Ucla

Times are tough enough for Californians; they're even tougher for Californians' teeth. "One-quarter of all adults and 28% of children in California have untreated dental caries [cavities]," says Len Finocchio, a senior program officer at the California Healthcare Foundation, a health advocacy group. "Our research tells us that many people in California have been avoiding routine care that might have cost about $100 for a checkup and cleaning, and then find themselves in the emergency room, where they get only an antibiotic, a bill that can average over $600 and instructions to see a dentist."

Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem was suspended by the NBA for Game 6 of his team's series against Indiana. Haslem committed a flagrant foul against Indiana's Tyler Hansbrough during the second quarter of Game 5 on Tuesday night, shortly after Hansbrough struck Miami's Dwyane Wade and opened a cut over his right eye. Haslem and Hansbrough were assessed flagrant-1 fouls on the respective plays. If they had been issued flagrant-2 fouls, they would have been ejected.

The PSA test should be abandoned as a prostate cancer screening tool, a government advisory panel has concluded after determining that the side effects from needless biopsies and treatments hurt many more men than are potentially helped by early detection of cancers. At best, one life will be saved for every 1,000 men screened over a 10-year period, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. But 100 to 120 men will have suspicious results when there is no cancer, triggering biopsies that can carry complications such as pain, fever, bleeding, infection and hospitalization.

The top-seeded USC men's tennis team defeated rival UCLA, 4-1, in a wild NCAA semifinal at Athens, Ga., and earned a chance to win its fourth consecutive national championship Tuesday. The Trojans (32-1) will meet third-seeded Virginia at 2 p.m. PDT in Athens. USC beat the Cavaliers in last year's final. Virginia defeated seventh-seeded Pepperdine to reach the championship match. Lightning and thunder interrupted action midway through the first sets of both semifinal matches, forcing them to move indoors to be played out on two courts apiece.

It was evidently good enough for Gilligan and Robinson Crusoe. But is coconut water a healthy choice for people who aren't stranded on a deserted island? A longstanding treat in tropical regions across the globe, coconut water hit U.S. supermarkets a few years back and is now being marketed with a vengeance. Sometimes billed as nature's sports drink, the slightly sour beverage has also acquired a reputation for being able to improve circulation, slow aging, fight viruses, boost immunity, and reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

Brian Price, once a wrecking ball on UCLA's defensive line, has beaten long odds to return to the NFL after two off-season surgeries aimed at keeping his hamstrings attached to his pelvis, rather than breaking loose and coiling down the backs of his thighs. For Price, who will start at defensive tackle Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his excruciating recovery was a 10-step process. Meaning just two months ago, he could run only 10 steps. "You have these doubts in your head at times," said Price, a second-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2010 who, because of his congenitally malformed pelvis, spent the last half of his rookie season on injured reserve.

Rats fed fructose-laced drinking water for six weeks performed more slowly in a maze-navigating task, UCLA researchers have found. (Read this L.A. Times opinion article .) They think the effect is due to changes in the way the brain responds to insulin as a result of exposure to fructose. “Our study shows that a high fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body,” study senior author and UCLA professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla said in a release about the finding, which was published in the Journal of Physiology (postdoc Rahul Agrawal was first author)

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the supplement nitric oxide? Richard Sunland Nitric oxide is a gas naturally found in the body; its function is conveying information between cells. One of its main jobs is increasing blood flow by dilating blood vessels, and that's why it's sometimes given in supplement form to heart patients, orally and intravenously. In at least one study it's been shown to be effective for lowering blood pressure.

Which is better for weight loss -- a high-protein diet or a high-carb diet? That endless debate got a new twist on Monday. In a year-long study, Australian researchers found that both diets worked equally well when it came to shedding pounds but those on the low-carb diet were in considerably worse moods. The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, assigned 106 overweight and obese men and women to either a low-carb diet high in fat and protein or a high-carb diet low in fat and protein.

The 23rd Annual Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Silent Film Gala Where: Royce Hall, UCLA When: 6: 30 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $35, $50 Information: http://www.laco.org , (213) 622-7001, Ext. 1

Third-seeded USC took a major step forward with a 12-10 victory over second-seeded UCLA in the NCAA women's water polo semifinals Saturday at San Diego. The victory marks the Trojans' first win over the Bruins in an NCAA tournament. In the final Sunday, USC (23-5) will take on top-seeded Stanford (25-2) at 5:15 p.m. at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Cardinal advanced Saturday with a 12-3 victory over fourth-seeded UC Irvine (25-7). USC's victory against UCLA (22-4) was led by four goals each from Monica Vavic and Patricia Jancso.

Second-seeded UCLA put away Iona, 14-3, and No. 3-seeded USC dominated Princeton, 14-2, on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA women's water polo championship tournament at San Diego State. UC Irvine was an 8-6 winner over Loyola Marymount, and Pomona-Pitzer fell to Stanford, 17-5. Senior KK Clark scored four goals for the Bruins (22-3), who established a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Sarah Orozco, another senior, had a hat trick for UCLA, which moved into a semifinal match Saturday with USC (22-5)

The Kaprielians from south Orange County are such loyal fans of USC that when pitcher James Kaprielian of Irvine Beckman was on the mound against the rival University Trojans, who have blue uniforms, his grandmother grumbled, "It's weird seeing Trojans in blue. It isn't right. " Enter UCLA baseball Coach John Savage, who came away with the recruiting coup from the class of 2012 by getting Kaprielian to sign with the evil Bruins. "We made sure he didn't see my room," Kaprielian said.

The Minnesota Vikings moved to within a governor's signature of getting a new $975-million stadium on Thursday after the state Senate approved a plan that relies heavily on public financing. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he'll sign the measure, meaning the Senate's 36-30 vote was effectively the final barrier for the stadium. The House had passed it overnight. The team chased a new stadium for more than a decade but had little leverage until its lease expired last year on the 30-year-old Metrodome.

Many college coaches are control freaks who operate on military time and like to assign stadium steps for anyone arriving five minutes late to a 10 o'clock meeting. Their game plans are meticulously penned in multiple colors and tiny letters on laminated sheets. Coaches have the omnipotent power to block player transfers and close practice to the media. So it was kind of funny hearing Pac-12 Conference coaches sounding so helpless Tuesday on the subject of a playoff. Pac-12 coaches huddled last week at their annual conference meetings in Phoenix to discuss how different the post-season is going to look when the BCS goes RIP in two years.

Hollywood High School keeps its doors open 12 months a year to ease overcrowding. The year-round schedule allows the campus to run hundreds more students through its cramped classrooms. It also chips away at their education. Teachers skip pages of material, assign less homework and give fewer tests because their school year has been slashed by 17 days. Hundreds of pupils take the Stanford 9 exam shortly after returning from an eight-week vacation.

A diamond-encrusted lining is emerging in Southern California's cloudy real estate market. At least a half-dozen Westside mega-estates have sold for more than $20 million so far this year — creating a deafening buzz in local realty circles. Only a few home sales in other Southland counties have surpassed the $20-million mark. On the horizon is the close of Candy Spelling's larger-than-White-House-sized "Manor," which has reigned supreme from its $150-million listing price perch in Holmby Hills for more than two years and is expected to eclipse last year's record $50-million Bel-Air sale by a wide margin.

"Here we are - no, I mean there we were… Flash! The distant shipping in the Thames is gone. Whirr!… Dustheaps, market gardens, and waste grounds. Rattle!...Shock!...Bur-r-r-r! The tunnel…I am… flying for Folkestone…Bang!… Everything is flying. " -- "A Flight," by Charles Dickens, describing a rail trip from London in the journal "Household Words," 1851 :: Who knew that Charles Dickens, master scribe who brought us Scrooge, Copperfield and tale upon cautionary tale of hard 19th century life, was a transit aficionado with a story to tell traffic-snarled Angelenos about their plight?

Brett Hundley is rarely so easily shocked. But point out that all 32 NFL teams have passed on UCLA quarterbacks in the draft since Cade McNown was taken in 1999 and Hundley — a bright student with aspirations of being a doctor — gets that bug-eyed look and is unable to form sentences. "Really? Wow. Seriously? Crazy. " Hundley stammered. "I was 6 years old. " Hundley, who turns 20 in June, could be the quarterback to end that spiral. So could Kevin Prince, who has spent nearly as much time in the training room as the film room.