The health benefits of watching Dr. Who? BMJ's Christmas issue has arrived!

Every year the BMJ publishes a Christmas issue with light-hearted articles. This year's issue has arrived complete with articles on Barbie, Dr. Who, AI Christmas cards, and more!  

https://www.bmj.com/content/383/bmj-2023-077143

The CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS)

Proud Mama Disclaimer: My kid grew up and got a job as a professional microbiologist at the WI State Lab of Hygiene, working in their Wastewater Surveillance Lab, a new dept. begun during the Covid pandemic to track levels of infectious diseases (not just Covid) in participating communities.  That's how and why I know about this hidden data mine, and wanted to share it with all of you.  

NWSS - National and Regional Trends Dashboard

How Wastewater Monitoring Works

From the CDC Website about NWSS:

Wastewater monitoring is a valuable, efficient, and robust tool that public health officials can use to guide public health decision making across the nation.

CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) provides the public health infrastructure to monitor infectious diseases through wastewater across the country. Wastewater monitoring data can help local public health agencies identify outbreak trends early, direct prevention efforts to where they are most needed, and provide additional insight into disease spread that complements other public health surveillance data. Health departments, community leaders, and individuals can use wastewater monitoring data to make decisions about how best to protect their community.

Value of Wastewater Monitoring

Wastewater monitoring provides early detection of increasing cases.

Wastewater data can show changes in disease trends before trends are seen in clinical cases. This information can be used to prepare health care providers and hospital systems for upcoming increases in visits and hospitalizations and can inform other public health prevention efforts.

Wastewater monitoring is independent from medical systems.

Wastewater can detect infection in a community whether or not people have symptoms. Unlike other types of public health reporting, wastewater surveillance (monitoring) does not depend on people having access to healthcare, visiting a doctor when sick or availability of testing for an infection.

Wastewater monitoring is fast and efficient.

From toilet flush to results only takes about five to seven days. Wastewater testing at a single treatment plant can provide information on community-level disease trends for hundreds, thousands, even millions of people.

Wastewater monitoring has national coverage.

Wastewater monitoring is implemented in all 50 states, 3 territories, and 5 tribal organizations. Wastewater monitoring can be implemented in any community that is served by municipal wastewater collection systems.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to track emerging health threats.

Wastewater monitoring can be rapidly adaptable to track emerging health threats. Wastewater surveillance has been used to monitor changes in COVID-19 and mpox cases in communities across the United States. CDC is working to better understand how wastewater surveillance can also be used to detect and respond to other infectious disease threats like antibiotic resistance and foodborne diseases.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to track variants.

Wastewater surveillance can provide information on the variants that are present in a community. When new variants of concern arise, wastewater surveillance can provide an early warning that these variants may be spreading in communities.

Wastewater monitoring is complementary to other public health surveillance data

Wastewater surveillance data are most useful when used with other surveillance data. When reviewed together, wastewater and other surveillance data can provide a more complete picture of disease spread within a community.

Why Can't Robots Pass CAPTCHA Tests?

 

Why Can't Robots Pass CAPTCHA Tests?

Now you know!

2023 Space Telescope Advent Calendar

 

The Atlantic is continuing it's holiday tradition with  the 16th annual Space-Telescope Advent Calendar, featuring images from both NASA’s Hubble telescope and its new James Webb Space Telescope. 

• Every day until Monday, December 25, the page will present a new, incredible image of our universe from one of these two telescopes. 
• Be sure to come back every day until Christmas, and follow on social media for daily updates. 
• Enjoy these amazing and awe-inspiring images, as well as the continued efforts of the science teams that have brought them to Earth. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Peace on Earth.

Holding Space to Discuss a Complicated Past: Exploring Medical Libraries’ Role in Perpetuating Racial Science, An NNLM Region 6 Spotlight Speaker Webinar

Holding Space to Discuss a Complicated Past: Exploring Medical Libraries’ Role in Perpetuating Racial Science, A Region 6 Spotlight Speaker Webinar.

Based on a recent commentary published in the Journal of Medical Library Association (JMLA) called, “Medical Libraries and Their Complicated Past: An Exploration of the Historical Connections Between Medical Collections and Racial Science,” this webinar presentation will briefly dive into the historical connections between medical libraries and racial science, especially focusing on empire building. This presentation will highlight ways for library workers, particularly those involved in library instruction, to engage their learners critically in understanding how medical sciences and collections have been shaped by racial science discourse that still endure in today’s medical practices experienced by patients who identify as Black, Indigenous, or persons of color.

Guest Speakers

Raymond Pun (he/him), Ed.D., MLS, is the Academic and Research Librarian at the Alder Graduate School of Education, a teacher residency program in California. In this role, he provides research support to graduate students/preservice teachers and teacher educators Pun is also a faculty member in the MA Pathway Program at Alder GSE. In addition, Pun is an active member in library associations such as the Librarians, Archivists, and Museum Professionals in the History of the Health Sciences (LAMPHHS).

Nicollette Davis (she/her) is an Assistant Librarian for Social Work, Kinesiology, and Health Sciences at Louisiana State University and based in Baton Rouge, LA. In 2023, she was selected as an Emerging Leader by the American Library Association. Her interests include critical librarianship, BIPOC community building, community engagement, and person-centered practices in LIS.

Patrice R. Green (she/her) is the Curator for African American and African Diasporic Collections at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. In 2022, she was selected as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion, and Cultural Heritage based at the Rare Book School. Green holds master’s degrees in Public History and Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina, with training focused on museums and material culture, historic preservation, and archives and preservation management. Her interests include archival representation, knowledge justice, and Black history and culture. Additionally, her work has allowed her to develop and steward collections that center Black life, enhance teaching and learning experiences, and cultivate Black memory

Objectives:

This webinar aligns with NNLM's objectives of empowering libraries and other members to cultivate a well-trained workforce in biomedical and health information resources while also striving to enhance health equity through valuable information. Focused on library workers, particularly those involved in library instruction, the webinar delves into the importance of engaging learners in understanding the historical influence of racial science discourse on medical sciences and collections. It sheds light on the enduring impact of these narratives on today's medical practices, especially for patients who identify as Black, Indigenous, or persons of color. The webinar aims to promote greater awareness and informed discussions within the medical librarianship community and beyond by addressing this crucial topic.

The Network of the National Library of Medicine is funded by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services. Learn more at https://nnlm.gov

An overview of the 2024 WHSLA budget

The 2024 WHSLA budget has been approved. Projected expenses include usual business costs like our Google Sites hosting, State of WI tax exempt fees, Librarian and Library of the Year awards. 

An increase in continuing education funding was proposed and accepted due to NNLM Region 6 no longer funding MLA webinars. WHSLA will also continue to offer two, $500 professional development/AHIP awards. 

Watch your email for more information regarding WHSLA-sponsored CE, professional education, and development opportunities. 

WHSLA 2023 Librarian of the Year

We are happy to announce that the WHSLA Librarian of the Year is Michele Matucheski! 

Michele was nominated by Brenda Fay, who highlighted Michele's service to WHSLA over the last 19 years, but also her kind, collaborative, and supportive nature, which has helped many WHSLA members over the years.

Michele received a plaque, flowers, and lunch with one of her favorite people. 

Congratulations, Michele!

Book Review: All The Frequent Troubles Of Our Days : The True Story Of The American Woman At The Heart Of The German Resistance To Hitler / Rebecca Donner

All The Frequent Troubles Of Our Days : The True Story Of The American Woman At The Heart Of The German Resistance To Hitler 

by Rebecca Donner

Book Review by Robert Koehler, 

Medical Librarian at Unity Point Health-Meriter

Milwaukee-born Mildred Harnack (nee Fish) met Arvid Harnack in 1926 when both were students at the University of Wisconsin.  Arvid was a German student studying on a fellowship in Madison.  After a brief engagement, they married, and in 1928, Mildred moved to Germany to live with her husband.  Based in Berlin, she spent a number of years working as a professor and translator, and, along with Arvid, involved herself in political activism.  With the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party, they began to recruit other like-minded individuals into an underground resistance group.  Led by Mildred and her husband, they remained active from 1932 to 1942 when its members were finally rounded up and arrested by the Gestapo.

Over the years, the group distributed pamphlets urging resistance against the Nazi government, gathered intelligence to share with the American and Russian spy agencies, and helped Jews to escape Germany.  To do so, members of the group (including Arvid) took jobs in different German agencies where they stole information to help bring down the regime.  Mildred did the same by tutoring German soldiers needing to learn English for their duties.  During this time, she also actively provided information to the American embassy in Berlin.  

Rebecca Donner is the great-great-niece of Mildred, and because of this connection, she had access to her family letters.  To flesh out the story of Mildred’s activities in Germany, Donner hunted down the letters, notes and memoirs from the collaborators working in the Resistance group.  She also plumbed the archival records of the German, Russian, and U.S. governments.  And what a fantastic story she tells, one of great courage against overwhelming odds of discovery.  After the members were arrested in 1942, they underwent torture and were later put on trial, with most receiving death sentences.  Mildred was beheaded by guillotine in 1943.  

Mildred Harnack’s story is not well known in this country.  One reason for this is that the United States government took pains to bury it, under the impression that both Mildred and her husband were Communist agents.  Donner includes individual photographs of the members of the group taken after their arrest.  While haunting, they are a testimony to their bravery in a country where opposing the Nazis was more than likely a death sentence.  This book not only acknowledges Mildred’s Resistance activities, but honors them.

Digitized documents now available from 1932 Tuskegee Syphilis study

No doubt you've heard about the heartbreaking and unjust 1932 study by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) on the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men at Tuskegee Institute. NLM has just made available a collection of over 3,000 items including letters, meeting minutes, articles, and more available to anyone for use.

This newly digitized collection aims to "ensure this chapter in history is never repeated and build greater trust in current biomedical research through transparency."

Searching for pumpkins at NLM

 Re-posting from the NLM Circulating Now blog: