Observances

This Month in History: Enjoy Rabbits Playing Piano

A brief interlude for your busy day: Harvey the virtuoso rabbit and her YouTube accompaniment, Elissa watch?v=0NzN8ksnJhA.

As you might have guessed, rabbits are not particularly adept at playing the piano (certainly not as well-attuned as a famous piano-playing cat, Nora: most-outrageous-piano-playing-cat.htm). In an attempt to challenge unfair bunny stereotypes, Dr. Waid H. Dean, Instructor of Physiology at LSU Medical School, chose Harvey to prove the musical worth of her species.

Though Dr. Dean openly admits “there is no scientific purpose to this demonstration”?á in a 1958 Times-Picayune article, he says the rabbit’s performance “is merely to demonstrate that animals can be trained to respond to signals.” As with many high-achieving parents, Dr. Dean is not easy to please and expects the best from his tiny Leporidaean maestro. Harvey cannot live up to expectations, however–quickly tiring out after a couple of notes and anxious for her next treat. Though she may not be 6 feet 3 inches tall like another famous Harvey, she is decidedly more cuddly.

On that note, Happy Spring from the staff at John P. Ische Library!

Toys~4~Tots!

PIG (Pediatric Interest Group) is sponsoring a toy drive.?á Drop off boxes are in Lecture Halls A & B on the 1^st floor of the MEB. Last day to donate is Tuesday December 18th, so hurry!

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

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

Happy National Taco Day!

If youÔÇÖre in the mood to celebrate a wonderful fake holiday, check out this abc news bit wherein the newscasters wear sombreros and taunt the audience with deliciously unhealthy food and free taco promises.

And if (like me) youÔÇÖre really into the autumn momentum, check out these online recipes for pumpkin tacos: http://www.wearenotmartha.com/2010/09/pumpkin-chicken-tacos/ or http://mommymishmash.com/2010/01/pumpkin-tacos-not-a-typo/.

Happy National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Avast me hearties! In celebration of this wondrous event, hereÔÇÖs an amusing cartoon for your mid-afternoon enjoyment.

If youÔÇÖre interested in learning more about pirate surgeons, try searching for information on the ÔÇ£Father of Sea Surgery,ÔÇØ John Woodall, who authored The SurgeonÔÇÖs Mate. The British Journal of Surgery has a neat article on this very subject.

And for the sake of our other patrons, please try to keep your swashbuckling to a minimum in the Library.

Books Featured for Occupational Therapy Month

The Isch?®?áLibrary and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) are?ácelebrating April as Occupational Therapy Month. The Library has a group of important books on the subject of OT currently displayed on the third floor next to the Library elevator.

These titles include:

1. Cole, MB. Group dynamics in occupational therapy: the theoretical basis and practice application of group intervention (2005; 2012 edition is also available on Reserve).
2. Stein, F, & Cutler, SK. Psychosocial occupational therapy: a holistic approach (2002).
3. Hemphill-Pearson, BJ. Assessments in occupational therapy mental health: an integrative approach (2008).
4. Willard, HS, & edited by EB Crepeau, ES Cohn, BA Boyt Schell; 104 contributors. Willard & Spackman’s occupational therapy (2003; 2012 edition is also available on Reserve).
5. Christiansen, CH, CM Baum, & J Bass-Haugen. Occupational therapy: performance, participation, and well-being (2005; 2009 edition is also available on Reserve).
6. Law, M, C Baum, & W Dunn. Measuring occupational performance: supporting best practice in occupational therapy (2005).
7. Letts, L, P Rigby, & D Stewart. Using environments to enable occupational performance (2003).
8. Law, L, & MA McColl. Interventions, effects, and outcomes in occupational therapy: adults and older adults (2010).
9. Moyers, PA, & LM Dale. The guide to occupational therapy practice (2007).
10. Wilcock, AA. An occupational perspective of health (2006).
11. McCormack, GL, EG Jaffe, & M Goodman-Lavey. The occupational therapy manager (2003).
12. Jacobs, K. Ergonomics for therapists (2007).
13. Fazio, LS. Developing occupation-centered programs for the community (2008).
14. Kielhofner, G. A model of human occupation: theory and application (2002).
15. Radomski, MV, & CA Trombly Latham. Occupational therapy for physical dysfunction (2008).

Don’t forget to also investigate the Library’s occupational therapy eBooks: an assortment is available through online resources such as the R2 Digital Library, Stat!Ref, and Books@Ovid.

More info about Occupational Therapy Month and the OT profession is available on the Association’s website at www.aota.org.

LSUHSC Students – OT Awareness Video

edit: as of today, Weds. April 11, the video has been removed. Sorry!

The Occupational Therapy students have created a video and posted it on YouTube to get the attention of Ellen Degeneres and promote OT Awareness. April is OT Awareness Month.
Enjoy!

Louisiana Named – 330 years ago

A color reproduction of a 17th Century map by Jean Baptiste Louis, Franquelin entitled Carte de la Louisiane ou des voyages du Sr. De La Salle.

Happy Name Day to the entire former Louisiana Territory.

March 25th eCycling Event at Superdome

Tomorrow New Orleanians are encouraged to drop off electronics for a recycling event brought to you by LG Electronics USA. In exchange each participant will receive a $50-$150 Best Buy instant savings coupon, that can ONLY be used in the purchase of a qualifiable ENERGY STAR LG flat-panel tv and can ONLY be redeemed between the dates of March 25^th and April 7^th.?á The ÔÇ£Do March RightÔÇØ themed event is so convenient that participants donÔÇÖt even have to get out of their cars to donate. Recycling reduces the amount of hazardous waste in landfills as well as cut back on ?áthe extracting of raw materials from the earth.

Acceptable Items include (but are not limited to):

?áComputers ÔÇô CPUs

Computer monitors

Printers

Fax machines

Televisions

VCRs

Steroes

Home and Cell Phones

GPS devices

Digital Cameras

For a full list of acceptable items and items that are not accepted, please see the following links:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lg-invites-new-orleanians-to-recycle-old-electronics-save-on-new-purchases-as-2012-ncaa-mens-final-four-approaches-143629626.html

http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/from-the-wires/wire-news-display/1628755896.html

International Women’s Day

Search Google today? This particular Google Doodle recognizes International Women’s Day, an annual event on March 8th. It is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.?áThe?áfirst International Women’s Day event was run in 1911. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday.

So beyond the fact that women make up over 50% of the world’s population and 90% of the Library Staff, why should we care? Susan Blumenthal, M.D., Public Health Editor at HuffPost and Former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, has an excellent essay today reflecting upon the changes she has seen in women’s health. ?áWomen’s Health: Decades Later, What’s Still Neglected.

For example, did you know:

• A Congressional Report in 1990 revealed that only 13 percent of the National Institutes of Health budget was spent on women’s health research
• Until fairly recently in our nation’s history (1993), women were largely excluded from being subjects in medical research and data was not analyzed for sex and gender differences
• Women represent only 12 percent of the Deans of U.S. medical schools, fewer than 27 percent of tenured professors and 13 percent of the over 2070 Departmental Chairs in our nation’s medical schools

The good news is, things are changing. The?áNational Women’s Health?áInformation Center (NWHIC) ?áis available ?áthrough a toll free telephone number (800-944-WOMAN) and ?áat?áwww.womenshealth.gov. It?áprovides consumers, health professionals, and researchers with free information and suport for ?áa broad range of women’s health issues. Changing the Face of Medicine?á is an online exhibit from the NIH which explores?áthe many ways that women have influenced and enhanced the practice of medicine. ?áSo the next time someone asks “Where are the girls?” you can show them.

Rare Disease Day

Today is the fifth International Rare Disease Day which will be recognized and celebrated in over 40 countries worldwide.

Started on February 29, 2008 by EUROIDS (The European Organisation for Rare Diseases) this day is used for gaining individual hope and political awareness for those who suffer with rare diseases around the globe.

Events scheduled for this year focus on ÔÇ£solidarityÔÇØ with the slogan ÔÇ£rare but strong together.ÔÇØ To learn more click here.

Below is a list of Rare Disease Communities that exist (found on http://www.rarediseasecommunities.org/en), but others can be found through an available search engine.

• Alkaptonuria (AKU)
• Alternating Hemiplegia
• Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syn.
• Beh?ºetÔÇÖs Syndrome
• CAPS
• CDG
• Cystinosis
• Dravet syndrome
• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
• Epidermolysis Bullosa
• Familial Mediterranean Fever
• Glut1 DS
• Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia
• Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia
• Multiple Myeloma
• Moebius syndrome
• Paraneoplastic Neurological Syn.
• Von Hippel-Lindau

February is National Heart Month

The Library is recognizing National Heart Month by highlighting a selection of recent and new books in the subject of cardiology and the cardiovascular system. The LibraryÔÇÖs featured books display is located on the 3rd floor next to the Library elevator, and these titles include:

WG 102 K66 2012: Klabunde, Richard E. Cardiovascular physiology concepts.

WG 340 K12c 2010: Kaplan, Norman M. & Ronald G. Victor; with a chapter by Joseph T. Flynn. Kaplan’s clinical hypertension.

WG 370 F33 2010: Feldman, Arthur M. Heart failure: device management.

WG 106 K45h 2009: Kern, Morton J. Michael J. Lim & James A. Goldstein. Hemodynamic rounds: interpretation of cardiac pathophysiology from pressure waveform analysis.

WG 120 W89 2007: World Health Organization. Prevention of cardiovascular disease: guidelines for assessment and management of cardiovascular risk.

WG 120 N11 2007: Nguyen, Thach N. Management of complex cardiovascular problems: the evidence-based medicine approach.

WG 140 F81t 2007: Foster, D. Bruce. Twelve-lead electrocardiography: theory and interpretation.

WG 140 K968 2009: Kusumoto, Fred. ECG interpretation: from pathophysiology to clinical application.

WG 141 F92ex 2006:?áFroelicher, Victor F. & Jonathan N.Myers. Exercise and the heart.

WG 140 T32o 2007: Thaler, Malcolm S. The only EKG book you’ll ever need.

WG 140 Su7c 2008: Surawicz, Borys & Timothy K. Knilans. Chou’s electrocardiography in clinical practice: adult and pediatric.

WG 141 Is3n 2008: Iskandrian, Ami E. & Ernest V. Garcia. Nuclear cardiac imaging: principles and applications.

WG 141 P75h 2007: Pohost, Gerald M. & Krishna S. Nayak. Handbook of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

WG 202 K15p 2006: Katz, Arnold M. Physiology of the heart.

WG 300 El5 2006: Ellis, Stephen G. & David R. Holmes, Jr. Strategic approaches in coronary intervention.

WG 340 B561 2007: Black, Henry Richard & William J. Elliott. Hypertension: a companion to Braunwald’s heart disease.

WG 330 Zi6c 2009: Zipes, Douglas P. & Jos?® Jalife. Cardiac electrophysiology: from cell to bedside.

WG 168 T62t 2008:?áTopol, Eric J. Textbook of interventional cardiology.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is today, February 7th. The CDC reports “Among all racial/ethnic groups, African Americans bear the greatest burden of HIV in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 16 black men and 1 in 32 black women will be diagnosed with HIV infection during their lifetimes. In 2009, blacks made up 14% of the US population but accounted for nearly half (44%) of all new HIV infections.”

Know the facts about HIV/AIDS in New Orleans and get involved in?áLouisiana.

*Edit* the Gambit blog has more on this topic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Isché Library is closed today through Saturday. It will re-open on Sunday, November 27th at 1:30 pm. The Dental Library remains closed for repairs.