Interesting Links

Reading Blogs at Work

New research shows than many blog readers check out their favorite blogs at work: "Forget lunch breaks -- blog readers essentially take a daily 40 minute blog break."
Source: Yahoo News


How to contribute to Wikipedia

"Wikipedia'’s advice to editors is to be bold but not reckless. It is a pretty good life advice, as well", notes Gina Trapani.
Source: Geek to Live: How to contribute to Wikipedia - LifeHacker.com


Attack of the Blogs - Forbes.com

Another anti-blogging article... By the way, the editor of Medscape's MedGenMed Journal who was against medical blogging on Medscape is podcasting on iTunes now. Hear the other side of the story in Bullish on Blogs.
Source: Forbes Cover Story Blows It, Calling Bloggers Lynch Mobs - Micro Persuasion.com


A Single RSS subscription button with drop-down options

This all-in-one button is an elegant solution for those bloggers who offer multiple subscription options to their RSS/Atom feed, like Yahoo, Bloglines, MSN, etc. Of course, the plain old XML is still an option.

A Morbidly Obese Man is Diagnosed with PE. Can I use Lovenox? EBM Q&A

Question:

A 25 yo morbidly obese man is admitted with PE. His weight is 516 lbs. He is on heparin IV but he hates the IV infusion. You are planning to switch him to Lovenox and start Coumadin. Is this OK?


Answer:

No. Lovenox (enoxaparin) was not studied in patients with weight more than 150 kg or less than 45 kg. This is the reason why the maximal recommended dose of enoxaparin is 150 mg sc q 12 hr. Patients who weigh more than 150 kg should be treated with IV heparin until fully anticoagulated with warfarin.

References:
Enoxaparin Clinical Pearl - CCF MedEd
Anticoagulation in special patient populations: Are special dosing considerations required? - CCJM
Arixtra is the New Contender for the LMWH Throne
Image source: sxc.hu

Pulse Oximeter the Size of a Matchbox

Question:

A COPD patient on chronic O2 therapy at 3 L/min comes to your office and asks if he can use a portable pulse oximeter. He wants to take the device with him when he goes outside. Are there any available?


Answer:

Yes, there are ultra-portable pulse oximeters. One patient showed up at the office recently with a pulse oximeter the size of a match box. The oximeter is fully portable and is powered by a AAA battery which needs replacement every 4-5 months. Similar devices are used to alert climbers at high altitude to the potential onset of acute mountain sickness. Not all of them are certified for medical use though.

Nonin Medical, Inc. makes a portable pulse oximeter called Onyx. The price is about $ 300. See a flash movie.

Disclaimer: I am not connected to Nonin Medical, Inc. in any way and I do not recommend the device. It is just an example of a portable pulse oximeter.

Image source: Nonin.com

Microsoft is Joining Web 2.0 with Windows Live

Live.com is the Microsoft attempt to keep up with Web 2.0. Even if you don't like the software produced at Redmond, you have to admit that Live.com portal is pretty slick. It is a spiced-up version of Start.com, which was around for a while, functioning as a RSS reader.

Live.com works only with Internet Explorer for now. The new portal will be the default start page in IE 7. "If this will be the default home page for millions of users, it is definitely a trend worth watching", writes Greg Linden of Findory.com.

Subscribing to RSS is very easy. By the way, KidneyNotes is the first result for "NEJM feed", before the official NEJM URL.

Supposedly, "you can add podcasts directly to your home page by subscribing to the feed and the latest entry will appear with Windows Media Player loading the content right away" (via niallkennedy.com).

Microsoft Office Live is coming soon too, in early 2006. It sounds interesting: "Office Live will provide your company with its own domain name, Web site, and e-mail accounts for free". It looks like Blogger.com plus GMail.



"Did you notice how fit Bill Gates is looking these days? Fighting Trim, is the word that comes to mind", writes Om Malik.

Office Live will not offer word processing or spreadsheets. Microsoft says that "22 applications that automate accounting and project management" will be included but who cares of there is no Word and Excel? Writely.com, the online word processor will still have its users. For now... Russell Beattie predicted Monopoly 4.0 instead of Web 2.0 after this new Microsoft initiative was announced.

References:
Gates Intros Live Software Services - PC World
Microsoft's introduction of its Live platform in San Francisco on November 1, 2005 - niallkennedy on Flickr
Screenshots of Windows Live - Torres Talking
The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 - Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog
Image sources: Microsoft.com, niallkennedy.com

Chest X-rays with Annotations on Flickr

It is nice to see that other physicians have started posting interesting chest X-rays and CT scans on Flickr (at one point I was the sole owner of the tags "CXR" and "CT" there).

Just a reminder: the compliance with the HIPAA rules is a must.

Flickr notes make the experience even more interactive. If you are logged in as a Flickr user, you can put notes on images posted by other people.

The folks at PulmonaryRoundtable should be interested - the discussion about the CXR can be posted on the CXR itself!




Physicians using Flickr to post clinical images:

- Medicine & Surgery by Jon Mikel

- The Teaching Files: X-rays by Mjagbayani

- Chieh-Li Wang / copper0722


Image source: mjagbayani

Steve Rubel is Blogging About His Skin Cancer

Steve is the author of the popular IT blog Micro Persuasion. This morning he learned that he has been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma:

"One of my favorite pastimes was sitting in front of a Starbucks, reading books or listening to podcasts and soaking up the sun. I neglected to wear sunscreen or a hat, even though I am follicly challenged. Now I am paying the price.

I have a blog with 5,000+ daily readers as well as a significant media profile. I am in a position to help in ways others can't. If one person starts wearing sunscreen regularly because of what they read here then I have done my job."

Steve is launching a new blog called The Skin Cancer Blog where he will track his progress and provide links to information and stories from others.

Some doctors are encouraging their patients to blog because they will feel better. Read more in Blogging for health - MSNBC.

Update:
On 11/16/05, Steve had the Moh's surgery to remove a very small basal cell carcinoma on his upper lip and is now cancer free.

References:
Why I am Blogging About My Skin Cancer. Micro Persuasion
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sunscreen - WCVB-TV in Boston
Basal-Cell Carcinoma - NEJM
I've Been Rocketboomed. Micro Persuasion.

What do NEJM RSS feed and medical tag cloud have in common? KidneyNotes. The host of Grand Rounds

KidneyNotes hosts this week's Grand Rounds.

Among many other things, the nephrologist from NYC is the creator of the NEJM RSS and podcast feed (when they did not have one) and the medical tag cloud.

Enjoy the weekly best of the medical blogosphere.

Image source: TaglCloud.com