The following faculty members from the University of California, Davis, will present research at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston, Feb. 14 through 19.

Heart-Health Benefits of Flavonoids in Food

Paper: Food as Medicine: The Potential Aspirin-like Heart Health Benefits of Flavonoids
Author: Carl L. Keen, professor and chair, Department of Nutrition
Symposium Date and Time: 9 a.m. to noon, Friday, Feb. 15.
Symposium Name: Dietary Flavonoids: Heart-Healthy Nutrients or an Excuse to Enjoy Wine and Chocolate?

Flavonoids are a group of naturally occurring compounds found in plant-based foods such tea, wine, wine, cocoa and chocolate. These compounds have a unique chemical structure and appear to be powerful antioxidants, preventing certain harmful biochemical processes in the body. Keen's research on chocolate indicates that the flavonoids in cocoa and chocolate work much like low-dose aspirin in preventing aggregation of blood platelets, which is an important risk factor for blood clots that can cause heart attacks and strokes.

Contact: Carl Keen, Nutrition, (530) 752-6331, clkeen@ucdavis.edu

Virtual Cells Help Unravel Cell Motion

Paper: Models of Cell Motion
Author: Alex Mogilner, associate professor of mathematics
Symposium Date and Time: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 17.
Symposium Name: Mathematical Models for Movement and Aggregation of Cells and Organisms

A "virtual cell" that biologists can use to test theories about cell motion has been created by UC Davis mathematician Alex Mogilner. As a starting point, Mogilner took the motion of sperm cells from the hog roundworm, Ascaris. Biologists interested in cell motion study Ascaris sperm because they have a simple crawling mechanism driven by a single protein. Depending on the local pH, the protein either straightens itself out or curls up. By creating a pH gradient from the front to the back of the cell, the cell can pull itself along. But while biology can supply some general answers, working out exactly how the cell moves requires some more complex mathematics, Mogilner said. To build the model, he wrote equations to describe the different processes inside the cell. Solving the equations produces an animation that shows how the virtual cell behaves under different conditions. For example, by changing the pH gradient in the virtual cell, the researchers could reproduce the responses of a real cell.

Mogilner is part of a large collaboration that is exploring cell motion through a National Institutes of Health "glue grant." Cell motion studies have possible applications in areas such as cancer, heart disease and wound healing.

Note: Quicktime movies of the "virtual cell" model and of real Ascaris sperm cells in motion are available. Contact Andy Fell for details.

Contact: Alex Mogilner, Mathematics, (530) 752-1072, mogilner@math.ucdavis.edu

Shanghai's Transportation Future

Paper: Motorization in Shanghai and Environmental Implications
Author: Daniel Sperling, director and professor, Institute of Transportation Studies
Symposium Date and Time: 9 a.m. to noon, Friday, Feb. 15.
Symposium Name: The Future of Personal Use Vehicles in China

Greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles in Shanghai could rise fourfold to sevenfold by 2020 unless policies are adopted that promote clean technologies, public transit and other transportation alternatives, Sperling says. The transportation sector currently generates extremely low levels of greenhouse-gas emissions for a city of Shanghai's size and affluence, but that will change dramatically as the number of cars and trucks quadruples in the next two decades. Shanghai has already established a highly competent transportation system, and large investments are being made in new rail and bus transit and "intelligent" transportation technologies. Shanghai may eventually serve as a model for other cities in the developing world.

Contact: Daniel Sperling, (530) 752-7434, dsperling@ucdavis.edu