Minor image thumbnail issues in LMD 1.0.16.

Users who have installed version 1.0.16 may see a very small number of blank image thumbnails displaying 'Null blobfield'. The images themselves will display when the blank thumbnail is clicked and database functionality is not affected. This issue will be resolved by installing the 1.0.17, available in July 2009.

Feature Search Issues with LMD 1.0.13

Users who have installed LMD version 1.0.13 from a new CD may experience problems with incorrect results from feature searches. The fix for this problem is to delete the file feature.tvw (and only this file) from your Dysmorph and/or Neurogen data folders, which are in your LMD folder, installed by default to C:\Program Files\LMD.

This issue does not affect users updating from 1.0.12 or earlier to 1.0.13 or Geneeye users.

Windows Vista Issues with LMD

With Vista, Windows has changed the way it manages the installation of programmes. As a result, users installing LMD on some versions of Windows Vista may have problems, including the program not opening or searches not functioning. The workaround for these issues is to either:

a) Run LMD as Administrator, by right-clicking on the program icon before launching. This option can also be set permanently by right-clicking on the program icon, selecting Properties-->Shortcut tab-->Advanced and then tick Run as Administrator.

b) Uninstall the LMD software and reinstall to a directory that is NOT in the default C:/Program Files folder.

Photo Library now integrated into WBDD/BWND

Previously the Photo Library had to be purchased as a separate product. LMD is pleased to announce that the Photo Library, with over 19300 images, is now an integral part of the Dysmorphology and Neurogenetics databases. Geneeye already contains its own integrated photo library. Photo Library updates will now be offered free of charge to all subscribed users. Please see the Data Update sections for further details.

The next Photo Library updates will be included with the release of the 1.0.16 data set on March 1st 2009.

Professor Robin Winter

Robin Winter, author and co-founder of London Medical Databases, died in January 2004. He and I started working on the database more than 20 years ago and it was something that was very important to him. There were times when the volume of work became a little too much and he would shrug his shoulders and say that it was an essential tool for our everyday clinical practice and that we should go on. He would say that if other people liked using it, so much the better. The databases will not disappear and I owe it to him to see to this. In honour of Robin's work, the London Dysmorphology and Neurogenetics databases have been renamed the Winter-Baraitser Dysmorphology Database (WBDD) and the Baraitser-Winter Neurogenetics Database (BWND). I hope this will be a fitting memorial to the best dysmorphologist that I ever encountered.

Michael Baraitser, LMD Author

Subscription Service

During 2004, we moved to a subscription basis for sales of all databases, with a consequent change in pricing structure. Rather than seeing LMD databases as a ‘one-off’ purchase made every few years, we feel that LMD users will value regular data updates for an annual fee at a time when the medical literature in the field is expanding exponentially. Given the new pricing structure, we also hope the users will find the databases even better value. Please see the Pricing & Ordering and Data Update sections for further details.