Author: Jacob Canon

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Security Wake Up Call

In today’s show, adapted from an article published this month on the Oscar Web site written by Brevy Cannon, we look at the work of UVa graduate student Karsten Nohl whose research has demonstrated that the encryption used by the now ubiquitous smart card is much easier to break than previously thought.

If you hold a credit card issued in the past 18 months, or use a touchless keycard to open doors at your office, or ride the subway with a reusable fare card, chances are good that you have used a card or ticket with a tiny wireless security chip embedded in it.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Myth & Memory

Objects and ideas inform both history and contemporary thought and are the basis of the study of material culture. For Maurie McInnis, associate professor of American art and material culture and director of American Studies, understanding the antebellum South in the 19th century encompasses understanding art and objects from the perspective of class politics, social structures and hierarchies.

Working with Angela D. Mack, curator of the traveling show that originated at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., McInnis has spent the last four years creating Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art, an exhibition on view through April 20 at the University of Virginia Art Museum. The exhibition focuses on themes of race, slavery and the plantation from the 19th century to today…

For more information about the show or to see full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Perceptions and the Gender Gap

In todayvDj(tm)s show, adapted from an article published this month on the Oscar Web site written by Anne Bromley, a senior editor/writer for UVa Media Relations, we look at a recent study by University of Virginia Sociologist Elizabeth Gorman which said, no matter how the data was sliced or certain variables controlled: women say they have to work harder than men.

The statement, vDjnjWhatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good,vDjkj may not be totally off the mark in the workplace states a recent study by University of Virginia Sociologist Elizabeth Gorman and Julie Kmec of Washington State University.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar ShowvDj(tm)s blog.

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Pathogens & Parasites

In todayvDj(tm)s show, adapted from an article published this month on the Oscar Web site written by Mary Jane Gore, we look at the research of Dr. William Petri, chief of the UVa Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, and his study of a voracious parasite that is said to kill nearly 100, 000 people each year.

If you have ever contemplated working as a biological researcher then you would probably have considered these questions: what happens when a cellvDj(tm)s life ends? And, what are the mechanisms that control decay?

Contemplating just these types questions during a recent study, a UVa-led research team, directed by Dr. William Petri, chief of the UVa Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, made discoveries which are helping to stop one of the worldvDj(tm)s most voracious parasites.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar ShowvDj(tm)s blog.

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Financial Fraud

In todayvDj(tm)s show, adapted from an article published on the Oscar web site written by Melissa Maki, we look at business ethics and strategy through the eyes of Jared Harris, assistant professor at the University of VirginiavDj(tm)s Darden School of Business and his search for the answers to these questions:

vDjnjWhat motivates a company to cook the books? AND What happens to businesses that get caught committing financial fraud?vDjkj

Arthur AndersonvDj| EnronvDj|The Mortgage Loan Crisis, these names and events are synonymous with corporate malfeasance. They symbolize a loss of business ethics that occurred when financial profits were prioritized above all else, even to the long-term detriment of the firm. So, what motivates a company to cook the books? And what happens to businesses that get caught committing financial fraud?

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar ShowvDj(tm)s blog.

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Locked-In Syndrome

In todayvDj(tm)s show, adapted from an article published on the Oscar web site written by Linda Kobert, we examine the work of Dennis Proffitt, Professor and Director of the Cognitive Science Program, whose research focuses on creating computer interfaces to help make life more bearable for patients with ALS and other diseases that are the cause of locked-in syndrome.

Up to now, the most iconic connection to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou GehrigvDj(tm)s disease, is the famous farewell in Yankee stadium By Mr. Gerhig. Forced to retire from baseball, the profession he loved and was best known for, he became the personification of this devastating disease.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar ShowvDj(tm)s blog.

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Before Florida; A History of Voting Technology

For more than a century, voting machines have helped shape American political history. The chaos of the 2000 presidential election in Florida and the alleged election fraud in Ohio during 2004, which led to testimony before congress about computer programs that could rig an election, demonstrate the crucial role that voting machines play in shaping the outcome of an election. Bryan Pfaffenberger, a historian of science and an associate professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, believes there is value in understanding that the interaction between technology and culture has been going on for more than a century.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar ShowvDj(tm)s blog.

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The HemoShear 2.0

A new device invented by researchers at the University of Virginia could save pharmaceutical companies significant time and money in screening potential new drug compounds. Brett Blackman, an assistant professor in biomedical engineering and Brian Wamhoff, assistant professor in the department of medicine; cardiovascular division, teamed up to create a novel system, the HemoShear 2.0, which, for the first time, offers researchers the ability to observe the behavior patterns of human vascular cells under a variety of blood flow conditions that occur inside the bodyvDj(tm)s cardiovascular system.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Magnetic Therapy

Magnetic therapy, touted for healing properties since ancient Greece, is still widely used today as an alternative method for treating a number of conditions, from arthritis to depression. Yet, in spite of no scientific proof that magnets can heal, a lack of regulation and widespread public acceptance based on anecdotal evidence, hopeful consumers have created a $5 billion world market as they buy bracelets, knee braces, shoe inserts, mattresses and other products embedded with magnets, hoping for a non-invasive and drug-free cure to what ails them.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Looking for a Link

The bodyvDj(tm)s biological clock has been shown to regulate lifevDj(tm)s activity/rest cycles by controlling energy levels, alertness, growth, moods and the effects of aging. Further study has revealed that these internal clocks are controlled by circadian rhythms. Rhythms that were established early in the history of life on the planet and evolved associated with the astronomical cycles that effect EarthvDj(tm)s environment such as the rise and setting of the sun and the passing of seasons. What is now being discovered is that certain elements, already known to be part of the bodyvDj(tm)s circadian network, may have a broader influence on the life of an individual.

In a study published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Virginia Carla Green and her colleagues discovered that the gene Nocturnin, which participates in the regulation of the bodyvDj(tm)s biological rhythms, may also be a major control in regulating metabolism. The study showed that mice lacking the gene were resistant to weight gain when put on a high fat diet and also were resistant to the accumulation of fat in the liver.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Alternative Energy

With fuel costs soaring and crude oil hovering at or near $100 per barrel, the need for new fuel sources is more paramount than ever. University of Virginia Physicists, Bellave S. Shivaram and Adam B. Phillips, have discovered a new class of hydrogen storage materials that could make the storage and transportation of this form of energy much more efficient vDj” and affordable vDj” through higher-performing hydrogen fuel cells.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.