Gendered Representations of Male and Female Social Actors in Iranian Educational Materials

This research investigates the representations of gendered social actors within the subversionary discourse of equal educational opportunities for males and females in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) books. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as the theoretical framework, the authors blend van Leeuwen’s (Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis, Routledge, London, 2003) ‘Social Actor Network Model’ and Sunderland’s (Gendered discourses, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2004) ‘Gendered Discourses Model’ in order to examine the depictions of male and female social actors within this gendered discourse. The gendered discourse of equal opportunities was buttressed by such representations within a tight perspective in proportion to gender ideologies prevailing in Iran. Resorting to CDA, we can claim that resistance against such gendered discourse in Iranian EFL textbooks militates against such gender norms. These representations of male and female social actors in school books are indicative of an all-encompassing education, reinforcing that the discourse of equal opportunities is yet to be realized in the education system of Iran

A Priori Theory Approach to Conceptualizing Engagement with Digital Mental Health Interventions

Background: Digital Mental Health Interventions (DMHIs) show different levels of effectiveness for different people. A construct that can explain these differences is engagement. Engagement is traditionally referred to as users' behavioral, cognitive, and affective investment. Even though a holistic, dynamic, and contextual nature of engagement has been suggested, most research measures it as a monodisciplinary, narrow, and static construct. Moreover, most engagement frameworks within eHealth are often constructed by adopting variables and relationships from different fields without establishing a prior theoretical foundation. This theoretical disconnectedness can be the reason for conceptual and methodological confusion. This study aims to conceptualize engagement based on interdisciplinary theories.Method: The study followed an a priori theory approach analyzing Postphenomenology, Social Practice Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory. These theories were chosen because they reflect engagement's holistic, dynamic, and contextual nature. Based on the analysis and integration of these theories, we crafted the first version of a conceptual framework for engagement with DMHIs.Findings: The novel conceptual framework offers a process-based perspective to engagement with DMHIs by distinguishing different types of engagement: engagement states, modes, and processes. Engagement states represent different combinations of behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement, while modes describe the specific ways individuals engage with these interventions. Engagement states and modes shape the engagement process people experience with DMHIs.Conclusion: The novel framework shows the multifaceted structure of engagement with DMHIs and calls for more nuanced methods and measures to identify different engagement states and modes. These states and modes appear as building blocks of the engagement process, and they can help us uncover the patterns of different engagement processes. The framework addresses the need for a more dynamic, holistic, and contextual conceptualization of engagement and provides future directions for a clearer understanding of engagement with DMHIs

Does early second-trimester sonography predict adverse perinatal outcomes in monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether intertwin discordant abdominal circumference, femur length, head circumference, and estimated fetal weight sonographic measurements in early second-trimester monochorionic diamniotic twins predict adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study involving 9 regional perinatal centers in the United States. We examined the records of all monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies with two live fetuses at the 16- to 18-week sonographic examination who had serial follow-up sonography until delivery. The intertwin discordance in abdominal circumference, femur length, head circumference, and estimated fetal weight was calculated as the difference between the two fetuses, expressed as a percentage of the larger using the 16- to 18-week sonographic measurements. An adverse composite obstetric outcome was defined as the occurrence of 1 or more of the following in either fetus: intrauterine growth restriction, twin-twin transfusion syndrome, intrauterine fetal death, abnormal growth discordance (≥20% difference), and very preterm birth at or before 28 weeks. An adverse composite neonatal outcome was defined as the occurrence of 1 or more of the following: respiratory distress syndrome, any stage of intraventricular hemorrhage, 5-minute Apgar score less than 7, necrotizing enterocolitis, culture-proven early-onset sepsis, and neonatal death. Receiver operating characteristic and logistic regression-with-generalized estimating equation analyses were constructed. RESULTS: Among the 177 monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies analyzed, intertwin abdominal circumference and estimated fetal weight discordances were only predictive of adverse composite obstetric outcomes (areas under the curve, 79% and 80%, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that intertwin discordances in abdominal circumference, femur length, head circumference, and estimated fetal weight were not acceptable predictors of twin-twin transfusion syndrome or adverse neonatal outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort, only second-trimester abdominal circumference and estimated fetal weight discordances in monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies were predictive of adverse composite obstetric outcomes. Twin-twin transfusion syndrome and adverse neonatal outcomes were not predicted by any of the intertwin discordances measured