Selected New Acquisitions: September 2012

This post was written by Martha Stone and highlights new titles added to Treadwell's collection in September.

Title: The Psychological and social impact of illness and disability / Irmo Marini, Mark A. Stebnicki, editors
Publisher: New York : Springer Pub. Co., c2012
Edition: 6th
Location: MGH Book Stacks CALL # HV 1553 P9745 2012
Description: xx, 547 p. ; 26 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index

A revised edition of The psychological & social impact of illness and disability. 2007, and edited by professors from U-Texas and East Carolina University, respectively, this book includes contributions from specialists in a variety of fields in North American institutions and private practice.  The Preface states that almost 2/3 of the chapters are new or updated, and this edition has been “significantly reconstructed while maintaining the integrity of its predecessors.” The back cover blurb states that this book “continues to be the most comprehensive and diverse text available” on the topic.  New to this edition are global perspectives; trauma-related issues of recent combat veterans; and psychosocial issues of women with disabilities, among other topics.

Title: The Development of language / [edited by] Jean Berko Gleason, Nan Bernstein Ratner
Publisher: Boston : Pearson, c2013
Edition: 8th
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # LB 1139 .L3 D489 2013
Description: xxi, 433 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

A title in the Allyn & Bacon communication sciences and disorders series, and coming 4 years after the previous edition, this book, states the back cover blurb, “includes more [information] on cross-linguistic language acquisition (emphasizing Spanish, new research on the nature and treatment of language disorders in children, and new perspectives on the impact of culture on language development and variation.”  Other new features include expanded coverage of “the latest findings on language following stroke and language in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.”  Twenty percent of the references are new to this edition. The editors, who are at B. U. and U-Maryland, respectively, state in their Preface that their goal is “to provide an authoritative, interesting text that includes concepts and research findings that are both important and useful.”  Each chapter includes suggested projects, suggested readings, keywords and references.

Title: Genetics : analysis of genes and genomes / Daniel L. Hartl, Maryellen Ruvolo
Publisher: Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning, c2012
Edition: 8th
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # QH 430 H331g 2012
Description: xxix, 800 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm.
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

This edition, coming 3 years after the previous one, has been “thoroughly revised and updated” as per the back cover blurb, and “provides a clear, balanced, and comprehensive introduction” to the field, at the college level. Each chapter includes a “new section highlighting scientific competencies” and other new features include new problem sets, a new chapter on human evolutionary genetics, and updated data.  Both authors are Harvard professors. The 19 chapters are: Genes, genomes, and genetic analysis -- DNA structure and genetic variation -- Transmission genetics : the principle of segregation -- Chromosomes and sex-chromosome inheritance -- Genetic linkage and chromosome mapping -- Molecular biology of DNA replication and recombination -- Molecular organization of chromosomes -- Human karyotypes and chromosome behavior -- Genetics of bacteria and their viruses -- Molecular biology of gene expression -- Molecular mechanisms of gene regulation -- Genomics, proteomics, and transgenics -- Genetic control of development -- Molecular mechanisms of mutation and DNA repair -- Molecular genetics of the cell cycle and cancer -- Mitochondrial DNA and extranuclear inheritance -- Molecular evolution and population genetics -- The genetic basis of complex traits -- Human evolutionary genetics.

Title: Clinical trials : design, conduct, and analysis / Curtis L. Meinert
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, c2012
Edition: 2nd
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # QV 771 M514c 2012
Description: xxxv, 665 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Coming a full 25 years after the previous edition, this volume in the Monographs in epidemiology and biostatistics series is intended, states the Preface, as a “reference for designers and practitioners of trials” with a focus on RCTs.  The author, who  is epidemiology professor and founding director of the Center for Clinical Trials at Johns Hopkins, states that this edition contains new chapters and newly-rearranged material, resulting in twice the number of chapters as the previous edition.  The book is in 8 parts, 52 chapters,  and 11 appendices; there are dozens of tables and figures.

Title: Emergencies in pediatric oncology / Katrin Scheinemann, Allison E. Boyce, editors
Publisher: New York : Springer, c2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # QZ 275 E53 2012
Description: xi, 185 p. : ill.
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Written, as the back cover blurb states, as a “concise, practical resource for the hurried physician” it offers an “easy-to-read guide especially useful for residents, fellows, and nurses.”  The editors and contributors are nurses, physicians, and pharmacists from 3 hospitals in Ontario, Canada. There are 16 chapters and many tables, figures and images.

Title: Research ethics consultation : a casebook / Marion Danis ... [et al.]
Publisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press, c2012.
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # W 20.55 .E7 R429 2012
Description: xiii, 259 p. ; 24 cm.
Note: Includes bibliographical references

All authors are on the Bioethics Consultation Service of the Clinical Center of the NIH, the largest research hospital in the U.S. According to the hospital’s website, it opened in 1953 and currently 1500 clinical research studies are ongoing.  The Foreword states that “this volume systematically organizes and utilizes the rich experiences” of that of that Service, and “challenges readers to explore how difficult ethical questions might be approached and resolved in practice.” The 7 chapters are: Starting research -- Enrolling research participants -- Protecting research participants -- Conducting research with vulnerable populations -- Balancing clinical research and clinical care -- Navigating interpersonal difficulties -- Ending research.  There are also 7 appendices.

Title: Cardiac surgery in the adult / [edited by] Lawrence H. Cohn
Publisher: New York : McGraw-Hill Professional, c2012
Edition: 4th
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WG 169 C26725 2012
Location: MGH Media Call # WG 169 C26725 2012
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Coming 5 years after the previous edition, this has been  updated with new content on “pivotal trends and topics” according to the back cover blurb, and new full-color design.
The editor is Professor of Surgery at BWH, and the contributors are from major institutions worldwide, including MGH. The DVD contains surgical video clips.

Title: The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology : looking back and moving ahead / edited by Michael J. Aminoff, Larry R. Faulkner.
Publisher: Washington, DC : American Psychiatric Pub., c2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WM 21 A536 2012
Description: xix, 343 p., [24] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.

In 6 parts and 31 chapters, and with contributors from a variety of institutions nationwide, this volume was written to mark the 75th anniversary (in 2009)  of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The Preface states that this book “points the way to measures that likely need to be taken by the Board to ensure that it can continue to serve the interests of the public and the profession.” The jacket copy states that this book “shows how the Board, by defining core competencies in psychiatry and neurology, established national guidelines and standards for certification  […] and its emphasis on the future as well as the past provides a framework for thinking about the contemporary issues that confront the individual clinician and the community as a whole.”

Title: A history of urology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1810-1996 / pref. by W. Scott McDougal.

Edition: Rev. ed.
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WX 28 AM4 M414u 2010
Location: MGH Historic Reserve Call # WX 28 AM4 M414u 2010
Description: 74 p. : ill., ports.
Note: Includes bibliographical references.

Updated from its original, 1997 edition, this is an attractive volume filled with historic, black-and-white images from the earliest years of MGH’s Department of Urology, to the present.  This edition, states the Preface, “has expanded on many areas recorded [previously] and updated the history to 2011.” Of particular use to future scholars may be the appendices, which include brief sketches of department chairs, as well as program graduates, and graduates who went on to become chairs at other institutions.

Title: Hidden treasure : the National Library of Medicine / edited by Michael Sappol ; designed by Laura Lindgren ; photography by Arne Svenson ; National Library of Medicine.
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Blast Books, 2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # Z 675.M4 H632 2012
Description: 239 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 29 x 26 cm
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Edited by a historian in the History of Medicine Division of the NLM, and published to celebrate NLM’s 175th anniversary, this book is also freely available as a PDF, at http://collections.nlm.nih.gov/ext/pub/HIDDENTREASURE_NLM_BlastBooks.pdf.  It is a large, beautiful, full-color volume, with images ranging from indoor snapshots of the NLM in the mid-20th century, to illuminated pages from some of its oldest holdings, such as Isagoge and Five Other Texts of the Articella, from the thirteenth century, and  woodcuts from Vesalius’s The Epitome (1543) to images from the International Nurse Uniform Photograph Collection.  Every page, in other words, illustrates one or more NLM treasures.  The text on each page gives background information, and the book is written for the interested layperson.




Copyright ©2012 Treadwell Library MGH

Selected New Acquisitions: July 2012

This post was written by Martha Stone and highlights new titles added to Treadwell's collection in July.

Title: Cancer epigenetics : methods and protocols / edited by Ramona G. Dumitrescu, Mukesh Verma
Publisher: New York : Humana Press, c2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # QZ 200 C214855 2012
Description: xiii, 492 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 27 cm
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

A title in the Methods in molecular biology series, this volume’s contributors and editors come from a wide variety of medical, academic and scientific institutions worldwide.  The book’s back cover blurb states that “epigenetic regulation plays an important role in normal development and maintenance of tissue specific genes expression in humans and the disturbance of these patterns lead to changes involved in tumor formation.” The contributors to this book “reviewed the epigenetics changes in different tumor types and described several technologies that are currently available to detect epigenetics changes.” The book is in 5 parts and 28 chapters. They are: Epigenetic markers of early tumor development -- Epigenetics of solid cancer stem cells -- DNA methylation and histone modifications in breast cancer -- DNA methylation changes in prostate cancer -- DNA methylation in promoter region as biomarkers in prostate cancer -- Epigenetics of bladder cancer -- Epigenetics in myeloid malignancies -- The epigenetics of brain tumors -- DNA methylation changes in cervical cancers -- Epigenetics of colon cancer -- Promoter methylation in head and neck tumorigenesis -- Epigenome and DNA methylation in oral squamous cell carcinoma -- Clinical implications of epigenetic alterations in human thoracic malignancies : epigenetic alterations in lung cancer -- The role of microRNAs in the management of liver cancer -- Epigenetics in ovarian cancer -- DNA methylation in pancreatic cancer : protocols for the isolation of DNA and bisulfite modification -- Detection and analysis of DNA methylation by pyrosequencing -- Screening for miRNA expression changes using quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) -- Genome-wide methylation analysis -- Microarray for epigenetic changes : gene expression arrays -- Detecting DNA methylation using the methylated CpG island amplification and microarray technique -- Nutrigenomics : implications for breast and colon cancer prevention -- Dietary and lifestyle factors of DNA methylation -- Diet, epigenetics, and cancer -- Role of epigenetics in cancer health disparities -- Multifactorial etiology of gastric cancer -- Epigenetic epidemiology for cancer risk : harnessing germline epigenetic variation -- Epigenetic biomarkers in cancer epidemiology.

Title: Essentials of health, culture, and diversity : understanding people, reducing disparities / Mark Edberg.
Publisher: Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning, c2013
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WA 395 E78 2013
Description: x, 179 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

A title in the Essential Public Health series, this book, written by an associate professor at GWU,  is aimed at students of public health. As per the back cover blurb, it “introduces the concept of culture as a framework for understanding human behavior and health” and covers ethnomedicine, psychology, mental and emotion health using “real-world examples of domestic and global health issues.” The book, which has many images and tables,  is in 3 sections and 12 chapters. They are: Culture and the human condition: an introduction -- There is health, and there is health ... (Laura Smith encounters a situation) -- Starting point: defining culture, defining health -- Tools and perspectives for understanding the relationship between culture and health -- Ethnomedicine I: cultural health systems of related knowledge and practice -- Ethnomedicine II: cultural systems of psychology and mental/emotional health -- Moral dimension: the relationship of etiology to morality in cultural beliefs and practices related to health -- Culture, healers, and the institutions of health -- Sociocultural ecologies of disease and illness -- Culture, subculture, and constructions of health risk -- Applying concepts of cultural diversity to health promotion -- Dimensions of culture in a sampling of current public health challenges -- Primer on research strategies to obtain cultural information -- Incorporating cultural knowledge in health promotion interventions, with selected examples -- Wrapping up: being culturally competent.

Title: Practical patient literacy: the medagogy model / Melissa N. Stewart
Publisher: New York : McGraw-Hill Medical, c2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call #  WA 590 P895 2012
Description: xvi, 230 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Note: Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-222) and index.

Written by a nursing professor for health care providers, this book is designed, states the Preface, “to walk the reader through empirically proven theoretical educational, psychological, and behavioral theories and neurocognitive science of learning, which serve as the foundational support for the Medagogy structure.” The books sections and chapters are: Section I. Shifting the Focus to the Patient: 1. The Problem of Health Literacy; 2. The Patient's Perspective; 3. Education Theory -- Section II. Effective Teaching and Learning: 4. Information Exchange; 5. The Science and Theories of Learning; 6. Health Promotion Theories -- Section III. Patient Knowledge: 7. Patient Learning; 8. The Brain and Memory -- Section IV. Information Delivery Methodology: 9. The PITS Model; 10. The Medagogy Conceptual Framework; 11. The UPP Tool : Assessing Patient Knowledge.

Title: Differential diagnosis of common complaints / Robert H. Seller, Andrew B. Symons
Publisher: Philadelphia , PA : Elsevier/Saunders, c2012.
Edition: 6th ed.
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WB 141.5 S467d 2012
Description: x, 457 p., [32] p. of plates (some col.)
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Written by emeritus and assistant professors, respectively, from SUNY-Buffalo, this comes 5 years after the previous edition. As the Preface states, the book’s emphasis is on a “clinical approach to diagnosis, rather than one that relies largely on diagnostic studies.” Each of the 36 chapters has been revised “to include new information, with an emphasis on the latest clinical and diagnostic studies.” Chapters are: Abdominal pain in adults -- Abdominal pain in children -- Backache -- Belching, bloating, and flatulence -- Breast lumps -- Chest pain -- Colds, flu and stuffy nose -- Constipation -- Cough -- Diarrhea -- Dizziness/lightheadedness and vertigo -- Earache -- Facial pain -- Fatigue -- Fever -- Forgetfulness -- Headache -- Heartburn, indigestion, and dyspepsia -- Insomnia -- Menstrual irregularities -- Menstrual pain -- Nausea and/or vomiting without abdominal pain -- Pain in the foot -- Pain in the lower extremity in adults -- Pain in the lower extremity and limping in children -- Pain in the upper extremity -- Palpations -- Shortness of breath -- Skin problems -- Sore throat -- Swelling of the legs -- Urethral discharge and dysuria -- Vaginal discharge and itching -- Vision problems and other common eye problems -- Voiding disorders and incontinence -- Weight gain and weight loss.

Title: Smith's Patient-centered interviewing : an evidence-based method / Auguste H. Fortin VI ... [et al.].
Publisher: New York : McGraw-Hill Medical, c2012
Edition: 3rd ed.
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WB 290 S664 2012
Description: xxv, 284 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index

A revised edition of  Patient-centered interviewing : an evidence-based method, 2002,  this book presents, as the back cover blurb states, “a step-by-step methodology for mastering every aspect of the medical interview” from biomedical facts to personal information, allowing the user “to make precise diagnoses, develop effective treatment plans, and forge strong clinician-patient relationships.” The publisher also states that this is the “most evidence-based guide available on the topic.” The book’s chapters and appendices are: 1. Interviewing 2. Facilitating Skills 3. Patient-Centered Interviewing 4. Symptom-Defining Skills 5. Doctor-Centered Interviewing 6. Advanced Interviewing : Adapting the Interview to Different Situations and Other Practical Issues 7. Advanced Interviewing : The Provider-Patient Relationship 8. Summarizing and Presenting the Patient's Story 9. Patient Education Appendix A. Research Report from the Annals of Internal Medicine : Academia and Clinic Appendix B. Foreword to the First Edition Appendix C. Examples of Emotions Appendix D. Complete Write-Up of Mrs. Jones' Initial Evaluation Subject Index.

Title: The best care possible : a physician's quest to transform care through the end of life / Ira Byock
Publisher: New York : Avery, c2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WB 310 B994 2012
Description: 320 p. ; 24 cm.
Note: Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-311) and index

The author is director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock; this book is a collection of real-life vignettes about patients of all ages and diagnoses and of their health care providers who “can profoundly shape families’ experiences of illness, caregiving and loss, and how by helping people feel better, palliative care can actually help them live longer” (as per the book’s website.)  It is in 5 parts and 10 chapters.  They are: Pt. 1. The best care possible. The best care possible -- pt. 2. Life-and-death decisions. Between Scylla and Charybdis, a rock and a hard place, and the Devil and the deep blue sea ; Balancing acts: weighing potential benefits against risks and burdens -- pt. 3. Palliative care: completing the therapeutic continuum. Palliative care: a surprising new specialty (Hint: it's not just for dying) ; Morbidity and mortality -- pt. 4. Real doctoring for the twenty-first century. What are doctors for? ; The busy day that Sharon died -- pt. 5. Transforming medicine and society. Fixing health care ; Imagining a care-full society ; Standing on common high ground.

Title: Assistive technologies and other supports for people with brain impairment / by Marcia J. Scherer
Publisher: New York : Springer Pub., c2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WL 348 S326 2012
Description: xv, 384 p. : ill. ; 23 cm
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

The author, an expert in the field, is a professor at U-Rochester (NY) Medical Center. The back cover burb states that this book “examines how assistive and cognitive support technologies are being harnessed to provide assistance for thinking, remembering and learning” using real-life situations.  It also provides information about how to “select the most appropriate technologies” and is aimed at practitioners, users of assistive technologies, their families, and their caregivers. The 11 chapters are: The aging brain, when the mind dissolves -- The brain born with a disability, when the mind grows -- How the brain works -- Treatment and rehabilitation practices : intervening in cognitive disability -- The potential of technology to assist individuals with cognitive disabilities -- Assistive technologies for mobility, communication, seeing, hearing, and activities of daily living -- Assistive technologies for cognition -- Environmental barriers and enablers -- Getting support and services -- Matching person and technology -- The future is bright, but there are challenges.

Title: Clinical gynecologic oncology / [edited by] Phillip J. DiSaia, William T. Creasman ; associate editors, Robert S. Mannel, D. Scott McMeekin, David G. Mutch
Publisher: Philadelphia, PA : Elsevier/Mosby, c2012.
Edition: 8th ed.
Location MGH Book Stacks Call # WP 145 D611c 2012
Description: xii, 708 p. : ill.
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Coming 5 years after the previous edition, this major textbook by nationally known experts in the field (professors at UC-Irvine and MUSC-Charleston, respectively).  Associate editors and contributors come from a variety of major American institutions. The Preface states that this new edition includes “some topics” not previously found in earlier editions, and an expansion of other areas.  These include: “new guidelines for managing the dying patient; current management and reporting guidelines for cervical and vulvar cancer [and] breast cancer; expanded discussion on the basic principles of genetic alterations in cancer; techniques for laparoscopic surgery in treatment of gynecologic cancers; and new information on breast, cervical, and colon cancer screenings and detection.” There are 23 chapters.  They are: Preinvasive disease of the cervix -- Preinvasive disease of the vagina and vulva and related disorders -- Invasive cervical cancer -- Endometrial hyperplasia, estrogen therapy, and the prevention of endometrial cancer -- Adenocarcinoma of the uterine corpus -- Sarcoma of the uterus -- Gestational trophoblastic disease -- Invasive cancer of the vulva -- Invasive cancer of the vagina -- The adnexal mass -- Epithelial ovarian cancer -- Germ cell, stromal, and other ovarian tumors -- Fallopian tube cancer -- Breast diseases -- Cancer in pregnancy -- Complications of disease and therapy -- Basic principles of chemotherapy -- Targeted therapy and molecular genetics -- Genes and cancer : genetic counseling and clinical management -- Palliative care and quality of life -- Role of minimally invasive surgery in gynecologic malignancies -- Epidemiology of commonly used statistical terms and analysis of clinical studies -- Basic principles in gynecologic radiotherapy

Title: Writing health communication : an evidence-based guide / [edited by] Charles Abraham and Marieke Kools
Publisher: London : SAGE, 2012
Location: MGH Book Stacks Call # WZ 345 W956 2012
Description: xv, 175 p., [4] p. plates : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm
Note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Edited by, respectively, a UK professor and a Dutch scientist, and with contributors from a variety of institutions in the UK and the Netherlands, this book, states the publisher’s website, “outlines the steps a writer needs to go through in creating successful materials. Starting with an understanding of how people read and process information and how behaviour is influenced, the book then covers the practicalities of choosing an approach, message framing, text design and layout, using graphics, and computer tailoring.” The book’s 11 chapters are: Introduction : steps towards writing effective educational text -- Designing easy-to-read text -- Making written materials easy to understand -- Making written materials easy to use -- Using graphics effectively in text -- Developing evidence-based content for health promotion materials -- Mapping change mechanisms onto behaviour change techniques : a systematic approach to promoting behaviour change through text -- Planning to frighten people? Think again! -- Message framing -- Computer-tailoring of health promotion messages -- Conclusions and recommendations.



Selected new eBook acquisition:

Title: Guyton& Hall physiology review / [edited by] John E. Hall
Publisher: Philadelphia : Elsevier Saunders, c2011
Edition: 2nd ed.
Description: x, 252 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.

The publisher’s description state that this book, which comes 6 years after the previous edition, “is an ideal way to prepare for the USMLE Step I.” The Preface states that the book “is designed to provide a comprehensive review of medical physiology through multiple-choice questions and explanations of the answers. […] The questions and answers in this review are based on Guyton and Hall’s Textbook of Medical Physiology, twelfth edition (TMP 12).” (Treadwell Book Stacks, call # QT 104 G992t 2011).

Copyright© 2012 Treadwell Library MGH

New ebooks in Emergency Medicine, Medicine, Nursing and Surgery

Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine Review

Medicine
After the Diagnosis
Clinical Examination
Palliative Care

Nursing
NOC and NIC linkages to NANDA-I and clinical conditions

Surgery
Atlas of Essential Procedures

New ebooks in Gastroenterology, Nursing, Orthopedics, Pediatrics and Pulmonary Medicine

We've just added the following ebooks to our catalog and our ebooks list!

Gastroenterology
Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology

Nursing
Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice

Orthopedics
Neale's Disorders of the Foot Clinical Companion

Pediatrics
Breastfeeding and Human Lactation

Pulmonary Medicine
Chest Radiology: Plain Film Patterns and Differential Diagnoses

If you have any questions about these or any other titles, please let us know!

(More) New Springer titles added to our Ejournals list!

Abdominal Imaging
Archives of Dermatological Research
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology
Current Psychiatry Reports
Indian Pediatrics
Journal of Anesthesia
Supportive Care in Cancer

As always, if you have questions about these or any other resources, please get in touch!

Gaming and the health sciences

Last month, the 2012 Horizon Report identified game-based learning as an emerging technology that would have a significant impact on higher education in the next two to three years.  As usual, the health sciences are ahead of the curve and physicians, researchers and even pharmaceutical companies are already trying out games as learning, marketing and research tools.

Physicians Get Points

With HealthTap, patients seeking information no longer have to wade through wildcard Google results; they can pose questions to a community of physicians who build their online reputations by answering them.  These responses are then rated by other physicians in the community as well as the information seekers reading the answers.  Read more about HealthTap in the New York Times.

Social Games as Outreach

Pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim has released Syrum, a game in which players develop new life-saving drugs, participate in clinical trials and learn about the patent application process. In addition to teaching players about the processes involved in pharmaceutical research, the company hopes the game will become part of a positive social media reputation.

Benefits of Play

Researchers across the health sciences are looking into ways games can go beyond enriching the lives of the players to actually improving their health. As Robert Lee Holtz recently reported in the Wall Street Journal, researchers are finding that the effects of video games include increased accuracy and efficiency in decision-making, better hand-eye coordination, and improved night vision.  Michael Merzenich of UC San Francisco believes that video games can be designed to take advantage of the brain's neuroplasticity, and will be running clinical trials to evaluate the benefits of gaming for schizophrenic patients.  University of Chicago Medicine's Melissa Gilliam has designed a transmedia game to teach students about sexual health. She believes that the fact that the narrative takes place across multiple platforms will appeal to the urban community she's trying to reach.

Playing for Research

And then there's Phylo, the game that asks "citizen scientist" human players to align complex DNA sequences. Players participate casually with minimal contextual knowledge, and a 2011 study published in PLoS One found this crowd-sourced data improved the accuracy of the aligned sequences by 70%, a statistic which emphasizes the potential for gaming to become an important tool across the health sciences.

New ebooks in Anatomy, Immunology, Medicine, Nursing, Obsetrics & Gynecology and Science

These titles are new to our ebooks list.  If you have questions about these or any other titles, please get in touch!

Anatomy
Guyton & Hall Physiology Review 

Immunology
Basic Immunology

Medicine
Johns Hopkins Internal Medicine Board Review 2010-2011: Certification and Recertification
Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals

Nursing
Advanced Nursing Research
Client Education: Theory and Practice

Obstetrics & Gynecology
Manual of High Risk Pregnancy & Delivery

Science
Emery's Elements of Medical Genetics