From the Research Desk

Do you frequently underestimate the time it will take to complete an assignment … especially a research paper or presentation? There are online tools available to help keep you on track: Assignment calculators. They create a timeline that can help you determine when you need to have completed specific portions of an assignment, so you are not scrambling at the last minute.

Many university libraries have assignment calculators available. To use, all you need to do is put in the date that the assignment is due, and the calculator … calculates … a timeline for you to follow. Some also have links from the calculator to other sites that may be helpful when working on an assignment: choosing a topic, writing a thesis statement, and proofreading strategies.

Try some of them out and see if one of them works for you:

Research Project Calculator – although created for secondary school students, this site will save & share your assignments and send email reminders, if you create an account

University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator

SJSU – Assignment Calculator

University of Connecticut Assignment Calculator

Don’t wait until the last minute to begin your research!

Jill Turner, Librarian

There is a subset of people in this country who love to set off fireworks. (I think many live in my neighborhood.) When fireworks are mentioned, I think fun, but also safety. Reports of injuries resulting from firework accidents are still making news two days after the holiday. A quick search in PubMed reveals many articles on firework injuries. One of the more recent is a case report that includes a man in Italy who received a face and conjunctiva tattoo from an accidental explosion in the fireworks factory where he worked. Another details the autopsy report from a 4 year old girl who died as a result of eating a firecracker. A study from 2014 looked at the epidemiology of firework injuries over a 10 year period. There were over 97, 562 individual firework injuries treated in emergency departments in the United States that resulted in over 2,800 types of injuries. Head and neck injuries comprised 42% of those injuries. (Unsurprisingly, the injury rate for males was three times higher than for females.)

Technically, June was National Safety Month, but with the holiday just past and most of the summer still stretching out before us, let’s talk safety. There are a ton of websites that have materials on various aspects of safety.  Here are a few:

The National Safety Council collects safety data and provides safety training to companies. They also have a lot of information available on their website for the general citizen. I like the Safety Check-up where you can learn your own person safety risks based on your age, occupation, and where you live. The leading cause of unintentional injury death in Michigan is poisoning at 31%! Who knew! They have has information on safety at work, at home, and on the road. According to the Safety on the Road page, in 2014, car crashes killed 35,400 people. The fatalities were caused by alcohol (30.8%), speeding (30%), and distracted driving (26%)… so be careful out there.

healthfinder.gov website states that “injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1-44.” healthfinder.gov also includes information on a variety of safety topics: everyday healthy living like first aid and emergency preparation; home safety issues like bed bugs and lead poisoning; and outdoor safety concerns such as bike safety and mosquito bite prevention.

The MedlinePlus website contains lots of of information dealing with the prevention and treatment of all kinds of safety issues: sports safety, child safety, water safety, gun safety, food, internet, medical device, ergonomics, and more.

As I missed the boat with National Safety Month, this being July and all, I thought I’d close this post by letting you know that July, besides including National Ice Cream Day and Slurpee Day (both way more fun than safety month), is the time to celebrate Sports Cliche Week (due to the MLB All-Star Game), so on that note …  I’ve run out of real estate, so stick a fork in me, I’m done. But, hey, I was just happy to be here.

Researchers from the Netherlands and Norway published an observational study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) explaining the morphology behind Rudolph’s famous red nose. They hypothesized that the extreme redness was caused by “the presence of a highly dense and rich nasal microcirculation”. In other words, Rudolph’s nose has an abundant supply of red blood cells flowing through a vast number of tiny blood vessels. Results of the study show that the hypothesis was proven. After a careful comparison with five human subjects, the researchers determined that while similar, the vascular network in a reindeer’s nose is 25% denser than that in a human.

Also, perhaps even more interestingly, the tiny blood vessels in the reindeer’s nose do not contain red blood cells during diastole (the time between heart beats); with systole (heart beat), an excess of blood is forced through the vessels. The figure below shows the infrared image of a reindeer’s head after a treadmill test. Notice the presence of a red nose.

The reindeer nasal anatomy and physiology observed in this study testifies to the eminent suitability of Rudolph to lead Santa’s sleigh.

Article: Ince, C., van Kuijen, A. M., Milstein, D. M., Yuruk, K., Folkow, L. P., Fokkens, W. J., & Blix, A. S. (2012). Why rudolph’s nose is red: Observational study. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 345, e8311. doi:10.1136/bmj.e8311 [doi]

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jill Turner, Librarian Consultant

Graphics:

Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer: GuitarHero188Rock

Infrared image of reindeer: Blix, As. Arctic Animals. Tapir Academic Press, 2005.