Hi,
Heard the McGovern Lecturer: Andrew Zolli, who was great!
He's a futurist who was a dynamic speaker who inspired the whole room of hundreds of participants. I even got a picture with him after the talk!
Sunday pm went to the poster sessions and saw the NAHRS posters. In the evening attended the EBSCO dinner at the Shedd Aquarium, which is the largest indoors aquarium, in the U.S. What a beautiful aquarium, w/ beluga whales, dolphins, a huge tank w/ fish and the diver goes in there to feed the fish. There's columns, etc. in the aquarium, just beautiful. I attended w/ Lee Adams from JABSOM, and we saw Joy Graham there, who sat w/ us for dinner. It was nice catching up on what she's been doing. Sounds like she enjoys her job at San Francisco General Hospital.
Monday am. heard Thomas Basler who was the Janet Doe Lecturer who spoke on: There are no more giants: changing leadership for changing times. He emphasized that we work for our institutions, the librarian is very important and on social networking.
Worked in the Hawaii booth Monday from 10am-12pm with Ginny Tanji and other Hawaii librarians. Enjoyable telling people about MLA 2009 in Hawaii. They are very excited about attending...hopefully if funding comes through.
Visited poster sessions again, saw Lee Adams' poster (JABSOM) on using PDAs with first-
year medical students.
Attended the OVID dinner at the Planetarium w/ Lee Adams and Ginny Tanji. Again, another beautiful and impressive building. Saw the planetarium show. There were supposedly 500 people attending.
5/20: 9-10am: Business meeting, where the Hawaii entourage led by Ginny Tanji and Mabel Trafford extended an invitation to the members to attend MLA2009 in Hawaii. The Polynesian Cultural Center sent 5 performers who were a hit!
It was announced that about 2,400 members attended the meeting this year.
1:30-3pm: working in the Hawaii booth for the last shift, and the dancers performed again.
Aloha,
Linda U.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
MLA Conference (Chicago): 5/18/08
Hi everyone,
Had a busy day yesterday, attended my CE course on Evidence-based Nursing. Learned about the various ways and terms involved in evidence-based searching and got titles of some books I would like to purchase on the subject.
Then, in the afternoon visited the Art Institute of Chicago...what a beautiful building and interesting collection. The second floor's European collection was fabulous...saw works bu Renoir, Monet, Chagal....and the first floor's Oriental collection, also, was fantastic. However, I must say, I think the Academy of Arts in Honolulu has a better collection, which makes sense, considering we're closer to Asia.
The Exhibits opened last night, and the stand for next year's conference in Hawaii was looking great! The librarians from Hawaii were all there, with leis on, and got a lot of attention. The video is playing, and getting a lot of positive comments. They love it!
I wanted to attach photos, but there are only 4 computers for public use, and there's a long line behind me. I'll try to find another time when the computers are slow, or I'll send my photos when I come home.
At the first Plenary session this morning, Mark Funk, the outgoing President of MLA spoke of Web 2.0 and spoke of Web 2.0 participation by libraries using flickr, facebook, blogging, and rethinking MLA committees using Web 2.0 applications. He ended w/ comment: "my voyage to MLA 2.0 is still on its way."
Second plenary session is in about a half-hour.
Aloha,
Linda U.
Had a busy day yesterday, attended my CE course on Evidence-based Nursing. Learned about the various ways and terms involved in evidence-based searching and got titles of some books I would like to purchase on the subject.
Then, in the afternoon visited the Art Institute of Chicago...what a beautiful building and interesting collection. The second floor's European collection was fabulous...saw works bu Renoir, Monet, Chagal....and the first floor's Oriental collection, also, was fantastic. However, I must say, I think the Academy of Arts in Honolulu has a better collection, which makes sense, considering we're closer to Asia.
The Exhibits opened last night, and the stand for next year's conference in Hawaii was looking great! The librarians from Hawaii were all there, with leis on, and got a lot of attention. The video is playing, and getting a lot of positive comments. They love it!
I wanted to attach photos, but there are only 4 computers for public use, and there's a long line behind me. I'll try to find another time when the computers are slow, or I'll send my photos when I come home.
At the first Plenary session this morning, Mark Funk, the outgoing President of MLA spoke of Web 2.0 and spoke of Web 2.0 participation by libraries using flickr, facebook, blogging, and rethinking MLA committees using Web 2.0 applications. He ended w/ comment: "my voyage to MLA 2.0 is still on its way."
Second plenary session is in about a half-hour.
Aloha,
Linda U.
Friday, May 16, 2008
MLA 2008: Chicago
Hi,
I made it in one piece to Chicago, safe and sound....arrived at 5:30am Chicago time (12:30pm Hawaii time!)
Fortunately, I saw another librarian from Hawaii on the plane, so we took a taxi together to the Hyatt Regency, were fortunate enough that they had rooms available, and were able to get into our rooms by 6:30am....I was so happy that I didn't have to wait until 3 pm.
We then had breakfast, and walked the "magnificent mile" (Michigan Ave.), which is equal to being in Waikiki. The tulips are in full bloom, and just beautiful. The weather is nice today (they say it was nice yesterday, but today is even better), and I'm happy about that. We walked down to the John Hancock Tower, it is huge!
Later, we registered for the conference, rested, and then I went on a city tour of Chicago. I'm pretty pooped right now. Will have a good night's rest.
Tomorrow, I have my class from 8am-12pm.
There's a high school prom here in the hotel, so it's fun seeing the high school students all dressed up in their gowns and tuxedoes.
Take care, will email soon,
Linda U.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Working while chronically ill
April 21, 2008, 7:17 pm
By Marci Alboher
Rosalind Joffe
In researching my column on how small business owners deal with health insurance, I talked to Rosalind Joffe, an executivecoach who specializes in helping people who have chronic illnesses. Ms. Joffe has suffered from multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis, both of which have stabilized with treatment — the removal of her colon for the colitis, and the medication, Avonex, for her MS. Prior to getting sick, Ms. Joffe had two successful careers, first as a multimedia producer and then as a professor of communications at Boston University. She became a coach because she wanted a job that she could do from home and that would be flexible enough to allow her to modify her schedule whenever she had a bad day. She credits her ability to make that career change to the fact that her husband had a good health insurance policy that could cover her as well — yet another example of health insurance affecting a career choice.
According to Ms. Joffe, and to research conducted by the National Organization on Disability, only 32 percent of Americans with disabilities (ages 18 to 64) are working, but two thirds of those unemployed would rather be working. Ms. Joffe says she encourages people with chronic illnesses to figure out how they can work rather than go on disability. Research, she says, shows that remaining employed can actually lead to better health, not to mention improving self-esteem and maintaining social contacts.
You can learn more about Ms. Joffe’s work at cicoach.com, which provides resources for people with chronic illnesses and KeepWorkingGirlfriend.com a blog that promotes a forthcoming book for women suffering from autoimmune diseases, written by Ms. Joffe and Joan Friedlander. Both the site and the blog have extensive information and links to all kinds of resources, books, blogs and support organizations.
Ms Joffe is at her best when she poses questions to think about, as in this post about how to know if self-employment is a good fit for you. If you’re hungry for more than what is on her sites, Ms. Joffe, like a smart entrepreneur, offers a lot of extra information in newsletters and pdf workbooks and in the book, “Women, Work, And Autoimmune Disease,” available for preordering on Amazon.com.
By Marci Alboher
Rosalind Joffe
In researching my column on how small business owners deal with health insurance, I talked to Rosalind Joffe, an executivecoach who specializes in helping people who have chronic illnesses. Ms. Joffe has suffered from multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis, both of which have stabilized with treatment — the removal of her colon for the colitis, and the medication, Avonex, for her MS. Prior to getting sick, Ms. Joffe had two successful careers, first as a multimedia producer and then as a professor of communications at Boston University. She became a coach because she wanted a job that she could do from home and that would be flexible enough to allow her to modify her schedule whenever she had a bad day. She credits her ability to make that career change to the fact that her husband had a good health insurance policy that could cover her as well — yet another example of health insurance affecting a career choice.
According to Ms. Joffe, and to research conducted by the National Organization on Disability, only 32 percent of Americans with disabilities (ages 18 to 64) are working, but two thirds of those unemployed would rather be working. Ms. Joffe says she encourages people with chronic illnesses to figure out how they can work rather than go on disability. Research, she says, shows that remaining employed can actually lead to better health, not to mention improving self-esteem and maintaining social contacts.
You can learn more about Ms. Joffe’s work at cicoach.com, which provides resources for people with chronic illnesses and KeepWorkingGirlfriend.com a blog that promotes a forthcoming book for women suffering from autoimmune diseases, written by Ms. Joffe and Joan Friedlander. Both the site and the blog have extensive information and links to all kinds of resources, books, blogs and support organizations.
Ms Joffe is at her best when she poses questions to think about, as in this post about how to know if self-employment is a good fit for you. If you’re hungry for more than what is on her sites, Ms. Joffe, like a smart entrepreneur, offers a lot of extra information in newsletters and pdf workbooks and in the book, “Women, Work, And Autoimmune Disease,” available for preordering on Amazon.com.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Muscle weakness found in some autistic children
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SUNDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that muscle weakness in a child with autism may point to an underlying genetic defect that's causing mitochondrial disease, which means the muscles don't get the energy they need.
Conversely, it's possible that the mitochondrial disease may also play a role in the development of autism, perhaps by preventing the brain from getting the energy it needs to perform properly, the researchers noted.
"In large studies of kids with autism, about 20 percent have markers of mitochondrial disease in the blood," explained Dr. John Shoffner, an associate professor of biology at Georgia State University and president of Medical Neurogenetics.
Shoffner recently completely a retrospective analysis of 37 children with autism spectrum disorders and found that 65 percent of these children -- children who had been referred to him because their doctors suspected additional problems -- had mitochondrial defects.
He was expected to present the findings April 13 at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting, in Chicago.
Mitochondria are found in every cell of the body, with the exception of red blood cells, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF). Mitochondria are vital to survival, because they make oxygen available to cells and metabolize food into energy for cells to thrive. Defects in mitochondria can lead to cell injury, or even cell death, according to UMDF.
Symptoms of mitochondrial disease depend on which body system is affected but may include muscle weakness, loss of muscle control, poor growth, heart disease, diabetes, developmental delays, an increased risk of infection and more.
Shoffner said that the mitochondrial energy production system is the only one in the body that requires two genomes to work -- genes inherited from both the mother and the father, and genes exclusively from the mother. "To make this system work, it requires a lot of genes. Hence the opportunity for lots of problems," said Shoffner, who added that there are several hundred known mitochondrial disorders.
Twenty-four (65 percent) of the children included in this study had genetic defects in their skeletal muscles. However, that doesn't mean that 65 percent of children with autism likely have mitochondrial disease. This was a select population of kids with autism, ones that had specifically been referred, because their doctors suspected a problem.
But, Shoffner pointed out that as many as one in five youngsters with autism spectrum disorders have shown signs of mitochondrial disease.
"If you're talking about 20 percent of kids with autism, that's a whole lot of children, and may represent an important segment of the autism spectrum disorder population. And we may be getting a foothold into the underlying cause of autism spectrum disorders," he said, adding, "This is a really important step forward that lets us put effort into understanding the mechanisms of disease."
"This study is a call to action. We need to know what is the real prevalence of mitochondrial conditions in children with autism," said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks. "The more we can identify these subgroups of kids, the more we're going to parse apart the many forms of autism. This gives us clues to etiology."
"If we find that mitochondrial disease is a prevalent condition, having a better understanding of the kinds of symptoms that children may show if they have it might be helpful for parents," she said.
Shoffner said these findings may also open up new avenues of research into potentially more effective treatments for the future.HealthDayCopyright (c) 2008 ScoutNews, LLC.
SUNDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that muscle weakness in a child with autism may point to an underlying genetic defect that's causing mitochondrial disease, which means the muscles don't get the energy they need.
Conversely, it's possible that the mitochondrial disease may also play a role in the development of autism, perhaps by preventing the brain from getting the energy it needs to perform properly, the researchers noted.
"In large studies of kids with autism, about 20 percent have markers of mitochondrial disease in the blood," explained Dr. John Shoffner, an associate professor of biology at Georgia State University and president of Medical Neurogenetics.
Shoffner recently completely a retrospective analysis of 37 children with autism spectrum disorders and found that 65 percent of these children -- children who had been referred to him because their doctors suspected additional problems -- had mitochondrial defects.
He was expected to present the findings April 13 at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting, in Chicago.
Mitochondria are found in every cell of the body, with the exception of red blood cells, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF). Mitochondria are vital to survival, because they make oxygen available to cells and metabolize food into energy for cells to thrive. Defects in mitochondria can lead to cell injury, or even cell death, according to UMDF.
Symptoms of mitochondrial disease depend on which body system is affected but may include muscle weakness, loss of muscle control, poor growth, heart disease, diabetes, developmental delays, an increased risk of infection and more.
Shoffner said that the mitochondrial energy production system is the only one in the body that requires two genomes to work -- genes inherited from both the mother and the father, and genes exclusively from the mother. "To make this system work, it requires a lot of genes. Hence the opportunity for lots of problems," said Shoffner, who added that there are several hundred known mitochondrial disorders.
Twenty-four (65 percent) of the children included in this study had genetic defects in their skeletal muscles. However, that doesn't mean that 65 percent of children with autism likely have mitochondrial disease. This was a select population of kids with autism, ones that had specifically been referred, because their doctors suspected a problem.
But, Shoffner pointed out that as many as one in five youngsters with autism spectrum disorders have shown signs of mitochondrial disease.
"If you're talking about 20 percent of kids with autism, that's a whole lot of children, and may represent an important segment of the autism spectrum disorder population. And we may be getting a foothold into the underlying cause of autism spectrum disorders," he said, adding, "This is a really important step forward that lets us put effort into understanding the mechanisms of disease."
"This study is a call to action. We need to know what is the real prevalence of mitochondrial conditions in children with autism," said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks. "The more we can identify these subgroups of kids, the more we're going to parse apart the many forms of autism. This gives us clues to etiology."
"If we find that mitochondrial disease is a prevalent condition, having a better understanding of the kinds of symptoms that children may show if they have it might be helpful for parents," she said.
Shoffner said these findings may also open up new avenues of research into potentially more effective treatments for the future.HealthDayCopyright (c) 2008 ScoutNews, LLC.
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All submitted forms will be entered into our Grand Prize Drawing for 2 tickets to this weekend's Kokua Festival. Blank forms and the suggestion box are located in Atherton Library.
Look for the National Library Week banner.The HPU Libraries are hosting a number of activities and contests throughout the week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Library Week. Click here to learn more.
Be sure to stop by April 16th, 11am - 1pm during our Open House for a little snack provided by library staff.btw, go ahead and leave a comment on this post. Tell us what you think of our blog. However, any comments left here aren't eligible for the prize drawing.
All submitted forms will be entered into our Grand Prize Drawing for 2 tickets to this weekend's Kokua Festival. Blank forms and the suggestion box are located in Atherton Library.
Look for the National Library Week banner.The HPU Libraries are hosting a number of activities and contests throughout the week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Library Week. Click here to learn more.
Be sure to stop by April 16th, 11am - 1pm during our Open House for a little snack provided by library staff.btw, go ahead and leave a comment on this post. Tell us what you think of our blog. However, any comments left here aren't eligible for the prize drawing.
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