ECigs: ETech Meets Public Health Again (Part One)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by | Leave a comment

One of my Twitter healthcare friends tweeted this morning, with some evident concern, about the issue of 3D printed guns.

Regular readers of this blog have already heard about this, and the counter argument that it isn’t the 3D printed guns that are the problem, but the ammo, and OOPS, we already have 3D printed ammunition, also.

So, yes, this is an issue with an emerging technology, and it is a public health issue. When I blogged about it before, I didn’t make that overt and explicit. I assumed people would figure that out on their own. But now I am thinking perhaps I should make more overt some of the issues I’m tracking which have potential health impacts.

This brings me to the topic of electronic cigarettes, a relatively recent technological approach to changing how people smoke for recreational purposes. This weekend I collected over 40 (FORTY!!) hashtags from the conversation space around electronic cigarettes. That should be another post, later. For those new to the idea, eCigs have become a big deal awfully quickly. And it is extremely complicated. I’m just going to pull out a very few tweets illustrating some of the potential health issues in the conversation.

The thought here is that electronic cigarettes can be and ARE BEING used as smoking cessation devices, kind of like the nicotine patch, but more like actually smoking.

In fact, the “healthiness” of electronic cigarettes is one of the leading marketing justifications.

But there are some who question the safety and “healthiness” of the electronic cigarettes. Like, um, the American Cancer Society? And the American Lung Association. And the FDA.

American Cancer Society: Electronic Cigarettes – Boon, Bane, Blessing, or Boondoggle? (2011) http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/expertvoices/post/2011/05/03/electronic-cigarettes-e28093-boon-bane-blessing-or-boondoggle.aspx

American Cancer Society: Restrict the Sale of Electronic Cigarettes: http://www.cancer.org/myacs/eastern/areahighlights/cancernynj-news-ny-ecig-health-vote

American Cancer Society: What about electronic cigarettes? Aren’t they safe? (2013) http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/questionsaboutsmokingtobaccoandhealth/questions-about-smoking-tobacco-and-health-e-cigarettes

Reactions against official organizations with concerns about e-cigs are vigorous. These are a couple of the lighter and tamer responses.

American Lung Association: E-cigarettes: Another Option to Help You Quit Smoking? http://www.lung.org/associations/states/florida/educational-programs/e-cigarettes.html

American Lung Association: Some say vaping e-cigarettes is worse than smoking the real thing: http://www.lung.org/associations/states/florida/news/top-story-in-the-news/some-say-vaping-e-cigarettes.html

FDA: Electronic Cigarettes (e-Cigarettes) http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm172906.htm

FDA: E-Cigarettes: Questions and Answers: http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm225210.htm

FDA: For Consumers: Health Fraud: Electronic Cigarettes: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/HealthFraud/ucm267560.htm

Whoa. Despite the FDA information above, and despite demands that the FDA involve itself in the topic (and demands for the reverse), there is no move at this time to manage the claims and safety of e-cigarettes at the federal level. The FDA is, however, collecting information and opinions on whether or not they should be involved.

While the FDA considers, states are actively involved.

The link in the tweet leads to information asking the broader e-cig community to sign a petition to block the North Carolina House Bill 864 / Senate Bill 530, Prohibit E-Cigarette Sales to Minors.

e-Cigarette Forum

Why is the legislature so concerned about sales to minors? I’m not sure, but it might have something to do with the eCig liquids being flavored, many of them tasting like candy.

If you look at the petition page, you immediately notice alerts highlighting other states and local legislatures with similar initiatives regarding e-cigs.

CASAA Calls to Action (e-Cigs)

CASAA is a lobbying and advocacy organization for the e-cig community, and they collect the wide array of state and local initiatives to regulate e-cigarettes in the United States. Just in the past month, CASAA alerts mentioned Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Louisiana, New York City, Maine, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington.

“Perhaps most surprising is that when the topic of electronic cigarettes was finally pushed enough that the panel had to respond more adequately, it seemed clear they had no idea what electronic cigarettes were. When presenters offered to let the panel hold, pass around, and inspect their e-cigs, it was clear they had either never seen one or had only seen the ones that very closely resemble conventional cigarettes. And yet, the board was ready to discuss and vote on bills that would affect their control within the city.”
Creating Unintended Consequences: http://www.ecigadvanced.com/blog/creating-unintended-consequences/

Not just the USA, either. Other countries are even more aggressively opposed to e-cigarettes, and the e-cig community is equally passionate in their stance that the research evidence does not support the negative claims.

Up in a puff of smoke? EU plan threatens e-cigarettes: Anti-smoking groups angry at new directive which could price devices out of market
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/up-in-a-puff-of-smoke-eu-plan-threatens-ecigarettes-8554820.html

Safer Alternative to Cigarettes to Be Banned by EU: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/janice-atkinson/safer-alternative-to-cigarettes-banned-by-eu_b_2827043.html

“I used to smoke cigarettes, until I switched to E cigs. For me they are a healthier way to deliver nicotine They come in all sorts of shape and sizes and do not necessarily look like a real cigarette. E Cigs can prevent 750,000 premature death per year. Now the EU want to regulate them out of existence This will force me and others back to conventional cigarettes The EU’s policy is to “quit or die”. I do not not want to do either.”

Smoke without fire: The Story of the electronic cigarette: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/1931-smoke-without-fire

There are concerns about the safety, as well as oversight of the ingredients and consistent production criteria and quality control (as mentioned earlier in the FDA links).

Maryland Injury Lawyers: Are Electronic Cigarettes Dangerous Products? http://www.maryland-injury-lawyer.com/2012/02/are-electronic-cigarettes-dang.html

But, like I said before, it’s complicated. Last month an article was published in JMIR about health effects reported in those online forums for “vaping”.

“A total of 405 different symptoms due to e-cigarette use were reported from three forums. Of these, 78 were positive, 326 were negative, and one was neutral.”
Hua My, Alfi M, Talbot P. Health-Related Effects Reported by Electronic Cigarette Users in Online Forums. J Med Internet Res 2013;15(4):e59 http://www.jmir.org/2013/4/e59/ PMID: 23567935

Check out the research yourself. What do you think?

Pubmed: “electronic cigarettes” OR “electronic cigarette” OR “e-cigarette” OR “e-cigarettes” OR “ecig” OR “e-cig” OR “e-cigs” OR “e-cigs”

End of Part One. Part Two digs deeper into some of the social and cultural aspects of vaping, which also have potential health impacts.

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Hashtags of the Week (HOTW): National Women’s Health Week and Prophylactic Mastectomies (Week of May 13, 2013)

Posted on May 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Originally posted at THL Blog hashtags-of-the-week-hotw-national-womens-health-week-week-of-may-13-2013 by Chris Bulin, @Arduanne.

While I was preparing last week’s post, I saw some tweets about National Women’s Health Week this week. I thought that was quite appropriate considering the week started with Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day itself was full of trials and triumphs as noted in these tweets:

From there, I looked to #NationalWomensHealthWeek and #NWHW to find the most interesting tweets about Women’s Health.

I don’t know if Angelina Jolie decided to hold her press conference because it was National Women’s Health Week, or because she just felt is was the right time, but the revelation of her prophylactic double mastectomy certainly had people talking about women’s health issues. It started with an outpouring of support and well wishes for Jolie and evolved to include conversations surrounding Supreme Court cases, economic and healthcare realities, and patent law. You can follow these conversations on #brca and #breastcancer.

Finally, I came across a reference to #WD2013 which is the annual Women Deliver conference. This global conference is being held in Kuala Lumpur May 28-30, 2013. While you may not be able to attend in person, they will have online streaming content. The conference focuses on the “health and empowerment of girls and women” through political and economic engagement, particularly as it relates to maternal and newborn health and wellness.

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Cheap and Easy Ways to Make Comics or Cartoons for Digital Storytelling

Posted on May 14, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Another one of last week’s Enriching Scholarship Sessions, this one in partnership with John Beals.

Cheap and Easy Ways to Make Comics or Cartoons for Digital Storytelling: https://ttc.iss.lsa.umich.edu/ttc/sessions/cheap-and-easy-ways-to-make-comics-or-cartoons-for-digital-storytelling/

ABSTRACT:
Digital storytelling, also referred to in educational circles as digital media assignments, often centers around making videos, but there are many other ways to tell stories. Comics and cartoons offer an attractive alternative approach to storytelling. In addition to uses for storytelling, they can also make engaging images for slides, presentations and illustrations. With the many online tools and software packages now available for creating these, there are many options to choose from for all levels of skill and expertise. This session will provide a survey of some tools, with illustrations of educational uses.

Even though the slides say “Part 2,” I actually started off, because I had to run across campus for another session right after, and John was gracious enough to be flexible. The slides were a rush job, because I was out sick so long with bronchitis, and I actually have a lot more content than is shown here. It worked out that this was just the right amount of content for the session. Lucky me!

Cheap and Easy Ways to Make Comics or Cartoons for Digital Storytelling: http://www.slideshare.net/umhealthscienceslibraries/cheap-and-easy-ways-to-make-comics-or-cartoons-for-digital-storytelling

This is an abbreviated set of the links and tools I’ve collected for doing this. What inspired me was a webcomic idea I have and want to do, but not being the kind of artist who can draw my own comic, I have been looking for … alternatives. I started out with some of the ways in which I use comics in my work already, with examples; then highlighted just a few of the many tools available. Last but not least, I also touched on using smartphones with photo filter apps or added word bubbles to generate images to tell your stories.

The session ended with John talking about real world educational uses of comics in the classroom, tips and tricks for how to design assignments, books for more info, and similar excellent content. John is FAR more expert than I in this area, which made for a great partnership. He used no slides this time, so these are from another session he did on a closely related topic earlier in the year.


Johnathon Beals: Comics in the Classroom: http://www.slideshare.net/jbeals1/comics-in-the-classroom-20893525

You know you’ve done something right when you hear from people after the session who want to share what they’ve done with the tools you discussed! And what could be better than being one of the first to see new comics? This was such great fun to do, and had such a great response, I hope we do this again next year.

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Guest Post: Enriching Scholarship 2013: Tech Talk

Posted on May 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

I’m trying to catch up with promised blogposts for the various Enriching Scholarship sessions I coordinated or in which I participated. Lucky for me, Shannon Murphy attended one of the sessions and blogged about it so beautifully that I am just reposting here, with her very kind permission and a very small number of copy-edits. You can see the original post at:

ES 2013 Tech and Trends: http://aquillam.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/es-2013-tech-and-trends/

ES13 Tech Talk (#UMTTC)

ETech guru Patricia Anderson presented. As usual, there are tons of resources.

The mind map for this is available at http://www.mindmeister.com/289740657/tech-talk-2013#

Members of the UM community may want to sign up for the Cool Toys Conversations email group in MCommunity. You can also follow the Cool Toys blog http://cooltoysu.wordpress.com/ or the ETechLib blog http://etechlib.wordpress.com/

The talk follows the mindmap, starting from the upper right and working around clockwise.

What is emerging tech?

It’s what’s new and hot and relavant and important.

New Media Consortium’s Horizon report is a good resource, and is what they usually focus on in the Cool Toys email group. Find out more about the project at http://www.nmc.org/horizon-project. Download the higher ed report in English from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-HE.pdf

The future is here (at UM)

Examples – last year’s ES poster winners http://www.crlt.umich.edu/node/514

Would have liked to have this year’s winners too. Our instructors are doing amazing things with today’s technology, and we’re developing things that can be next year’s tech. http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tipwinners2013

Issues

Many of these are issues we face year after year. For example, do students with the money for laptops or tablets to bring to class have an advantage over those who can’t afford portable tech? Should we be introducing students to high end computers and software if they won’t have access to those things in the jobs they get when they leave here? What competencies do the students actually need in the future?

How we answer those questions now will determine what higher ed looks like and whether or not we survive.

Resources and past years

The Resources bubble provides a lot of resources for exploring further.

The 2011 and 2012 Tech Trends are provided so you can compare where we were a year or two ago, and where we are now.

Tech Trends 2013

“My Take”

Wearable tech generated a lot of chatter on the cool toys email group http://pinterest.com/rosefirerising/wearable-tech/. However, what was is the Cool Toys chatter was not the same as what was in the horizon report. The Horizon report focused on things like the much hyped Google Glass, and smart watches like Pebble. But there are all sorts of things, like biometric tattoos that can warn diabetics if their blood sugar is too low, or buttons for your jacket that detect if you’ve had too much to drink. Also, some slightly disturbing options, like the tattoo that vibrates when you got a phone call. (This tattoo is not MRI safe. And what do you do when the technology changes??) Wearable tech can be big too, like the scarf with sensors so it you crash on your bike, it turns into an airbag bike helmet, or the power suit designed for soldiers but usable by paraplegics to allow them to walk again.

Patricia also discussed the power of technologies like Personal genomics, Personalized medicine, Quantified self and Biohacking. These let the individual learn more about themselves and their health through things like developing a personal genetic profile, tracking exercise goals or finding correlations between symptoms and diet. Lots of data helps the user and their doctor diagnose problems more quickly and treat them more effectively.

3D printing was also a big item. These bring their own set of questions and issues. What will it mean if everyone had the ability to print whatever they want? WILL everyone be able to do this, or will this be another thing that separates groups (those who can afford it and those who can’t). Are there things you shouldn’t be allowed to print, and how would a ‘bad’ be enforced? http://io9.com/you-can-now-3d-print-a-fully-operational-handgun-493142303 Bioprinting is also an emerging technology, with things like replacement bones and ears already possible.

Related to the 3D printing is the Maker Culture. Here in A2 we have MakerWorks http://www.maker-works.com/ and All Hands maker space http://www.allhandsactive.com/. There’s also the Maker Faire Detroit each year at The Henry Ford http://www.makerfairedetroit.com/. Groups like http://www.thingiverse.com/ make it easy for designers and makers to make their designs available to other makers, and to anyone with a 3D printer.

Gartner Hype Cycle

http://www.infoq.com/resource/news/2012/08/Gartner-Hype-Cycle-2012/en/resources/hype1.png

Handy for checking on what might be overhyped right now (like 3D printing, social analytics, and gamification), under-hyped, what’s likely to be a hot topic next year, and what we are seeing turn into practical, usable, and realistic tech (and as a slow typist, I’m rather glad to see speech recognition finally becoming useful!)

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2013

http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513981/introduction-to-the-10-breakthrough-technologies-of-2013/

A list by the MIT Technology Review.

See the list at http://www.technologyreview.com/lists/breakthrough-technologies/2013/

Again, wearable tech like smart watches and 3D printing apear on the list.

Also on the list are memory implants. While intended for people with cognitive dysfunction, could these be used by “normal” people who want a better memory.

Deep (machine) learning – AI is closer to reality. This have some unintended consequences too. For example, programs were designed to make spam look more like normal human speech, so it could get around the spam filters. However, it was still mostly gibberish. Poets found some of it interesting and started using the “creative” content from the computers to generate Spam Poetry (is that plagiarism?)

Big data from cheap phones also has some potentially profound implications. In Kenya, a database that used text messages from users to track the location of prescription medications eventually lead to (democratic) political upheaval. The Boston Marathon bomber was caught largely due to cell phone video. These open up privacy questions. According to David Brin, that can be OK as long as there is data equality. However, we will face serious problems if one side is transparent and the other is not. http://www.davidbrin.com/transparentsociety.html

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Unchained: Finding Free eBooks for Pleasure and Learning

Posted on May 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Well, it’s Enriching Scholarship week again! Today had the amazing keynote session, then I also attended the Third Century session (more on those later), and I had my first session on finding free ebooks.

From: Unchained: Finding free ebooks

BLURB FOR SESSION:
“With the increasing availability and use of ebook readers and mobile devices with apps for ebooks, it makes sense to incorporate them into the educational process where possible and feasible. With the high cost of education in general, and textbooks in particular, it can be attractive to students to offer options to facilitate use of free resources. This session will showcase sources of free educational ebook content and tools for integrating them with standard ebook reader devices.”

I want to get the information out from today’s session for everyone who attended, because (since I was getting over that evil bronchitis) I didn’t have any handouts. This will be the ‘handout,’ and hopefully acceptable to all.

All the links discussed were included in a Pinterest board, with a reaction from one audience member, “But I don’t take my Pinterest class until tomorrow!” Pinterest organizes boards in reverse chronological order, and does not allow custom sorts or organization. For my board, that means the most important content is mostly at the bottom, sort of like email conversations where you need to read from the bottom up.

Brief overview of what to expect to find:
– ebook search engines
– ebook forums
– free ebook review blogs & subscription services
– how to add downloaded ebooks to your device
– search tips for finding ebooks in Amazon & Google
– free ebooks from other countries and languages
– MORE!

Unchained: Finding Free Books
“Resources for finding free ebooks. Please note, sites and site ownership may change. While I have tried to not include sites providing illegal copies, I cannot guaranteed the legality of any of the books you choose to download.”
http://pinterest.com/rosefirerising/unchained-finding-free-books/
All links: http://pinterest.com/rosefirerising/unchained-finding-free-books/pins/

But there is so much there! What is the BEST?

Here are two blogposts I did early on in my explorations, which include several of my favorites that I still use.

Unchained: Where I Get My Free Ebooks: http://mhistoire.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/unchained-where-i-get-my-free-ebooks/

Cool Toys Pic of the day – 5 ebook search engines: http://cooltoysu.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/cool-toys-pic-of-the-day-5-ebook-search-engines/

We also had some phenomenal insights from Kathleen Folger about the phenomenal range of ebooks available from the University Libraries! Now, while these are not the usual “free ebooks” available to the general public, these are books available to the University of Michigan community members. Here are a few resources from the UM Libraries about these.

MLibrary: Guides: Electronic Books (e-Books): http://guides.lib.umich.edu/ebooks

MLibrary: AAEL: How do I find ebooks? http://www.lib.umich.edu/art-architecture-engineering-library/how-do-i-find-ebooks

MPublishing: Books: http://www.publishing.umich.edu/publications/books/

Now, for the winners!

Best general reader alerting service:
A tie between Pixel of Ink and Books on the Knob. Slight edge to Pixel for their email subscription service. Significant edge to Knob for having more than Kindle!

Best source for accessible formats:
The Internet Archive: Ebook & Texts Archive

IA beats out Munsey’s with 4,498,390 items even though Munsey’s supports more formats.

Internet Archive:
HTML, PDF (color), PDF (B/W), EPUB, Kindle, Daisy, ASCII, DjVu

Munsey’s formats:
DAISY, eBookwise, EPUB, Isilo, Kindle, MOBI, MS-Reader, PDF, Plucker, Rocket, Sony, Zipped

Best free audio books source:
LibriVox

Best non-English language ebooks discovery tools:
Carnegie-Mellon’s Universal Digital Library

UDL beats out the anonymously produced “Free Literature” collection of sources with a full service search engine for over a million books in many languages.

Best free ebook search:
InkMesh

Best ebook management tool:
Calibre

Most influential:
Project Gutenberg

Best overall!

Drumroll, please.

Cute baby plays drums

The Internet Archive

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Hashtags of the Week (HOTW): Spring has Sprung (Week of April 28, 2013)

Posted on May 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

This is what happens when I go out for a month with bronchitis. Thank GOODNESS that Chris Bulin (@Arduanne) is here to help provide some great content. So, this was first blogged at the THL Blog, http://thlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/hashtags-of-the-week-hotw-week-of-april-28-2013/

Some of you may be able to venture outside the walls of your study cubes and offices now. You may feel somewhat like a mole coming out of hiding; I know that’s how I felt this week. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, people were wearing sandals and shorts. What a change from the rest of the month of April and a harbinger of May weather (we hope). Still stuck in your windowless cell? Try the library cam for a little slice of the outside to hold you over until closing time:

Don’t forget there is still sunshine to be had even after closing time now too!

With all of the blooming, budding and sunshiny things, I couldn’t help but think about what might be going on in the world of #gardening. It’s a good way to burn some calories as well as adding fresh fruits and vegetables to your table.

Considering vegetable gardens put me in mind of a story I heard on the radio this morning about the under-reporting of deaths from malnutrition in Somalia, so I went looking for more information about #FoodInsecurity and #malnutrition.

In the tradition of all things hyperlinked, this lead me to investigate a multitude of hashtags including #slowfood, #nutrition, #SustainableAgriculture, #nutrigenomics, #GMO, and #GMCrops.

I rounded off my tour of twitter with a couple of recent news stories. The first was a flurry of activity on #AgGag about the first person charged with violating Agricultural Gag laws and the subsequent dismissal of the case. These laws are starting to come up for vote in several states including Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Here’s a quote from the tweeted article:

Ag-Gag is the term given to legislation that targets undercover investigations of animal operations. There is disagreement over the purpose and impact of these laws. Facilities that raise animals for food and others in the food industry believe the laws protect food producers from the backlash that can arise when the public sees how their food is produced, even when done in a lawful manner. Others see this legislation as an impediment to the public’s ability to obtain information regarding their food supply and an effort by industry to hide animal welfare abuses.

The final story was about the increase in food and skin allergies in children. The scary part is where they can’t identify the cause of the increase, but the article does have some theories that are being tested. If you would like more places to start talking about nutrition, agriculture, and other food related topics, check out these other hashtags: #agchat, #glutenfree/#gf, #urbanag

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Hashtags of the Week (HOTW): DNA Day Closes the Semester (Week of April 22, 2013)

Posted on April 29, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Originally posted at the THL Blog by @Arduanne, to whom we wish a magical summer, with much gratitude for her assistance this term. http://thlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/hashtags-of-the-week-hotw-dna-day-closes-the-semester-week-of-april-22-2013/

This week was the end of regular classes for the winter semester. As exams loom, you may consider stopping by the library for last minute references or a quiet study space, and just be glad that it is no longer the 19th century.

And if you just need a quick break from it all, check out the Umich Study Break Tumblr that is crammed with pictures and gifs that no doubt will summarize your feelings exactly at this time of year. In the wider world, this week marked the 60th anniversary of the discover of DNA. Thursday was #DNADay and several hashtags celebrated this major discovery.

The top two hashtags associated with DNA Day were #DNA60 and #DNADay. They are paying homage to Watson & Crick, Rosalind Franklin, and the Human Genome Project.

Personal Genomics is gaining ground in the conversation spaces surrounding DNA. The GET Conference (Genomes, Environments, Traits) had its own hashtag for DNA Day that explored current trends and issues surrounding genomics research. You can follow their coverage at #GET2013.

Finally, for those of you graduating this semester, happy trails and best wishes. Go Blue!

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