Designing the curriculum e-content for sustainable development education in higher education system- a qualitative approach

Background and Objectives:Today, with the development of new information and communication technologies, business methods, daily activities, communication with others, access to information and in general, all elements of human life have undergone a great change. These technologies are mainly aimed at improving the quality of educational services, as well as goals such as expanding the number of contacts, educators and educational institutions, and even companies and business centers to enable cost-effectiveness and in the shortest possible time to convey the desired content to students, customers and the audience in general. Education for sustainable development is an approach to education that seeks to empower people to take responsibility for building a sustainable future. In order to better achieve the goals of education for sustainable development, the e-learning approach can be used, which in this study has developed and validated the framework of the electronic curriculum for sustainable development in higher education. The main purpose of this study was designing curriculum electronic-content for sustainable development education in the higher education system. Methods: The research project was qualitative and in particular ’qualitative case study‘; The statistical population of the study consisted of three groups: 1: All members of the faculty of civil engineering, architecture, agriculture; 2: All members of faculty of educational psychology of Shiraz University And 3: all experts, scholars, and researchers in the field of electronic curriculum planning; To collect data questionnaire and interview were used. To analyze the data, a consensus-based approach and the Bowl technique were used; Also, open-ended interview was used. Findings: The data obtained were analyzed by the software Nvivo version 8 using Thematic analysis technique and content design curriculum for sustainable development education in Iran's higher education system As a comprehensive Thematic, 4 organizing themes and 73 basic themes were identified and the content network was extracted. Curriculum framework for sustainable development education at higher education level designed in the form of twelve elements: goal, content, role of instructor, learner role, teaching method-learning, evaluation, teaching materials, type of curriculum, level of education, participants in the design and implementation of curriculum, place of training, and time of training. The curriculum was compiled in five chapters, five titles and sixteen chapters. As such, this curriculum can be taught in the form of an instructional book as a two-unit course in a variety of disciplines, including civil engineering, architecture, and agriculture. Conclusion: In the higher education system, the issue of sustainable development is not specifically addressed, but as a part of the courses in civil engineering, architecture, agriculture, students are taught these contents. On the other hand, the integration of e-learning as an achievement of the new educational system in the process of teaching and learning and the curriculum of educational institutions is inevitable. According to the results of this study, it can be said that many courses in the fields of civil engineering, architecture, agriculture, directly or indirectly refer to the issue of sustainable development or professors, according to their expertise and excellence, in relation to the subject of development to provide stable information to students. In the present study, while paying attention to this issue, an attempt was made to design the electronic content of the sustainable development education curriculum in the higher education system

The protective effect of medicinal herbs extracts including Cynara scolymus L., Cichorium intybus L. Taraxacum officinal L. and Berberis vulgaris L. in single and in combination form in CCl4 induced rat liver toxicity

Background: Several herbal remedies are used in traditional medicine for treatment of liver disorders, but their efficacy, safety, and dosage have not been investigated so far. Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the liver protective effects of medicinal herbs extracts such as Cynara scolymus leave (artichok), Cichorium intybus roots (chichory), Taraxacum officinale root (dandelium), Berberis vulgaris (barberry) root and stems extract in single and in combination form against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver toxicity. Methods: Total 70 wistar male rat, aged 5 months were divided in 7 groups of 10 rats each. One group kept as normal and out of six CCl4 intoxicated groups one served as control, one received mixture of four extract and four groups received artichok, chichory, dandelium, and barberry in the dosage of 150, 300, 300 and 250 mg/kg/day respectively. The plant extracts were injected intra peritoneal simultaneously with intoxication for three days. Three days after intoxication and extract treatments the serum liver enzymes levels such as ALT, AST and ALP as well as serum gluthathion and catalase were determined. Results: In group receiving mixture of 4 herbal extract the blood level of ALT, AST and ALP were reduced significantly as compared to control group. In all the groups receiving herbal extracts the serum glutathione and catalase levels did not differ as compared to control groups. Conclusion: In the present study administration of chichory, artichoke, dandelium and barberry in combination form prevent liver intoxication withought influence on serum antioxidant properties

Phytochemical Properties of Mentha longifolia L. Essential Oil and its Antimicrobial Effects on Staphylococcus Aureus

Background & Aim: Due to the side effects of chemical and synthetic preservatives, consumers have recently become more eager to use foods containing natural preservatives from plants, animals and microbial sources. In the present study, biochemical composition and antibacterial effects (MIC) of Mentha longifolia L. essential oil against Staphylococcus aureus have been evaluated. Methods: In this experimental study, the biochemical composition and antibacterial prosperities of this essential oil was determined by the Gas chromatography/ mass spectrophotometer (GC/MS) and micro dilution method respectively. The morphological and membrane changes of the bacterial cell under the effect of this essential oil were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. The collected data was analyzed by the SPSS software using ANOVA. Results: The chemical analysis of the essential oil by Gas chromatography/ mass spectrophotometer (GC/MS) revealed the presence of 22 substances (95.30%), mainly including Pulegon (31.54%), 1,8 Cineol (15.89%), Menthoforan (11.8%) and Cis- Isopulegon (9.74%). Minimum inhibitory concentration of the essential oil determined under different temperature and pH values showed to be in the range of 75-1200 µg/ ml. Conclusion: The MIC results and membrane cell damage observed in the electron microscopy evaluation indicated that this essential oil have a high antibacterial activity. Therefore, this essential oil can be combined with other agents for the preservation of foods against pathogenic and toxigenic microorganisms

Detection of drug resistance gene in trichomonas vaginalis by PCR

Background: Trichomoniasis is a worldwide protozoan parasitic disease. Considering the importance of the disease in public health and the controversial ideas about the prevalence of drug resistance, this study was designed to determine the prevalence of metronidazole resistance gene in trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) with PCR-RFLP method in Tehran and in Kashan. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study 140 samples of T. vaginalis in patients with T. vaginalis infections were collected and assessed microscopically. Then they were isolated and examined by culturing in dorset's medium, DNA extraction and PCR amplification. The PCR products were analyzed using RFLP and suspected samples were sequenced. Results: All but 7 samples were T. vaginalis positive by PCR. Sixty-two samples (44.4) were examined by microscopic, culture and PCR techniques 12 samples (8.5) by microscope and PCR, 56 samples (40) by culture and PCR and other 3 samples (2.1) were positive only by PCR. Two samples (1.5) were also examined for detection of mutation in 18S rRNA gene with RFLP in Tehran. Conclusion: This study shows that T. vaginalis infections in the female population living in Tehran are metronidazole-resistant. Since metronidazole is considered as the drug choice for T. vaginalis infections, more studies are recommended for identification of the drug resistance mechanisms and prevention of the disease