Search

The current study presents a systematic review of teachers' data literacy, arising from a synthesis of 83 empirical studies published between 1990 to 2021. Our review identified 95 distinct indicators across five dimensions: (a) knowledge about data, (b) skills in using data, (c) dispositions towards data use, (d) data application for various purposes, and (e) data-related behaviors. Our findings indicate that teachers' data literacy goes beyond addressing the needs of supporting student learning and includes elements such as teacher reflection, collaboration, communication, and participation in professional development. Considering these findings, future policies should acknowledge the significance of teacher dispositions and behaviors in relation to data, recognizing that they are as important as knowledge and skills acquisition. Additionally, prioritizing the provision of system-level support to foster teacher collaboration within in-school professional development programs may prove useful in enhancing teachers' data literacy.

This paper explores the impact of a tailored working memory training program on the mathematics achievement of secondary school students in Myanmar. While previous studies have investigated the relationship between working memory and mathematics, this study focuses on a context where computerized training programs are limited. Twelve Grade 8 students participated in a six-week program conducted via Zoom due to the pandemic. A Mathematics Achievement Test, aligned with the curriculum, assessed their performance before and after the program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather insights into the students' experiences. Results showed significant improvements in mathematics achievement, particularly in geometry, after the training program. Working memory strategies such as chunking, visualization, and concentration were found to enhance problem-solving abilities. This study highlights the potential of working memory techniques for enhancing mathematics education, particularly in areas with limited technology access.

Gumboro, or infectious bursal disease (IBD), represents a significant threat to poultry worldwide due to its genetic and pathogenic variations. Viruses can mutate and produce new variants, which can have an impact on the epidemiological situation. The study will determine and assess the genetics, protein sequence, and pathogenicity of IBDV present in broiler flocks in different locations within Ismalia and Dakahlia Governorates, Egypt, in 2022. A total of 150 bursa samples were collected from 15 broiler flocks exhibiting symptoms indicative of IBDV infection. The VP2 (viral protein2) gene was partially detected and then subjected to complete gene sequencing in order to summarize the key genetic mutations found and histopathological examination. The results demonstrated that 12 out of 15 farms were infected with IBDV. Genetic analysis revealed that 10 of the 12 identified strains belonged to genogroup 3, which was similar to previous Egyptian strains. The remaining two strains were of genus 1. The VP2 gene's hypervariable region displayed amino acid alterations at several positions. Classic IBDV strains (genogroup 2) showed similar amino acid profiles. Amino acid alterations were identified in the VP2 gene, indicating that classic IBDV strains may cause damage to the bursa of Fabricius, leading to immunosuppression. In Egypt, vvIBDV (very virulent infectious bursal disease virus) strains have led to recurring outbreaks and high chick mortality rates. These findings are anticipated to contribute to the latest features of IBDV in the examined regions. Therefore, it is recommended that IBDV immunization programs in Egypt, where live attenuated virus vaccinations are common, be reevaluated. It is also recommended that the evaluation of clinical signs in broiler chicken flocks over time be monitored for diagnosis.

Abstract Tumour microenvironment (TME) of breast cancer mainly comprises malignant, stromal, immune, and tumour infiltrating lymphocyte (TILs). Assessment of TILs is crucial for determining the disease’s prognosis. Manual TIL assessments are hampered by multiple limitations, including low precision, poor inter-observer reproducibility, and time consumption. In response to these challenges, automated scoring emerges as a promising approach. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the evidence on the approaches and performance of automated scoring methods for TILs assessment in breast cancer. This review presents a comprehensive compilation of studies related to automated scoring of TILs, sourced from four databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, and PubMed), employing three primary keywords (artificial intelligence, breast cancer, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes). The PICOS framework was employed for study eligibility, and reporting adhered to the PRISMA guidelines. The initial search yielded a total of 1910 articles. Following screening and examination, 27 studies met the inclusion criteria and data were extracted for the review. The findings indicate a concentration of studies on automated TILs assessment in developed countries, specifically the United States and the United Kingdom. From the analysis, a combination of sematic segmentation and object detection (n = 10, 37%) and convolutional neural network (CNN) (n = 11, 41%), become the most frequent automated task and ML approaches applied for model development respectively. All models developed their own ground truth datasets for training and validation, and 59% of the studies assessed the prognostic value of TILs. In conclusion, this analysis contends that automated scoring methods for TILs assessment of breast cancer show significant promise for commodification and application within clinical settings.

Abstract The addition of metastasis-directed radiotherapy (MDRT) to immunotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) has shown promising results. We report the real-world data from the ARON-2 study (NCT05290038) on the impact of conventional (CRT) or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) on the outcome of aUC patients receiving pembrolizumab after platinum-based-chemotherapy. Medical records of 837 patients were reviewed from 60 institutions in 20 countries. Two hundred and sixty-two patients (31%) received radiotherapy (cohort A), of whom 193 (23%) received CRT and 69 (8%) received SBRT. Patients were assessed for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate (ORR). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore the association of variables of interest with OS and PFS. With a median follow-up of 22.7 months, the median OS was 10.2 months, 6.8 months and 16.0 months in no RT, CRT and SBRT subgroups (p = 0.005), with an 1y-OS rates of 47%, 34% and 61%, respectively (p

Abstract Background Childhood obesity is a growing concern, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a significant consequence. Currently, there are no approved drugs to treat NAFLD in children. However, a recent study explored the potential of vitamin E enriched with tocotrienol (TRF) as a powerful antioxidant for NAFLD. The aims of the present study were to investigate the effectiveness and safety of TRF in managing children with obesity and NAFLD. Methods A total of 29 patients aged 10 to 18 received a daily oral dose of 50 mg TRF for six months (January 2020 to February 2022), and all had fatty liver disease were detected by ultrasonography and abnormally high alanine transaminase levels (at least two-fold higher than the upper limits for their respective genders). Various parameters, including biochemical markers, FibroScan, LiverFASt, DNA damage, and cytokine expression, were monitored. Results APO-A1 and AST levels decreased significantly from 1.39 ± 0.3 to 1.22 ± 0.2 g/L (P = 0.002) and from 30 ± 12 to 22 ± 10 g/L (P = 0.038), respectively, in the TRF group post-intervention. Hepatic steatosis was significantly reduced in the placebo group from 309.38 ± 53.60 db/m to 277.62 ± 39.55 db/m (p = 0.048), but not in the TRF group. Comet assay analysis showed a significant reduction in the DNA damage parameters in the TRF group in the post-intervention period compared to the baseline, with tail length decreasing from 28.34 ± 10.9 to 21.69 ± 9.84; (p = 0.049) and with tail DNA (%) decreasing from 54.13 ± 22.1to 46.23 ± 17.9; (p = 0.043). Pro-inflammatory cytokine expression levels were significantly lower in the TRF group compared to baseline levels for IL-6 (2.10 6.3 to 0.7 1.0 pg/mL; p = 0.047 pg/mL) and TNF-1 (1.73 5.5 pg/mL to 0.7 0.5 pg/mL; p = 0.045). Conclusion The study provides evidence that TRF supplementation may offer a risk-free treatment option for children with obesity and NAFLD. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of TRF offer a promising adjuvant therapy for NAFLD treatment. In combination with lifestyle modifications such as exercise and calorie restriction, TRF could play an essential role in the prevention of NAFLD in the future. However, further studies are needed to explore the long-term effects of TRF supplementation on NAFLD in children. Trial registration The study has been registered with the International Clinical Trial Registry under reference number (NCT05905185) retrospective registration on (15/06/2023).

Abstract Background The majority of persons with dementia (PWD) are mainly cared for by their family members in the home. Evidence is however scarce on family caregivers’ psychosocial burden and quality of life in Asian countries including Malaysia. This study describes the baseline data of a telephone-delivered psychoeducational intervention study and examines the determinants of outcome measures (caregiver burden, depressive and anxiety symptoms, quality of life and caregiving self-efficacy) among Malaysian family caregivers to PWD. Methods This was a cross-sectional study originated from the baseline survey of a randomized control trial of 121 family caregivers recruited from lists of PWD who were registered at memory and psychiatry clinics in three tertiary care hospitals in Malaysia. The participants were assessed for caregiver burden by the Zarit Burden Interview, depressive and anxiety symptoms by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, quality of life by the Control, Autonomy, Self-Realization, and Pleasure Scale, and caregiving self-efficacy by the Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy. Results Prevalence of caregiver burden was 69.4%, depressive symptoms 32.2% and anxiety symptoms 32.2%. Family caregivers to PWD having perceived peer support e.g., social/family/friend/significant other supports were less likely to report caregiver burden, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and more likely to report higher levels of quality of life and caregiving self-efficacy. Being married and PWD’s ability to self-care were associated with lesser likelihood of experiencing caregiver burden, depressive and anxiety symptoms. The other determinants of greater probability of reporting better quality of life were caregivers’ employment and having Islamic faith. Marital status (married), PWD’s ability to self-care, spousal relationship with PWD and shared caregiving process were associated with higher likelihood of reporting caregiving self-efficacy. Conclusion Caregiver burden, depressive and anxiety symptoms are prevalent in family caregivers to PWD in Malaysia. Social support and caregiving related factors influence family caregivers’ quality of life and caregiving self-efficacy. Implementing psychoeducational intervention and support in the psychiatry and memory clinics may help improve the psychosocial burden, quality of life and caregiving self-efficacy in family caregivers of PWD. Trial registration ISRCTN14565552 (retrospectively registered).

Abstract Background This systematic review explores the level of oxidative stress (OS) markers during pregnancy and their correlation with complications. Unlike previous studies, it refrains from directly investigating the role of OS but instead synthesises data on the levels of these markers and their implications for various pregnancy-related complications such as preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restrictions, preterm premature rupture of membranes, preterm labour, gestational diabetes mellitus and miscarriages. Method Study Design Utilizing a systematic review approach, we conducted a comprehensive search across databases, including MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and SCOPUS. Our search encompassed all publication years in English. Results After evaluating 54,173 records, 45 studies with a low risk of bias were selected for inclusion. This systematic review has underscored the importance of these markers in both physiological and pathological pregnancy states such as preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restrictions, preterm premature rupture of membranes, preterm labour, gestational diabetes mellitus and miscarriages. Conclusion This systematic review provides valuable insights into the role of OS in pregnancy and their connection to complications. These selected studies delved deeply into OS markers during pregnancy and their implications for associated complications. The comprehensive findings highlighted the significance of OS markers in both normal and pathological pregnancy conditions, paving the way for further research in this field.

Abstract Video-based monitoring is essential nowadays in cattle farm management systems for automated evaluation of cow health, encompassing body condition scores, lameness detection, calving events, and other factors. In order to efficiently monitor the well-being of each individual animal, it is vital to automatically identify them in real time. Although there are various techniques available for cattle identification, a significant number of them depend on radio frequency or visible ear tags, which are prone to being lost or damaged. This can result in financial difficulties for farmers. Therefore, this paper presents a novel method for tracking and identifying the cattle with an RGB image-based camera. As a first step, to detect the cattle in the video, we employ the YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once) model. The sample data contains the raw video that was recorded with the cameras that were installed at above from the designated lane used by cattle after the milk production process and above from the rotating milking parlor. As a second step, the detected cattle are continuously tracked and assigned unique local IDs. The tracked images of each individual cattle are then stored in individual folders according to their respective IDs, facilitating the identification process. The images of each folder will be the features which are extracted using a feature extractor called VGG (Visual Geometry Group). After feature extraction task, as a final step, the SVM (Support Vector Machine) identifier for cattle identification will be used to get the identified ID of the cattle. The final ID of a cattle is determined based on the maximum identified output ID from the tracked images of that particular animal. The outcomes of this paper will act as proof of the concept for the use of combining VGG features with SVM is an effective and promising approach for an automatic cattle identification system

A jejunal intussusception as a presentation of retroperitoneal liposarcoma (RLPS) is a rare occurrence. The majority of RLPS are presented as an abdominal mass, however, having a jejunal obstruction is an interesting case. The aim is to describe the management of jejunal intussusception secondary to atypical lipomatous tumours with concurrent RLPS. A 61-year-old lady presented with a sudden onset of intestinal obstruction with 1 month of constitutional symptoms and an enlarging right lumbar mass. Computed tomography showed a small bowel intussusception with diffuse peritoneal and retroperitoneal lipomatosis. Emergency exploratory laparotomy, segmental bowel resection, and partial excision of intraperitoneal mesenteric lipoma were performed. A stage En-bloc resection of the RLPS and right nephrectomy was done later. However, she refused for subsequent surgery. A complete resection is the gold standard in managing RLPS. In this report, the management is rendered not to the standard as the patient first presented with intestinal obstruction requiring emergency reduction with a piecemeal resection. A stage surgery was required to determine a promising prognosis, but the patient refused such surgery. A small bowel intussusception in adults is rare but is mostly caused by a tumor or neoplasm. Early recognition of the complexity of the case should be preempted and referred to the tertiary team for further definitive surgery. Patient exhaustion from the subsequent surgery might hamper the only management available for the case.

There are many varied approaches to involving parents in assessment, but a coherent knowledge base is lacking. To gain a deeper understanding of the role of parental involvement in student learning, we accessed journal articles from three databases following the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses" (PRISMA) guidelines. Two hundred and eleven articles were generated, but upon application of exclusion criteria, 25 articles remained for final analysis. We examined the outcomes and approaches for parental involvement in assessment, including the research focus, countries, school context, research design, the terminology used, definition, and challenges. The findings of our review highlight the competing understandings of parental involvement, geographical, theoretical, and practical gaps. We also highlighted significant areas for future investigations.

Integrating literacy in science and mathematics learning and teaching has been an ongoing endeavour. There are frameworks developed to guide teachers' practices, but little is reported on assessing literacy simultaneously with scientific or mathematical content knowledge. We reviewed the literature on assessing literacy in science and mathematics to develop a coherent knowledge base using the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses" (PRISMA). We accessed 683 peer-reviewed publications from three databases, and upon application of exclusion criteria, only 13 articles remained for full analysis. We report the macro skills focused, assessment tools and strategies used, and reported outcomes. We also discuss the geographical, practical, and theoretical gaps and highlight critical areas for future investigations.

Viewpoints on different assessment systems used in many educational bureaucracies are diverse and continually evolving. Schools are tasked with translating those reforms' philosophies and principles into school-based assessment practices. However, it is unclear from research evidence what approach and factors best support the implementation of assessment reforms. To guide school leaders to design and implement school-based assessment reforms, there is a need to develop coherent knowledge of how school-based assessment reforms are implemented. We reviewed the literature on school-based assessment reforms using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. From a synthesis of the 28 articles included, we reported what approaches are used to implement assessment reforms and what factors influenced their implementation. Furthermore, we have proposed a framework that defines the political, cultural, structural, chronological, paradigmatic, and technological perspectives that need careful attention when implementing assessment reforms in schools.

Abstract Background and objectives Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir was administered orally to manage mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 in adult patients. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of prescribing nirmatrelvir/ritonavir within 5 days of a COVID-19 illness in order to avert hospitalization within a 30-day period in the Malaysia setting; (ii) determine how variations in pricing and hospitalization rates will affect the cost-effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Methods The 30-day hospitalization related to COVID-19 was determined using 1 to 1 propensity score-matched real-world data in Malaysia from 14 July 2022 to 14 November 2022. To determine the total per-person costs related to COVID-19, we added the cost of drug (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir or control), clinic visits and inpatient care. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per hospitalization averted was calculated. Results Our cohort included 31,487 patients. The rate of hospitalization within 30 days was found to be 0.35% for the group treated with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, and 0.52% for the control group. The nirmatrelvir/ritonavir group cost an additional MYR 1,625.72 (USD 358.88) per patient. This treatment also resulted in a reduction of 0.17% risk for hospitalization, which corresponded to an ICER of MYR 946,801.26 (USD 209,006.90) per hospitalization averted. Conclusion In Malaysia, where vaccination rates were high, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir has been shown to be beneficial in the outpatient treatment of adults with COVID-19 who have risk factors; however, it was only marginally cost effective against hospitalization for healthy adults during the Omicron period.

Abstract Background To fight the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries have implemented various mitigation measures to contain the spread of the disease. By engaging with health service providers, the community’s participation in adherence to preventive measures is certainly required in the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and its associated factors among the residents, Yangon Region, Myanmar. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 636 residents in Yangon Region, Myanmar, from October to December 2021. A multistage non-probability sampling method, purposively selected for three townships in Yangon Region and convenience sampling for 212 participants from each township, was applied and the data were collected by face-to-face interviews using structured and pretested questionnaires. Data were entered, coded, and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.0. Simple and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the significant variables of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Results As a level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures, the proportion of residents who had good adherence was 39.3% (95% CI 35.5–43.2%), moderate adherence was 37.6% (95% CI 33.8–41.5%), and poor adherence was 23.1% (95% CI 19.9–26.6%). The age group of 31–40 years (AOR: 3.13, 95% CI 1.62–6.05), 30 years and younger (AOR: 3.22, 95% CI 1.75–5.92), Burmese ethnicity (AOR: 2.52, 95% CI 1.44–4.39), own business (AOR: 3.19, 95% CI 1.15–8.87), high school education level and below (AOR: 1.64, 95% CI 1.02–2.69), less than 280.90 USD of monthly family income (AOR: 1.51, 95% CI 1.01–2.29), low knowledge about COVID-19 (AOR: 1.90, 95% CI 1.26–2.88) were significantly associated with poor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Conclusions In this study, nearly one-fourth of the residents were experiencing poor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Therefore, building up the risk communication through the community using widely used mainstream media, the continuation of disease surveillance and announcement of updated information or advice for the public to increase awareness towards COVID-19, and enforcement to follow the recommended directions and regulations of health institutions are vital to consider for improving the adherence to preventive measures against COVID-19 among the residents.