“Information Is Cheap, but Meaning Is Expensive”: Building Analytical Skill into Legal Research Instruction

Law students and new attorneys must have well-developed analytical skills in order to find information that is pertinent to their legal problems and to become competent legal researchers in today\u27s information-rich environment. Law librarians and legal research instructors can help develop students\u27 analytical skills by asking them to participate in activities that encourage metacognition about processes that are critical to information seeking

Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry of different extracts of the organs of Rumex cyprius and their antihepatotoxic effect

Purpose: Phytochemical and biological investigations of the valuable plant, Rumex cyprius, family Polygonaceae, wildly grown in Saudi Arabia.Methods: Chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were prepared from the different organs of R. cyprius. The extracts were analyzed by electrospray ionization source coupled to a mass spectrometer (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometer (ESI-MS/MS) at different collision energies. The plant organs (leaf, fruit and stem) were standardized on the bases of quercetin by HPLC, and determined for their hepatoprotection in tetrachloride-induced acute liver toxicity using a mouse model.Results: Twenty-five phenolic compounds distributed between the leaf, fruit and stem of R. cyprius were identified. They were related to classes of anthraquinones, phenolic acids, flavonoid aglycones, glycosides and polyphenols. Twenty-two compounds in total were found and identified, and for the hepatoprotective effects, the leaf exhibited the best activity.Conclusion: R. cyprius is a source of potentially active phytoconstituents and a good naturalhepatoprotective drug. This study is being documented for the first time

Interferometric investigation of the opto-mechanical and structural properties of iPP/TiO2 nanocomposite fibers

Fibers that missing specific features and functionalities could be innovated and functionalised via nano additives, in particular metal oxides. Titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles have been added to isotactic polypropylene (iPP) to form iPP/TiO2 nanocomposite fibers. Three samples of iPP/TiO2 fibers were extruded at three extrusion speeds 25, 50, and 78 m/min were considered in this study. Mach–Zehnder interferometer was used to assess the changes in the opto‐mechanical and geometrical parameters of iPP/TiO2 nanocomposite fibers along the fiber axis. The mechanical drawing device along with Mach–Zehnder interferometer was utilized to stretch the filaments to different draw ratios. The effect of mechanical cold drawing and extrusion speed on the optical and physical characteristics of iPP/TiO2 nanocomposite fibers were determined along the fiber axis. The optical and physical variation along the nanocomposite samples were characterized by measuring their refractive indices, birefringence, refractive index profile along the fiber axis. The diffraction of He–Ne laser beam was used to define the variation of the fiber diameter along the fiber axis through their cross‐sectional area and shape. A sample of uniform diameter from neat iPP fibers was used as reference material for studying the variation of the iPP/TiO2 fiber diameter along the fiber axis. As result, the iPP/TiO2 nanocomposite fibers exhibited nonuniform diameters. The dispersion of TiO2 particles in nanocomposite fibers influences the properties' consistency along and across the fiber

Seeking Social Justice in the ACRL Framework

The scope of this article is to address the possibilities and challenges librarians concerned with social justice may face when working with the ACRL Framework. While the Framework recognizes that information emerges from varied contexts that reflect uneven distributions of power, privilege, and authority, it is missing a cogent statement that connects information literacy to social justice. In this article, authors concerned with social justice and civic engagement will share their reflections on the Framework from a critical pedagogical and social justice orientation

A New Flavonoid C-Glycoside from Celtis australis L. and Celtis occidentalis L. Leaves and Potential Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities

A major development over the past two decades has been the realization that free radical induced lipid peroxidation and DNA damage are associated with major health problems, e.g. cancer and ageing. Plant-derived antioxidants are increasingly found beneficial in protecting against these diseases. Celtis australis L. and Celtis occidentalis L. are two plants that have a variety of uses in folk medicine but have not been evaluated before for their antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. Therefore, the extracts of both plants’ leaves were investigated for these activities, as well as isolation of the bioactive compounds responsible for the activities. Molecular structures of the compounds were elucidated by UV, HRESIMS, 1D (1H and 13C) and 2D (1H-13C HSQC and 1H-13C HMBC) NMR analyses. The ethanolic and aqueous extracts, n-butanol fractions and the isolated major compound were tested for their antioxidant activity using DPPH radical scavenging assay, xanthine oxidase-induced generation of superoxide radical and lipid peroxidation assay by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) method using rat tissue homogenates. Cytotoxic activities were studied using standard MTT assay. A novel flavonoid C-triglycoside, 4‴-α-rhamnopyranosyl-2″-O-β-d-galactopyranosylvitexin, was isolated from both plants’ leaves, together with seven known flavonoids. The n-butanol fractions and the major compound 2″-O-β-galactopyranosylvitexin showed significant antioxidant activities, more pronounced than the tested standards BHT and dl-α-tocopherol in most tests. All extracts showed variable cytotoxic activities. This study provides strong evidence for the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of the extracts of Celtis australis L. and Celtis occidentalis L. leaves, which were attributed to the polar n-butanol fractions and the major isolated flavonoid 2″-galactosylvitexin

Efficacy and safety of misoprostol for intrauterine device insertion in women with no previous vaginal delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Introduction: The efficacy of misoprostol use for cervical priming before intrauterine device insertion (IUD) is controversial. This review aims to evaluate the evidence from published randomized controlled trials about the efficacy and safety of misoprostol before IUD insertion for pain relief in women with no previous vaginal delivery. Materials and methods: We searched the following electronic databases: Web of Science, Cochrane CENTRAL, SCOPUS, and PubMed for relevant studies using the following Mesh terms: (misoprostol) AND (intrauterine device OR IUD). The primary outcome was the mean pain score during insertion. Secondary outcomes included the ease of insertion score, the rate of successful IUD insertion, the rate of IUD insertion failure, and the adverse effects. Results: Ten randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (misoprostol: n=698 and placebo: n=689) were pooled in the analysis. The overall Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) of pain score did not favor either of the two groups (SMD= -0.09, 95%CI [-0.50, 0.33], p=0.007). Pooled results were highly heterogeneous (I2=93%, P<0.001). The total MD of the ease of insertion score favored the misoprostol group (MD= -1.36, 95% CI [-2.20, -0.52], p =0.002). The overall risk ratio (RR) of the number of failed insertions showed that misoprostol is associated with less IUD insertion failures compared to placebo (RR=0.55, 95% CI [0.38, 0.81], p=0.002). Finally, the overall risk showed that misoprostol is associated with more shivering, diarrhea and pelvic pain. Conclusions: Misoprostol facilitates IUD insertion in women with no previous vaginal delivery, and is associated with 50% less chance for IUD insertion failure despite inducing mild adverse effect