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HUBNET provides PDA accounts
The Hospitals and University at Buffalo Library Resources Network (HUBNET) is providing free Ovid@Hand accounts to students, faculty and staff of the five health sciences schools.
A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) application, Ovid@Hand includes MedWeaver Disease Profiles (a summary reference tool), A-to-Z Drug Facts and F&C Drug Interaction Facts. Ovid@Hand also includes a point-of-care Medline search feature and allows users to download tables of contents and article abstracts from more than 150 journals. When hot syncing, the Medline search or the full-text of a selected article is launched onto the user's desktop via the Ovid database interface.
Pat Prior, HUBNET project manager, also has devised a method using Documents2Go™ that allows delivery of full text to the PDA. She is using wireless technology to provide real-time searching capability on the palm as well.
Marty Mutka, HUBNET director, notes these initiatives are critical as wireless and PDAs are expected to become the most important technologies in healthcare within the next two years, according to a 2002 survey by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Roseanne Berger, senior associate dean for graduate education in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has praised efforts to promote use of these types of clinical decision-support tools for both students and teaching faculty, Mutka says. A recent Deloitte research study determined that 30 percent of all physicians use a PDA, with use projected to reach 45 percent by 2005. At point of care, the most frequent uses are accessing drug information (53 percent) and clinical decision support information (37 percent), according to the HIMSS survey. Further, the research suggests that more than half of all adverse drug reactions are preventable through the use of these types of resources, he adds.
HUBNET already has provided 250 licenses to early adopters of handheld applications at the five health sciences schools, as well as to targeted groups of medical residents, nurse practitioners, Pharm.Ds, and library and technical support staffs. Some licenses still are available, Mutka says.
An additional 135 licenses have been negotiated for all first-year medical students, he says, adding that the Class of 2006 is the first incoming class whose members are required to own a PDA.
For further information, contact the HUBNET office at 829-3900, ext. 140, or hubnet@buffalo.edu.
Holiday Print Sale set
The Department of Art will hold its annual Holiday Print Sale from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Original artist prints by UB students and alumni, and participants in the experimental Print Imaging Center's (ePIC) Community Printshop program will be available for purchase. Friends of the Center for the Arts will receive a 10 percent discount.
Proceeds will benefit student scholarship and community outreach programs in the field of printmaking.
For more information, contact Jeff Shervin at 645-6878, ext. 1369, or jsherven@buffalo.edu.
Wigderson to open CSE lecture series
Avi Wigderson of the Institute of Advanced Studies of Princeton University and The Hebrew University will open the Department of Computer Science and Engineering's 2002-03 Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series with "Some Insights of Computational Complexity Theory" at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in 330 Student Union, North Campus.
The talk will be free of charge and open to the public. Refreshments will be served after the talk in 226 Bell Hall, North Campus.
According to Wigderson's abstract, computational complexity theory—one of the most exciting fields of scientific research over the past few decades—deals with the power of feasible computation, and is guided by a few clear and focused questions that are deeply motivated on scientific, practical and philosophical grounds, such as the "P vs. NP problem," and questions on the power of randomized and quantum computation.
While these problems are far from resolved, complexity theory has been able to offer fresh rigorous definitions to some central notions that naturally, or less so, arise from these questions, and unveil many rich and beautiful connections between them.
In his lecture, Wigderson, winner of the 1994 Nevanlinna Prize, will probe some of the unique features and insights of the complexity theory viewpoint by considering how, and why, notions that intrigued people for centuries or even millennia—like knowledge, randomness, cryptography, learning, proof and, naturally, computation—reveal new dimensions and, surprisingly, are linked together when viewed from the computational-complexity perspective.
The series' next session will be held at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in 330 Student Union when Mahadev Satyaranarayan of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Research discusses "Pervasive Computing: Vision and Challenges."
Refreshments again will be served after the talk in 226 Bell.
"The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it." With these words, Mark Weiser began his seminal 1991 paper that described his vision of ubiquitous computing, now also called pervasive computing.
The essence of that vision was the creation of environments saturated with computing and communication capability, yet gracefully integrated with human users. After a decade of hardware progress, many critical elements of pervasive computing that were exotic in 1991 now are viable commercial products: handheld and wearable computers, wireless LANs and devices to sense and control appliances. "We are now well-positioned to begin the quest for Weiser's vision," Satyaranarayan wrote in his abstract.
His UB talk will discuss the challenges in computer-systems research posed by pervasive computing. It will examine the relationship of this new field to its predecessors—distributed systems and mobile computing—and will identify four new research thrusts—effective use of smart spaces, invisibility, localized scalability and masking uneven conditioning—that frame the key research problems that must be solved if pervasive computing is to become a reality.
The lecture series will continue next semester with a talk on "Computers and Common Sense" by Doug Lenat of Cycorp, Inc., on April 11, and a lecture on "Accessing Data in Peer-to-Peer Networks" by Richard Karp of University of California-Berkeley on April 25.
For more information, contact the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at cse-dept@cse.buffalo.edu. Updates on the series will be posted on the CSE Web site at www.cse.buffalo.edu.
Randy Travis to appear in CFA
The UB Center for the Arts will present Randy Travis at 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. The concert is sponsored by WYRK-FM.
Randy Travis is one of the most popular artists in the history of country music. He has sold more than 20 million albums since bringing back a classic sound to country music with his quadruple-platinum, 1986 debut, "Storms of Life." During his career he has garnered three Grammy Awards, five Country Music Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards, 10 American Music Awards and two Dove Awards.
Travis balances a full-time music career with a full-time acting career. In addition to guest appearances on TV's "Matlock," "Touched By An Angel" and "Texas," his film credits include "The Rainmaker," "Frank and Jessie," "Black Dog," "Fire Down Below" and "White River Kid." Travis most recently appeared in the Miramax/Dimension film, "Texas Rangers."
Tickets for Randy Travis are $44, $41 and $38, and are available from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the CFA box office and at all Ticketmaster locations.
For more information, call 645-ARTS.
Applications sought for Panasci contest
The School of Management is accepting applications for the annual Panasci Entrepreneurial Competition, which awards $40,000 in seed capital to UB students and recent alumni who want to start their own business in Western New York.
Cash prizes of $25,000 and $15,000 will be awarded to contestants who devise and present the best business plan for launch of a viable business.
The competition is open to all UB students and to UB alumni who graduated in January 1997 or later. Contestants may compete for the award individually or in teams of up to five members. Deadline for submission of preliminary applications is Dec. 30; deadline for submission of business plans is Jan. 30. Winners will be announced on April 30, 2003.
All applicants are required to attend one workshop on business-plan writing to be offered from 9-11 a.m. on Nov. 9, Dec. 7 and Jan. 25, and from 2-4 p.m. on Nov. 19 in 312 Jacobs Management Center, North Campus.
Now in its third year, the competition was created to encourage the entrepreneurial interests of UB students and alumni, and to promote the development of new business ventures in Western New York. The award is made possible through a $1 million endowment by UB alumnus Henry A Panasci, Jr., chairman of Cygnus Management Group and past chairman and CEO of Fay's Inc.
Last year's $25,000 first-place prize was awarded to an MBA student who is a veterinarian and devised a plan for launching a service that provides emergency-call coverage for vacationing or overworked equine veterinarians in the Southtowns. Her business is open now and profitable. The $15,000 second-place prize was awarded to a communication major who is developing a plan to assist dyslexic children.
Application materials and information about the contest can be accessed online at www.mgt.buffalo.edu/cel/panasci.shtm or by calling the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at 645-3000.
Student chapter of NSPE forms at UB
The only collegiate chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in Western New York has been organized at UB.
The group recently held its inaugural meeting, during which John Frandina, president of the Erie-Niagara Chapter of NSPE, presented an official "Member of Chapter" Certificate to the new organization, which received the alpha-level award, the highest level possible for a student chapter.
"This represents what the school of engineering is all about," said Dean C. Millar, assistant dean for corporate relations in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "That is, a partnership between industry and, of course, developing students who are able to create value for you in industry."
Nagarajan Kannan president and initiator of the UB chapter, said he began planning for the chapter in 2001; the group now has nearly 30 members, including both graduate and undergraduate engineering students.
Being affiliated with the organization will help produce qualified technical students with better business skills, he said, adding that the NSPE will serve as a point of contact between industry employers and students through seminars and workshops. The organization also produces monthly publications for members.
Kannan noted that students affiliated with the NSPE chapter are encouraged to work toward a professional engineering license, which allows engineers to sign contracts or run a private practice, and often leads to better job opportunities and higher pay.
The license gives those who hold it a better safeguard against losing their jobs in the event of company layoffs, restructuring or consolidation, he said. His efforts to support students who take the licensing exam have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of students enrolled in this year's NSPE chapter-sponsored coaching class.
According to professional NSPE members, students who are affiliated with the group will be at a great advantage once they enter the work force. "(Membership) will advance one's career considerably," said Ken King, former president of the Erie chapter of the NSPE.
Spanish film to be screened
"Fresh Films in French, Italian & Spanish" will present "Solas" (Alone), a film directed and scripted by Benito Zambrano, at 8 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts, North Campus
The screening will be free of charge and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Melodia E. Jones Professorship in French, the Franco-American Cultural Fund, the Florence Gould Foundation, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the Ministry of Culture (CNC).
"People should be born twice: once rich, once poor, so the rich would know poverty, and the poor would know happiness."
So says María, who works as a cleaning woman in Seville. Having grown up in a small Andalusian town in a dysfunctional family, she allows cynicism to dominate her life. Although she hates her alcoholic father for the way he neglected her and abused her mother, she is an alcoholic herself and allows herself to be abused in relationships. When an unwanted pregnancy and an unexpected visit from her mother coincide to shake up her life, María is forced to a turning point.
This understated movie, released in 1999 in Spanish with English subtitles, was overshadowed by Almodóvar's "All About My Mother," released the same year. It received very limited distribution in the United States, and has not been released for home viewing—all of which makes this an unusual chance to see a well-regarded film that approaches contemporary social issues with realism and honesty.
The film, which stars Ana Fernández and María Galiana, is unrated, but is recommended for audiences ages 18 and over due to adult situations—what the Spanish call "muy fuerte."
For more information, contact Elizabeth Scarlett at 645-6000, ext. 1197, or at scarlett@acsu.buffalo.edu
Relling to deliver Levy lecture
Mary Relling, professor of clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, will deliver the Gerhard Levy Distinguished Lecture in Pharmaceutical Sciences at 4 p.m., Nov. 8 in 114 Hochstetter Hall, North Campus.
The lecture is free of charge and open to the public.
The Levy lectureship was established by the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in honor of Gerhard Levy, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Levy is widely recognized as a pioneer and principal contributor in the fields of biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
A member of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Relling also is professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee.
Her research focuses on antineoplastic PK and PD in children, pharmacogenetics of antileukemia therapy and host- and treatment-related risk factors for secondary malignancies.
A fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, she is the author of more than 125 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters. She is principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health grant entitled "Anticancer Agent Pharmacodynamics in Acute Leukemia."