November is American Diabetes Month

So now that turkey day is over and done with, answer these questions:

• Are you overweight?
• Exercise less than 3x per week?
• Have high blood pressure or high cholesterol?
• Have any immediate relatives with diabetes?

Today there are millions at risk for developing type-2 diabetes. Many people donÔÇÖt understand the severity of the disease which often leads to stroke, heart disease and even blindness.

You can do a lot to improve your chances of NOT getting type-2 diabetes such as monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels, exercising and being more active, eating healthy, etc.

For more info, please visit:

http://healthfinder.gov/nho/NovToolkit.aspx

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabetes.html

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/consumer/prevent.htm

LSUHSC HOP Clinic Featured

Ahead of the Curve
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Progress Report

The LSUHSC HOP Clinic was featured as a case study in the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Progress Report 2012(pgs 32-40). The Report is issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services – Health Resources and Services Administration – HIV/AIDS Programs.?á The many services offered by the Clinic and several faculty members are highlighted.

Issues with Springer titles

The end of the holiday has also meant the launch of the new Springer platform for our region.?á Unfortunately, we are experiencing a few troubles with the new version that we use to access books, journals, and the Springer Protocols. Currently all Springer sites are running extremely slow, so you will likely encounter trouble browsing the titles. Additionally, we have noticed that issues from some journal titles were not transferred to the new platform, but you can still access these missing issues and all other content on the old platform by following the link to the old site:

If you have any questions or need any assistance with these or any other Library resources, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Registrar Moves Out!

The Registrar’s Office which has been housed in the Isché Library since 2006, has moved to the 1st floor of the Resource Center Building. Go check out their new space.

Thanksgiving Hours

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Libraries (both Dental & Isch?®) will close early on Wednesday, November 21st. Dental will close at 5 pm and?á?áIsch?® will close at 6 pm.?á The Libraries will remain closed Thursday, November 22nd throught Saturday, November 24th.?á Both will re-0pen on Sunday, November 25th at their normal times, Dental at?á11:30 am?áand?áIsch?® at 1:30 pm.

This Month in History: Dr. Rowena Spencer and Her Little Chickens

Despite the resemblance, Dr. Rowena Spencer explains, children are not tiny adults; indeed, ÔÇ£Children are like little chickens. They like to know their way around.ÔÇØ As one of the first women in the country to specialize in pediatric surgery as well as the first woman appointed to the surgical staff at the LSU Medical Center and the first female surgeon in the state of Louisiana, Dr. Spencer proved a wonderful asset to any hospital. Her bedside manner set her apart as a surgeon of unparalleled worth.

Dr. Spencer preferred to take a lighter approach to her smaller patientsÔÇöbeing a friend instead of a threat; as a 1960 Times-Picayune article describes, ÔÇ£She is not above bribing a youthful patient with a nickel or a piece of candy.ÔÇØ And when asked in a recent interview about the most satisfying part of her work, she answered, ÔÇ£Holding the babies. I love babies more that a mule can kick.ÔÇØ

A forerunner for females in the surgical arena, Dr. Spencer faced some adversity, though she did not appear to dwell on this issue. She persevered to become a respected member of the medical community at a point in history rife with tension over not only the presence of women in the medical field but also African-Americans. At Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her M.D. in 1947, Spencer was in good company. She studied under Dr. Alfred Blalock and his laboratory technician, Vivien Thomas. Thomas, an African-American with little formal education, played an integral role in helping save those suffering from ÔÇ£blue baby syndrome.ÔÇØ Another partner in this discovery was Helen Taussig, founder of the field of pediatric cardiology and first female president of the American Heart Association. The work of Blalock, Thomas, and Taussig on the heart is immortalized in a PBS production, ÔÇ£American Experience: Partners of the HeartÔÇØ(2002), and in a Hollywood production, Something the Lord Made (2004). Dr. Spencer would continue their work on infant patients, making a name for herself as an authority on conjoined twins.

Examples of her work include many articles such as: ÔÇ£Parasitic Conjoined Twins: External, Internal, and DetachedÔÇØ and ÔÇ£Congential Heart Defects in Conjoined Twins.ÔÇØ An autographed copy of her text, Conjoined Twins: Developmental Malformations and Clinical Implications, is available for checkout at the Library. Dr. Spencer has also had the honor of being featured in a publication entitled, Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times. Her chapter, ÔÇ£A Study of Changing Gender Roles in Twentieth-Century Louisiana MedicineÔÇØ by Bambi L. Ray Cochran, appears alongside essays on Marie Therese Coincoin, Oretha Castle Haley, and many others in a fitting tribute to their contributions. Dr. Spencer recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

Glimpse of the Past is an ongoing project to promote the Louisiana Digital Library effort. This Month in History will present for your reading pleasure a closer look into a newspaper clipping of note from our Digital Collections and articles relating to the LSU Medical School.

Book request form now available online!

The Collection Development Department is pleased to offer a new web page for its services: http://www.lsuhsc.edu/no/library/services/colldev.html.?á Collection Development is primarily responsible for ordering books,?ámanaging?áreserves, and processing donations.?á Patrons can now submit book requests online and find important information regarding?áreserves and donations.?á We hope you will find?áthese features?áto be helpful!

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Enter on the 1st Floor

For the first time since August 2005, the first floor of the Resource Center Building is open.?á The Registrar‘s Office which has been housed in the Library for the last several years will be moving in two weeks to occupy their newly renovated space.

November’s Faculty Publications Collection

The Library is displaying eight new faculty publications by LSUHSC-NO researchers in the Reference area (near the Library elevator), on the third floor of the Resource Center Building. These items are also part of the LibraryÔÇÖs Faculty Publications Database.

The Faculty Publications Database includes publications authored by at least one member of the LSUHSC-New?áOrleans faculty, 1998 ÔÇô present. Access to this database is available to the public. The database is linked from the Library web page?áhere. This page includes a handy link to a?áPDF?áof the monthly bibliography of display articles. To add your faculty publications, or for questions about this database, contact?áKathy Kerdolff.

LSUHSC-NO authors are shown in bold print:

1.?áHu G, Horswell R, Wang Y, Li W, Besse J, Xiao K, Chen H, Keller JN, Heymsfield SB, Ryan DH, Katzmarzyk PT. “Body mass index and the risk of dementia among Louisiana low income diabetic patients.” PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e44537.

2.?áKim SH, Sierra RA, McGee DJ, Zabaleta J. “Transcriptional profiling of gastric epithelial cells infected with wild type or arginase-deficient Helicobacter pylori.” BMC Microbiology. 2012; (12)175.

3.?áLovera JF, Kim E, Heriza E, Fitzpatrick M, Hunziker J, Turner AP, Adams J, Stover T, Sangeorzan A, Sloan A, Howieson D, Wild K, Haselkorn J, Bourdette D. “Ginkgo biloba does not improve cognitive function in MS: A randomized placebo-controlled trial.” Neurology. 2012; 79(12):1278-84.

4.?áLukiw WJ, Alexandrov PN. “Regulation of Complement Factor H (CFH) by Multiple miRNAs in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) Brain.” Molecular Neurobiology. 2012; 46:11-19.

5.?áMcGowin CL, Annan RS, Quayle AJ, Greene SJ, Ma L, Mancuso MM, Adegboye D, Martin DH. “Persistent Mycoplasma genitalium Infection of Human Endocervical Epithelial Cells Elicits Chronic Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion.” Infection & Immunity. 2012; 80(11):3842-9.

6.?áPe??a S, Jeyakumar A. “Radiology quiz case 2.” Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. 2012; 138(10):975.

7.?áSerrano LF, Morrell B, Mai A. “Contrast media in breast imaging.” Magnetic Resonance Imaging Clinics of North America. 2012; 20(4):777-89.

8.?áToloza SMA, Vega-Hinojosa O, Chandran V, Onate RV, Espinoza LR. “Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis in Peruvian Aborigines: A Report from the GRAPPA 2011 Annual Meeting.” The Journal of Rheumatology.?á 2012; 39(11):2216-9.

Campus Wide Book Club Meeting

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The Campuswide Book Club will meet on Monday, November 12th to discuss it’s latest title, Nine Lives. The author and some of the New Orleanians featured in the book will be in attendance.

Location: Medical Education Building, 1901 Perdido, Seminar rm. 4

Time: 12:15 – 1:30 pm Monday, November 12th

The LSUHSC Campuswide Book Club is sponsored by the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Multicultural Affairs.

Greater New Orleans Census Data Results

The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC) recently released an examination of U.S. census data: ÔÇ£Who Lives in New Orleans and the Metro Area Now?ÔÇØ. In this report, the GNOCDC compares New Orleans census data from 2000 to data from 2011 in juxtaposition with national averages. Results are graphed according to changes in race/ethnicity, changes in educational attainment and income, changes in poverty and access to vehicles, changes in foreign-born population, and changes in homeownership and household types. The brief focuses on Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, and the Metro area, each of which are the most populous areas with the most readily available data.

According the census data, several shifts took place in New Orleans demographics with more pronounced changes occurring in the growth of the Hispanic community, the growth of single-person households, and corresponding decreases in adults with less than a high school degree and increase in adults with a bachelorÔÇÖs degree or higher. In comparison with national averages, however, the Hispanic population here is still low, the median household income in Orleans is only $35,041 versus the national $50,502 (though St. TammanyÔÇÖs is $56,536). New Orleans poverty rate is up to 13% higher in Orleans Parish than the U.S., amount of children in poverty almost 20% higher in Orleans than the U.S, households without access to a vehicle 10% higher, and homeownership rates 20% lower in Orleans, but 12% higher than the U.S in St. Tammany.

You can check out the results for yourself here.

Health & Wellness Event – Wednesday Nov 7th

What:?á 6^th Annual Health & Wellness Event

When:?á Wednesday November 7^th from 10 am ÔÇô 2 pm

Where:?á MEB 3^rd floor Room S4

Stop by and get a chance to win a lot of prizes including signed Saints photographs, gift cards, and many?á more!?á The first 200 people to come and fill out the exit survey will get a Mardi Gras cup printed with the eventÔÇÖs logo!?á The Wellness Center will also be offering 30 min sessions of some of their group exercise classes in Room S10:

11:00 ÔÇô 11:30 am:?á Zumba

12:00 ÔÇô 12:30 pm:?á Pilates and Yoga Challenge

1:00 ÔÇô 1:30 pm:?á Kickboxing

Brought to you by:?á Physical Therapy Students Class of 2014

Happy Halloween from the CDC

Just what everyone wants today,?átips and?áHealth-e-Cards from the CDC. I am particular fond of the flossing vampire. Cards are available in English & Spanish.

Screen capture from Health-e-Card

2012 Science Debates

Speaking of politics…

The National Academies Press has just released its guide to the 2012 Science Debates.

U.S. science and engineering organizations came up with what they believed to be the most important science policy questions facing the United States in 2012. In the end, 14 questions were posed to the Presidential candidates, and their answers were posted side-by-side at ScienceDebate.org.

NAP has provided links to the Science Debate questions, a link to the candidatesÔÇÖ answers, and set of National Academies reports on the topics.?á The 14 topics covered in the debate are Climate Change, Research & the Future, Pandemics and Bio-security, Education, Energy, Food, Fresh Water, The Internet, Ocean Health, Science & Public Policy, Space, Critical Natural Resources, and Vaccination & Public Health.

And remember, all NAP resources are available to download for free or purchase in print from NAP.edu.

Sample Ballot for Nov. 6th Election

In case you’re not aware, there is an election on November 6th and our nation will be selecting a new president.?á However there are a number of other elections happening the same day, including a slew of Louisiana Constitutional Amendments?á(pdf).?á To see what’s on the ballot in your precinct, use the Louisiana Secretary of State‘s GeauxVote.com website to see what else you may be voting on.?á Just click on Sample Ballot.