My NCBI Redesign

My NCBI*** has been redesigned with an improved user interface. A video overview is available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks46w3mNAQE
                        (The NCBI You Tube Channel has tutorials, interviews, and news items. Subscription Option)

From the 20 April 2011 NLM Technical Bulletin Item

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is pleased to announce that an improved user interface will be released for My NCBI. The new interface will eliminate complexities and provide a streamlined interface, robust performance, and intuitive navigation. The most visually significant enhancement is that all functions are viewed directly from the My NCBI homepage, where they are made readily accessible for set up and customization.

The following are highlights of the new My NCBI interface. (Click here to see the highlights, complete with figures)

***MyNCBI is a personalized way to save searches and results from PubMed and other NCBI databases.

It also “features an option to automatically update and e-mail search results from your saved searches.

My NCBI users can save their citations (journal articles, books, meetings, patents and presentations) in My Bibliography and manage peer review article compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

My NCBI includes additional features for filtering search results, highlighting search terms, and setting LinkOut, Document Delivery Service and Outside Tool preferences.” [NCBI Help – What is NCBI?]

Related Resources

• PubMed MyNCBI trifold handout
• Saving Searches (My NCBI)
  • Saving Searches and Creating E-mail Alerts (4 min., revised April 2011)
  • Changing Saved Searches (2 min., revised April 2011)
  • E-mail Alerts for Articles from Your Favorite Journals (3 min., revised April 2011)
• Collections and Bibliographies (My NCBI)
  • Collections (3 min., revised April 2011)

  Preferences and Filters (My NCBI)

  • Changing Your Default Display Settings (2 min., revised April 2011)
  • Filters
    • Links to Full Text from Your Library (Library LinkOut Filters) (3 min., revised April 2011)
  • Selecting Your Outside Tool Preference (3 min., revised April 2011)

Mount Carmel Opens New Consumer Health Library

From the April 2011 Cornflower posting (online newsletter of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/ Greater Midwest Region)

The Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library has opened a new Consumer Health Library on the campus of Mount Carmel West Hospital.  One of the first of its kind in central Ohio, the library is designed to provide in person and virtual health and wellness information to central Ohio residents.

“The Consumer Health Library offers a wide spectrum of resources to meet the health information needs of our community,” says Stevo Roksandic, Director of Library Services. “With our personal assistance and guidance through the vast resources of this new library and todays’ informational abundance we can assist consumers in understanding disease and treatment options as well as exploring areas of prevention, health and wellness.”

Located on the Mount Carmel West Hospital campus, the Consumer Health Library sits adjacent to The Nursing Center for Family Health, a nurse managed health center which is a partnership of the Mount Carmel College of Nursing and Lower Lights Christian Health Center.  Roksandic anticipates many visitors from the Nursing Center, as well as through physician offices and other regional health providers. “The library provides a reading area, computer work stations, selected Consumer Health periodicals, books, audio visual materials and a children’s play area. Reference services, customer support and personal information assistance are provided by professional library staff.”

The Consumer Health Library offers access to a specifically designed Consumer Health website,http://www.mccn.edu/consumerhealthlibrary, to meet the customers’ information literacy skills and reading levels of those served. “It’s a wonderful service to our community”, adds Roksandic, “Whether it’s via e-mail, live chat or in person, the Consumer Health Library is the ‘go to’ resource for health and wellness information.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Consumer Health, News from the Region. 

Links at the Consumer Health Library include Recommended Consumer Health Links, as

• Health Information Translations (quality translations in multiple languages)
• MedlinePlus
  • Locate information on health topics, drugs and supplements, medical procedures, and alternative medicine.
  • Watch videos, take health quizzes, and use different health calculators.
• Healthfinder
  • Find information and tools to help you and those you care about stay healthy.
• Guide for Healthy Web Surfing
  • If you explore the internet for health information on your own, use this guide for tips and strategies to locate the best resources for your health needs.

People Fall Into Three Categories Of Gut Microbiota : Implications for Nutrient and Medicine Uptake

From the 21 April 2011 Medical News Today article

Every person’s intestinal system falls into one of three clearly distinguishable types of gut microbiota, comparable to blood types. These types are not related to race, native country or diet, according to a new metagenomics study

[Editor Flahiff’s note: Links only to abstract
for suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost, click here] 

by an international consortium of scientists including Jeroen Raes, of the VIB and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, published in Nature. Metagenomics is the study of the genetic material of complete ecosystems, in this case the human gut.

“The three gut types can explain why the uptake of medicines and nutrients varies from person to person,” says bioinformatician Jeroen Raes of the VIB and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, one of the two lead researchers in the study. “This knowledge could form the basis of personalized therapies. Treatments and doses could be determined on the basis of the gut type of the patient.” Improved knowledge of the gut types could also lead to other medical applications, such as the early diagnosis of intestinal cancer, Crohn’s disease and the adverse effects of obesity..

Related Articles

• Three Main Bacteria Groups Identified, What’s In YOUR Body? (April 21, 2011)
• Gut Type Can Explain Efficiency Of Uptake Of Nutrients And Medicines (April 21, 2011)
• How Gut Bacteria Affects Our Health(April 21, 2011)

Join the Woman Challenge – Commit to Physical Activities for at least 6 weeks

[If you are male, consider the The President’s Challenge  – a program that encourages all Americans to make being active part of their everyday lives.]

From the US Office on Women’s Health April 2011 announcement

The Woman Challenge has been encouraging women across the country to get active for years. This year, we’ve partnered with the President’s Challenge Million PALA Challenge. We created a Woman Challenge group so people across the country can encourage each other to be active on a regular basis. All you need to do is commit to physical activity for six out of eight weeks. If you stick with the program, you could earn a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) in less than two months! Don’t wait! Sign up today!

The Women’s Challenge sign up links directly to the President’s Challenge Web site where one can

• Create an account to track daily physical fitness activities and be awarded points
• Choose a Challenge (Physical Fitness Test, Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, Presidential Champions)
• Get Motivated through links as Benefits of Exercise, Setting Goals, BMI Calculator, 10 Ideas to stay active)
• Join an group online (listings of groups will appear after you create an account) to track both your daily physical fitness activites as well as the groups, through a point system
• Tools and Resources to Download as Fitness Guides
• Stay Informed with News, Facebook, Twitter, and Research Digest Options

[Editor Flahiff’s note – I signed up for the challenge. This brought back memories of  grade school gym class (yes, we called it gym back in the 60’s).  Almost every year we strove to pass the President’s Physical Fitness Test, and get that coveted certificate “suitable for framing”. This was back in the day when the gym instructors at our Catholic schools did not have to be certified, but boy were they ever dedicated and enthusiastic!]

Related Articles

• Kids watching TV for hours? Beware of health risks (news.bioscholar.com)
• U-M experts: Gym gone but not forgotten? Parents want more physical activity at school for kids (scienceblog.com)
• Get Moving! The Link Between Physical Activity and Self-Esteem (dr-carol.com)
• Get Fit Tip: Exercise for Older Adults (dnfitness.wordpress.com)