A study on the effect of school culture on teachers' commitment to curriculum implementation: The mediating role of self-efficacy and job satisfaction.

Within the realm of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction, there was pressure and drive to achieve success in the execution of the curriculum. Nevertheless, teachers encountered difficulties in implementing the curriculum and achieving successful outcomes. In order to achieve the desired objectives in the implementation of the EFL curriculum, it is necessary to have positive interacting variables that contribute to the overall dynamics. This study aimed to investigate the effect of school culture on English language teachers' commitment to curriculum implementation (TCCI), as well as the mediating role of external factors, self-efficacy (SE), and job satisfaction (JS) on this effect. The study sample involved 533 English language teachers from public middle schools in Algeria. A questionnaire was adopted for teacher-principal relationship (TPR), teacher-teacher relationship (TTR), teacher-student relationship (TSR), SE, JS, and TCCI. The analysis was done with the help of SPSS 26, JASP, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed a significantly positive direct effect of TPR, TTR, and TSR on TCCI. Furthermore, there was a positive indirect effect of TPR, TTR, and TSR had a positive indirect effect on TCCI via SE and JS. These findings suggested a number of different courses of action for policy, research, and practice regarding teachers' commitment to curriculum implementation and the interaction between teachers, principals, and students over the next several years to raise teachers' SE and JS levels.

Altered placental immune cell composition and gene expression with isolated fetal spina bifida.

PROBLEM: Fetal spina bifida (SB) is more common in pregnant people with folate deficiency or anomalies of folate metabolism. It is also known that fetuses with SB have a higher risk of low birthweight, a condition that is typically placental-mediated. We therefore hypothesized that fetal SB would associate with altered expression of key placental folate transporters and an increase in Hofbauer cells (HBCs), which are folate-dependent placental macrophages. METHOD OF STUDY: Folate receptor-α (FRα), proton coupled folate receptor (PCFT), and reduced folate carrier (RFC) protein localization and expression (immunohistochemistry) and HBC phenotypes (HBC abundance and folate receptor-ß [FRß] expression; RNA in situ hybridization) were assessed in placentae from fetuses with SB (cases; n = 12) and in term (n = 10) and gestational age (GA) - and maternal body mass index - matched (n = 12) controls without congenital anomalies. RESULTS: Cases had a higher proportion of placental villous cells that were HBCs (6.9% vs. 2.4%, p = .0001) and higher average HBC FRß expression (3.2 mRNA molecules per HBC vs. 2.3, p = .03) than GA-matched controls. HBCs in cases were largely polarized to a regulatory phenotype (median 92.1% of HBCs). In sex-stratified analyses, only male cases had higher HBC levels and HBC FRß expression than GA-matched controls. There were no differences between groups in the total percent of syncytium and stromal cells that were positive for FRα, PCFT, or RFC protein immunolabeling. CONCLUSIONS: HBC abundance and FRß expression by HBCs are increased in placentae of fetuses with SB, suggesting immune-mediated dysregulation in placental phenotype, and could contribute to SB-associated comorbidities.

The Cognitive Ability of Chinese Students with Dyslexia and Mathematical Learning Disabilities.

This study aims to investigate the core cognitive factors that affect reading and math performance of children of the grades 1-6 in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China, as well as the differences between children with dyslexia and mathematical disabilities (MD). Therefore, this study mainly evaluated the Cattell Horn Carroll (CHC) cognitive factors for 427 Chinese children and explored the core cognitive factors that affect Chinese children's reading and math performance. Students with dyslexia (n = 34), students with mathematics learning disabilities (n = 34), and 34 normal children were randomly selected as the control group. In order to explore the differences in cognitive development, we analyzed the differences among the three groups (Dyslexia, mathematical learning disabilities (MD), and normal children). The results revealed the following: (1) almost all cognitive ability factors in this study are significantly related to students' reading and mathematical achievements. (2) the core cognitive factors for predicting Chinese dyslexia students are crystallized intelligence, auditory processing and working memory. Executive function, spatial relationship and working memory are the core cognitive factors to predict Chinese children's mathematical achievements. (3) in addition, there are differences in cognitive deficits between disabled Chinese children in reading and math, among which those with reading deficits have extensive auditory processing deficits; while children with mathematic deficits have worse executive function. Recommendations were made based on these findings.

A study on meta-parenting: Yemeni parental cognition.

Over the past decade, a plethora of research stressed the importance of understanding parental cognition, including meta-parenting. The existing literature echoed a wide range of parental variations accredited more to a child's psychological attainment and parental social cognition of implicit elements, such as beliefs, emotions, values, and culture. However, increasing contemporary research is warranted to diagnose deliberate and mindful parenting constructs. This topic has not been widely examined in Yemen and Arab countries. Given this gap, the main aim of this study was to assess the relationship between meta-parenting and non-meta-parenting and an inter-correlation among all dimensions. The comparison between mothers' and fathers' parental awareness concerning (1) age, (2) marital status, and (3) education using the version of the new relatively social cognition construct, meta-parenting (anticipating, assessing, reflecting, problem-solving) and non-meta- parenting (ruminating) scale of Hawk and Holden (2006). For data collection, cross-sectional survey research composed of 21-item was administered to a sample of 317 (mothers and fathers) aged 27 to 55. Unexpectedly, results denote a high level of parental cognition among Yemenis parents; it indicated positive correlations between the overall meta-parenting and non-parenting among Yemenis parents. Findings also revealed significant differences in problem-solving dimension and ruminating favoured fathers. Results indicated significant differences in all dimensions except anticipating, problem-solving, and ruminating, which favoured parents 31 years old and above. In addition, a significant correlation was found in overall meta-parenting except problem-solving and ruminating, which favoured the married group of parents and those with a university level.

Academic expectations among international students from North-Western China: A case of technology use during and post COVID-19.

This study examines the influence of the COVID-19 crisis on academic expectations among international students from north-western China. According to past studies, academic expectations are multifaceted, making it critical to test the methods employed to assess this fundamental trait. The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in various significant changes in education, which have shifted from traditional to online or mixed formats. As a result, examining international students' academic expectations along with their interactions with adopted technologies is a topic that addresses the current situation and issues. A mixed approach, comprising two different instruments (questionnaire and interview), was followed to achieve this primary objective. While a survey with a questionnaire was undertaken with 551 international students, divided into two groups, ten students were interviewed during and after the lockdowns. The findings revealed that COVID-19 had a significant impact on the academic expectations of students as well as many elements such as training for employment, personal and social development, international student mobility, motivation, social pressure, and social interaction with the help of supporting technologies. In terms of gender, men outperformed women in motivation, social interaction, training for employment, and personal and social development factors. Similarly, as per the grade variable (undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral), the same higher trend was seen in postgraduates. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations was put forward. In the future, technology will be helpful in China's educational sector, such as online group collaboration, open education, managing student retention, and supervising teachers' recruitment.

The prevalence of the academic learning difficulties: An observation tool.

This study seeks to develop an effective observation tool to determine the prevalence of various academic learning difficulties among school students at the primary level in Sana'a City, Yemen. A measure comprising of 34 items has been processed by the EFA and CFA for contriving ALD's psychometric properties. The study sample comprised 714 students between 6 - 14 years of age. The study's findings revealed that the observation tool under development could measure the prevalence of various academic learning difficulties to a great extent with accuracy. The learning difficulties were classified under five categories based on observation scores. The observed raw scores were standardised after taking the standard deviation from the sample's mean value into consideration. The study's findings suggested that the gender and grade of the subjects affected academic learning difficulties significantly. A brief discussion of the educational implications of these findings has also been presented.

Full length migration of plastic biliary stent into the left lobe of liver and its endoscopic retrieval.

An elderly female was admitted with obstructive jaundice, secondary to an impacted 1.7 cm size stone in distal CBD. Cholangiogram obtained during ERCP revealed dilated biliary system with large, immobile stone at the lower end of CBD. A large size sphincterotomy was performed and stone extraction using biliary balloon / dormia basket attempted which was unsuccessful as the stone was impacted in distal CBD. Therefore, a plastic biliary stent of 9 cm/8.5 french size was inserted successfully to secure the biliary drainage. Patient improved clinically and discharged home on ursodeoxycholic acid. Four weeks later, she presented to emergency department with signs of cholangitis. An emergency ERCP was performed. The stent had migrated up completely into the left intra hepatic duct. In this session, the stone was extracted and biliary drainage secured. Migrated stent was removed later on by another ERCP procedure.

Scaling up proven public health interventions through a locally owned and sustained leadership development programme in rural Upper Egypt.

INTRODUCTION: In 2002, the Egypt Ministry of Health and Population faced the challenge of improving access to and quality of services in rural Upper Egypt in the face of low morale among health workers and managers.From 1992 to 2000, the Ministry, with donor support, had succeeded in reducing the nationwide maternal mortality rate by 52%. Nevertheless, a gap remained between urban and rural areas. CASE DESCRIPTION: In 2002, the Ministry, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development and assistance from Management Sciences for Health, introduced a Leadership Development Programme (LDP) in Aswan Governorate. The programme aimed to improve health services in three districts by increasing managers' ability to create high performing teams and lead them to achieve results.The programme introduced leadership and management practices and a methodology for identifying and addressing service delivery challenges. Ten teams of health workers participated. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: In 2003, after participation in the LDP, the districts of Aswan, Daraw and Kom Ombo increased the number of new family planning visits by 36%, 68% and 20%, respectively. The number of prenatal and postpartum visits also rose.After the United States funding ended, local doctors and nurses scaled up the programme to 184 health care facilities (training more than 1000 health workers). From 2005 to 2007, the Leadership Development Programme participants in Aswan Governorate focused on reducing the maternal mortality rate as their annual goal. They reduced it from 85.0 per 100,000 live births to 35.5 per 100,000. The reduction in maternal mortality rate was much greater than in similar governorates in Egypt. Managers and teams across Aswan demonstrated their ability to scale up effective public health interventions though their increased commitment and ownership of service challenges. CONCLUSIONS: When teams learn and apply empowering leadership and management practices, they can transform the way they work together and develop their own solutions to complex public health challenges. Committed health teams can use local resources to scale up effective public health interventions.