An interesting article in the Times Picayune today discussed how the US government is requesting two major scientific publishers (Science and Nature) restrict details about the development of lab-bred bird flu in upcoming publications. The NIH funded research was conducted in the Netherlands and at the University of Wisconsin, in order to study the epidemiology of H5N1 avian influenza.
“…In a statement, Science editor-in-chief Dr. Bruce Alberts said his journal “has concerns about withholding potentially important public health information from responsible influenza researchers” and was evaluating how best to proceed.
Nature’s editor-in-chief, Dr. Philip Campbell, called the recommendations unprecedented.
“It is essential for public health that the full details of any scientific analysis of flu viruses be available to researchers,” he said in a statement. The journal is discussing how “appropriate access to the scientific methods and data could be enabled.”
After review by the US government’s biosecurity advisers, the Department of Health and Human Services requested the two journals not publish the full genetic information of lab bred bird flu, fearing it could fall into the wrong hands.
You would think that due to the First Amendment of the US Constitution, governmental agencies can only request the journals restrict details, and not openly censor the published work. However, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (which publishes Science), there are several methods to restrict publication and dissemination of research: classification, export controls, and pre-publication review. “Pre-publication review is sometimes used as a condition for accepting research grants or contracts. These restrictions are usually narrowly-targeted, and do not apply to whole fields of research.”
The AAAS has a useful if dated Issue Brief explaining these methods of publication control in their document “Science and Security in the Post-9/11 Environment-Scientific Publication Policies” (2004), as well as a link to resources and primary documents related to the regulation of scientific information (which is not unprecedented…hello, atomic bomb!).
More Info
20 December 2011 Science press release
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2011/1220herfst.shtml
20 December 2011 Nature News: “Fears grow over lab-bred flu”
http://www.nature.com/news/fears-grow-over-lab-bred-flu-1.9692
The Dental Campus has been experiencing an outage of telephone & data lines since this morning. AT&T estimates the repair time as between 3-4 this afternoon.
*Edit* Service was restored at 2:30 pm.
There will be a domestic water outage at the Resource Center Building and S. Roman St. Garage this Tuesday, December 20th, from 10:00 PM till 2:00 AM. This outage is needed to cap a leaking waterline located in the University Medical Center construction site. During this outage there will be no hot or cold water in any of the restrooms or the lounges throughout either building.
Reminder: Monday through Friday, December 19th -23rd, the Isché Library will close at 6 pm.
The Dental Library will be open from 8 am to 5 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, December 21st and 22nd, and from 8 am to 4:30 pm on Friday, December 23rd. Regular hours (8 am to 8 pm) will be observed on Monday and Tuesday, December 19th and 20th.
Considering a Kindle Fire tablet/ereader for Christmas? Check out these reviews:
Kindle Fire Usability Findings
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/kindle-fire-usability.html
Review by Jakob Nielsen, usability expert.
Summary: Mobile web sites work best on the 7-inch tablet. Users had great trouble touching the correct items on full sites, where UI elements are too small on the Fire screen.
AmazonÔÇÖs New Kindle Fire (Guest Post)
http://www.lhl.uab.edu/tech/?p=637
Review by Susan Smith, librarian at Lister Hill Library, Univ. of Alabama – Birmingham.
Summary: “the Kindle Fire is fun and useful ÔÇô especially for entertainment purposes. For anyone not wanting to spend $500 for an iPad, I think this is a great alternative.”
(Thanks to Lin Wu for the heads up!)
Walkscore.com is a website that designates a number ranging from 0-100 to any address based on its “walkability.”
According to the website “Walk Score uses a patent-pending system to measure the walkability of an address. The Walk Score algorithm awards points based on the distance to amenities in each category. Amenities within .25 miles receive maximum points and no points are awarded for amenities further than one mile.”
The Walk Score for LSUHSC is 75. When compared against the rating chart (below)we see that LSUHSC is Very Walkable.
90ÔÇô100 Walker’s Paradise ÔÇö Daily errands do not require a car.
70ÔÇô89 Very Walkable ÔÇö Most errands can be accomplished on foot.
50ÔÇô69 Somewhat Walkable ÔÇö Some amenities within walking distance.
25ÔÇô49 Car-Dependent ÔÇö A few amenities within walking distance.
0ÔÇô24 Car-Dependent ÔÇö Almost all errands require a car.
What is the Walk Score of your home? Find out here!
During the semester break (and before the University closes for Christmas/New Year’s) the Isché Library will have shortened hours.
Sunday, December 18th 11:30 am – 8 pm
Monday, December 19th through Friday, December 23rd 8 am – 6 pm.
Closed Saturday, December 24th – Monday, January 2nd.
The Dental Library has re-opened! The Library has been closed to the public since mid-August for HVAC & ceiling work.
The Dental Library hours are:
Sunday 11:30 am – 8 pm
Monday – Thursday 8 am – 8 pm
Friday 8 am – 5 pm
Saturday Closed
The retired professor of surgery, Bert Myers, published a book about x-ray photography. A mere 18 years after the x-ray was discovered by Roentgen, the French scientist Goby took an x-ray of a leaf in 1913 and soon to follow were others that took an interest in the unique and creative art form. Most recently, Myers has been adding color to some of his x-rayed images through Photoshop.
The book mentions four image manipulations: positive, negative, solarized, and line derivation. ?áBelow is a positive black & white image of a blue crab.
For more details and an up close look at more photos, the book is available through his website or borrow the library’s copy.
If you arenÔÇÖt familiar with locating books in our library donÔÇÖt fret, take a look at our How to find a book tutorial on the libraryÔÇÖs homepage (updates coming soon!).
http://www.bmyersphoto.com/
INNOPAC, the LibrariesÔÇÖ Online Catalog, will be down this afternoon for up to 2 hours for a scheduled systems upgrade. Thanks for you patience.
*Edit* @ 5:10 pm – the upgrade did not complete. Completion/downtime may occur on Thursday, Dec. 8th in the morning.
*Edit* @ 7:30 pm – the upgrade has been postponed due to hardware issues.
The Dental Library will re-open on Sunday, December 11th! The Dental Library hours will be:
Sunday 11:30 am – 8 pm
Monday – Thursday 8 am – 8 pm
Friday 8 am – 5 pm
Saturday Closed
Kandice Osborne has joined the Dental Library staff as Sunday and evening supervisor. She will work Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Kandice is a native of Kenner and a graduate of UNO. She most recently worked at the UNO Credit Union.
Kandice’s arrival coincides with the reopening of the library after our August closing for air conditioning system renovations. We’re happy to welcome her to the Dental Library staff.
Expectantly, when doctors did house calls, they depended on their knowledge as well as the considerably well thought out contents placed inside their bags.
Most had six compartments that allowed for a wide range of necessities to be stored; to name a few: injections, gauze, sutures, needles, gloves, and pills. More contents usually meant that the location of practice or closest hospital were farther away.
The bag was usually kept in the trunk or in the vehicles interior, however the hot summer months and freezing temperatures during winter presented challenges for some of its contents. Bottles of sterile water and ampoules were sometimes frozen solid which meant that they had to be thawed out before being administered and even then have the possibility of losing its potency.
Get an up close look! —> Currently on display in the Library Commons
RefWorks, our free Web-based bibliography and database manager which can format a paper and bibliography for you, has some improvements scheduled for the near future:
December 31st, 2011: “Classic” interface goes away. (This only matters if you are an old-school power user.)
January 2012: Group Code no longer needed to login to RefWorks off campus. (It will, however, still be needed to create a RefWorks account off campus.) FAQ
Spring 2012: Updated version of Write-n-Cite will be available.
The new version of Write-N-Cite will run on Word for Windows 2007 & 2010 as well as Word for Mac 2008 & 2011. You’ll get the same features on either platform, and sharing documents between computers is as easy as opening a file.
More.
For questions or training contact Molly Knapp. RefWorks classes will resume in January.
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