San Diego County surfers place top in La Jolla Shores contest
More than 200 young surfers hit the waves in La Jolla Shores for the 60th annual Menehune Surf Contest, held annually by Windansea Surf Club for boys and girls 16 and under.
Top winners of the Oct. 5 contest received sunglasses, skateboards and custom trophies, and the winner received a $250 educational scholarship. Standout performers included Del Mar’s Shiloh Page, who placed first in two categories, Bay Park’s Vaughn Harrison and Carlsbad’s Henry Stumpfig.
For more information, visit windanseasurfclub.org.
Scripps researcher wins NIH Director’s Award
In recognition of their innovative research, the National Institutes of Health awarded the NIH award to scientist Shannon Miller of the La Jolla-based Scripps Research Institute’s Department of Chemistry and Dr. Megan Keng of the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology. Awarded the Director’s Award.
The NIH Director’s Award funds research that is expected to have a significant impact on human health.
Scripps researcher Shannon Miller. (Scripps Research)
Mr. Miller received $1.5 million in the New Innovator Award. This award supports research by young investigators who do not receive significant independent grants from the NIH and are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical training. The prize will be split into two multi-year segments.
Scripps researcher Megan Keng. (Scripps Research)
Ken was given an early independence award that allocated him $1.25 million of his $250,000 distribution over five years. This award supports young researchers who demonstrate outstanding creativity while proposing bold research projects.
Proceeds from the Cocktail on Coast Walk will be donated to bridge restoration funds.
This year’s Cocktails on the Coast Walk, sponsored by the Friends of the Coast Walk Trail, raised about $40,000 on September 19th, which will be used to repair bridges on the trail.
Friends of the Coast Walk Trail President Brenda Fakes said the funding will help restore the bridge, bring in native plants and complete an ongoing project to add post and chain barriers to the bridge after restoration. said it was helpful.
PDO Board Approves Two New Commercial Signs
Two new signs will appear in La Jolla’s commercial district following a vote of support from the La Jolla Planning and District Ordinance Commission at its Oct. 14 meeting.
One plan is to install a new protruding sign at the Omega watch store at 1111 Prospect Street. The other is new identification signage for the rebranding of the Juliette Paris clothing store at 7854 Girard Avenue to Beauty Undefined.
The Omega sign will be approximately 9 feet tall, project approximately 28 inches outward, and feature clock faces on both sides. The purpose is to also function as a clock.
Beauty Undefined representatives said their company’s sign proposal is a simple replacement and that the new sign would be the same size and material as the existing one. Like Juliet’s sign, the new sign will be 75 by 40 inches.
Both projects were approved unanimously.
Hearing Officer Approves Barber Tract Condominium Conversion
A plan to convert two homes in La Jolla’s Barber Tract into two condominiums received support from a San Diego hearing judge on Oct. 16.
With no one objecting, Public Hearing Officer Antoinette Gibbs approved the conversion of the condominiums at 543 and 545 Rosemont Street. This item was approved on the consent agenda. In other words, there were no presentations or discussions.
The proposal was supported by the La Jolla Regional Planning Association in May.
La Jolla Music Association partners with French video-on-demand service
The La Jolla Music Society has partnered with Paris-based Medici.tv. Medici.tv has the world’s largest video-on-demand catalog in the classical music industry, including more than 4,000 concerts, operas, ballets, documentaries, masterclasses and jazz programs. Available for streaming.
Through this partnership, three concerts from this year’s Summerfest in La Jolla will be broadcast starting Saturday, October 26th.
Summerfest and Aspen Music Festival are the first music festivals in the United States to be broadcast on Medici.tv.
“When the opportunity to partner with Medici.tv arose, we were thrilled to share the amazing performances of our Summerfest artists with the world,” said Leah Rosenthal, La Jolla Music Association Artistic Director.
For more information about the La Jolla Music Society, visit ljms.org.
Birch Aquarium and Oceanside Museum offer reciprocal membership
La Jolla-based UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Birch Aquarium and Oceanside Museum of Art participated in a special membership trade program throughout November to support each institution’s PST art exhibition.
Images of “dancing” marine life are being projected onto a mirrored wall as part of the “Embodied Pacific: Invisible Ocean” exhibit at La Jolla’s Birch Aquarium. (University of California, San Diego)
Birch Aquarium and OMA members have free access to both venues and the “PST Art: Collision of Art and Science” exhibits “Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean” and “Embedded Pacific: Ocean Unseen” at OMA. Provides an opportunity to experience. ” at Birch.
Each exhibition explores the relationship between art, science, and environmental awareness.
UCSD study reports differences in how men and women process pain
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say they have found that men and women differ in how they relieve pain.
This conclusion was made during a study on meditation and how it affects chronic lower back pain. In this study, participants were divided into two groups: those with chronic back pain and those without, and given either naloxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids, or a placebo.
According to the researchers, naloxone inhibited meditation-based analgesia in men and increased meditation-based analgesia in women. Men were more likely to rely on endogenous, or “natural” opioids to relieve pain, whereas women were not.
Fadel Zeidan, a professor at the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at the University of California, San Diego, said the study could lay the foundation for future research and changes in care. This study may explain why women are less receptive to synthetic opioids and therefore more likely to take them and become addicted, he added.
“These results highlight the need for more gender-specific pain treatments, because many of the treatments we use are less effective in women than in men.” Zeidan said.
The study is available at Academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/3/10/pgae453/7821498.
Identifying cancer genes could become faster and more affordable
UC San Diego students may lead scientists to better understand complex diseases in more affordable and time-sensitive ways.
Researchers at the UCSD Epigenomics Center say a new technology called Droplet Hi-C allows researchers to study chromatin organization, which influences cell activation and function.
So far, the technique has been used to study mouse brain cells and human tumors. Continued success could show why cancers resist treatment and shed light on disease progression at the individual level. Researchers hope that the affordable technology will make it easier to study diseases such as cancer.
For more information on the study, published October 18, visit nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02447-1. ♦
