Suchergebnisse

Knowledge and positive attitude towards the environment are crucial for sustainable development of any country. This is particularly important for countries with fragile ecosystems such as Ethiopia. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of knowledge and attitude of secondary school students in Harari Region of Ethiopia on the environment and to assess the status of integration of Environmental Education (EE) into biology textbooks for grades 9 and 10 students. To determine the status of EE integration, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through content analysis with biology teachers as panel of experts. To assess the status of knowledge and attitude on EE of secondary school students; quantitative data were collected from 190 students of two secondary schools (Hamaresa and Harar Save Our Souls (SOS)) in the region using a pre-tested questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and parametric tests. The results showed that environmental education is not adequately integrated in the textbooks. Just more than half of the students (58.9%) scored below the standard set (70%) by their teachers. The majority of students (68.4%), however, have favorable attitudes towards environmental education. The type of school and parents' educational background had significant influence on the knowledge and attitudes of students towards the environment. It is recommended that biology curriculum designers have to consult the immediate stakeholders like students, teachers and parents to incorporate important environmental issues into biology textbooks. In addition, the school community should establish a strong relationship with government organizations such as the Ministry of Education (MoE), Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), and non-government organization like Lem Ethiopia, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and surrounding communities to promot the implementation of EE in secondary school education.

Yes ; The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs mefenamic acid (MFA) and tolfenamic acid (TFA) have a close resemblance in their molecular scaffold, whereby a methyl group in MFA is substituted by a chloro group in TFA. The present study demonstrates the isomorphous nature of these compounds in a series of their multicomponent solids. Furthermore, the unique nature of MFA and TFA has been demonstrated while excavating their alternate solid forms in that, by varying the drug (MFA or TFA) to coformer [4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP)] stoichiometric ratio, both drugs have produced three different types of multicomponent crystals, viz. salt (1:1; API to coformer ratio), salt hydrate (1:1:1) and cocrystal salt (2:1). Interestingly, as anticipated from the close similarity of TFA and MFA structures, these multicomponent solids have shown an isomorphous relation. A thorough characterization and structural investigation of the new multicomponent forms of MFA and TFA revealed their similarity in terms of space group and structural packing with isomorphic nature among the pairs. Herein, the experimental results are generalized in a broader perspective for predictably identifying any possible new forms of comparable compounds by mapping their crystal structure landscapes. The utility of such an approach is evident from the identification of polymorph VI of TFA from hetero-seeding with isomorphous MFA form I from acetone–methanol (1:1) solution. That aside, a pseudopolymorph of TFA with dimethylformamide (DMF) was obtained, which also has some structural similarity to that of the solvate MFA:DMF. These new isostructural pairs are discussed in the context of solid form screening using structural landscape similarity ; Department of Science and Technology (DST/SJF/CSA-02/2014–15); Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain for seed corn funding (2018–19); INSPIRE fellowship from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; IISER-Kolkata (instrumental facilities and fellowships)