Two Classrooms and a Journey: A Case Study of the Impact of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in Two Qatari Classrooms

This study investigates the impact of the introduction of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in two Secondary English classrooms in Qatar. The study employed a qualitative case study framework that involved classroom observation of classes and interviews with both teachers and students. It explored the strategies the teachers used in teaching academic content and linguistic content, the strategies the students used to study the academic content and linguistic content, and finally the challenges that both teachers and students faced through the implementation of this new curriculum

Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Bisphenol A Substitutes, Bisphenol S and Bisphenol F, on Offspring’s Health: Evidence from Epidemiological and Experimental Studies

Pregnancy and lactation are critical periods for human well-being and are sensitive windows for pollutant exposure. Bisphenol A (BPA) is well demonstrated as a toxicant and has been replaced in the plastic industry with other bisphenol analogs that share similarities in structure and characteristics, most commonly Bisphenol S (BPS) and Bisphenol F (BPF). Maternal exposure to BPS or BPF can result in their accumulation in the fetal compartment, leading to chronic exposure and potentially limiting normal fetal growth and development. This review summarizes considerable findings of epidemiological or experimental studies reporting associations between BPS or BPF and impaired fetal growth and development. Briefly, the available findings indicate that exposure to the two bisphenol analogs during pregnancy and lactation can result in multiple disturbances in the offspring, including fetal growth restrictions, neurological dysfunctions, and metabolic disorders with the potential to persist throughout childhood. The occurrence of premature births may also be attributed to exposure to the two bisphenols. The possible mechanisms of actions by which the two bisphenols can induce such effects can be attributed to a complex of interactions between the physiological mechanisms, including impaired placental functioning and development, dysregulation of gene expression, altered hormonal balance, and disturbances in immune responses as well as induced inflammations and oxidative stress. In conclusion, the available evidence suggests that BPS and BPF have a toxic potential in a compartment level to BPA. Future research is needed to provide more intensive information; long-term studies and epidemiological research, including a wide scale of populations with different settings, are recommended. Public awareness regarding the safety of BPA-free products should also be enhanced, with particular emphasis on educating individuals responsible for the well-being of children

Novel targeted therapies in chordoma: an update

Salvatore Di Maio,1 Stephen Yip,2 Gmaan A Al Zhrani,3,4 Fahad E Alotaibi,3,4 Abdulrahman Al Turki,3,4 Esther Kong,2 Robert C Rostomily5 1Division of Neurosurgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, 2Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 3National Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neurosurgery, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada; 5Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA Abstract: Chordomas are rare, locally aggressive skull base neoplasms known for local recurrence and not-infrequent treatment failure. Current evidence supports the role of maximal safe surgical resection. In addition to open skull-base approaches, the endoscopic endonasal approach to clival chordomas has been reported with favorable albeit early results. Adjuvant radiation is prescribed following complete resection, alternatively for gross residual disease or at the time of recurrence. The modalities of adjuvant radiation therapy reported vary widely and include proton-beam, carbon-ion, fractionated photon radiotherapy, and photon and gamma-knife radiosurgery. As of now, no direct comparison is available, and high-level evidence demonstrating superiority of one modality over another is lacking. While systemic therapies have yet to form part of any first-line therapy for chordomas, a number of targeted agents have been evaluated to date that inhibit specific molecules and their respective pathways known to be implicated in chordomas. These include EGFR (erlotinib, gefitinib, lapatinib), PDGFR (imatinib), mTOR (rapamycin), and VEGF (bevacizumab). This article provides an update of the current multimodality treatment of cranial base chordomas, with an emphasis on how current understanding of molecular pathogenesis provides a framework for the development of novel targeted approaches. Keywords: chordomas, cell lines, radiation therapy, skull-base neoplasms, surgery, molecular genetic