This study investigates factors influencing Israeli teachers’ attitudes toward including students with special needs in mainstream classrooms following recent reforms. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, 40 female mainstream teachers who attended a special education workshop were interviewed. The research reveals general support for inclusive education but significant concerns about preparedness, institutional support, and managing diverse needs. Four main themes emerged: nuanced support for inclusive education, factors influencing self-efficacy, key determinants of successful inclusion, and challenges based on disability severity. The findings emphasize the importance of comprehensive training, adequate institutional backing, and teacher self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices. The study provides insights into the complex landscape of inclusive education in Israel, offering guidance for policymakers, educators, and school leaders. It highlights the need for targeted professional development, collaborative approaches, and systemic policy alignment to improve inclusion implementation.

A previously healthy 35-year-old man suffering from behavioral and mental deterioration for three months was referred to our facility. On admission, the patient was dysphasic and had tonic-clonic seizures. Neurological examination showed mental confusion, euphoric mood, mania, paranoia, and mild motor dysphasia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed twice but no abnormalities were revealed. His acute confusional state, elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein, epileptic seizure and electroencephalogram showing intermittent frontal slowness were all suggestive of encephalitis. The patient was treated with acyclovir without significant improvement in his condition. Testing for herpes simplex virus and human immunodeficiency virus was negative. Limbic encephalitis was suspected and the patient was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for five days. Venereal disease research laboratory and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay were both tested positive in serum and CSF. Neurosyphilis was diagnosed, and the patient received a 14-day course of penicillin G with gradual improvement. Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor (anti-NMDAR) antibodies were positive in serum, confirming the presence of encephalitis. The atypical clinical presentation of neurosyphilis with symptomatology mimicking encephalitis and no MRI abnormalities made the diagnosis challenging. Coexistence of neurosyphilis with anti-NMDAR encephalitis has been reported only in one recent study. Our case demonstrates the importance of testing for syphilis in patients with unexplained neurologic deficits and suspected encephalitis.

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between ADHD and statistical literacy in higher education. We examined how ADHD diagnostic status (diagnosed, suspected undiagnosed, and non-ADHD) relates to statistics anxiety, attitudes, and literacy outcomes, thereby illuminating challenges associated with formal diagnosis and support access. Furthermore, we explored the roles of attitudes, anxiety, ADHD status, and academic degree as predictors of statistical literacy.Method: We compared three groups among 405 higher education students: students with formally diagnosed ADHD (n = 80), those with suspected undiagnosed ADHD (n = 74), and students without ADHD (n = 251).Results: Both groups with ADHD reported significantly higher levels of statistics anxiety and less favorable attitudes toward statistics compared to the non-ADHD group. Surprisingly, no significant differences emerged in statistical literacy performance across the three groups. Multiple regression analysis revealed that attitudes toward statistics and academic degree were significant predictors of statistical literacy.Conclusion: Although students with ADHD experience heightened anxiety and maintain less favorable attitudes toward statistics, they remarkably achieve performance levels comparable to their non-ADHD peers. These findings challenge conventional assumptions about ADHD’s impact on quantitative academic capabilities and highlight the resilience of students with ADHD. The results emphasize the need for targeted interventions focusing on reducing anxiety and improving attitudes while recognizing students’ academic potential.

Stroke is a leading cause of death worldwide. Multiple factors influence the severity of stroke. Normal functional and biological differences seen between the hemispheres may also be related to stroke severity. In the present study, we examined the differences in the severity of stroke as a function of stroke side, and whether patients’ vagal nerve activity moderated such differences. We included 87 patients with an ischemic stroke, whose medical records were retrospectively examined for background information (age, gender), stroke side and severity by NIHSS, length of stay in hospital, inflammation such as C-reactive protein, and vagal nerve activity. The vagal activity was indexed by patients’ heart-rate variability (HRV), fluctuations in the intervals between normal heartbeats, derived from patients’ ECG. Results revealed that patients with left-side stroke had significantly worse NIHSS scores (10.6) than those with right-sided stroke (7.6, p < 0.05). However, when dividing the sample into those with low versus high HRV (at the median), only when HRV was low, did patients with left-side stroke have a worse NIHSS score (10.9) compared to those with right-sided stroke (6.5, p < 0.05). In contrast, no differences in stroke severity were seen between left stroke (10.2) and right stoke (8.7, p > 0.05), when HRV was high. These results tended to remain the same when statistically controlling for age effects, which was related to NIHSS, but not to the stroke side. These findings suggest that patients with left-sided stroke may have more severe strokes than those with right-sided ones, but that adequate vagal nerve activity may protect against such differences. Possible mechanisms and suggestions for future directions are provided.