Andy Hickner's blog

In January 2016, ORCID announced that a number of publishers - eLife, PLOS, the Royal Society, IEEE, AGU, EMBO, and Science - plan to require submitting authors to register for and provide ORCID IDs.   In its own words, ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers. ORCID is unique in its ability to reach across disciplines, research sectors and national boundaries. It is a hub that connects researchers and research through the embedding of ORCID identifiers in key workflows, such as research profile maintenance, manuscript submissions, grant applications, and patent applications.   ORCID provides two core functions: (1) a registry to obtain a unique identifier and manage a record of activities, and (2) APIs that support system-to-system communication and authentication. As ORCID puts it, Benefits for researchers, in addition to improved discoverability of their works, include single sign-on across journals and streamlined data entry.  The recent launch of Crossref’s auto-update functionality means that researchers can opt to have their ORCID record automatically updated when their papers are published, which in turn means that university and other systems can receive updates directly and reduce reporting burden on researchers. To learn more about the benefits of ORCID and how to get started, contact your departmental librarian. 

(by Rolando Garcia Milian and Terry Dagradi) Last summer we invited Yale biomedical researchers (undergrads, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, associate researchers, etc.) to share results from their work where they felt the images produced in search of science crossed over to art.  We thank all of you who submitted and appreciate your willingness to share with the community.  The images were reviewed by a committee including New Haven sculptor Gar Waterman, Sarah Fritchey (Curator / Gallery Director at Artspace New Haven), and Dr. Derek K. Toomre, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Director of the YALE 'CINEMA’ Laboratory. Together, they selected many of the images currently on exhibit in the foyer of Cushing/Whitney Medical Library as well as the three 1st Honor awardees. The 1st Honor Awardees are: Marco Onorati, Department of Neurobiology Neurons in a Dish, 2015 Juror comments: “Neuron: Good rendition, dreamy quality”  “The fantastic crystalline structure in the center of this composition is very powerful. The sense of pull and energy is so forceful that it almost suggests a big bang moment.” (Click to view larger image) Neurons differentiated in a dish from stem cells.  Microphotograph, fluorescence.    Mustafa Khokha, Department of Pediatrics Frog Head, Year: 2015 Juror comments: “Great composition and detail.”  “Just a cool thing, whatever it is” (Click to view larger image) Xenopus laevis tadpole (frog). Brain (green) and Actin (red) and nuclei (blue) View from the back of the head over the Imaged with Leica Sp8 Confocal by Helen Rankin Xenopus Cold Spring Harbor Course.   Kate Henderson, Department of Pathology Stones Dreaming, 2013 Juror comment: “My favorite - love this one - fabulous color and pattern” (Click to view larger image) Abstract digital composition of microscopy endocrine images. Image description: I create environments from natural elements to give people a sense of place, describing emotional essence and energy that connects us to each other and everything around us. My images both describe and celebrate the intrinsically aesthetic structure of the natural world and the ever-present duality in all things. I invite the viewer to see and feel the world both within us and around us, experiencing the macro vs microelements common to all. Painting-with-cells is how I describe the cyto-Illusions series. I start by using microscope images of human cells and also images of abstraction “found” in nature. Through layering and manipulation techniques, I create an image that mirrors micro images on a macro level. On one level the images are a colorful abstraction that allow the viewer to freely explore and experience the image on their own. Many images are suggestive of a specific element such as water, but others are more environmentally placed. On another level the images are about the reality of nature; cells of disease, the growth structure of plants, and the patterns of light filtered through the leaves.   The Viewers’ Choice Award This was determined by all those who voted (404 votes total) on an exhibition album created on the Medical Library Facebook page. Laura Pappalardo – Department of Neurology Astrocytes display robust intracellular calcium response in model of astrogliosis, 2013 (Click to view larger image) Astrocytes, a non-neuronal type of cell in the brain and spinal cord, respond to central nervous system insult through the incompletely understood process of reactive astrogliosis, which is a hallmark in pathologies such as multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. While the ramifications of astrogliosis are debated, it is agreed that in its extreme forms, this process leads to the formation of a scar, which is long-lasting and can inhibit the regeneration of injured neurons. While the molecular drivers of astrogliosis are an area of active investigation, a clearer understanding is needed. Here, we show that after a scratch injury, there is a robust intracellular calcium response, which propagates through the syncytium of confluent astrocytes (red indicates high intracellular calcium). This calcium transient leads to downstream signaling that can regulate the astroglial response to injury. We are currently working to investigate the mechanisms behind this phenomenon, paying particular attention to voltage-gated sodium channels. Color scale represents the ratio of fluorescent signals induced by 340 and 380 nm excitation in cells loaded with Fura-2 AM. Scale bar, 50 ╡m. In collaboration with Stephen Waxman, Joel Black, Mark Estacion, and Omar Samad.

Librarians at Yale have developed numerous online guides for Yale users.  Here at Yale, our guides can provide a number of things, including: Research guidance for a particular Yale course; Instructions on how to research a subject; Documentation for a research tool or service; or Instructions on accessing and using collections or resources. You might find different guides of particular interest based on your role and field, for example: NIH Public Access Policy, for researchers who receive NIH funding and the staff who support them. Get started exploring our full list of guides in the field of medicine, or browse all Yale guides including on topics outside the health sciences. 

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day.  We’ve come a long way since the first cases of the disease emerged over 30 years ago, and today there is a wealth of information resources on HIV/AIDS. For more in-depth research, at Yale, we provide access to over 200 e-books on HIV/AIDS topics, plus thousands of additional titles available in print. NIAID offers detailed information on current research efforts.  PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis):  Check out pages on PrEP at CDC and AIDS.gov.   For basic information, the layperson seeking to learn more should begin at HIVinfo. Other general web resources include:   HIV.gov UNAIDS Newly diagnosed with HIV?  Start with “Newly Diagnosed: What you need to know” at AIDS.gov. As always, for comprehensive help finding and navigating current knowledge on HIV/AIDS, contact your departmental librarian.  (Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassynewdelhi/5217132779)

Monica Green, a scholar of the history of medieval medicine, recently profiled the Bamberg Surgery, which is part of the Medical Historical Library's collection.  The Bamberg Surgery is a surgical text dating from the mid-12th century which was acquired by Dr. Harvey Cushing and subsequently formed part of the original Medical Historical collection at Yale.  Green writes: The Bamberg Surgery doesn’t get a lot of love in histories of surgery, because of its patchwork character. As Corner himself said, “it is a notebook, a partially organized collection of notes, memoranda, prescriptions, and excerpts from other books.” But the Bamberg Surgery merits a closer look to contemplate the question with which we began: how do you begin to build up a body of written surgical knowledge when previously you had none? The Bamberg Surgery draws selectively from the (now complete) translation of (Persian physician​‘Ali ibn al-‘Abbas) al-Majusi’s text, which it fuses with an early medieval text on phlebotomy that circulated under Hippocrates’ name. It then expands on these elements with new pharmaceuticals, new techniques, and elements of anatomical and physiological learning drawn from other texts. For example, al-Majusi’s text had never mentioned marciaton, a compound medicine for a wax-based unguent passed on through the early medieval Latin pharmaceutical tradition. The Chirurgia salernitana had recommended its use, and we find it in the Bamberg Surgery likewise, being recommended for nerve damage from a wound, broken bones, and dislocations. Similarly, the author cites Galen’s Tegni several times, a translation of the foundational handbook of medicine composed by the 2nd-century Greek polymath, used widely in the Islamic world and, increasingly, in Europe as a basic introduction to medical theory and practice.