ABSTRACT This article explores how public value is created in the complex and contested field of refugee integration, identifing three key arenas – service delivery, social and community activities, and advocacy – whereby NPOs create value in the multiple domains of refugee integration. We develop a conceptual model illustrating mechanisms of public value creation from the perspective of NPOs (full co-creation, societal creation of value between volunteers and service users only, and contestation), highlighting the roles of local and refugee volunteers. We contribute to public management scholarship by advancing theoretical understanding of how value is created in politicized policy fields and by whom.

ABSTRACT Preparing future health and social-welfare professionals to care foraging population requires an integrated educational approach. Contemporary age-friendly healthcare models emphasize person-centered geriatric care, yet effective implementation also depends on culturally responsive practice and the ethical, appropriate use of health technologies. The ACT (Aging, Culture, and Technology) framework conceptualizes these domains as interdependent competencies necessary for practice in diverse and digitally mediated healthcare environments. This study examined how mandatory health science courses integrate ACT-related content and explored faculty characteristics associated with such integration. A cross-sectional convergent mixed-methods study was conducted among 195 faculty members teaching mandatory undergraduate and/or graduate courses in a Faculty of Welfare and Health-Sciences. Participants completed an ACT Integration survey developed through a three-round Delphi process involving interdisciplinary experts. Respondents rated the extent to which their courses addressed ACT domains and provided examples of integration in teaching. Aging-related topics were included in 31% of undergraduate and 27% of graduate courses; multiculturalism in 28% for both; and technology in 13% (BA) and 8% (MA) courses. Only 15.4% of respondents reported extensive ACT integration, while 65.7% did not address them at all. Faculty research involvement and prior training in ACT domains were associated with higher curricular integration. Qualitative findings suggested that integration was largely instructor-driven and experiential, with limited evidence of curriculum-wide coordination. The findings suggest a fragmented approach to preparing students for age-friendly, culturally responsive, and technology-enabled care. Greater structural and pedagogical integration of ACT domains may enhance readiness for contemporary healthcare practice.

This paper presents an analytical projection method for calculating mutual inductance between arbitrarily aligned circular coils in wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. Numerical flux calculations are performed using a novel methodology, taking the wire diameter into account to avoid any mathematical singularity and accurately represent physical reality. One of the coils is fixed whilst the projection of the secondary coil is used to determine the limits of the integration area. The vertical distances of points on the secondary coil are represented by an angle-dependent function . We use its projection dA in the primary coil plane instead of the conventional area element in the secondary plane, where the flux is to be evaluated. Moving the integration domain to the projection significantly reduces numerical and analytical complexity, thereby decreasing computational time.

BackgroundMultiple sclerosis (MS) significantly affects individuals’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Ideally, HRQoL assessment tools for MS should be patient-centered, ensuring that each item meaningfully contributes to measurement precision. The present study has three main objectives: (1) a review of the literature to identify key HRQoL domains by examining existing instruments; (2) confirmation and integration of HRQoL domains based on stakeholders’ input; (3) systematic comparison of the categories and subcategories identified by the stakeholders with the domains identified in the literature review.MethodsFindings from the literature review were discussed in four focus group meetings (FGMs) with key stakeholders, including people with MS (PwMS) and healthcare professionals (HPs). Participants were purposively sampled to ensure diversity in geographic location, gender, education, and (for PwMS) disease severity. FGMs were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis by two independent researchers. The categories and subcategories generated from the qualitative analysis were then systematically compared with the items of the MS-specific HRQoL instruments identified in the literature review, by two independent researchers.ResultsOut of 5190 references, 308 records related to 9 instruments were included in the literature review. The main HRQoL domains were then extracted and discussed with the steering committee, and informed the FGM grids. The results validated the HRQoL domains identified in literature and provided deeper insights into their complexity.ConclusionThis study confirmed and added granularity to the existing HRQoL domains relevant to PwMS, identifying key areas for inclusion in future research. The findings contribute to the development of a more comprehensive, patient-centered HRQoL assessment tool, which could inform targeted interventions to enhance quality of life in PwMS.

Engineering synergistic metal centres inside metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provides an effective approach to simultaneously adjust structural, magnetic, and electronic properties within a single architecture. We present a multivariate solvothermal method that utilizes the time-temperature-solvent (T-T-S) synthesis space to fabricate zinc-iron bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (ZnFe-MOFs) based on the FeIII-MIL-88B (MIL - Materials of Institute Lavoisier) structure. The systematic alteration of reaction duration (12-48 hours), temperature (100-140 °C), and solvent polarity (N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF)/ethanol) facilitates precise regulation of lattice expansion-contraction ("breathing"), metal-site distribution, and crystallographic orientation. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) revealed that ZnII incorporation enhances structural stability and induces preferential growth along the (101) plane. Electronic modulation through Zn2+ substitution effectively inhibits Fe3+ mediated non-radiative decay processes, resulting in a significant increase in ligand-centered fluorescence. Meanwhile, glutathione depletion assays, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and magnetic force microscopy verify the retention of Fe-centered redox activity and the integrity of nanoscale magnetic domains. The designed optical-redox framework results in superior electrocatalytic efficacy: ZnFe-MOF-modified electrodes provide a detection limit of 0.043 µM, a linear range of 10-1000 µM, and a sensitivity of 66.24 µA µM-1 cm-2 for dopamine oxidation, exhibiting significant selectivity against prevalent interferents. These findings demonstrate that bimetallic synergy-driven structural modulation provides an effective design strategy for metal-organic frameworks, enabling enhanced optical emission, retention of magnetic functionality, and improved redox-active sensing performance.

Sequence-unrelated but structurally similar (SUSS) effector families represent a distinctive evolutionary strategy among plant pathogen virulence proteins. Within families such as MAX, LARS and RALPH effectors, individual proteins maintain nearly identical three-dimensional folds despite minimal sequence identities, whilst targeting functionally diverse host cellular processes. This decoupling of structural conservation from functional specificity challenges traditional precepts of the classic structure-function paradigm and reveals how pathogen effectors exploit stable protein scaffolds as platforms for rapid functional diversification through extreme sequence variation. Comparative structural analyses suggest that surface frustration, regions of local energetic instability essential for fold flexibility, may be conserved across SUSS family members despite sequence divergence. This conservation creates potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited for resistance engineering. Rather than targeting individual effector-host interactions, frustration-guided design of molecular sponges, synthetic integrated domains or proteome degradation warheads could potentially neutralise entire SUSS effector families. This review explores the mechanisms of functionalisation by SUSS effectors and suggests strategies combining structural genomics, surface frustration analysis and AI-driven protein design for developing broad-spectrum resistance against major classes of plant pathogen effectors.

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated rapid advancements in natural language understanding and generation, prompting their integration into biomedical research, clinical practice, and professional education. However, systematic evaluation of LLMs in specialty-specific domains such as dentistry and periodontology remains limited, particularly regarding multidimensional performance metrics. This study conducted a comprehensive assessment of commercially available LLMs — GPT-4.0, GPT-5.0, and Claude Sonnet 4.0 — on the American Academy of Periodontology In-Service Examination, focusing on response accuracy, self-assessed confidence calibration, citation validity, and hallucination prevalence. Models were evaluated on the 2024 AAP In-Service Examination (331 questions) using two formats: Full Test (all questions at once) and Individual Question (one at a time). Prompts were standardized; models selected answers, and GPT-5.0 and Claude Sonnet 4.0 also provided confidence ratings and citations. Citation validity was assessed using a human-in-the-loop protocol with expert review. Statistical analyses included chi-square, McNemar’s, and logistic regression to assess accuracy, question fatigue, confidence calibration, and citation reliability. LLMs achieved high overall accuracy (78–87%), with the Individual Question format consistently yielding higher scores than Full Test, though differences were not statistically significant. Accuracy was highest in fact-dense domains (biochemistry, physiology, microbiology) and lowest in integrative domains (diagnosis, therapy). Significant question fatigue was observed in GPT-5.0 Full Test mode (OR = 0.997, p = 0.035) but not in Individual Question mode. Confidence scores predicted accuracy, with the strongest calibration in Individual Question mode. Citation analysis revealed frequent hallucinations, mostly critically erroneous, and citation validity was independent of answer accuracy. LLMs show promise as adjunctive tools for periodontal education, but their outputs, especially for complex reasoning and citations require rigorous human review to ensure accuracy and safety.

Polar topological solitons are quasi-particles essential in condensed matter physics, with a key challenge being their topological diversification, control, and arrangement. This study demonstrates that confinement asymmetry can tailor and diversify electrically polar topological solitons in fluid ferroelectrics, providing a key pathway to solving the long-standing problem of designing large-scale, complex domain structures. We discover nonclassical electric monopoles and hybrid topological states, including chiral meron and anti-meron variants and their composite hybridization with a nested skyrmion core. They exhibit intrinsic self-charge and interact via nematic elasticity and electric polar interactions. The unique mechanism leads to the formation of multibody topological configurations by intertwining their polar flux. We propose utilizing solitonic structures as fundamental quasiparticles to design large-scale charged arrays in insulating fluids that function as local conductors. The self-organization offers an unprecedented opportunity to realize large-scale engineering of in-plane domain structures that were previously unachievable in traditional ferroelectrics.

The application of simulated research approaches for the discovery and development of novel compounds as promising cancer drug candidates have still garnered widespread attention as an important goal in medicinal chemistry. In such context, a novel derived series of modified glycosides based on an isoindole-1,2,3-triazole-1,4-disubstituted-aryl hybrid system were synthesized from the terminal acetylenic compound (prepared from propargylation of 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione (1)) and different glycosyl azides via click-based strategy. Furthermore, the afforded acetylated Iso-idolinedione-N1-glycosyl-1,2,3-triazole products were diacetylated to give the derived glycosyl-triazoles with deacetylated hydroxyls. On the other hand, the C-glycosyl analogues were also prepared from the (azidoethoxy)phenyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione followed by deprotection process. The cytotoxicity behaviour of resulted isoindoline-dione based 1,2,3-triazole glycosides was investigated towards the human cancer cells: human breast (PC3), colorectal (HCT-116), and hepatic (HepG-2) lines. The influence of attachment of the sugar part on the cytotoxicity results was obvious and the type of the attached sugar moiety where the glycosyl-1,2,3-triazoles with the xylopyranosyl moiety (compounds 6, 9 and 16) and galactopyranosyl (compound 8) were the most active. The latter accounted for the specific effect of the type of the sugar moiety. Docking investigation into epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) indicated potential interacting binding behaviours and mechanisms of inhibition. Molecular dynamics investigation revealed the possibility of attaining a stable binding mode of the glycoside 8 into EGFR’s site as well as the structural integrity of the catalytic domain. The electronic structure, molecular orbitals, and electrostatic potential of compound 8 were analysed by Density functional theory (DFT) calculations. HOMO-LUMO analysis demonstrated the electron-donating and electron-accepting potency, supporting the anticancer potential and aligning with the docking and dynamics results.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-52999-2.

Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes constitute one of the largest families of plant immune receptors and are central to crop disease resistance. Rice (Oryza sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) are major crops underpinning global food security, and enhancing their immunity is critical for yield stability. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of NLR repertoires across 75 genomes from these three grass crops, identifying 24,944 genes that exhibit extensive intra- and interspecific variation. The crops share broadly comparable domain architectures of NLR genes, despite their differences in gene number and genomic clustering pattern. We detected 68 integrated domains, revealing high diversity and pronounced lineage specificity. The pan-NLR profiles of the three crops were generally similar, with strong lineage-restricted expansion of NLR gene families. Cross-species comparisons revealed distinct proportions of common gene and lineage-specific genes between the crops, suggesting divergent evolutionary trajectories. Widespread presence/absence variation of NLR genes was identified within each crop, with an enrichment in clustered loci. NLRs, especially clustered ones, were significantly enriched in disease-resistance quantitative trait locus (QTL) hotspots, supporting their critical role in crop disease resistance. Notably, conserved Rp1-D clusters co-localized with resistance QTLs in the three crops, underscoring functional conservation and the translational potential of cross-species NLR studies. Collectively, these findings provide new insights into the genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of NLRs in three major grass crops and provide a valuable genomic resource for enhancing crop disease resistance.

This study investigates transient heat conduction in a separable class of anisotropic functionally graded materials with spatially and temporally varying thermal properties and an internal heat source term. The governing transient heat equation with variable coefficients is first transformed into an equivalent form with constant coefficients through an appropriate variable transformation under prescribed separability conditions on the material properties. The resulting equation is then mapped into the Laplace domain to eliminate the time derivative and simplify the transient formulation. A fundamental solution in the Laplace space is employed to reformulate the transformed equation into a boundary integral representation containing source-related domain integrals, which serves as the basis for the boundary element formulation. The resulting integral equations are discretized using boundary elements, while the domain integrals are evaluated numerically through domain discretization in conjunction with particular solutions. The transient solution in the physical time domain is recovered by applying the Stehfest numerical inversion technique for the Laplace transform. Several benchmark test problems with known analytical solutions are presented to assess the accuracy, convergence, and stability of the proposed approach. Numerical results demonstrate that the developed boundary element formulation provides accurate and consistent solutions for transient heat conduction problems in anisotropic functionally graded materials satisfying the prescribed transformation conditions.

Spi-1 Proto-Oncogene (SPI1) encodes Purine-rich box 1 Transcription Factor (PU.1), a transcription factor of the ETS family that regulates hematopoietic lineage commitment and immune cell differentiation. Alteration of PU.1 dose or ETS domain integrity may interfere with transcriptional programs, which adds to hematopoietic dysregulation and leukemogenesis. Even though changes in SPI1 expression have been associated with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the structural and regulatory effects of missense mutations at the PU.1 ETS domain have not been entirely studied, and targeting the PU.1 ETS domain by ligands is an area of computational analysis that should be further pursued. To computationally describe deleterious missense variants of SPI1 in terms of structural stability, evolutionary conservation, post-translational modification (PTM) context and interaction networks, and to measure ADMET-mediated molecular docking of cinnamic acid with the PU.1 ETS domain (8EQG) as a potential modulator. Missense nsSNPs were obtained through Ensembl and narrowed down by consensus prediction of pathogenicity (PredictSNP, combining SIFT, PolyPhen, SNAP and PhD-SNP and other tools). InterPro/UniProt was used for domain mapping. SWISS-MODEL was used to produce wild-type and mutant PU.1 versions, which were analyzed on the structural alignment and Cα–Cα displacement parameters in UCSF Chimera (v1.19). The estimation of stability change was carried out with I-Mutant and MUpro. Prediction of PTM sites was done using MusiteDeep and exploration of functional partners was done using STRING. Human, mouse and zebrafish orthologue conservation was measured by means of MAFFT alignment. GEPIA2 was used to compare the expression of SPI1 in AML (TCGA-LAML) and normal tissues (GTEx). AutoDock Vina (grid center 6, −2, −9 A; 20 × 20 × 20 A; 16 exhaustiveness) was used to prepare cinnamic acid and dock it into the PU.1 ETS domain (8EQG), with SwissDock being used for consistency checks. SwissADME and ADMETlab 2.0 were used to predict drug-likeness, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity. Nine missense mutations were routinely considered as deleterious with the majority of them being located in or near the ETS DNA-binding domain. Structural comparisons showed local perturbations of the structure and I189F and H211P yielded the greatest conformational changes between prioritized variants whereas other forms had minimal movements. A predominantly destabilizing trend was supported by stability prediction whereby V241G had the strongest destabilization signal with further destabilizations being predicted in I189F and R259C. PTM mapping revealed several potential regulatory residues (phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, and methylation), which indicated that there could be crosstalk between the sequence variation and the transcriptional regulation. The SPI1 was placed in a central hematopoietic transcriptional module (containing RUNX1, CEBP members, GATA1 and IRF factors) by the STRING network. The cross-species alignment showed that there was high conservation of a number of the mutation sites, which would support functional constraint at the ETS region. The expression analysis revealed that the level of SPI1 mRNA in AML was significantly elevated compared to normal tissues. Docking also indicated a slight and reproducible interaction of cinnamic acid with the ETS domain (top affinity −4.27 kcal/mol), with a solitary leading polar anchor and supportive hydrophobic interactions, which is akin to interaction between fragments. The ADMET profiling revealed the likelihood of success in the oral drug-likeness and low CYP inhibition liability, as well as signifying the presence of a possible hepatotoxicity signal that needs further confirmation through experiments. Comprehensive computational studies suggest that certain pathogenic variants of SPI1 missense defects, especially in the ETS domain, can result in loss of PU.1 structural stability and regulatory environment, which are in line with the disturbed hematopoietic regulation and AML-related dysregulation. Cinnamic acid demonstrates moderate yet reproducible binding to the PU.1 ETS domain and has an overall favorable developability profile, which indicates that it is better considered as a starting scaffold, as opposed to an active inhibitor. The results give a logical basis of focused biochemical validation and structure-directed optimization of ETS domain modulators in hematologic disease settings.

ABSTRACT In this study, (Fe2O3/Y3Fe5O1 2)/MoS2 composites were successfully fabricated using an ultrasonic composite method. By precisely controlling the mass ratios of the constituent components, heterogeneous interfaces were engineered, and the complex dielectric constant was optimized, resulting in enhanced microwave absorption properties of the material. Experimental findings revealed that the YFMo-3 sample achieved a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −49.74 dB at 9.76 GHz, corresponding to an electromagnetic wave absorption efficiency of 99.998%. The sample YFMo-2 exhibits a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -47.18 dB at the 10.4 GHz frequency band, with an effective absorption bandwidth of 4.03 GHz – covering nearly the entire X-band – and all these performance metrics are achieved at an ultra-thin matching thickness of 3.0 mm. Comparative analyses demonstrated that the microwave absorption performance of YFMo-2 significantly surpassed that of the single-phase Y3Fe5O1 2/MoS2 composite with an equivalent ratio YMo-2. Analysis suggests that this advantage may stem from Fe2O3， increasing both the variety and quantity of heterogeneous interfaces within the composite material, thereby inducing more interface polarization phenomena. The present work offers a novel approach for optimizing yttrium iron garnet-based microwave absorbing materials and holds promise for advancing their practical applications in military-civilian integrated domains, such as electromagnetic stealth technology and electromagnetic compatibility of electronic devices.

Confidence-Accuracy Alignment in Cardiology Knowledge: Comparing Medical-Specific and General-Purpose Large Language Models Using ACCSAP.

A fully coupled convolution-quadrature time-domain boundary element method (BEM) formulation is presented for the transient analysis of size-dependent porous micropolar solids under rapid thermal loading. The formulation unifies the theories of modified couple stress micropolar elasticity, Cowin-Nunziato porosity theory, and non-Fourier heat conduction with the refined Lord-Shulman model. This allows for the simultaneous consideration of size effects, porosity effects, and finite-speed heat conduction phenomena. The governing multi-field equations are transformed into boundary integral form and solved using quadratic boundary elements combined with convolution quadrature, retaining the boundary-oriented computational structure of the Boundary Element Method while efficiently treating the additional domain integrals arising from thermo–poro–micropolar coupling terms. The proposed framework captures strong thermo-mechanical coupling and dispersive wave phenomena that are inaccessible to classical Fourier-based and size-independent models. Validation against benchmark solutions demonstrates excellent numerical robustness and convergence. Parametric studies indicate that intrinsic length-scale effects enhance the displacement and microrotation responses, the thermal relaxation effects delay the penetration of the thermal field, and the porosity coupling effects dominate the internal damping. These studies demonstrate the importance of the microstructure effects and the non-Fourier effects in the transient thermoelastic response. The proposed BEM formulation provides an efficient computational tool for the analysis of advanced microstructured materials and porous composites in thermal shock situations.

Mesh Integration (MINT) index was previously proposed and validated in the short term as a standardised objective method of evaluating in vivo hernia mesh behaviour. The primary aim was to validate the degradation domain of the mesh integration (MINT) index over a 1-year period using a porcine model, with the secondary aim of determining integration and fibrosis scores after extended implantation. Six brands of mesh were implanted into three Landrace-White pigs within the retrorectus space. Post-mortems were performed at 1year. All mesh-tissue samples were subjected to standardised testing specified by MINT. Previous 3-month study conditions were fully replicated. Mesh was successfully implanted into all pigs, with an unremarkable 1-year natural history. There were no difficulties at post-mortem. Visually, all meshes were highly integrated. The 1-year degradation scores obtained were consistent with changes expected in absorbable meshes. Since study methodology, study conditions and mesh lot numbers were identical, the current study data were combined with the previous 3-month study for statistical analysis. Multi-level regression analysis with maximum likelihood was performed, and model diagnostics were conducted. Non-linear models achieved better fit to data than linear models, namely asymptotic for integration ( ), biexponential for fibrosis ( ) and logistic regression for degradation ( ). Rationale and limitations to interpretation of the study results were extensively discussed. The degradation domain of the MINT index has been validated at 1year. The versatility of the MINT index platform could potentially be used to summarise existing literature evidence on in vivo mesh behaviour.

The purpose of the study is to substantiate the relevance of development and to propose a model of the content of professional training for specialists in the field of Web Engineering in the context of the challenges of contemporary digital reality. In particular, the study addresses the training of a new type of specialist – a web engineer for education – capable of designing innovative web solutions demanded by the digital transformation of schools. The introduction outlines the problem of developing professional training for specialists in web engineering, taking into account current trends and prospects of the digital transformation of education. The methodological framework of the study is based on domestic approaches to the training of engineers for the IT sector, approaches to the digital transformation of education, as well as contemporary international concepts of Digital Resilience and Web Science. The study also draws on the results of research into the problem domain and expert assessments provided by web development specialists, employers, and educators involved in the training of modern IT engineers. The modeling method is used as a general scientific method for representing the research results. The results of the study demonstrate that, through the integration of domestic approaches to IT engineering education and digital transformation of education with contemporary international concepts of digital resilience and Web Science, as well as through the analysis of expert assessments in the field of web development and employer requirements, an integrative professional domain of Web Engineering has been identified. The experience of designing, academically supervising, and developing a master’s degree educational program in web technologies is generalized, and a model of the content of professional training for web engineers is proposed in the context of digital transformation of education and the emergence of a digital society. In conclusion, the study argues that Web Engineering, under conditions of digital transformation of education, constitutes an independent subject-specific and professional domain that requires purposeful selection and structuring of training content aimed at supporting the full life cycle of web platforms. Prospects for further refinement of the proposed training model are outlined, and the provisions already tested in practice may be used to optimize the design of educational pathways for future specialists in the field of Web Engineering in higher education institutions offering relevant disciplines and specializations.

Boundary element methods are particularly attractive for the analysis of wave propagation problems because of their reduced dimensionality and accurate representation of radiation conditions. However, their application to Helmholtz problems with spatially varying wavenumber is limited by the lack of fundamental solutions in closed form and the complexity associated with the computation of additional domain integrals. In this work, we propose a domain partitioning method combined with a boundary integral formulation applied locally on each element using the Green–Taylor Element Method (GTEM). This approach extends the original one-dimensional formulation of GTEM (Cerrato-Casado and González, 2026) to the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation with variable wavenumber. The method applies Green’s third identity locally on subdomains, accounting for inhomogeneities at the element level, and approximates the interior fields through Taylor series expansions constructed from boundary quantities. This local treatment maintains the boundary character of the formulation by substituting global domain integrations with simpler element integrations. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed GTEM approach achieves higher accuracy with fewer elements per wavelength compared to finite element and finite difference methods of the same order. Moreover, the method exhibits a low sensitivity to mesh distortion, outperforming classical approaches on irregular meshes commonly used in practical engineering applications.

Hyaluronic acid-based strategies for prostate cancer therapy.

This comparative mixed-methods study defines and profiles the “champion teacher” by synthesising primary longitudinal and cross-sectional data from two complementary teacher professional development (TPD) initiatives implemented across East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda): the long-term, pre-service teacher-oriented Foundations for Learning (F4L) programme and the short-course, in?service teacher Strengthening Education Systems East Africa (SESEA) programme. The champion teacher construct is operationalised through a Champion Teacher Index (CTI) comprising three integrated domains: head (cognitive pedagogical knowledge), hands (psychomotor instructional practice), and heart (affective, leadership, and gender-responsive dispositions). Quantitative analysis revealed statistically significant longitudinal differences between the programmes. F4L teachers demonstrated higher mean CTI scores and steeper growth trajectories over time, particularly in reflective practice, collaborative leadership, and sustained implementation of gender-responsive pedagogy (GRP). SESEA teachers exhibited strong short-term gains in the hands domain, corresponding with measurable improvements in student learning outcomes, including a reduction in non-readers from 77.2% at baseline to 32.1% at endline in Tanzania’s Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA)/Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) data. Correlation analysis revealed moderate-to-strong associations between CTI scores and students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes (r = .41–.38, p < .01). Multiple regression analysis further identified mentorship intensity, school leadership support, and programme modality in F4L as significant predictors of CTI scores, collectively explaining approximately 42% of the observed variance. The qualitative findings illuminate persistent structural constraints, including limited teacher academic qualifications, pedagogical inconsistency, and poor parental engagement. The study concludes that cultivating a sustainable cadre of champion teachers requires a sequenced hybrid TPD model that integrates short-course skills acquisition with long-term mentorship, leadership alignment, and community engagement capacities.