Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Featured Stories
University of Texas Dallas: Medical Scientist Guides AHA's Advanced Life Support 'Playbook'
RICHARDSON, Texas, Nov. 8 -- The University of Texas Dallas campus issued the following news:
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Medical Scientist Guides AHA's Advanced Life Support 'Playbook'
By Stephen Fontenot
A University of Texas at Dallas medical scientist in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) played a lead role in formulating the latest recommendations for emergency cardiovascular care used around the world.
Dr. Jane Wigginton, a board-certified physician in emergency medicine and in lifestyle medicine with more than 25 years in the emergency department at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, is
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RICHARDSON, Texas, Nov. 8 -- The University of Texas Dallas campus issued the following news:
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Medical Scientist Guides AHA's Advanced Life Support 'Playbook'
By Stephen Fontenot
A University of Texas at Dallas medical scientist in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) played a lead role in formulating the latest recommendations for emergency cardiovascular care used around the world.
Dr. Jane Wigginton, a board-certified physician in emergency medicine and in lifestyle medicine with more than 25 years in the emergency department at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, isthe lead author of the adult Advanced Life Support (ALS) manuscript of the 2025 American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. The guidelines were published Oct. 22 in the AHA journal Circulation.
Comprising a dozen sections, the guidelines cover the interventions used in a wide range of emergency situations, including management of cardiac arrest and protocols for arrhythmia, pediatric resuscitation, toxicology, and training standards for physicians, nurses, paramedics and emergency responders.
The AHA's recommendations form the basis for the education of lay rescuers and health care providers worldwide and are revised every five years to account for new research findings of the past half-decade.
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"Having our university lead this publication elevates UT Dallas' place on the international stage in clinical research. It affirms that we have many people at UT Dallas who care deeply about cardiovascular function in addition to the brain."
- Dr. Adam J. Woods, dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
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The ALS section that Wigginton oversaw covers use of defibrillation; timing of use of drugs such as epinephrine and lidocaine; airway and ventilation strategies; and identification of reversible causes of cardiac arrest.
"This is the manuscript that defines what professional rescuers do when someone's heart stops. It is considered the clinical cornerstone of professional responder guidelines," said Wigginton, who is chief medical officer at the Texas Biomedical Device Center; medical director and co-director of UT Dallas' Clinical and Translational Research Center; and medical science research director at the Center for BrainHealth.
"ALS is among the most referenced, most widely used and most consequential sections in the AHA guidelines because it provides the core science and clinical algorithms that underlie the protocols for all EMS systems, emergency departments and hospital-based resuscitation teams -- not just in the United States, but in many countries around the world."
Each year, approximately 350,000 people in the U.S. experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which results in death about 90% of the time, according to the AHA. One of the updated recommendations is that first-shock attempts to restore regular heart rhythm during atrial fibrillation in adults should use higher doses of electrical energy -- at least 200 joules.
Wigginton has volunteered with the AHA for 25 years and is a veteran of multiple cycles of the recommendation revision process. She said her emergency medicine experience and her research that she has continued at UT Dallas played a significant role in her appointment to the leadership position.
"While restarting spontaneous circulation was previously the gold standard for clinical trial outcomes, now people are more focused on saving the brain, so my work in that area at UT Dallas offers me extra perspective," she said.
"This is not just a professional milestone -- it is an institutional milestone," she added. "The AHA guidelines are the playbook that determines how lives are saved in the most critical of moments. To help lead that work is both a privilege and a profound responsibility."
In addition to Wigginton, who was vice chair of the writing group, and Dr. Michael Kurz, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Chicago and chair of the writing group, 14 others in the fields of emergency medicine, emergency medical services, cardiology, critical care, public health, nursing and education contributed to the adult ALS guidelines.
"Having our university lead this publication elevates UT Dallas' place on the international stage in clinical research. It affirms that we have many people at UT Dallas who care deeply about cardiovascular function in addition to the brain," said Dr. Adam J. Woods, BBS dean and the Aage and Margareta Moller Distinguished Professor in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. "The basic science leading to the clinical trials that inform this document started in labs like those at UT Dallas. Researchers should understand the impact that they have as we translate these findings into improving lifesaving treatment for people."
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Original text here: https://news.utdallas.edu/health-medicine/aha-als-guidelines-wigginton-2025/
UCSF Urology Clinicians Present Research Findings at SurgeWest 2025
SAN FRANCISCO, California, Nov. 8 -- The University of California San Francisco campus issued the following news release:
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UCSF Urology Clinicians Present Research Findings at SurgeWest 2025
Development of a novel RNA biomarker for prostate cancer detection using seminal fluid and mismatched opioid prescriptions following urologic surgery are among the topics being presented by UCSF clinicians and researchers at the Western Section of the American Urological Association's SurgeWest 2025. The 101st SurgeWest meeting, taking place from Nov. 2-6, in Napa, California, is the largest regional
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SAN FRANCISCO, California, Nov. 8 -- The University of California San Francisco campus issued the following news release:
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UCSF Urology Clinicians Present Research Findings at SurgeWest 2025
Development of a novel RNA biomarker for prostate cancer detection using seminal fluid and mismatched opioid prescriptions following urologic surgery are among the topics being presented by UCSF clinicians and researchers at the Western Section of the American Urological Association's SurgeWest 2025. The 101st SurgeWest meeting, taking place from Nov. 2-6, in Napa, California, is the largest regionalgathering of urology professionals in the Western U.S.
This year's program features innovative research and discussions by experts from the UCSF Department of Urology.
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Leading UCSF presentations (all times Pacific):
Sunday, Nov. 2, from 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Walter Hsiang, MD, MBA, resident physician in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents "Mismatched Opioid Prescription to Patients After Urologic Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study" (#87) during the "Health Policy-Data Quality" session. This study evaluated the extent of mismatched opioid prescriptions (over-prescribing and under-prescribing) at the time of hospital discharge among patients undergoing inpatient urologic surgery and assessed the association between prescription mismatch and postoperative opioid refills. The study found that decreasing total dose of opioid alone is not sufficient to effectively decrease opioid refills. Hsiang reports that strategies which individualize discharge opioid dosing based on inpatient consumption may help reduce prescription mismatch, improve postoperative outcomes and enhance opioid stewardship.
Hsiang also presents "Use of Commercial Large Language Models to Expand Literacy Level Concordant Materials for Kidney Stone Patient Education" (#187) during the "Health Policy-Data Quality" session. In the United States, nearly 9 out of 10 patients have sub-proficient health literacy, which is associated with increased patient morbidity. In this study, Hsiang and his colleagues evaluated the accuracy and completeness of three commercial large language models (LLMs) in converting standard kidney stone education materials to the sixth-grade reading level as an initial assessment of these tools' potential to expand access to health information for urologic patients with low literacy. Hsiang reports on LLM's accuracy when converting kidney stone patient education materials into lower reading grade levels.
Lynn Leng, BS, medical student in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, presents "Rethinking Morbidity and Mortality Conferences: A Novel, Multi-Institutional Study of the M-PROVE Model" (#49) during the "Health Policy-Data Quality" session. Morbidity and mortality conferences (MMCs) serve as critical platforms to evaluate patient adverse events and promote continuous improvement in clinical practice and health systems. In 2022, UCSF piloted the Morbidity and Mortality Process Redesign to Optimize Value and Education (M-PROVE) model as a standardized approach to improve educational value and increase opportunities for systems change in patient care in an inclusive, nonjudgmental manner. This study sought to implement the M-PROVE model at three additional academic urology institutions to evaluate its effectiveness and to identify any potential barriers. Leng reports on how the M-PROVE model can be implemented at other institutions and can effectively improve attendee attitudes and enhance the perceived value of MMCs across multiple domains.
Leng also presents "Social Predictors of No Shows at an Urban, Safety-Net Urology Clinic: A Mixed Effects Model Study" (#211) during the "Health Policy-Data Quality" session. Clinic non-attendance negatively affects patient outcomes and disrupts clinic workflow. This study aims to identify predictors of patient no-shows at an urban, safety-net urology clinic. Predictors of urologic clinic no-shows were a history of being unhoused, historical no-show rate, inactive patient portal and increased time from appointment scheduling, of which the latter two are intervenable. This study offers upstream solutions for improving attendance for a safety-net clinic and healthcare access for urologic patients.
Amy Showen, MD, MSc, resident physician in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents
"Characterizing 7-Day Hospital Revisits Following Outpatient Urologic Procedures: A Single-Institution Analysis Using Vizient Data" (#134) during the "Health Policy-Data Quality" session. The seven-day revisit rate is a metric gaining traction as a measure of healthcare quality and performance. Vizient, a leading healthcare performance improvement company, supports this metric's adoption for internal benchmarking and national ranking. This study aims to characterize seven-day revisit rates after outpatient urologic procedures, identify procedure-related versus unrelated revisits, and compare revisit patterns between clinic-based and operating room (OR)-based procedures. Showen reports on the nature of seven-day hospital revisits and examines the opportunities for targeted interventions to reduce unnecessary emergency and inpatient utilization.
Marvin Carlisle, BA, UCSF medical student, presents "Development and Validation of a Generative Artificial Intelligence-Based Pipeline for Automated Clinical Data Extraction from Electronic Health Records: Technical Implementation Study" (#206) during the "Public Policy-Data Quality" session. Manual abstraction of unstructured clinical data for clinical research is time consuming and can be of variable quality. Large language models (LLMs) show promise in medical data extraction, yet integrating them into research workflows remains challenging and poorly described. The objective of this study was to develop and integrate an LLM-based system for automated data extraction from unstructured electronic health record (EHR) text reports within an established clinical outcomes database. Carlisle reports on the study's successful integration of an LLM-based system for automated report extraction within an existing outcomes database and how this approach could significantly accelerate research timelines and expand feasible clinical studies for large-scale projects.
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Monday, Nov. 3, from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Kevin Shee, MD, PhD, resident physician in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents "Development of a novel RNA biomarker for prostate cancer detection using seminal fluid: results from a large multicenter clinical study" (#139) during the "Prostate Cancer 1" session. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing remains the standard for prostate cancer (PCa) screening, but its limited specificity often leads to unnecessary biopsies and overdiagnosis. Given that the prostate contributes to approximately one-third of seminal fluid, this accessible biofluid represents a promising, noninvasive source for biomarker discovery. In this multicenter study, Shee and his colleagues developed a novel biomarker combining seminal fluid RNA expression with clinical data to detect clinically significant PCa (csPCa). Combining seminal fluid RNA with PSA and age improved csPCa detection.
Shee also presents "External validation of a pathology-based multimodal artificial intelligence biomarker for predicting prostate cancer outcomes after prostatectomy" (#132) during the "Prostate Cancer 1" session. Radical prostatectomy (RP) improves survival in localized prostate cancer (PCa), but 20%-40% of patients experience biochemical recurrence (BCR) within 10 years, with one-third progressing to metastasis. Predictive tools for stratifying post-RP risk remain limited. Shee and his colleagues previously developed and validated a digital pathology-based multimodal AI (MMAI) model (RP MMAI v1.1) using H&E images and clinical data to predict outcomes in BCR patients. In this study, Shee presents its first external validation in both BCR and non-BCR post-RP patients.
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Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Behzad Abbasi, MD, research fellow in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents "Long-Term Reoperation Patterns After Surgical Correction of Male Urinary Incontinence" (#175) during the "Pelvic Floor Reconstruction and Voiding Dysfunction" session. This study evaluated long-term reoperation patterns in men undergoing artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) or male sling placement for stress urinary incontinence using population-level data. Specifically, the study aimed to quantify transitions to alternate treatment in each group, finding one in five sling patients ultimately undergo salvage AUS implantation and, over the long term, more than half of AUS patients require additional surgeries, representing twice the risk in sling patients.
Madeleine Ball, MD, resident physician in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents "OAB patient utilization of neuromodulation rates decrease as bladder botox rates increase; trends from the AUA AQUA registry" (#5) during "Pelvic Floor Reconstruction and Voiding Dysfunction" session. Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common condition affecting millions annually; treatments include behavioral, pharmacotherapy and minimally invasive therapies (MIT). While several MIT options exist - bladder botox (BB), tibial nerve stimulation (TNS), sacral neuromodulation (SNM) - overall utilization remains low. This study's purpose was to evaluate treatment trends over time. Ball reports that overall utilization of MIT is low; less than 3% of diagnosed patients receive MIT over a 9-year period. While bladder botox has seen a steady uptick in utilization, SNM and percutaneous (P) TNS have declined, with the PTNS decline appearing to coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight an opportunity to better understand patient and provider preferences and limitations when selecting MIT.
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Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Walter Hsiang, MD, MBA, resident physician in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents
"Accessibility and costs of surgical fertility services in the United States using a secret shopper methodology" (#93) during the "Sexual Medicine and Infertility" session. When choosing male fertility services, many men face an opaque landscape of surgical options, insurance acceptance and cost. This study aimed to identify 1) the types of surgical fertility services such as vasectomy reversal (VR) and testicular sperm extraction (TESE), 2) the rates of insurance acceptance and 3) self-pay costs at all fertility centers across 22 states. Hsiang reports on the difficulty for men to access surgical fertility services and how the cost of surgical fertility services remains opaque, as many fertility centers refuse to provide a self-pay cost of a fertility procedure.
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Thursday, Nov. 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Kevin Shee, MD, PhD, presents "Tumor Microenvironmental NRG1 Drives Resistance to PI3K Pathway Inhibition in Prostate Cancer" (#137) during the "Prostate Cancer 2" session. Despite the prevalence of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway alterations in prostate cancer (PCa), the clinical efficacy of PI3K-targeted therapies in combination with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been limited. In this study, Shee and his colleagues designed a comprehensive secreted factor screen to determine novel TME-mediated resistance mechanisms to PI3K pathway inhibitors in PCa. NRG1 in the PCa TME activates HER3 signaling and promotes resistance to both AR and PI3K pathway inhibitors. Shee reports on how targeting HER3 in combination with PI3K inhibitors represents a promising therapeutic strategy to overcome NRG1-mediated resistance mechanisms in advanced prostate cancer.
Marvin Carlisle, BA, UCSF medical student, presents "Urinary Adverse Events Following Robotic versus Non-Robotic Radical Prostatectomy in Medicare Beneficiaries" (#161) during the "Prostate Cancer 2" session. Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is now the dominant surgical method for localized prostate cancer, yet comparisons of postoperative urinary adverse events (UAEs) to non-robotic approaches in the mature robotic era are limited. This study compares UAEs following RARP versus non-RARP using contemporary, population-based data. Carlisle reports on how RARP significantly reduced postoperative UAEs compared to non-RARP.
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Thursday, Nov. 6, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Emily Hacker, MD, resident physician in the UCSF Department of Urology, presents
"An Unintended Perfect Puncture" (#50) during the "Round Table" program. This case involves a 40-year-old woman who presented to the ER on POD3 of abdominoplasty and liposuction of the flanks with hematuria, new urinary incontinence, acute kidney injury and flank pain. A ballistics-style analysis of the liposuction entrance site on her midline lower back and CT/renoscopy findings led the UCSF team to conclude her hematuria and subsequent clot retention were a result of two inadvertent renal punctures from deep passes of the liposuction cannula. Hacker presents this case of inadvertent penetrating renal trauma from liposuction, resulting in renal bleed and subsequent clot retention. While there have been reports of visceral injury, perforations of the bowel and liver, to date, there has been only one other case report of urologic injury (tear of the ureter at the ureteropelvic junction). To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first case of renal parenchymal puncture as a consequence of liposuction.
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About UCSF Health: UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is a highly-ranked specialty hospital, as well as UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland; two community hospitals, UCSF Health St. Mary's and UCSF Health Saint Francis; Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital; UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians; and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. Visit www.ucsfhealth.org. Follow UCSF Health on Facebook or on Twitter.
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Original text here: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2025/11/431041/ucsf-urology-clinicians-present-research-findings-surgewest-2025
Radford University Issues Highlander Highlights Wrap Up for the Week of Nov. 7, 2025
RADFORD, Virginia, Nov. 8 -- Radford University issued the following Highlander Highlights wrap up for the week of Nov. 7, 2025:
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Highlanders in the News: Week of Nov. 7, 2025
By Neil Harvey
Our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things. In this column, we highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a better place, we'll feature their stories.
Intern-al innovations
For college
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RADFORD, Virginia, Nov. 8 -- Radford University issued the following Highlander Highlights wrap up for the week of Nov. 7, 2025:
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Highlanders in the News: Week of Nov. 7, 2025
By Neil Harvey
Our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things. In this column, we highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a better place, we'll feature their stories.
Intern-al innovations
For collegestudents, the trick of juggling studies, jobs, finances and professional experience opportunities has always had its challenges.
Increasingly, though, grants, student awards and innovative academic programs are helping them strike a better balance.
A Nov. 4 article on Cardinal News looked at some local students' solutions, plus such options as the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP), which provides funds to Virginia's 12 public universities to support work-based learning.
Part of the story focused on Radford University, which has also taken strides "to increase work-based learning opportunities by rethinking what counts as an internship," and where 84% of last year's graduating class took part in at least one experiential learning opportunity.
Some university classes involve work with real-world clients, and part-time jobs on campus can occasionally be adjusted to include exposure to such factors as goal planning and project management, according to Jeanne Mekolichick, associate provost for academic affairs and a sociology professor.
Viewing the campus as a place for education within and beyond the classroom, Mekolichick said, opens up avenues for additional opportunities to prepare students for their next steps.
Cardinal also spoke with Radford senior Utibeenoabasi "Utti" Udoeyop, of Falls Church, Virginia, who has spent the past two summers in Memphis, Tennessee, as a cloud data engineering intern at the corporate headquarters for the popular parts retailer AutoZone.
Udoeyop's position was supported by a Highlander Works Grant, which is funded through V-TOP, and went toward her travel expenses and rent during her stay.
"If I hadn't gotten [the Highlander Works grant], I probably would not have taken the offer" from AutoZone, she told Cardinal, but said her time there was significant: "I learned so much about myself as a person."
"Noticing the excitement"
Ordinarily, in this column, when we write about Jon Murrill, M.F.A. '12, it's because he's hard at work on a public painting, like the mural he created along the Roanoke River Greenway in 2022, to name just one of many. He's Roanoke's official muralist-in-residence, but he's emblazoned his brushstrokes all around the region, with large-scale artworks in Blacksburg, Salem, Stuart and other Virginia locales.
On Oct. 14, however, Murrill also became one of this year's Perry F. Kendig Award winners, specifically its Individual Artist prize.
The Kendig awards, which take their name from Roanoke College's seventh president and which mark their 40th anniversary this fall, are co-sponsored by Hollins University and Roanoke College, and they recognize people and groups that lend artistic support in and around the Roanoke region.
Roanoke College reported that Murrill was about to conclude a mural at a community space at the school's Maroon Village, for which he recruited students to help and let them contribute to the effort through special spray-paint techniques. He also gave a lecture on public art at the college on Oct. 24.
"My roots are in education, so there's a really special place in my heart for shared experiences," Murrill said, and added of his prize: "Awards like this really mean a lot because it shows that people are noticing the excitement and encouragement we have on public art."
A flood of memories
Nov. 4 marked the 40th anniversary of Roanoke, Virginia's Flood of '85, during which its river crested at a record 23.35 feet. The storm, which sprang from the remnants of Hurricane Juan, was responsible for the deaths of 10 people in the Roanoke area. About 3,000 homes and 100 businesses suffered damage, local election day procedures were thrown into chaos and the destruction cost an estimated $200 million at the time, well over half a billion dollars today.
That day's events were recounted in a recent Cardinal News story, and in that piece, historian and author Nelson Harris '87 recalls where he was - a Radford University student at the time, he was home visiting his parents in the Raleigh Court area.
"It was just jaw-dropping," he said of the storm's aftermath.
Harris would go on to serve as Roanoke's mayor from 2004 to 2008, and during which time would be named Radford University's 2005 Outstanding Alumnus and begin a term on its Board of Visitors.
In the piece, he said that while the storm was devastating, it led to civic improvements that, otherwise, might not have happened.
Following the flood, Roanoke and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collaborated on a $70 million flood reduction project, which concluded in 2012.
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Original text here: https://www.radford.edu/news/2025/highlanders-in-the-news-week-of-nov-7-2025.html
Mind Readers: Stevens Researchers Peek at How Large Language Models Encode Theory-Of-Mind
HOBOKEN, New Jersey, Nov. 8 -- Stevens Institute of Technology issued the following news:
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Mind Readers: Stevens Researchers Peek at How Large Language Models Encode Theory-of-Mind
Human brains are superior to LLMs in energy efficiency, but the models can become better at using their networks
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Imagine you're watching a movie, in which a character puts a chocolate bar in a box, closes the box and leaves the room. Another person, also in the room, moves the bar from a box to a desk drawer. You, as an observer, know that the treat is now in the drawer, and you also know that when the first
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HOBOKEN, New Jersey, Nov. 8 -- Stevens Institute of Technology issued the following news:
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Mind Readers: Stevens Researchers Peek at How Large Language Models Encode Theory-of-Mind
Human brains are superior to LLMs in energy efficiency, but the models can become better at using their networks
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Imagine you're watching a movie, in which a character puts a chocolate bar in a box, closes the box and leaves the room. Another person, also in the room, moves the bar from a box to a desk drawer. You, as an observer, know that the treat is now in the drawer, and you also know that when the firstperson returns, they will look for the treat in the box because they don't know it has been moved.
You know that because as a human you have the cognitive capacity to infer and reason about the minds of other people -- in this case the person's lack of awareness regarding where the chocolate is. In scientific terms, this ability is described as Theory of Mind (ToM). This "mind-reading" ability allows us to predict and explain the behavior of others by considering their mental states.
We develop this capacity about the age of four, and our brains are really good at it. "For a human brain it's a very easy task," says Zhaozhuo Xu, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the School of Engineering -- it barely takes seconds to process. "And while doing so, our brains involve only a small subset of neurons, so it's very energy efficient," explains Denghui Zhang, Assistant Professor in Information Systems and Analytics at the School of Business.
Large language models or LLMs, which the researchers study, work differently. Although they were inspired by some concepts from neuroscience and cognitive science, they aren't exact mimics of the human brain. LLMs were built on artificial neural networks that loosely resemble the organization of biological neurons, but the models learn from patterns in massive amounts of text and operate using mathematical functions.
That gives LLMs a definitive advantage over humans in processing loads of information rapidly. But when it comes to efficiency, particularly with simple things, LLMs lose to humans. Regardless of the complexity of the task, they must activate most of their neural network to produce the answer. So whether you're asking an LLM to tell you what time it is or summarize Moby Dick, a whale of a novel, the LLM will engage its entire network, which is resource consuming and inefficient.
"When we, humans, evaluate a new task, we activate a very small part of our brain, but LLMs must activate pretty much all of its network to figure something new even if it's fairly basic," says Zhang. "LLMs must do all the computations and then select the one thing you need. So you do a lot of redundant computations, because you compute a lot of things you don't need. It's very inefficient."
Working together, Zhang and Xu formed a multidisciplinary collaboration to better understand how LLMs operate and how their efficiency in social reasoning can be improved.
They found that LLMs use a small, specialized set of internal connections to handle social reasoning. They also found that LLM's social reasoning abilities depend strongly on how the model represents word positions, especially through a method called rotary positional encoding (RoPE). These special connections influence how the model pays attention to different words and ideas, effectively guiding where its "focus" goes during reasoning about people's thoughts.
"In simple terms, our results suggest that LLMs use built-in patterns for tracking positions and relationships between words to form internal "beliefs" and make social inferences," Zhang says. The two collaborators outlined their findings in the study titled How large language models encode theory-of-mind: a study on sparse parameter patterns, published in Nature Partner Journal on Artificial Intelligence on August 28, 2025.
Now that researchers better understand how LLM's form their "beliefs," they think it may be possible to make the models more efficient. "We all know that AI is energy expensive, so if we want to make it scalable, we have to change how it operates," says Xu. "Our human brain is very energy efficient, so we hope this research brings us back to thinking how we can make LLMs to work more like the human brain, so that they activate only a subset of parameters in charge of a specific task. That's an important argument we want to convey."
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About Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, New Jersey. Since our founding in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark of Stevens' education and research. Within the university's three schools and one college, more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate closely with faculty in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment. Academic and research programs spanning business, computing, engineering, the arts and other disciplines actively advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront our most pressing global challenges. The university continues to be consistently ranked among the nation's leaders in career services, post-graduation salaries of alumni and return on tuition investment.
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Original text here: https://www.stevens.edu/news/mind-readers-stevens-researchers-peek-at-how-large-language-models-encode
Cameron University: Bill W. Burgess Jr. Business Research Center to Examine Rural Health Care in Southwest Oklahoma
LAWTON, Oklahoma, Nov. 8 -- Cameron University issued the following news release:
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Bill W. Burgess Jr. Business Research Center to examine rural health care in southwest Oklahoma
The Bill W. Burgess Jr. Business Research Center at Cameron University will examine rural health care in southwest Oklahoma during a forward-looking business forum. The event will gather policymakers and health care providers for a discussion on the future of health care in southwest Oklahoma, including expanding telehealth to underserved rural areas, building the rural health workforce and in-person patient care.
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LAWTON, Oklahoma, Nov. 8 -- Cameron University issued the following news release:
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Bill W. Burgess Jr. Business Research Center to examine rural health care in southwest Oklahoma
The Bill W. Burgess Jr. Business Research Center at Cameron University will examine rural health care in southwest Oklahoma during a forward-looking business forum. The event will gather policymakers and health care providers for a discussion on the future of health care in southwest Oklahoma, including expanding telehealth to underserved rural areas, building the rural health workforce and in-person patient care.The discussion will take place on Thursday, November 20, at 12:30 p.m. in the Mary Lou and W. Carey Johnson Auditorium, Room 111 in Ross Hall, and is open to the public at no charge.
Sharing their expertise will be panelists Rep. Trey Caldwell, chair of the House Appropriations and Budget committee; Jay Johnson, president/CEO of Duncan Regional Hospital; and Sean McAvoy, executive director, Lawton Community Health Centers.
"Improvements in rural health care access will emerge from community conversations," says Jennifer Ellis, acting chair, CU Department of Business. "The reality of healthcare in southwest Oklahoma is that many people are underserved, particularly those living in rural areas of the region. The goal of this forum is to explore how we as a community can harness technology and community strengths to improve access for all Oklahomans."
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Original text here: https://www.cameron.edu/press-releases/bill-w-burgess-jr-business-research-center-to-examine-rural-health-care-in-southwest-oklahoma
Board of Regents Receive Progress Update on Baylor in Deeds Strategic Plan
WACO, Texas, Nov. 8 -- Baylor University issued the following news:
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Board of Regents Receive Progress Update on Baylor in Deeds Strategic Plan
Regents approve master's degree in architecture, participate in civil discourse Bridgebuilding exercise with students
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During its regular fall meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents received a progress report on the University's Baylor in Deeds strategic plan from Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., including the plan's "Bold Pursuits."
"Bold Pursuits" in Baylor in Deeds include the transformational multidisciplinary endeavors
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WACO, Texas, Nov. 8 -- Baylor University issued the following news:
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Board of Regents Receive Progress Update on Baylor in Deeds Strategic Plan
Regents approve master's degree in architecture, participate in civil discourse Bridgebuilding exercise with students
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During its regular fall meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents received a progress report on the University's Baylor in Deeds strategic plan from Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., including the plan's "Bold Pursuits."
"Bold Pursuits" in Baylor in Deeds include the transformational multidisciplinary endeavorsof Global Human Flourishing and Disability, Faith and Flourishing. These high-impact, high-priority initiatives tackle societal challenges and are led by a visible and active champion with a demonstrated record of success: Byron R. Johnson, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Global Human Flourishing and a principal investigator of the groundbreaking Global Flourishing Study, and Erik Carter, Ph.D., The Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities, executive director of the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing and a leading voice on disability, faith and flourishing.
"These and other 'Bold Pursuits' have the potential to cement Baylor's status as the preeminent Christian research university in the world, and these initiatives will remain among our highest priorities as we continue to build on Baylor's distinctive strengths," President Livingstone said. "Dr. Johnson and Dr. Carter are both examples of the type of faculty who come to Baylor to conduct research with heart and passion as we all strive to elevate Baylor University and transform the world."
In her report to the Board, President Livingstone also highlighted the 10 evaluation metrics outlined in Baylor in Deeds, specifically affordability and value. President Livingstone reminded the Board of Baylor's record-setting progress on its four-year graduation rate, which jumped 6.2 points to a high of 77.3% this year.
"Graduating in four years is critically important for keeping a highly valued Baylor education affordable and attainable," President Livingstone said. "Baylor has made great progress in retaining and graduating students over the last several years, and I am truly appreciative of the campus-wide efforts of our faculty and staff that provide the foundation and support for students and their families."
Bridgebuilding exercise, new master's degree in architecture
As part of committee meetings, Regents participated in an interactive exercise led by student Bridgebuilding Fellows, which aligns with the Civil Discourse imperative woven throughout Baylor in Deeds. Serving as role models, Bridgebuilding Fellows equip others on campus to make a positive difference in how they relate to one another, building bridges of understanding that help society flourish.
In their only action of the day, Regents approved a new hybrid master's degree in architecture to address the accelerating demand for licensed architects, leveraging Waco's growing design industry - The Magnolia Effect led by Baylor alums Chip and Joanna Gaines. Set to launch with the first cohort in Summer 2027, the accelerated hybrid Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) in the Department of Human Sciences and Design in Baylor's Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences is designed for applicants with undergraduate preparation in architecture or from a CIDA-accredited interior design program and qualifies graduates for architectural licensure.
Memorial to Enslaved Persons dedication
On Friday morning, Regents gathered with faculty, staff, students and guests for the dedication of the Memorial to Enslaved Persons, one outcome from the 2021 Commission on Historic Campus Representations. Baylor Regent Michael McFarland, Ed.D., offered remarks on behalf of the Commission, along with other University leaders.
Created by renowned architectural firm Sasaki and local company K4 Construction, the Memorial creates new areas of reflection, gathering and community on Founders Mall. It also stands as a tangible acknowledgment of a challenging part of Baylor's history while pointing the University toward renewal, reconciliation and restoration.
The Memorial has four distinct but connected ways to learn, understand and process Baylor's history:
* A cascading water feature constructed of the same limestone used to build the University's original campus in Independence;
* Foundational scriptures intended to remind visitors of the freedom all men and women have in Christ now and should have experienced when Baylor was founded in 1845;
* A population density map inlayed in the ground in front of the Memorial depicting the number of enslaved individuals in the counties where Baylor was, circa 1860, and is located; and
* A Resonance Garden - to complement the iconic Sadie Jo Black Gardens and the Joy Reynolds Rose Gardens - for individual and collective reflection.
"This has been an amazing week for Baylor as we celebrated the opportunity to come back together and reconnect as a Baylor Family," President Livingstone said. "We enjoyed all the traditions of a Baylor Homecoming last week and respectfully gathered today to dedicate the Memorial to Enslaved Persons. I appreciate the continued support of the Baylor Board of Regents and commend the Baylor Family on this historic day."
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ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.
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Original text here: https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2025/board-regents-receive-progress-update-baylor-deeds-strategic-plan
Auburn University: Alumni to Be Inducted Into Alabama Business Hall of Fame
AUBURN, Alabama, Nov. 8 -- Auburn University issued the following news:
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Alumni to be inducted into Alabama Business Hall of Fame
Harbert College of Business alumnus Benny LaRussa Jr. (finance '82) and Samuel Ginn College of Engineering alumna Susan Story (industrial engineering '81) are among six class of 2025 honorees who will be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Nov. 13 in a ceremony in Birmingham.
Established in 1973, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame honors individuals who have brought recognition to the state of Alabama through their business contributions.
LaRussa
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AUBURN, Alabama, Nov. 8 -- Auburn University issued the following news:
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Alumni to be inducted into Alabama Business Hall of Fame
Harbert College of Business alumnus Benny LaRussa Jr. (finance '82) and Samuel Ginn College of Engineering alumna Susan Story (industrial engineering '81) are among six class of 2025 honorees who will be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Nov. 13 in a ceremony in Birmingham.
Established in 1973, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame honors individuals who have brought recognition to the state of Alabama through their business contributions.
LaRussaJr. is the founder and CEO of Sterling Capital Management, a multi-asset holding company headquartered in Birmingham. Sterling Capital owns and operates three primary platform companies: Fenwick Food Group, which invests in and operates consumer-packaged goods businesses; American Pipe and Supply, a regional wholesale distributor of pipe, valves and fittings; and StoneRiver Company, which specializes in the acquisition, development and management of multi-family residential properties.
Through these businesses, LaRussa has helped grow companies that create jobs, strengthen communities and contribute to the regional economy.
LaRussa earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Auburn, then earned his master's degree in public and private management from Birmingham-Southern College. In 1985, he joined John Oliver, Richard Anthony and Tom Broughton in the formation of First Commercial Bank, where he gained six years of valuable experience in the financial industry.
He serves on the board of directors for Security Engineers Inc., Quarterbacking Children's Health Foundation, Ascension and the Joseph S. Bruno Charitable Foundation. He is deeply involved with the Joseph S. Bruno Study Abroad Program in Italy and has actively supported organizations such as the Bell Center for Early Intervention, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, and Children's Hospital of Alabama.
LaRussa also served on numerous other boards, including St. Vincent's Health System, Bruno's, Inc., Jack's Family Restaurants, Synovus Bank of Birmingham, and as trustee for Birmingham-Southern College. He served on the Auburn University Foundation Board from 2015 to 2020 and chaired the Auburn University Foundation board from 2019 to 2020.
He and his wife Lynn reside in Birmingham. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Story is the retired president and CEO of American Water Works, Inc., the largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company in the United States and a member of the S&P 500.
During her CEO tenure from 2014 until her retirement in 2020, Story led the company through remarkable growth, more than tripling its stock price and market capitalization. At the time, she was one of only 23 women leading an S&P 500 company, serving as a trailblazer for women in corporate leadership and inspiring countless professionals in the utility sector and beyond.
She graduated with an industrial engineering degree from Auburn and earned her MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She spent 31 years with Southern Company, where she held numerous leadership roles, including serving as president and CEO of Southern Company Services in Birmingham and Atlanta, and president and CEO of Gulf Power Company from 2003 to 2010.
Story's professional and community achievements have earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as one of Birmingham Business Journal's "Top 10 Women in Business," a UAB Alumna of the Year, an Auburn University Distinguished Engineer and a member of the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. She was also named Woman of the Year by the Girl Scout Council of the Florida Panhandle and recently received the Auburn University Lifetime Achievement Award.
She currently serves or has served on the corporate boards of Dominion Energy, Inc., Carrier Global, Newmont Corporation, Raymond James Financial and American Water and lends her expertise to the Moffitt Cancer Center board of advisors in Tampa, the Pensacola Bay Area Impact 100, the Global Council of CEOs and the Florida Council of 100 CEOs.
Story and her husband, Joe, support charitable initiatives through the Story Family Charitable Fund, endowing scholarships at Snead State Community College and Auburn University for economically disadvantaged and first-generation college students, as well as various educational and health and human services efforts around the U.S. and world.
Learn more on the Alabama Business Hall of Fame website (https://abhof.culverhouse.ua.edu/announcing-the-alabama-business-hall-of-fame-class-of-2025/).
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Original text here: https://wire.auburn.edu/content/business/2025/11/071230-alabama-business-hall-of-fame-inductees.php?utm_source=auburn-stories&utm_medium=web&aupage=https://ocm.auburn.edu/stories/all/
