Role of Teacher for the Successful Implementation Activity Based Curriculum

The study aimed to evaluate the role of teachers in implementing activity-based curriculum, which is essential for successful education. A qualitative approach was used to collect data from a sample of five public school teachers in the Sahiwal district, through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that teachers' ability to apply essential teaching skills is critical for successful activity-based teaching. However, the study identified several barriers to effective implementation, including inadequate training, poor planning, teacher stagnation, limited resources, lengthy course content, and overcrowded classrooms. The study recommends that teachers should receive proper training to master the necessary skills for activity-based teaching, and mechanisms should be established to monitor and evaluate their practices. Additionally, guidebooks should be prohibited, class sizes should be limited to 30 students, and special funding should be allocated to support activity-based curriculum. Adequate teacher training from institutions is necessary for the successful implementation of this curriculum

Explore the Effectiveness of Assessment Policy Framework (APF) 2019: Students’ Learning at Elementary Level in Pakistan

The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of APF 2019 in enhancing learning outcomes for primary school students and to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the elementary education system under APF 2019. The study emphasizes the significance of qualitative research in comprehending the effectiveness of pedagogical policies and practices. The research employed a qualitative methodology, which involved interviews with students. The findings of the study indicate that APF 2019 has several benefits, such as providing lucid guidelines for assessment practices, prioritizing student-centred assessment, and emphasizing formative assessment. However, the study also found limitations of APF 2019, including insufficient resources and support for effective implementation, the likelihood of assessment practices becoming standardized and homogenized, and the restricted flexibility for catering to various learning requirements. The research suggests that the successful implementation of APF 2019 necessitates adequate resources and support and the balance between standardization and flexibility while prioritizing student-centred assessment practices

Dietary Oncopharmacognosy as a Crosswalk between Precision Oncology and Precision Nutrition

While diet and nutrition are modifiable risk factors for many chronic and infectious diseases, their role in cancer prevention and control remains under investigation. The lack of clarity of some diet–cancer relationships reflects the ongoing debate about the relative contribution of genetic factors, environmental exposures, and replicative errors in stem cell division as determinate drivers of cancer risk. In addition, dietary guidance has often been based upon research assuming that the effects of diet and nutrition on carcinogenesis would be uniform across populations and for various tumor types arising in a specific organ, i.e., that one size fits all. Herein, we present a paradigm for investigating precision dietary patterns that leverages the approaches that led to successful small-molecule inhibitors in cancer treatment, namely understanding the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of small molecules for targeting carcinogenic mechanisms. We challenge the scientific community to refine the paradigm presented and to conduct proof-in-concept experiments that integrate existing knowledge (drug development, natural products, and the food metabolome) with developments in artificial intelligence to design and then test dietary patterns predicted to elicit drug-like effects on target tissues for cancer prevention and control. We refer to this precision approach as dietary oncopharmacognosy and envision it as the crosswalk between the currently defined fields of precision oncology and precision nutrition with the goal of reducing cancer deaths

The impact of surgical weight loss procedures on the risk of metachronous colorectal neoplasia: the differential effect of surgery type, sex, and anatomic location.

Patients with prior colorectal polyps are at high risk for metachronous colorectal neoplasia, especially in the presence of obesity. We assessed the impact of 2 common bariatric surgeries, vertical sleeve gastrectomy and roux-n-Y gastric bypass, on the risk of colorectal neoplasia recurrence. This nationally representative analysis included 1183 postbariatric adults and 3193 propensity score-matched controls, who all had prior colonoscopy with polyps and polypectomy. Colorectal polyps reoccurred in 63.8% of bariatric surgery patients and 71.7% of controls at a mean follow-up of 53.1 months from prior colonoscopy. There was a reduced odds of colorectal polyp recurrence after bariatric surgery compared with controls (odds ratio [OR] = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.58 to 0.83). This effect was most pronounced in men (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.42 to 0.79), and post roux-n-Y gastric bypass (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.41 to 0.79). However, the risk of rectal polyps or colorectal cancer remained consistent between groups. This study is the first to our knowledge to show a reduction in risk of polyp recurrence following bariatric surgery