Allied Health starts today

Welcome (& welcome back), School of Allied Health students! Here are some library tips as you (re)orient yourself to campus:

1. The RegistrarÔÇÖs office is on the fourth floor of the library. Students get their IDs here. After getting your ID, stop by the Circulation desk for a library barcode.

2. You need a library barcode for off campus access.

3. Your ID can also store money for printing, books and food purchases. Get it formatted in the LSUHSC Bookstore on the 2nd floor of the Resource Center Building to access this feature. More info about PayPaw.

4. Computers are available in the Library Commons and the open access lab on the libraryÔÇÖs 4th floor. Simply log in with your lsuhsc user id and password.

5. Wireless access and laptop ports are available throughout campus. Wireless instructions.

6. More questions? The library is here to help.

Fellowships Awarded to SPH students

Four LSUHSC School of Public Health MPH students were recipients of the New Orleans Schweitzer Fellowships for 2010. Reece Alkire and Meagan Relle are working with Volunteers of America to develop and implement a disease prevention program focusing on homeless veterans. Megan Burns is creating a school gardening program at James Weldon Johnson Elementary School to instruct children on growing, preparing, and marketing fresh produce. Emily Mabile is collaborating with art therapists, teaching children in Central City how to create murals. This art form promotes mental health by empowering children to represent themselves and their schools.

The New Orleans Schweitzer Fellowship Foundaton established in 2007 as part of the U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Program?« . Approximately 200 exceptional students from the nation’s top health and human service schools are selected to follow in Dr. Albert Schweitzer’s footsteps.

Nursing school starts today

Welcome (& welcome back), School of Nursing students! Here are some library tips as you (re)orient yourself to campus:

1. The RegistrarÔÇÖs office is on the fourth floor of the library. Students get their IDs here. After getting your ID, stop by the Circulation desk for a library barcode.

2. You need a library barcode for off campus access.

3. Your ID can also store money for printing, books and food purchases. Get it formatted in the LSUHSC Bookstore on the 2nd floor of the Resource Center Building to access this feature. More info about PayPaw.

4. Computers are available in the Library Commons and the open access lab on the libraryÔÇÖs 4th floor. Simply log in with your lsuhsc user id and password.

5. Wireless access and laptop ports are available throughout campus. Wireless instructions.

6. More questions? The library is here to help.

TOXNET (TOXicology Data NETwork)

Have you ever wondered about the potential health effects of chemicals used in common household products? Or possibly been curious what chemicals have tested positive as cancer-causing agents?

If so, The National Library of Medicine provides TOXNET (TOXicology Data NETwork) as a product of their Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program.

This ÔÇ£FREE web-based integrated system of databasesÔÇØ is ideal for Health Care Professionals or health-conscious consumers searching for reliable information on ÔÇ£environmental health, hazardous chemicals, toxic releases, chemical nomenclature, and specialty areas such as occupational health and consumer products.ÔÇØ

The five types of informative databases are as follows:

1) Chemical Information- ChemIDPlus

2) Toxicology Data Files
a. HSDB (Hazardous Substance Data Bank)
b. CCRIS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information)
c. GENE-TOX (Genetic Toxicology)
d. IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System)
e. ITER (International Toxicology Estimates for Risk Assessment)
f. LactMED (Database of drugs and other chemical and the possible effects in nursing infants)

3) Toxicology Literature Files (bibliographic references)
a. TOXLINE (TOXicology Literature onLINE)
b. DART (Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)

4) Toxic Releases
a. TRI (Toxic Release Inventory)
b. TOXMAP (Environmental Health e-Maps)

5) ÔÇ£Other DatabasesÔÇØ
a. Haz-Map (Occupational Health Database)
b. Household Products (Information on potential health effects of more than 2,000 ingredients found in common household products)

Ische Library Closed Sat. 8/7

The Isché Library will be closed on Saturday, August 7th. The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board will be working in the area and the Resource Center Building will have no running water. The Library Commons will be closed as well until the late afternoon or early evening, whenever work is complete.

The Library will re-open at 1:30 pm on Sunday, August 8th.

New Orleans Index @ 5

The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC) is commemorating the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with the New Orleans Index at Five. The index “provides a comprehensive examination of the region through 20 key indicators, as well as seven topical essays informed by on the ground experience and research.” Of particular interest to the health science community is the essay on Community Health Clinics (pdf).

Mobile Clinical Orthopedic Exam

Looking for a mobile app to diagnose musculoskeletal injuries and disorders? Clinically Relevant Technologies has developed an application for both iPhone and Android which includes descriptions, demonstrative video clips, and references from the medical literature for over 200 musculoskeletal diagnostic tests.

What I like about it is that every test is referenced back to a clinical citation. Tests must meet three main criterion for inclusion:

1) The test must be described/referenced in a peer-reviewed medical journal
2) The test must be used in the evaluation and diagnosis of musculoskeletal pathology
3) The test would be performed by the clinician or as part of clinical evaluation (not include laboratory or diagnostic imaging tests for example).

At $39.99, this app isn’t the cheapest, but as iPhone App review points out, “an equivalent text would cost several-fold more and cannot offer the same portability and ease of use”.

For screen shots and more info, check out i Medical Apps.

Available for iPhone and Android platforms
http://www.clinicallyrelevant.com/

Deadliest Occupation?

A recent USMMWR article ranked commercial fishing as one of the most dangerous occupation in the United States, even without oil spills and dispersants. This won’t come as a surprise to fans of the Deadliest Catch.

49th place

For the ninth consecutive year, Louisiana is ranked 49th among the 50 states in the Kids Count Databook – an annual publication from the Annie E. Casey Foundation on child well-being assessment, reports the Times-Picayune today.

A full report on the state is available.

Epidemiology, PhD

Congratulations to the School of Public Health (only 7 years old!) on getting it’s second doctoral program-in epidemiology-approved. We look forward to new graduates who are just as talented as House, but have much better manners. Check out the Gambit post on the program.

SPH’s first doctoral program is in Biostatistics which was approved in 2007.

MedlinePlus Redesign!

previewheader
Today is the release of the new MedlinePlus!

In addition to the new logo, new features include:

  • Frequently used content is easier to find like Health Topics, Drugs & Supplements and Videos & Cool Tools
  • Spotlighting popular features such as the Medical Dictionary, Popular Searches and useful NIH databases
  • Web 2.0 technologies that help users share content
  • Emphasizes search and makes navigation more intuitive
  • Rotating image feature at the top of the page displays current interest topics and new MedlinePlus features
  • Distinctive color schemes for English and Spanish pages
  • Quick links to mobile version and updates via email, RSS, and Twitter on every page

For a closer look visit: http://medlineplus.gov

An Odyssey of Knowledge

The Exhibition Program of the National Library of Medicine produced a new online exhibit, An Odyssey of Knowledge, Medieval Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the National Library of Medicine. Featuring twenty one medieval manuscripts and five early printed texts scanned at high resolution, the exhibit displays some of the most prized items held by the National Library of Medicine. It gives viewers a rare look at texts that are normally kept under lock and key, containing medical knowledge which spans over two millennia.

THC & HIV

Physiology Department Head, Patricia Molina has been awarded a $4 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health for the study of how cannabinoids produce subtle changes in gene activity that affect how a person responds to HIV infection. The award was announced via EurekaAlert and LSUHSC twitter feed.

As the Times-Picayune reported the grant “will study how marijuana components called cannabinoids produce changes in gene activity that affects the body’s response to the AIDS virus.” The award will be dispersed over five years.

Award Recipients

The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Library was chosen as a recipient for the Historical Preservation and Digitization Award. This $25,000 grant is awarded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine South Central Region.

The title of the project is ÔÇ£Digitization of the Aristides Agramonte Collection on Yellow FeverÔÇØ and will be led by the Principle Investigators, Deborah Sibley and Molly Knapp.

The goal of the project is to digitize 149 rare books and journals identified as the first materials acquired for the LSU medical school library. The books belonged to Dr. Aristides Agramonte, a prominent pathologist and a proposed department chair at LSU before the School of Medicine opened; he passed away before he could begin his position. His collection includes a large number of early publications on yellow fever. Dr. Agromonte is a central figure in the historical Enrique Alferez frieze entitled ÔÇ£The Conquest of Yellow Fever.ÔÇØ This sculpture now hangs in the Library Commons.

77 oilspill links (con’t)

Continued from here
Mental Health
69. Traumatic Incident Stress: Information for Deepwater Horizon Response Workers and Volunteers ÔÇô CDC

70. Mississippi Dept. of Mental Health ÔÇô oil spill resources

71. Alabama Dept. of Mental Health – Gulf Coast Oil Crisis Assistance

72. Louisiana Dept. of Mental Health

73. The Gulf Oil Disaster: Developing a Positive Outlook in the Face of Tragedy (American Psychological Association)

74. Shore Up Your Resilience to Manage Distress Caused by the Oil Disaster in the Gulf (American Psychological Association)

Mobile apps
75. Oil spill tracker & reporting tool for Android phones

76. MoGo: Mobile Gulf Observatory: Oiled wildlife tracker & reporting tool for iPhone

77. Deepwater Horizon Response Text Message Alerts

And for a little lagniappe, the best related t-shirt money can buy**:

** Solely the opinion of the author. LSUHSC-NO in no way supports, condones or authorizes the purchase of above product.

unhappy anniversary ya’ll. See you in 154 days.