There are few who dare to cross the rift between the North and South campuses of UCLA. Students who can recite the elements of the periodic table may seldom associate with those who know Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy by heart. But just as there are authors behind literature’s greatest works, and […]
Author Archives: Jeyling Chou
Recent cases renew attention toward conjoined twins
By Jeyling Chou BRUIN SCIENCE SENIOR STAFF jchou@media.ucla.edu Midwives refused to touch Chang and Eng Bunker on the day they were born in 1811, horrified that the twin brothers were joined at the abdomen by a single band of flesh. Chang and Eng would have been easily separated by modern surgical techniques, but the five-inch […]
Online: Formerly conjoined twins recover at separate rates
While Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez were on the pediatric floor of the UCLA Medical Center last summer, a mirror was strategically placed in the bed they shared. For the first time since birth, the two Guatemalan twins were able to see each other. Maria Teresa, affectionately called “Teresita,” reached her arms over […]
Drug misuse puts new strain on patients
When penicillin was discovered in 1945, doctors hailed it as the miracle drug that would finally put humans ahead in the battle against bacterial infections like syphilis and cholera. U.S. Surgeon General William Stewart declared in 1969 that with the power of antibiotics, humans would never again be bothered by the microscopic bugs. Victory, however, […]
Fever delays twin’s release
Guatemalan twin Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez, formerly conjoined at the head to her sister, was to be released from Mattel Children’s Hospital July 3, but doctors decided against that action when a fever was detected. Her release date has yet to be determined by doctors. The 23-month-old twin underwent an operation to replace a shunt […]
New institute to foster research collaboration
The construction of the building for the California NanoSystems Institute won’t be completed until around May 2005, but collaborative efforts between institute members are already well underway. Nanotechnology ““ working with materials at this miniscule atomic and molecular level ““ can influence everything from agriculture to the aerospace industry. Such a broad span of influence […]
Separated twin leaves hospital while sister remains in surgery recovery
Maria de Jesus Quiej Alvarez, one of the 23-month-old twins formerly conjoined at the head, was discharged from UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital on June 7. She is staying at a local home provided by volunteers from the Healing the Children Foundation. Her sister, Maria Teresa, remains in the hospital in order to recuperate from surgery […]