Digest -- U.Va. Top News Daily

University’s ROTC ceremony, vigil honor POWs, MIAs
Sept. 20 was a somber day for cadets from the Army, Air Force and Navy ROTC programs at U.Va., who gathered in the McIntire Amphitheater to pay tribute to U.S. military prisoners of war and those missing in action. The ceremony included a flyover by four F-16s in the “missing man formation,” a 21-gun salute, the playing of “Taps” and a tribute to former POW H. Warren Landis, who escaped German custody during World War II. (Sept. 29)


Scientists discover new type of nerve cell that could be target for drugs to ease pain
We all know that if you put your hand over an open flame, it’s very painful. What you may not know is that, for some people, just lying under a blanket is painful as well. They have neuropathic pain — annoying, chronic pain that comes from a diseased nerve cell rather than a specific stimulus. Feeling phantom pain in a missing limb is another, more famous, example. Experts say up to two percent of the U.S. population suffers from neuropathic pain. But this pain generally responds poorly to analgesics and other standard treatments and gets worse over time, causing permanent disability in some people. Now, thanks to a team led by U.Va. anesthesiologist Dr. Slobodan Todorovic, there may be new hope for these pain sufferers. (Sept. 30)