The iPad in the Hospital and Operating Room

The iPad has received a significant amount of attention in the health care arena since its introduction only eight months ago. The attraction is fairly obvious; it is a portable, lightweight, powerful computing device with an intui-tive interface and a large library of built-in applications. In fact, major medical schools such as Stanford and University of California, Irvine have made decisions to provide iPads to all incoming medical students this year. While predicting the future of medical technology is always precarious, here are a few things we have learned in the months since the iPad was introduced.

http://www.surgisphere.com/SurgRad/issues/volume-2/1-january-2011--pages-1-112/152-column-the-ipad-in-the-hospital-and-operating-room.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20024808-243.html#ixzz1879SlH00

Health Sciences Library closed from December 18, 2010 through January 2, 2011

The Health Sciences Library will be closed from Saturday, December 18, 2010 through Sunday, January 2, 2011 as part of the Medical School’s Kaka’ako Green Days Initiative to conserve energy and budgetary resources and in accordance with faculty and staff collective bargaining agreements.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Insights Give Hope for New Attack on Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s researchers are obsessed with a small, sticky protein fragment, beta amyloid, that clumps into barnaclelike balls in the brains of patients with this degenerative neurological disease.

It is a normal protein. Everyone’s brain makes it. But the problem in Alzheimer’s is that it starts to accumulate into balls — plaques. The first sign the disease is developing — before there are any symptoms — is a buildup of amyloid. And for years, it seemed, the problem in Alzheimer’s was that brain cells were making too much of it.

But now, a surprising new study has found that that view appears to be wrong. It turns out that most people with Alzheimer’s seem to make perfectly normal amounts of amyloid. They just can’t get rid of it. It’s like an overflowing sink caused by a clogged drain instead of a faucet that does not turn off.

Decreased Clearance of CNS-B-Amyloid in Alzheimer's Disease
Published Online 9 December 2010
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1197623

For UHM only:
PMID: 8744411

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/health/14alzheimers.html?_r=1&ref=health

Study Finds Setbacks in Women’s Health

More women are binge drinking, saying they downed five or more drinks at a single occasion in the past month, and fewer are being screened for cervical cancer. Over all, more women are obese, diabetic and hypertensive than just a few years ago, and more are testing positive for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease linked to infertility.
The latest health report card for women, issued on Thursday by the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health and Science University, paints a dismal picture, giving the United States an overall general grade of Unsatisfactory, with many F’s on specific goals set by the government’s Healthy People 2010 initiative.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/health/research/09women.html?ref=health

2010 Homeless Service Utilization Report

The 2010 Homeless Service Utilization Report is the
fifth in a series of reports prepared by the Center
on the Family at the University of Hawai‘i and the
Homeless Programs Office of the Hawai‘i State
Department of Human Services (DHS). Since the first
Homeless Service Utilization Report was issued in
2006, the need for homeless services in the state has
continued to grow, exacerbated by a declining and
unstable economy.


http://uhfamily.hawaii.edu/publications/brochures/HomelessServiceUtilization2010.pdf

NIH adds first images to major research database

More than 72,000 clinical photographs illustrate age-related eye disease progression

The National Institutes of Health has expanded a genetic and clinical research database to give researchers access to the first digital study images. The National Eye Institute (NEI), in collaboration with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), has made available more than 72,000 lens photographs and fundus photographs of the back of the eye, collected from the participants of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS).

These images are now accessible to scientists through NCBI's online database of Genotypes and Phenotypes, known as dbGaP, which archives data from studies that explore the relationship between genetic variations (genotype) and observable traits (phenotype). Though study descriptions and protocols are publicly accessible, researchers must apply for controlled access to de-identified information about study subjects, including the new images.

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/nov2010/nei-22.htm

Book/Article Request Schedule for Winter Break

All UH Libraries will be closed for Winter Break from December 18, 2010 - January 3, 2011. In preparation for this closure, the UH Library System has developed a schedule for ceasing Voyager Catalog "Get This Item" services (which allows you to request a book be transferred from one library to another or request an article be scanned and emailed to you from another Library).

The Voyager Catalog "Get This Item" Services for book transfers and article requests will be turned off according to the schedule below. Requests will no longer be able to be placed online via Voyager from the listed dates until January 3, 2011.

Books from within the Health Sciences Library may still be checked out from the Library through December 17, 2010.

Voyager Services For "Get This Item"	Shut Down	Restart
Hold or Transfer This Item Recall This Checked Out Item For books from other UH libraries except Hamilton and Sinclair Libraries	Friday, Dec. 3rd	Monday, Jan. 3rd
Hold or Transfer This Item Recall This Checked Out Item For books from Hamilton and Sinclair Libraries	Friday, Dec. 10th	Monday, Jan. 3rd
UH Manoa IntraSystem Article Request For articles from other UH libraries	Thursday, Dec. 16th (early a.m.)	Monday, Jan. 3rd