(Commentary) AI researchers at UVA and the University of Washington used a well-known set of labeled images called imSitu to train an image recognition algorithm. Each of the 125,000 images in the set included, among other things, a label for the place (e.g., “kitchen”), an agent (e.g., “man” or “woman”), and an activity (e.g., “cooking”). After training their image-classifier algorithm on a subset of the images, the researchers then applied the algorithm to the rest of the set to see how closely its classification matched the human labels. The algorithm performed well in general but failed in...
Virginia has reported nearly 1,600 COVID deaths in past 10 days. Most are from December and January.
The UVA Biocomplexity Institute wrote Friday in its weekly update of virus trends that impending warm weather will likely help reduce spread. But variants and pandemic fatigue are “substantial concerns,” according to the report, which cited how ZIP codes near universities are experiencing increased outbreaks and hot spots due to noncompliance with safety protocols.
Last week, a chart from an academic study went viral on Twitter confirming that dudes do indeed rock. The chart showed the number of men versus women who voluntarily self-administered an electric shock while sitting alone for 15 minutes. Sixty-seven percent of men decided, “F--- it, I’m just going to shock myself for literally no reason whatsoever except to ease the burden of being alone with my thoughts.” Twenty-five percent of women made the same choice. It turns out, the data the chart utilized was published in 2014, but its research might be more relevant than ever. Featured in Science, re...
(Commentary) James Davison Hunter is a well-respected social scientist at the University of Virginia. A Christian, he has written perceptively and sympathetically about contemporary Christianity. He and some colleagues at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture have conducted a research project studying today’s polarized political culture. They explore the conflict between what they call the “Social Elite” and the “Disinherited.” The published and downloadable report, “Democracy in Dark Times: The 2020 IASC Survey of American Political Culture,” is fascinating.
For the third consecutive year, a discovery at the UVA School of Medicine has been selected as one of the most significant biomedical discoveries of the year. UVA’s entry for the “STAT Madness” competition, which features 64 contenders, is a discovery made by Dr. Hui Li. He identified the oncogene, or cancer-causing gene, responsible for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
UVA School of Medicine researchers are in the running for a big award, after discovering a gene that is responsible for causing one of the deadliest cancers. Hui Li and other researchers identified the oncogene, which is responsible for causing glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Now Li and researchers at UVA are working to use what they know about the gene to create drugs and therapies for this type of cancer.
Five Virginia colleges would be required to make reparations for using enslaved people’s labor to build their institutions, under a bill currently awaiting Gov. Ralph Northam’s signature. The proposal from Del. David Reid (D-Loudon) requires the five public colleges – the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, Longwood University and the College of William and Mary – to begin the process of researching and memorializing their past use of enslaved labor.
The proposal includes a lower level, which restores pre-pandemic service hours but with several modifications, and an upper level, which would result in a 27% increase in overall service hours, and could include new weekend service and improved frequencies on some routes, as well as additional service between UVA and the U.S. 29 corridor.
Wednesday will see multiple events to commemorate the arrival of the Union troops, including a bell ringing at the UVA Chapel. On Friday, there will be an event at the UVA Monument to Enslaved Laborers involving descendants of those workers.
Brokos pointed to a Feb. 12 incident where University of Pittsburgh educators were discussing sexual and American Jewish history on Zoom with academics from UVA and Brandeis University. At one point, the event was infiltrated and unknown persons posted anti-Semitic imagery including swastikas, as well as anti-Semitic rants.
In 1869, the Buckingham County courthouse – and the records within it – burned to the ground. One historian says it was another blow to African Americans in the commonwealth, part of over 200 years of theft and exploitation committed by the white aristocracy, which continue today. The cause of the fire has been debated for decades, but Dr. Lakshmi Fjord, a visiting scholar at UVA, believes it’s quite clear what happened that night.
Valerie Adams-Bass is a UVA developmental psychologist who studies Black youth and media stereotypes. She says often, in the media, Black students are portrayed as being uninterested in education, and Black boys are portrayed as scary or intimidating. “If that’s what the teachers and administrators or their peers see, then oftentimes that is what they’re responding to when they’re engaging with Black students in reality.”
In the era of online interactions via Zoom, most conversations do not end when people want them to, a new study reports. The study has been authored by experts from Harvard University, as well as University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia.
Though this vaccine works differently, Dr. Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease expert at UVA Health, says it’s not a reason to fear. “In the cell, both, or all three vaccines, are essentially doing the same thing. But the delivery mechanism is slightly different,” he said.
Recently nominated for the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce’s 40 Under 40 Award, [UVA alumna] Jennifer Masi is the epitome of a good deed doer. Jen has worked at the Children’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. since 2011. In 2017 she became the pro bono director for the nonprofit organization, representing at-risk children living in homes suffering the gravest job, food and shelter insecurities.
Local sports hero and former NFL player Dennis Haley [a UVA alumnus] released his first book last month. “The Playbook: The Art of Dreaming” recounts the trials and tribulations that he endured during his journey to become a professional athlete. It also provides a playbook for how readers can accomplish their dreams the way Haley did.
Two UVA Health doctors, who specialize in treating heart rhythm problems, made each other’s hearts skip a beat more than 20 years ago. Dr. Pamela Mason and Dr. Rohit Malhotra sat next to each other in medical school thanks to their last names.
Legendary Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson will join a panel discussion with more than a dozen experienced local marathoners, including Charlie Hurt and UVA President Jim Ryan, on Sunday from 4-5 p.m.
“People who describe themselves as religious or spiritual, those who are more connected with the world around them and those who are seeking meaning – or in distress and searching for signs – are more likely to experience coincidences,” said Bernard Beitman, a visiting psychiatry and neuro-behavioural sciences professor at UVA and a coincidence researcher.
Manzanita Historian Publishes Book on Critical Period in American Politics; Live Interview March 2nd
UVA political scientist Larry Sabato, a widely respected commentator on American politics and the head of the Uuniversity’s Center for Politics, says Johnson’s book is “revealing” and “well written” as it charts the disturbing trend toward ever more negative campaigning since 1980.