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This study explores Saudi teachers' beliefs about STEAM education in early childhood education settings. The study sample consisted of 245 teachers working in kindergartens. The participants completed a survey comprising twelve items to elaborate teachers' beliefs toward implementing STEAM practices in their classrooms, as well as four close-ended questions to evaluate teachers' knowledge of and familiarity with the terminology of STEAM education and their professional training in STEAM-related content. The findings reveal overall positive beliefs toward STEAM education for young children and rather moderate beliefs regarding the implementation of STEAM practices. The results also reveal that teachers were somewhat familiar with the term STEAM; however, they reported limited knowledge of the integration process and basic strategies and skills needed for its implementation. The results also demonstrate that the majority of the Saudi teachers participating in this study believed they needed additional professional development and training regarding STEAM implementation. A chi-square test indicated statistically significant associations between teachers' knowledge of STEAM education and their beliefs and between teachers' previous professional training in STEAM education and their beliefs. The implications and future recommendations are also discussed.

Children of every culture love to hear stories about their heritage. Storytelling creates shared experiences through the combination of time and space (Langellier, 2011). Educators and parents often use storytelling to explore characters, plot, setting, conflict, and resolution or other key elements of a story. From a more holistic view, storytelling is a teaching tool that is a natural way to teach about the environment and ethical and moral obligations to each other; it has the potential to create a social process that supports cultural survival (Rankin, Hansteen-Izora, & Packer, 2007). Storytelling can help maintain a sustainable culture, which is a basic element of a sustainable society (Abdul-Malik, 2012). Supplementing traditional benefits of storytelling, many activities and routines in early childhood lend themselves to broader discussions of sustainability. In this article, we will share an example of how sand and water activities have been used to support sustainable environments in Saudi Arabia. To do this, we explore how transformative and developmentally appropriate activities fit within a Saudi early childhood context, and provide examples of experiences that support a whole child approach to education.

Since the first release of NAEYC's guidelines, DAP has received a lot of attention from childhood professionals in the United States. Internationally, many countries have also shown a growing interest regarding DAP, yet interest in DAP is new to the Saudi educators. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore preschool teachers' subjective beliefs toward NAEYC's guidelines of DAP in Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative Middle Eastern countries. Q Methodology, as a mixed methods approach, was used to study 37 preschool teachers randomly selected from five preschools in Mecca city. The participants sorted 50 cards with examples of DAP and developmentally inappropriate practice (DIP) or "In Contrast" statements which represented perceived importance of the practice to the sorter. To analyze the data, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation indicated four main components regarding the beliefs of Saudi preschool teachers as they relate to DAP's guidelines. Each component represents a unique perspective (viewpoint) on how Saudi preschool teachers view DAP and contrasting items based on their subjective points of view. The four main perspectives that emerged from the analysis show a dominance consensus among perspectives that fit equitably within the DAP framework regarding the best practice of early childhood education. Findings from this study provide evidence that many aspects of developmentally appropriate practice can be appropriate in different cultures and countries.

Background: Unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) accounts for >50% of the patients with RPL. Insulin resistance (IR) is a potential cause of unexplained RPL. Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance (IR) and unexplained RPL among Saudi women. Methods: This is a single-center, case–control study conducted at a tertiary hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The study group comprised Saudi women with unexplained RPL, while the control group had Saudi women with at least one live birth and no RPL. Blood samples were taken to determine the fasting glucose (FG) and fasting insulin (FI) levels. Women with diabetes mellitus and polycystic ovarian syndrome were excluded. A homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) value ≥3 was considered as IR. Results: The study and control groups comprised 43 and 56 women, respectively. Between the groups, there was a significant difference in the mean age (case: 37.9 ± 5.4 years; control: 32.2 ± 5.9 years; P ˂ 0.0001) and the mean BMI (case: 31.5 ± 6.0; control: 26.1 ± 2.8; P ˂ 0.0001). FG level was slightly higher in the control group (90.9 mg/dL vs 88.7 mg/dL; P = 0.068). FI level was significantly higher in the study group (16.33 μU/mL vs. 6.17 μU/mL; P ˂ 0.0001). HOMA-IR of ≥3 was significantly more common in the study group (n = 22; 51.2%) than the control group (4; 7.1%) (P < 0.0001). After adjusting for age and BMI, IR ≥3 was found to be independently associated with unexplained RPL (aOR: 13.2; 95% CI: 3.77–46.36). Conclusions: This study showed that Saudi women with unexplained RPL had significantly higher levels of fasting insulin and insulin resistance than those without a history of RPL. Therefore, it is recommended to assess IR in women with RPL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, chemotherapy is an important method for the treatment of various cancers. Nevertheless, it has many limitations, such as poor tumour selectivity and multi-drug resistance. It is necessary to improve this treatment method by incorporating a targeted drug delivery system aimed to reduce side effects and drug resistance. The present work aims to develop pH-sensitive nanocarriers containing magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MMSNs) coated with pH-responsive polymers for tumour-targeted drug delivery via the folate receptor. 2-Diethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA) was successfully grafted on MMSNs via surface initiated ARGET atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), with an average particle size of 180 nm. The end groups of poly (2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDEAEMA) brushes were converted to amines, followed by a covalent bond with folic acid (FA) as a targeting agent. FA conjugated to the nanoparticle surface was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). pH-Responsive behavior of PDEAEMA brushes was investigated by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The nanoparticles average diameters ranged from ca. 350 nm in basic media to ca. 650 in acidic solution. Multifunctional pH-sensitive magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles were loaded with an anti-cancer drug (Doxorubicin) to investigate their capacity and long-circulation time. In a cumulative release pattern, doxorubicin (DOX) release from nano-systems was ca. 20% when the particle exposed to acidic media, compared to ca. 5% in basic media. The nano-systems have excellent biocompatibility and are minimally toxic when exposed to MCF-7, and -MCF-7 ADR cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]