Alloxan as an example of library research

Part of science literacy and science education is learning to use the library resources to find information. You can try this yourself as we step through some ideas.

Here is a beginning way to get in to the technical literature starting from the less technical literature. Say that you read the following:

You may want to think twice before eating your next sandwich on white bread. Studies show that alloxan, the chemical that makes white flour look "clean" and "beautiful," destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. That's right; you may be devastating your pancreas and putting yourself at risk for diabetes, all for the sake of eating "beautiful" flour. Is it worth it? Scientists have known of the alloxan-diabetes connection for years; in fact, researchers who are studying diabetes commonly use the chemical to induce the disorder in lab animals. Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/008191.html Accessed 10/12/09.

You might start out saying, "What is alloxan?" You can use a distionary on the web. There are several below, on the blog. Try one of those. The medical dictionary below will link here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/alloxan Try it.

Now, you might want to check on diabetes: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/diabetes


With Reach Reading TM all that information doesn't overwhelm you, even if you don't understand everything yet. Let's see. How about checking some general information on the web? A quick search brought me to:

Silymarin induces recovery of pancreatic function after alloxan ...by C Soto - 2004

Tissue-specific reduction of galanin content in the pancreas in ...by BE DUNNING - 1993

It looks like we are already getting into the refereed journals. These will take a stick-to-it attitude, yes, persistence! We might even try to look for scholarly articles now. Hmm... Now I found this one and others like it:

현미의 발아정도에 의한 항산화활성의 변화

강보라， 박미정， 이흠숙 - 한국식품영양과학회지, 2006 - dbpia.co.kr
... Comparison of some characteristics relevant to rice bread processing between ...
3. 대사증후군을 가진 … 4. 학교급식 음료 선호… 5. Alloxan 당뇨 ...

So, I remember that research is found all over the world, and I look some more. I think that is Korean, but, I will need to check, if I need to do an exhaustive search.

Oh, yes, almost forgot...back to the dictionary for silymarin.

In a way, it is like playing a computer game where one is looking for treasure. The search occurs in the library and the treasures are the information that you glean from ythe technical literature.

More soon.

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(c)2009 J S Shipman