Proton therapy involves the use of a controlled beam of protons to target tumors with control and precision unavailable in other radiation therapies. The targeted delivery of proton energy limits damage to healthy surrounding tissue and allows for a more potent and effective dose of radiation to be used. “Scripps Proton Therapy Center will be a community resource that will bring together patients, physicians and researchers in the fight against cancer,” said Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder. “We’re particularly pleased to make this sophisticated technology available to the children of our community and their outstanding physicians at Rady Children’s.” Currently under construction in Mira Mesa, the Scripps Proton Therapy Center is a $220 million cancer treatment and research facility that is expected to open in spring 2013. The 102,000-square-foot facility – which will be just the second such center west of the Rockies – will have the maximum capacity to treat approximately 2,400 adult and pediatric patients annually. More information can be found at www.scripps.org.
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