Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library Blog

PubMed has replaced the Limits page with a Filter sidebar.  The Filter sidebar provides the same features as the Limits page, but provides users with a more visible manner by which to narrow down initial results.  Commonly used filters will show up automatically in the results page.  Additional filters can be found by clicking on the “Choose additional filters” link at the top or bottom of the filter list, or by clicking on the “more” link at the bottom of a category.

Users can refine their search by clicking on a filter term.  Once a filter has been selected it will be listed at the top of the search page, and will remain activated until cleared.  This can be done simultaneously by clicking on any of the “Clear all” links at the top of the page, or individually by clicking on the “clear” link next to the selected filter category.

Please note that UCLA users should not select any of the “Text Availability” filters listed at the top of the filter list.  These filters do not take into account UCLA holdings and may exclude articles that are available through UCLA subscriptions.

PubMed has produced a video tutorial on how to use the new filter sidebar.

<submitted by Karin Saric>

Genetics and Social Science: Expanding Transdisciplinary Research, from the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics, with support from NIH, is an online course dedicated to helping social and behavioral scientists learn about genetics so that they can engage in interdisciplinary research with geneticists.

Many researchers focus on either nature or nurture in their investigations, but this site promotes collaboration between social and behavioral scientists and geneticists in the study of how genes and environmental factors interact to produce outcomes. For example, some cancers result from environmental factors, such as radiation, damaging our genetic material. And in a small proportion of people, obesity is the result of the body failing to produce enough of a hormone that lets us know when we’re full after eating—but that specific genetic condition doesn’t account for most cases of obesity. As such, it is important to study both the genetic and the social and behavioral aspects of a condition in order to get the full picture.

The course is set up as a series of case studies under the “Research in Action” link, which can be followed in order or stand-alone. It also allows you to choose what to read about by topics such as gene-environment interaction, clinical and population issues, and variation.

It also has a glossary, some resources for faculty looking to include genetics as a topic in their social and behavioral science courses, and information on networking and collaboration.

<submitted by Vicki Burchfield>