Friday, April 29, 2016

New publication by Wiscons, Zeller and Rowsell

http://pubs.acs.org/covergifs/cgdefu/title.gif
pubs.acs.org/covergifs/cgdefu/title.gif
Wiscons, Ren A. ('15); Zeller, Matthias; Rowsell, Jesse L. C.  2016. Anion Exchange in Cationic Frameworks: Structures of Channel-Forming Triarylpyrylium Tetrafluoroborate Salts.

CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN, 16 (4):2201-2210; 10.1021/acs.cgd.6b00005 APR 2016
subscriber access at American Chemical Society Publications

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Summer road trip? Take along a roadside geology guide.

Three new Roadside Geology books arrived in this week's new book shipment:

  • Roadside geology of Colorado
  • Roadside geology of Oregon
  • Roadside geology of Utah

 joining the 30 or so books for other states in our collection.  These books are a great way to learn more about the physical environment you may be speeding through, and are a good excuse to stop and appreciate the locale - to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

While you're considering landforms and formations, you could also identify birds, mammals, reptiles, snakes, invertebrates...  the library is brimming with helpful guides, both regional and world-wide in focus, to animals in various ecosystems.  Plants, too, for that matter!  Any currently enrolled student (as well as faculty and staff) who will be returning in the fall is welcome to borrow books over the summer.  Just ask!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Crayfish conquistadors, salamanders and ovarian cancer biomarkers: presentations by A. Roles, A. Blackman, and R. Whelan

New publications/presentations from Oberlin authors (noted in bold text), as indexed in Web of Science:

SICB.org
Freshwater conquistadors: The influence of hybridization and watershed structure in the invasion of the rusty crayfish into the native range of the congeneric Sanborn's crayfish in north-central Ohio.
Roles, Angela J.  (Assistant Professor of Biology)

Source:
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY, 56 E187-E187; 1 MAR 2016
Session abstract, Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative-Biology (SICB).  January 3-7, 2016; Portland, OR

-----
Do salamanders respond morphologically to introduced species?
Blackman, Augie R. (current junior); Novarro, A. J.

Source:
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY, 56 E261-E261; 1 MAR 2016
Poster Abstract, Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative-Biology (SICB).  January 3-7, 2016; Portland, OR

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Identification of nucleic acid aptamers for ovarian cancer biomarkers using multiple selection modes and high-throughput sequencing.

Whelan, Rebecca J. (Associate Professor of Chemistry); Kapur, Arvinder; Felder, Mildred; Shallcross, Jamie (OC '14); Patankar, Manish S.

Source:
CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH, 22 2 JAN 15 2016
Abstract B42: AACR Special Conference: Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research: Exploiting Vulnerabilities; October 17-20, 2015; Orlando, FL

Friday, April 22, 2016

Earth Day interview with Lab Girl author Hope Jahren

Catalog record in OBIS
NPR Morning Edition's Renee Montagne spoke this morning with geobiologist Hope Jahren about her book Lab Girl (now in new book processing, heading to the science library).  Jahren spoke eloquently about her experience of being the only female in her field (and lab) and the challenges that presented, as well as her commitment to guiding young women through similar challenges with more support and encouragement than she received.  As a scientist who studies plants, seeds and soil, she also expressed beautifully the role of trees in ecosystems, and implored listeners to plant a tree and "choose wisely."  A tree becomes a companion through life, doing so much for all forms of life in its environs.  To paraphrase, Jahren concluded by stressing, "I'm not saying, 'save the trees;' rather, that trees can save us."  Listen.

Jahren's words are a reminder to continue nurturing the tiny lilac tree I planted last year around Earth Day.  I'm happy to see it is sprouting new leaves this spring, sheltered on the south side of the house.

Read about trees in a changing environment (ebook with the same title) at SpringerLink.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Fascinating stuff on the new book shelf

What's on the new book shelf?
murder, skeletons, misinformation
spectroscopy, nerves, sexual selection
geophysics, genome, Jurassic plate rotation...
and so much more.

It never fails - a shipment of fantastic reading arrives just at the point in the semester when everyone is thoroughly engaged in required reading for courses and papers or stretched to the limit by rehearsals, performances, lectures and athletics.  April is so full of life, challenge and opportunity - come see your opportunities for yet more wonderful reading, just added to the new book shelf.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Laskowski contributes to "Insights" section of J Exp Bot

http://tinyurl.com/JExpBot
Scheres, Ben and Marta Laskowski, Professor of Biology. 2016. "Root Patterning: It Takes Two to Tangle." Journal of Experimental Botany 67 (5): 1201-1203. [review].  "The mechanisms that pattern lateral root primordia are essential for the elaboration of root system architecture, a trait of key importance for future crop breeding. But which are most important: periodic or local cues? In this issue of Journal of Experimental Botany (pages 1411-1420), Kircher and Schopfer manipulate growth direction to demonstrate the importance of both sources of patterning information."

Access at publisher's site or
OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Love Your Library During National Library Week

http://tinyurl.com/ALAbutton
Tell us what you love about the science library!  Spread a little cheer during National Library Week.  Look for the blue entry box at the circulation desk (under the hanging air plant). We'll read all of the entries on April 17 and post some of them here.   UPDATE: see the comment from Alison.

Top ten things we love about our library users:
9. Seeing you work together in group study rooms.
8. Knowing you're comfortable enough to nap at the window seats.
7. Cleaning up after yourself (gold stars for you!).
6. Remembering to take your print job with you.
5. Returning library materials on time ;-) -- so nice.
4. Leaving the cutting blade down when you're finished with the cutting board (that thing looks lethal).
3. Watching you help a friend figure out the scanning procedure.
2. Handing your ID to us with a friendly smile when borrowing items. 
And the absolute best thing:
1. Asking interesting questions about fascinating subjects.  That makes our day.
So ask away! Love your library all year long, and share the joy during National Library Week.



Monday, April 11, 2016

Suing the Federal Government and Fossil Fuel Industry on Behalf of Future Generations

From Our Children's Trust:
April 8, 2016:  Today, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin of the federal District Court in Eugene, OR, decided in favor of 21 young Plaintiffs, and Dr. James Hansen on behalf of future generations, in their landmark constitutional climate change case brought against the federal government and the fossil fuel industry. The Court’s ruling is a major victory for the 21 youth Plaintiffs, ages 8-19, from across the U.S. in what Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein call the “most important lawsuit on the planet right now.”
OBIS record
The decision by Judge Coffin coincided, incidentally, with the final day of Oberlin's first Global Issues Symposium: Climate Change Consequences, possibly as we were in the midst of discussion on "Connecting the Global and Local: Assessing the Future of Climate Resilient Action."

It is an interesting coincidence, given our focus on climate change consequences for indigenous peoples and Judge Coffin's words regarding those consequences on young people: ..."the intractability of the debates before Congress and state legislatures and the alleged valuing of short term economic interest despite the cost to human life, necessitates a need for the courts to evaluate the constitutional parameters of the action or inaction taken by the government. This is especially true when such harms have an alleged disparate impact on a discrete class of society." [page 8 of the ruling]

Do you avoid serious consideration of climate change and what it  means for your future?  Find out why: Don't even think about it : why our brains are wired to ignore climate change.

Wednesday, April 06, 2016

NPR breaking news: Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Common Than Anyone Imagined

Excellent reporting by Nell Greenfieldboyce on the Two Way:
  April 6, 2016 • "A black hole with about 17 billion times the mass of our sun has turned up in another remote galaxy. Astronomers now think these mass-eating monsters may not be so rare after all."  See the marvelous image, too. 
Need a bit of background reading?  Two possibilities in our collection:

Black hole : how an idea abandoned by Newtonians, hated by Einstein, and gambled on by Hawking became loved / Marcia Bartusiak.  Yale Univ Press, 2015.
or
Advances in black holes research / editor, Abraham Barton.  Nova, 2015.