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

US Ranks 49th in Life Expectancy

By any measure, the United States spends more on health care than any other nation. Yet according to the World Fact Book (published by the Central Intelligence Agency), it ranks 49th in life expectancy.

Why?

Researchers writing in the November issue of the journal, Health Affairs, say they know the answer. After citing statistical evidence showing that American patterns of obesity, smoking, traffic accidents and homicide are not the cause of lower life expectancy, they conclude that the problem is the health care system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/health/30life.html?ref=health

What Changes in Survival Rates Tell Us About US Health Care
Health Aff (Millwood). 2010 Nov;29(11):2105-13.

Muennig PA, Glied SA.
PMID: 20930036
http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=2095

AIDSinfo HIV/AIDS Glossary Free iPhone Application

AIDSinfo recently released its first iPhone application, the AIDSinfo HIV/AIDS Glossary! This follows the release of the mobile AIDSinfo site and furthers the effort to provide users with federally approved HIV/AIDS information optimized for mobile devices. The glossary application, along with all future AIDSinfo applications, will eventually be offered across several mobile platforms, including BlackBerry and Android-enabled phones.

http://nnlm.gov/psr/newsbits/?p=1353

Library Closed Thanksgiving weekend

The Medical Education Building including the Health Sciences Library will be closed from Thursday, November 25 through Sunday, November 28, 2010.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Endnote Web wil be down November 21, 2010 2:00 am HST

SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE:

Thomson Reuters will be performing an upgrade to EndNote Web and ResearcherID starting Sunday, November 21st 2:00 A.M. HST.



http://app.info.science.thomsonreuters.biz/e/es.aspx?s=1556&e=9088&elq=a1011fa2b7f64edba118699d5c108f8b

The Downside of a Cancer Study Extolling CT Scans

News that annual CT lung scans can reduce the risk of lung cancer death among former and current heavy smokers was celebrated by national heath officials this month. A major government study found the screening scans saved the life of one person for every 300 current or former smokers who were scanned.

But now cancer and screening experts are worried that the limited findings will be used by private screening centers to promote the test to a broader group than was studied. That, in turn, could lead to thousands of unnecessary lung scans, causing excess radiation exposure and unnecessary biopsies and surgery.

By TARA PARKER-POPE
November 15, 2010, 5:32 pm

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/the-downside-of-a-cancer-study-extolling-ct-scans/?ref=health

National Lung Cancer Screening Trial:
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/noteworthy-trials/nlst

F.D.A. Unveils Proposed Graphic Warning Labels for Cigarette Packs

Public health officials hope that the new labels will re-energize the nation’s antismoking efforts, which have stalled in recent years. About 20.6 percent of the nation’s adults, or 46.6 million people, and about 19.5 percent of high school students, or 3.4 million teenagers, are smokers.

Every day, about 1,000 children and teenagers become regular smokers, and 4,000 try smoking for the first time. About 440,000 people die every year from smoking-related health problems, and the cost to treat such problems exceeds $96 billion a year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/health/policy/11tobacco.html?_r=1&ref=health

Testing Early Treatments for Alzheimer’s

Scientists now know Alzheimer’s attacks the brain long before people exhibit memory loss or cognitive decline. But the specifics are crucial because so far, drug after drug has failed to effectively treat Alzheimer’s in people who already show symptoms. Many scientists now think the problem may be that the drugs were given too late, when, as Dr. John C. Morris, an Alzheimer’s expert at Washington University in St. Louis, puts it, “there’s a heck of a lot of brain cell damage and we’re trying to treat a very damaged

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/health/09alzheimers.html?_r=1&ref=health

Forget Me Not Initiative
http://www.forgetmenotinitiative.org/

The Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative:
A Proposal to Accelerate the Evaluation of
Pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments (5/9/10)
http://www.bannerhealth.com/NR/rdonlyres/33B8922D-8B34-4639-B70B-BAD5CDEB92C1/46927/APIsummaryweb2.pdf

New clues found to symptom-free HIV

There's still no vaccine for HIV, but researchers have made inroads in discovering new clues to why a minority of infected people can carry the virus without treatment.

Only about one in 300 people infected appear to have an immune system that can naturally suppress the virus's replication, and thus they carry low levels of the virus, the study said. Specific genetic variations may be responsible for this uncommon response to HIV, this study published in the journal Science found.

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/05/new-clues-found-to-symptom-free-hiv/

http://www.hivcontrollers.org/

Library Closed to Public on Veterans Day, November 11, 2010

The Health Sciences Library will be closed to the public and unstaffed on Thursday, November 11th in observance of Veterans Day .

Early Intervention of Autism

At the Age of Peekaboo, in Therapy to Fight Autism

In the three years since her son Diego was given a diagnosis of autism at age 2, Carmen Aguilar has made countless contributions to research on this perplexing disorder.

Carmen and Saul Aguilar worked with Sally Rogers to help their son Emilio.

She has donated all manner of biological samples and agreed to keep journals of everything she’s eaten, inhaled or rubbed on her skin. Researchers attended the birth of her second son, Emilio, looking on as she pushed, leaving with Tupperware containers full of tissue samples, the placenta and the baby’s first stool.

Now the family is in yet another study, part of an effort by a network of scientists across North America to look for signs of autism as early as 6 months. (Now, the condition cannot be diagnosed reliably before age 2.) And here at the MIND Institute at the University of California Davis Medical Center, researchers are watching babies like Emilio in a pioneering effort to determine whether they can benefit from specific treatments.

By APRIL DEMBOSKY

Published: November 1, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02autism.html?_r=1&ref=health

Randomized, Controlled Trial of an Intervention for Toddlers With Autism: The Early Start Denver Mode

This is the first randomized, controlled trial to demonstrate the efficacy of a comprehensive developmental behavioral intervention for toddlers with ASD for improving cognitive and adaptive behavior and reducing severity of ASD diagnosis. Results of this study underscore the importance of early detection of and intervention in autism.

For UHM users only:
http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=2095

PMID: 19948568

UC Davis Mind Institute
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/

Library Closed to Public on Election Day, November 2, 2010

The Health Sciences Library will be closed to the public and unstaffed on Tuesday, November 2nd in observance of Election Day .

Madisons Foundation

Madisons Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of information available to parents of children with rare, life-threatening diseases, and to facilitating effective communication among parents, physicians and medical experts through:

http://www.madisonsfoundation.org/

How to be a Doctor for Kids
http://www.madisonsfoundation.org/index.php/content/view/16/93/

Kid to Kid
Madison's second book, authored at the age of ten, speaks to other children about what to expect during a hospital stay. Being hospitalized can be a scary thing, and Madison felt it was important to give other children a fellow child's perspective on what they will expect during their visit.
http://www.madisonsfoundation.org/index.php/content/view/19/95/

Surgeons Get Help Counting Sponges

Surgery is tough enough even when everything goes perfectly. But if the surgeon leaves something inside you, well, that's just plain bad.

Those leftovers can lead to infections, pain and other complications. Then there's the possibility of another operation to retrieve the stuff. Now, more operating rooms are being equipped with new gadgets to avoid misplaced equipment.

Some research indicates about 1 in around 1,000 patients undergoing abdominal surgeries wind up with an unintended souvenir. A push to improve quality has put mistakes like those on a list of "never events," errors that just shouldn't happen — ever.

NPR Blogs October 6, 2010
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/10/06/130379163/better-safe-than-sorry-surgeons-get-help-counting-sponges?ft=1&f=1128&sc=tw

L.A. Times October 5, 2010
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-sponge-20101005,0,7993203.story?track=rss