Record of the Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus breeding in the Lakshadweep Islands, Indian Ocean

The Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus has a widespread distribution in the Afrotropical and Indo-Malayan region (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). It is a resident of the Indian mainland and Sri Lanka and has been sighted in the small atoll islands of Lakshadweep off the south-western coast of India (Ali & Ripley 1987). Its first record from Lakshadweep goes back to the latter half of the nineteenth century when Hume (1876) procured specimens from the islands of Amini and Kadamat. He categorized them as regular visitors and dismissed any chances of breedin

Relationships between bullies, victims and mental health issues among adolescents

The main purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives. The study investigates the types of bullying and victimization common among adolescent boys and girls. The study also investigate the types of mental health among adolescents in Maldives. Furthermore, this study investigates the moderating effects of gender and age on the relationship between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives. The research adopts a cross sectional quantitative survey method. Adolescents Peer Relation Inventory (APRI) for bullying and Mental Health Index (MHI38) were used as research instruments. A total of 460 survey questionnaires were analyzed in this study. The target group of this study were adolescents between 11 to 16 years. Descriptive data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 and Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS were used to analysis the hypotheses. Findings suggest that verbal bullying is the most common type of bullying among males and females. Findings on victimization suggests that 85% of adolescents have been targets to all forms of bullying. The relationship between bullying others and mental health revealed a non-recursive relationship whereby, bullying others and mental health have significant negative relationship (-.96) and mental health and bullying others have a significant positive relationship (.96). Findings on moderating factors on the relationship revealed that age and gender does not moderate on this relationship. The study opens new doors for practitioners as well as policies makers on formulating positive interventions strategies such as engaging students in positive behaviours, peer counseling and nurturing empathy so that peers help each other in promoting healthy behaviour in school environment. The study looks through the lens of biopsychosocial model in order to provide insight into bullying. The study provides insight on understanding of the complexity of the life stressors that influence adolescents to engage as bullies and victims

Relationship between bullies, victims and mental health issues among adolescent

The main purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives. The study investigates the types of bullying and victimization common among adolescent boys and girls. The study also investigate the types of mental health among adolescents in Maldives. Furthermore, this study investigates the moderating effects of gender and age on the relationship between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives. The research adopts a cross sectional quantitative survey method. Adolescents Peer Relation Inventory (APRI) for bullying and Mental Health Index (MHI38) were used as research instruments. A total of 460 survey questionnaires were analysed in this study. The target group of this study were adolescents between 11 to 16 years. Descriptive data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 22 and Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS were used to analysis the hypotheses. Findings suggest that verbal bullying is the most common type of bullying among males and females. Findings on victimization suggests that 85% of adolescents have been targets to all forms of bullying. The relationship between bullying others and mental health revealed a non-recursive relationship whereby, bullying others and mental health have significant negative relationship (-.96) and mental health and bullying others have a significant positive relationship (.96). Findings on moderating factors on the relationship revealed that age and gender does not moderate on this relationship. The study opens new doors for practitioners as well as policies makers on formulating positive interventions strategies such as engaging students in positive behaviours, peer counselling and nurturing empathy so that peers help each other in promoting healthy behaviour in school environment. The study looks through the lens of bio psychosocial model in order to provide insight into bullying. The study provides insight on understanding of the complexity of the life stressors that influence adolescents to engage as bullies and victims

First Reported Case of Neuroleptospirosis Complicated With Anton's Syndrome

Leptospirosis is a spirochetal zoonotic disease with a wide clinical spectrum, often underdiagnosed especially when presented as an acute neurological manifestation. We report a case of a 24-year-old man with serologically positive leptospirosis, who presented with altered sensorium, seizures and subsequently developed cortical blindness. His brain MRI revealed bilateral occipital and later parietal lobe cerebritis

Becoming and being academic women: Perspectives from the Maldives

Abstract: This exploratory study aimed at understanding the role of women teaching in a university in the Maldives is a first of its kind. The many studies of academic women in Western countries guided the 20 semi-structured interviews. The data were thematically analysed with the assistance of NVivo. Becoming an academic appeared to be an independent decision for the majority of women. There was little parental influence. A common theme was the women perceived that, in general, they worked harder than men. They perceived little or no work differences, despite the observation that men filled senior positions at the university. Although work/ life balance was difficult to maintain, a striking finding was that the majority of the women were quite satisfied. From the point of view of most of the women interviewed, gender was little or not an issue, in that there was no indication of frustration or anger amongst the women interviewed. Several issues are identified for future research. Mizna Mohamed's research focuses on evaluation of coral reefs. Mizna currently teaches natural resource management and has an interest in traditional ecological knowledge and role of women in management of natural environments. Naashia Mohamed teaches courses in applied linguistics and research methods and was originally a teacher. Her research interests include teacher cognition, language education and bilingualism. Badhoora Naseer teaches courses in education and research methods. Her research interests include special education and inclusive education. Aminath Zahir serves as the head of the Dhivehi Department and teaches history, grammar and research methods. Her fields of research include linguistics and grammar. Aminath Nasheeda teaches English and study skills. Her research interest lies in the field of English, language specifically for second-language learners. PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT Higher education is relatively new in the Maldives. There is one university. This is the first study of the role of academic women in the Maldives and previous studies guided the research. The 20 interviews of 10 senior and 10 junior females were carried out in Dhivehi or English by five young female researchers, translated by them and then analysed with the assistance of NVivo to find the main themes. Becoming an academic appeared to be an independent decision for the majority of women with little parental influence. The women perceived that they worked harder than men. They perceived little or no work differences though men filled senior positions. Work/life balance was difficult to maintain, but the majority of the women were quite satisfied. Amongst these women, gender was not an issue, in that there was no indication of frustration or anger amongst the women interviewed

COVIDiSTRESS diverse dataset on psychological and behavioural outcomes one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVIDiSTRESS Consortium launched an open-access global survey to understand and improve individuals’ experiences related to the crisis. A year later, we extended this line of research by launching a new survey to address the dynamic landscape of the pandemic. This survey was released with the goal of addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion by working with over 150 researchers across the globe who collected data in 48 languages and dialects across 137 countries. The resulting cleaned dataset described here includes 15,740 of over 20,000 responses. The dataset allows cross-cultural study of psychological wellbeing and behaviours a year into the pandemic. It includes measures of stress, resilience, vaccine attitudes, trust in government and scientists, compliance, and information acquisition and misperceptions regarding COVID-19. Open-access raw and cleaned datasets with computed scores are available. Just as our initial COVIDiSTRESS dataset has facilitated government policy decisions regarding health crises, this dataset can be used by researchers and policy makers to inform research, decisions, and policy. © 2022, The Author(s).U.S. Department of Education, ED: P031S190304; Texas A and M International University, TAMIU; National Research University Higher School of Economics, ВШЭThe COVIDiSTRESS Consortium would like to acknowledge the contributions of friends and collaborators in translating and sharing the COVIDiSTRESS survey, as well as the study participants. Data analysis was supported by Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) Research Grant, TAMIU Act on Ideas, and the TAMIU Advancing Research and Curriculum Initiative (TAMIU ARC) awarded by the US Department of Education Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (Award # P031S190304). Data collection by Dmitrii Dubrov was supported within the framework of the Basic Research Program at HSE University, RF

Relationships between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives

The main purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives. The study investigates the types of bullying and victimization common among adolescent boys and girls. The study also investigate the types of mental health among adolescents in Maldives. Furthermore, this study also investigates the moderating effects of gender and age on the relationship between bullies, victims and mental health among adolescents in Maldives. The research adopts a cross sectional quantitative survey method. Adolescents Peer Relation Inventory (APRI) for bullying and Mental Health Index (MHI38) were used as research instruments. A total of 460 survey questionnaires were analyzed in this study. The target group of this study were adolescents between 11 to 16 years. Data were collected from 8 different schools from three provinces in Maldives. Descriptive data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 and inferential analysis were done using AMOS version 20. Findings on descriptive analysis of bullying behavior indicated that 84% males and 76% females bully others. Verbal bullying is the most common type of bullying among males and females. Findings on victimization suggests that 85% of adolescents have been targets to all forms of bullying. Fifty five percent of adolescents report weak or poor emotional relationships with significant others in their life, while 37% reveals they have low positive affect. The global mental health index of the adolescents in Maldives suggest 24% have poor psychological wellbeing. Findings on the relationship between bullying others and mental health revealed a nonrecursive relationship whereby, bullying others and mental health have significant negative relationship (-.96) and mental health and bullying others have a significant positive relationship (.96).This finding suggests that individuals with poor mental health end up being bullies. Likewise, findings on victimization and mental health reveal that being targets to bullying have a significant positive relationship with mental health. The notion supports biopsychosocial model of stress, as bullying is a stressful event which leaves the individual very vulnerable and helpless. Thus, these feeling will cause negative thoughts which will affect their mental state. Thus, the relationship of bullying and mental health phenomena can be explained in light with Biospychosocial model. However, findings on moderating factors on the relationship revealed that age and gender does not moderate on this relationship. This research will serve as a platform for school authorities and policy makers in developing effective intervention strategies to reduce bullying, victimization and mental health concerns

Exploring social construction experiences through life skills education program during adolescence in Maldives

The main purpose of this study is to describe young adults’ experiences of life skills education program during their adolescence. The study takes on a retrospective approach so that the respondents can reflect on their experiences of life skills education programs. Hence, the study investigates the social construction of the participants’ experiences through a social psychology lens. In order to explore the experiences of the participants, a narrative research methodology is adopted in understanding the participants’ experiences in the program. Two participants’ experiences were collected through semi-structured interviews. A multimethod restorying framework facilitated in transforming the interview transcripts into stories. The social constructivism in social psychology provides a theoretical basis for understanding how realities and views of the world are individual specific and created through social interactions within the individual social environment. Exploring how the participants have constructed their experience of LSE program through their feelings, thoughts and behaviour helped in understanding how the participants’ interactions during the LSE program translated into meaningful skills in future. Most of the described events evolved around their adolescence, their struggle, achievements and the life skills education program experiences in school. Both Shau and Al’s stories reflected how their adolescence, life skills education experiences and their interactions with their families, schools and friends shaped their lives. The type of experiences that both participants had with the life skills education program were subjective in number of ways such as age of exposure, number of life skills programs, delivery method and also the social environment. Findings of the research suggests that life skill approach is an important approach to transmitting knowledge, attitudes and skills to real life problem situations. However, it is the interactive experiences in the society and its people that shapes the individual’s thinking, attitude and provides a sense of purpose in life. This insight deepens the understanding of the life skills education program and helps in identifying the gaps in delivery of the program. It also signals that there are priorities and concerns regarding the future of LSE program in the Maldives. The study also has implications for stake holder and policy makers in designing, implementing and delivery of age appropriate structured LSE program from early on their adolescence. As this is a process study the findings of the study helps in generating hypothesis for future research in life skills education. It is also important to conduct similar studies to collect stories not only from young adults, but also from high risk adolescents who are already exposed to drugs and smoking to better understand the issues related to them and also the level of transfer of skills in them. Mixed method studies can be conducted to evaluate the program effectiveness and to understand which skills are required most at different stages of individuals’ life

Bullying in Maldives: effects on adolescents mental health

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework based on extensive literature review on bullying in Maldives and effects on adolescents’ mental health. This study is based on biopsychosocial model of development. It explores the relationship between biological and social changes that take place during adolescences and the role in individual functioning with regard to promoting health and causing illnesses. Based on literature review, bullying is conceputalized as repeated intentional exposure to physical, verbal and relational/social harassment. Well-being of health that may be affected by bullying were identified as (a) anxiety, (b) Depression (c) Loss of behavioural / Emotional control (d) General Positive Affect (e) Emotional Ties (f) Life satisfaction. Further research may lead to understanding of why some children do not report or stand up to being bullied, why some children bully others and why some bystanders do not report bullying incidences. The research yields a theoretical understanding of how biology, psychology and social environment interact in bullying scenarios. This will facilitate in developing bullying framework and intervention strategies

A narrative systematic review of life skills education: effectiveness, research gaps and priorities

A systematic review was conducted to investigate the literature on effectiveness of life skills programs. The aim of this review was to gain a comprehensive understanding on the effectiveness of life skills education globally, and to identify research gaps and priorities. Findings revealed differences in life skills education within developing countries and developed countries. In general, developed countries conduct more systematic life skills education programs promoting positive behavior, with research articulating outcomes on individual youth. In contrast, the majority of developing countries’ life skills programs lack systematic implementation, evaluation and monitoring. Programs are often conducted to yield short term results only. This review will be useful to administrators, policy makers, researchers and teachers to implement effective life skills programs. The findings can be used as inputs for developing sustainable life skills programs to ensure transfer of knowledge and skills