With Christmas season coming up, a nationwide program is giving parents a way to put old crayons to use – by recycling them. It's called the Crayon Initiative. Crayons are collected, melted down, and turned into new crayons for the UVA Medical Center.
Another HEPC project entitled “Txt 4 Success” offers college counseling via text message to more than 11,000 students. A UVA report on this initiative indicates students who opt-in to receive texts are more likely to attempt and complete a higher number of college courses than students who do not receive text messages. Students who receive texts are also more likely to persist throughout their first year of college.
Dr. Jim Tucker, a UVA professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences, explored the scientific legitimacy behind these beliefs. His book “Return to Life” features compilations of stories of children who reported memories from a history they weren’t alive for.
(Co-written by UVA alumna Chris Mai) A recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts finds that states nationwide face rising prison health care costs, exacerbated by their aging prison populations. The share of people ages 55 and older increased in 44 states between fiscal years 2010 and 2015, and this age group now accounts for more than 10 percent of the prison population in 25 states. These aging people in prison experience higher rates of serious and chronic disease than do their younger counterparts and consume more health care.
Levels of development figure prominently in how countries prioritize human rights, said Brantly Womack, a UVA expert on Chinese politics. Although China is the world’s second-largest economy, living standards remain low for the majority and millions remain mired in poverty. Along with many developing nations, China puts heavy stress on the unfairness of global inequality and the right of the majority to sustain and improve itself materially, Womack said.
The company is built around Lacritin, a protein that company co-founder and UVA researcher Gordon Laurie discovered in 2001. He found the protein lacking in patients with dry eye, so he isolated the active ingredient into an eye drop medication called Lacripep. The company spun out of UVA in 2013.
Comedian Ralphie May died from hypertensive cardiovascular disease, Clark County Coroner’s office confirmed. Dr. Brandy Patterson, a UVA assistant professor of cardiology, did not treat May, but she does have many other patients, including young adults, with high blood pressure and heart disease. Here’s what she wants everyone to know about these conditions.
UVA announced its inaugural baseball Hall of Fame Class on Thursday, and will induct 15 former players into the first class. The list includes four current MLB players, three of which are former All-Stars, as well as a host of others.
Deborah McDowell, UVA’s Alice Griffin Professor of English, taught students about Southern nostalgia for the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy in the early 20th century, which inspired Charlottesville’s statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. McDowell, director of UVA’s Carter G. Woodson Institute of African-American and African Studies, said Virginia politicians who helped establish Charlottesville’s Confederate memorial parks also backed laws that prevented racial integration, and permitted the forced sterilization of people with disabilities.
Fifteen years before Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy led an armed standoff against federal agents near his arid desert ranch, the devout Mormon combed through Latter-day Saints scripture and writings with his neighbor, another rancher upset about how the government regulates the public land around them. They compiled the works, highlighted and annotated, into an anthology called “The Nay Book,” named for rancher Keith Nay, Bundy’s late neighbor. Kathleen Flake, a UVA professor of Mormon studies, called the booklet an example of “radical libertarian dogma.”
Aside from the other risks it poses to your health, excess body fat can lead to an overproduction of certain hormones that disrupt ovulation. Your cycles may be less regular, you may ovulate less often, and you lower your chances of getting pregnant. On the flip side, too little body fat means your body may not produce enough hormones to ovulate each month or to sustain a pregnancy if you do conceive. Exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight. Just don't overdo it, says Dr. Christopher Williams, a UVA reproductive endocrinologist and author of “The Fastest Way to Get Pregnant Naturally.”
(Co-written by Douglas Laycock, a professor of constitutional law) The Supreme Court heard argument yesterday in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The issue is whether a conservative Christian baker who believes that weddings are inherently religious and that same-sex marriages are religiously prohibited can be required to design and create a cake to celebrate the wedding of a same-sex couple.
A new UVA study shows the text messaging service offered to high school seniors through the College Foundation of West Virginia has improved retention at some of the state’s colleges and universities.
Not getting adequate rest raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can contribute to weight gain. “Many menopausal women have an issue with weight gain anyway, so not getting enough sleep can make that worse,” says Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, professor of gynecology at the UVA Health System.
Buying holiday gifts can be a chore, especially if you’re getting something for people who want something “cool.” That’s an elusive quality. But UVA professor Lalin Anik recently published a case study on the subject, working with her students to identify the essence of cool.
Deforestation can also harm the climate in the short-term. “Forests play so many important ecological roles, including protecting drinking water supplies, cooling the Earth’s surface and regulating rainfall patterns,” said Deborah Lawrence, a UVA professor of environmental sciences. Forest loss, she added, threatens “hunger and malnutrition for those who can least afford it.”
A new nonprofit is taking UVA undergraduates far off-Grounds to help Albemarle County students prepare for college. Rise Together, led by UVA third-year student Bryan Christ and his mother, Gina, has brought dozens of UVA students to AVID classes at Western Albemarle High School and Walton Middle School for its mentoring program.
Several researchers with the UVA School of Medicine presented their most exciting findings of the year Tuesday during an event at the Pinn Hall Conference Center.
With Nevada Rep. Ruben Kihuen becoming the latest congressman embroiled in sexual harassment allegations, his once-rising political star may have come to a halt. But for a 37-year-old whose “entire life has been wrapped up in the profession of politics,” quitting might not be the only option, said Larry Sabato, founder and director of UVA’s Center for Politics. “All you need is a re-election to say that the voters have forgiven,” Sabato said.
If you're not much of a runner or jogger, power walking helps, too. The activity, which involves moving at a very fast pace while using your arms to help propel you forward and taking longer strides, helps you torch off approximately 564 calories per hour. “There is a strong relationship between intensity of exercise and fat-burning hormones,” according to Art Weltman, director of exercise physiology at UVA.