Latest news with #VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- General
- Gizmodo
RFK Jr.'s ‘Make America Healthy Again' Report Cites Fake Studies
President Donald Trump held an event at the White House last week to announce the release of something called the MAHA Report, a product of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new commission that's supposed to 'Make America Healthy Again.' But if you weren't already skeptical of the report's findings, an article from the nonprofit news outlet NOTUS should give you pause. Several of the studies cited in the report don't even exist. NOTUS reporters spent five days combing through the 522 citations in the report. They found dozens of broken links and studies with missing or incorrect authors. There were also issues with citations having the wrong issue numbers for the journals they appeared in, according to NOTUS. But the most damning instances were at least seven studies that simply didn't exist. For instance, the MAHA Report claims that drug advertising has led to a rise in ADHD and depression prescriptions being written for children. But try to find the study that's cited in the report for that claim: Findling, R. L., et al. (2009). Direct-to-consumer advertising of psychotropic medications for youth: A growing concern. Journal of Child and Adolescent Pyschopharmacology, 19(5), 487-492. You can't find that study because it doesn't exist. Not in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, or anywhere else. The supposed author of that report, Robert L. Findling, is a real person and currently teaches at the Virginia Commonwealth University. But a spokesperson for that school told NOTUS he didn't author any such study. The MAHA Report also tries to claim that 25% to 40% of mild cases of asthma are overprescribed, citing a 2017 paper titled, 'Overprescribing of Corticosteroids for Children with Asthma.' Again, the paper doesn't exist. NOTUS has other examples of fake studies it found, but even the real studies cited have issues. The report references a paper published in the journal Pediatrics that referred to how screen time impacted sleep in children. The paper was realm but it wasn't in Pediatrics and it didn't actually study children—it looked at adults. The report appears to be littered with errors like that. The White House responded to questions about the fake studies when asked about what NOTUS had found during a regular press briefing Thursday. In typically evasive fashion, press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to any errors as 'formatting issues' and said those were being addressed and the report would be 'updated.' 'I understand there were some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed in the report will be updated, but it does not negate the substance of the report, which as you know is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government, and is backed on good science that has never been recognized by the federal government,' Leavitt said. Leavitt was asked whether reports like this are created using artificial intelligence tools, and the press secretary told the journalist she 'can't speak to that' and would 'defer [sic] you to the Department of Health and Human Services.' And while it's unclear whether the MAHA Report really was created with the help of AI, it wouldn't be surprising. The White House has been a big booster of AI, touting investments in data centers by companies like OpenAI and Oracle. But generative AI is known to frequently just make things up, including entire books or studies when asked for a list. A freelance writer for the Chicago Sun-Times recently used AI to create a list of new books everyone should be excited for this summer. Ten of the 15 books on the list simply don't exist, though many of the authors named were real. The problem, of course, is that anyone using AI to create lists or citations needs to actually check to see if those things are real. And when you have to do that kind of research to fact-check your robotic tool, it can start to become more work than just doing the research yourself using existing tools like Google Scholar. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a dangerously fringe antivax figure who suggested in a 2021 book that he doesn't even believe in germ theory. But this is the guy who's overseeing a complete overhaul of the U.S. public health system, and it seems like nothing—not even a scandal showing his first hallmark report to be fraudulent—will unseat him from his position of power over our lives.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Replacing THIS food from one meal can be beneficial for liver health, experts reveal
A recent study reveals that swapping meat for plant-based protein in just one meal can significantly benefit individuals with liver disease. Researchers found that this dietary change lowers harmful ammonia levels, which are linked to cirrhosis and cognitive decline. Experts emphasize that even small dietary adjustments can positively impact liver health. Liver diseases are a growing health concern. Many factors contribute to the disease, and one among them is diet. Scientists have confirmed the link between a poor diet and increased risk of developing liver disease, particularly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recently, researchers have found that avoiding one food item can significantly benefit liver function. A new study by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine and the Richmond VA Medical Center found that replacing meat with plant-based proteins for one meal can be beneficial for liver patients. Swapping meat with plant-based proteins in just one meal lowers harmful ammonia levels, found in people with advanced liver disease. High levels of ammonia in the blood are linked to cirrhosis and a type of cognitive decline called hepatic encephalopathy. Cirrhosis affects the liver's ability to process toxins like ammonia, which is produced in the intestines when gut bacteria break down food. In healthy individuals, ammonia is processed by the liver and excreted by the kidneys. However, in patients with cirrhosis, this ammonia accumulates in the bloodstream and can reach the brain, causing hepatic encephalopathy, which is a potentially life-threatening condition. This condition impairs cognitive function and can lead to confusion, delirium, coma, or death. To understand how removing meat from one meal could help liver patients, the researchers followed 30 adults with cirrhosis, all of whom typically ate a Western-style diet rich in red meat and low in fiber. The categorized the participants randomly and assigned them to eat one of three types of burgers—beef/pork, vegan meat substitute, or vegetarian bean-based, each containing 20 grams of protein. The meal also included low-fat potato chips, a whole-grain bun, and water. No condiments or toppings were added to this meal. The researchers then tested blood and urine samples, and compared it with before the meal, to examine the ammonia levels and gut bacteria composition. They found that people who consumed meat burgers had higher levels of amino acids linked to ammonia production and hepatic encephalopathy, compared to those who ate the plant-based options. 'It was exciting to see that even small changes in your diet, like having one meal without meat once in a while, could benefit your liver by lowering harmful ammonia levels in patients with cirrhosis,' Jasmohan Bajaj, a world-renowned expert in hepatic encephalopathy with the Richmond VA Medical Center said in a statement. 'We now need more research to learn if consuming meals without meat goes beyond reducing ammonia to preventing problems in brain function and liver disease progression. ' Smriti Mandhana Flaunts Fit Look in Masked Athleisure in Andheri 'It can be so hard to make long-term dietary and behavioral changes. We wondered if making an occasional change could be an option for these patients. Liver patients with cirrhosis should know that making positive changes in their diet doesn't have to be overwhelming or difficult,' Bajaj added. What should you do So, does that mean skipping meal in just one meal can help liver patients? 'The main take-home message was that occasionally skipping meat from just a single meal can have benefits for patients with cirrhosis. A simple change to a patient's diet or substituting some parts of it could be a simple and accessible method to reduce ammonia generation,' Bajaj said. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘I'm willing to do it again': The students who could lose their diplomas due to pro-Palestinian activism on campus
With graduation season underway, universities across the country are taking action against anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists who speak out at commencement ceremonies and during the final weeks of classes, in some cases threatening to withhold their degrees. Administrators accuse the students of breaking campus rules and marring graduation festivities, while activists say the punishments are the latest way school officials are demonizing pro-Palestinian views and repressing students' rights to political expression. The controversy all happens in the long shadow of the Trump administration, which has stripped universities like Harvard and Columbia of millions in federal funds over alleged failures to stop antisemitism during the protests, while detaining campus activists and revoking the student visas of non-citizens involved in the Palestinian cause. At Virginia Commonwealth University, two students' diplomas are on hold after they took part in a modest gathering in late April that the school says was not permitted. VCU senior Selma Ait-Bella, 21, one of the students facing discipline, described the situation to The Independent as a massive overreaction meant to deter future activism. 'They're using these bureaucratic methods to scare other students,' the sociology major said. 'If we're paying thousands of dollars to go to this university, get an education, and build a community, if they can take that away, for speaking out against a genocide, it leaves everybody feeling like their situation is increasingly precarious.' The campus action began on April 29, the last day of classes, she said. A group of about 40 students gathered informally to sit and talk on a lawn, marking a year since a multi-agency group of riot police used pepper spray, and tear gas to clear a student Palestinian protest encampment, while authorities and school officials say protesters threw objects and used chemical spray on officers. This time around, there weren't any speeches or chants or tents, though the participants did use cloth protest banners from past events as picnic blankets. Eventually, school officials and police arrived, telling the group the gathering wasn't allowed, but that they could relocate to a campus 'free speech zone,' Ait-Bella said. Organizers began telling students to leave, fearing another police crackdown. However, in the ensuing confusion, some remained. A student holding a sign that read, 'Gonna us again, you f***ing monsters' was eventually arrested, Ait-Bella said. The Independent has contacted the VCU administration and police department for comment. Ait-Bella was able to walk in VCU's commencement this month, but her degree is on hold, pending an investigation. The situation has left her with unanswered questions beyond her grad status. Will she be able to travel freely? Will she be able to get a job? Will she or her parents, Moroccan immigrants, face any repercussions, given the Trump administration's immigration dragnet? Still, she knew the risks she was incurring by being an activist, and says she doesn't regret taking them now. 'Everybody that is a part of this movement understands there is something to risk,' she said, adding, 'I'm willing to do it again.' For many involved in the campus push, the status quo is a risk, too. The other VCU student whose diploma is in limbo, Sereen Haddad, is a Palestinian-American who has lost over 200 family members in the conflict. 'My activism isn't a choice—it's a duty,' Haddad told The Independent. 'As a Palestinian, I carry generations of resistance in my blood. I've watched my people be dehumanized, displaced, and massacred while the world turns its back...I will never be silent while this is happening.' Clashes have also taken place over commencement ceremonies themselves. Two people were arrested this week at Columbia, where protesters booed the university president, burned diplomas, and shoved police, just weeks after over 70 were detained for occupying a library in the run-up to semester finals. Across town, at the May 14 ceremony for New York University's Gallatin liberal arts program, student-selected speaker Logan Rozos used his brief remarks to address the war as well, which has killed over 1,000 Israelis and over 61,000 Palestinians, according to their respective governments, stretching into a brutal stalemate in which the Israeli government is accused of blocking aid and causing mass starvation in Gaza. The conflict was sparked by the bloody Oct. 7, 2023 incursion into Israel of Hamas terror squads who slaughtered over 1,200 Israelis and kidnaped about 250, taking them back into Gaza. Rozos, a filmmaker and actor, told the crowd he had been 'freaking out' about what to say, but ultimately concluded, 'My moral and political commitments guide me to say that the only thing that is appropriate to say is in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine.' His remarks were met with some cheers from the crowd, but the school swiftly condemned Rozos for having 'stolen' the moment by sharing 'one-sided political views.' 'He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules,' the school said in a statement. 'The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.' The Independent has contacted Rozos and NYU for further comment. Outside reaction was split, with groups like the Anti-Defamation League claiming Ross made Jewish students uncomfortable with 'rhetoric that promotes harmful lies about Israel,' while some faculty members criticized the administration for what they saw as a heavy-handed attempt to avoid scrutiny from Trump. 'They are bending over backward to crack down on speech that runs counter to what the current administration in Washington espouses,' Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis, told ABC News. Even for those who have already graduated are feeling the consequences. Three days after Rozos's speech, George Washington University graduate Cecilia Culver, who received her degree in December, told a commencement crowd to 'withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment' of ties between the university and Israel. 'I am ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund this genocide,' she told a crowd of about 750. The school soon announced that Culver was banned from its campuses and events, saying she had been 'inappropriate and dishonest' and veered from pre-rehearsed remarks. In an interview with the school paper, the economics and statistics grad said she had no regrets, either. 'There was just never any point where I was not going to say something,' she told The GW Hatchet. Culver declined a request for comment from The Independent. She has retained legal representation from Palestine Legal, which has defended her remarks. 'Students are harbingers of how future generations will view this historical moment and the role of universities in it,' the group said in a statement to The Washington Post. 'History will celebrate principled students like Logan Rozos at NYU and our client Cecilia Culver at GWU.' Whatever history thinks of these students, the institutional conflict over how to treat them shows no signs of abating, even as the school year comes to a close. On Thursday, Trump's feud with Harvard escalated, with the administration attempting to pull the university's ability to enroll any international students, the same day a federal court in California temporarily barred the administration from the revoking visas of a wide swathe of international students. Even after all the lawsuits, investigations, dueling protests, and immigration arrests on campus, there are those like Ait-Bella and Haddad determined to keep sharing their perspective on campus, come what may. People in Gaza are starving and eating grass, with children writing their wills and parents writing their names on their arms so their bodies can be identified if they get bombed in their sleep, Haddad says. 'Compared to that, what do I have to fear?' she said. 'If you're someone staying silent, I ask you—who is your silence benefitting? It's not the people under the rubble.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renovation and expansion projects at 10 Va. colleges and universities put on pause
Virginia State University, a historically-Black school in Ettrick. (Photo courtesy of NBC 12) The College of William and Mary: Replace Law School Central Utility Plant University of Virginia: Construct Center for the Arts Virginia Tech: Expand VT-Carilion School of Medicine and Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Virginia State University: Renovate Virginia Hall Longwood University: Replace Roof, Windows, and External Doors Lankford Hall James Madison University: Renovate Johnston Hall Virginia Commonwealth University: Acquire Altria Building Virginia Community College System: Renovate Amherst/Campbell Hall, Central Virginia Virginia Institute of Marine Science: Construct Marine Operations Administration Complex Institute for Advanced Learning and Research: Expand Center for Manufacturing Advancement Source: House Bill 1600 (Reenrolled) Gov. Glenn Youngkin paused over $600 million in funding requests for 10 renovation and expansion projects at Virginia's higher education institutions to prepare for possible statewide repercussions stemming from uncertainty about the country's economic future. As President Donald Trump's administration continues slashing federal spending and programs and overhauling global trade policies, Youngkin and lawmakers are keeping a keen eye on the state's purse strings. On May 2, the governor announced that Virginia will retain $900.4 million from its budget, leaving a projected $3.2 billion surplus as a cushion. Of the $900 million removed from the state spending plan, $626 million would have been allocated to cover 10 one-time capital projects at Virginia's colleges and universities. Youngkin carves out $900 million as Virginia prepares for Trump-era uncertainty 'While the 10 new projects included in the 2025 Higher Education Capital Outlay Pool are each worthy investments, it would not be financially prudent for me to advance these projects to the construction phase with the current risks to our general fund forecast,' Youngkin wrote in his veto letter. 'As chief executive officer of the commonwealth, the conservative course of action is to delay appropriation for these projects.' The affected schools include Virginia State University, which plans to renovate Virginia Hall because of multiple infrastructure issues, and Virginia Commonwealth University, which plans to acquire the Altria research building to expand its lab space. 'The project remains of critical importance and we are hopeful it will be restored at the next opportunity,' a VCU spokesperson said in a statement to the Mercury. The governor said he plans to reintroduce the projects in his December budget proposal 'should the revenues required to support their construction continue to be available.' In his veto letter, Youngkin said the commonwealth has spent 17%, or $551 million, of its $3.2 billion in authorized capital outlay projects at Virginia's public institutions of higher education. The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is also among the institutions that now must wait for their projects to proceed. VCCS plans to renovate Amherst and Campbell Halls at Central Virginia Community College (CVCC) in Lynchburg, which are the core classroom spaces for the college. Amherst Hall was built in 1968 and Campbell Hall was completed in 1974. Neither has had a significant renovation since then. As federal funding and systems dwindle, states are left to decide how and whether to make up the difference. Susan Pollard, a VCCS spokeswoman, said in a statement that CVCC is currently in the planning and design phase for both buildings and is using a limited amount of other available resources to continue moving forward until state funds may become available. 'Virginia's Community Colleges are positioned well in the near term to navigate what we understand is a temporary postponement to the impacted higher education capital outlay budgets,' Pollard said in a statement to the Mercury. 'We understand that difficult decisions regarding the reallocation of budgets are necessary at times, and we are hopeful funding will be restored as the situation allows.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
ILoveQatar.net
13-05-2025
- General
- ILoveQatar.net
Dr. Ibrahim Jaidah, AEB Group CEO & Chief Architect awarded Honorary Doctorate by VCU
We proudly extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Jaidah, Group CEO and Chief Architect at AEB, on being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) at Qatar Foundation. This prestigious honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to the field of architecture and his role in preserving Gulf cultural identity through contemporary design that bridges heritage and modernity. Dr. Jaidah's pioneering efforts in promoting cross-cultural dialogue through architecture and creating inspiring urban environments that reflect human and aesthetic values have made him a symbol of Arab creativity and a true inspiration for future generations.
