Estimating the Possible Effect of Belt and Road Initiative on Brazilian Economic Growth

Brazil's future participation in the Belt and Road Initiative will promote economic growth, increase the importance of the initiative on the international scene and contribute to the promotion of bilateral economic and trade relations between China and Latin America countries.This paper analyses the alleged effect of BRI on Brazilian economy if the country would have chosen to join the program in the past years (2013-2019) as other countries in the world did. The alleged effect is calculated using the methodology of synthetic control: a statistical method used to evaluate the effect of an intervention/programme in comparative case studies.The results show that Brazil could benefit from joining the Belt and Road Initiative: the GDP per capita rate would be 4.73% higher each year, on average.However, to Brazil joins the BRI, it will be necessary for China and Brazil to know how to maintain a frequent and structured dialogue that projects confidence, opens paths and does not leave governmental dialogue behind what is happening in practical reality. Moreover, more academic research about the initiative and a greater dissemination of its benefits by the media will be needed to raise awareness among the public and politicians about a probable BRI agreement by Brazil.

A Gender Mirrored Framework into Suicidal Ideation and Associated Risk Factors

The study assessed a gender mirrored framework into suicidal ideation and associated risk factors among undergraduates amid the prevalence of suicide ideation. A cross-sectional design was adopted for this study. The sample size was 993 respondents selected from undergraduates in public and private universities. The Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 23 was utilized in analyzing the data from this study. Four null hypotheses on gender, suicide ideation, and four psychosocial risk factors (depression, childhood adversity, economic recession, and media reporting) were raised and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed a highly significant correlation between gender and suicide ideation. Childhood adversity is associated with gender (r = -.149, p >0.01). The relationship between gender, suicidation, and economic recession was also significant. The study recommended that gender-specific suicide prevention and intervention programme should be provided by institutions of higher learning and the creation of awareness on the effect of childhood experience on the latter psychological health of a person.

Experiences of Students with Visual Impairments at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa: Counselling Perspective

The purpose of the qualitative study on which this article is based was to explore the experiences of students with visual impairments registered at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa, through a phenomenological research design. Literature was reviewed on student support in distance education and concepts from the critical disability theory, biopsychosocial model of disability, connectivism and affect theories formed the conceptual framework for the study. Telephonic semi-structured interviews were used as a technique to collect data from seven participants. Data were transcribed and then coded employing ATLAS.ti. The emerged themes centred on students’ counselling experiences, the synergy between the departments, and accessibility of services. It was also determined that students lose academic time due to the lack of resources and study materials in alternative and accessible formats. While policies and implementation plans were claimed to be in place, they do not address the reality on the ground due to a lack of coordination of disability issues, and late referral of students to counselling services. The study recommends the prioritisation of disability issues, and it needs to be incorporated in the wider university’s strategic plan to accelerate its implementation. This will translate to (i) training ICT staff on various computer software programs needed to support students with visual impairments, (ii) developing alternative formative and summative assessments, (iii) developing a graduateness and job readiness intervention programme to empower the students financially and add value to the university’s employment equity agenda, and lastly (iv) putting the disability unit at the centre of all disability matters for coordinating purposes.

Multi-Family Therapy for First Episode Psychosis: Experiences of Families in Singapore

Aim: This qualitative study examined the experiences of families with Multi-Family Therapy (MFT) provided by the Early Psychosis Intervention Programme (EPIP) in Singapore. The MFT was piloted over a period of 2 years and findings from this study were used to further refine the MFT to better meet the needs of Singaporean families in the service.Methods: Families who completed the MFT were invited to participate in the study. Nine clients and ten carers who consented to participate in the study were allocated to two client and two carer Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) respectively. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to facilitate the discussions. The FGDs were audio recorded, transcribed, and anonymised. The data was analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Four main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) therapeutic processes of MFT, (2) positive changes in family relationships, (3) improvements in coping with psychosis, and (4) suggestions for improvement in MFT. The families suggested some structural changes to the MFT, and more carers than clients would prefer therapists to offer more expert advice.Conclusions: Findings suggest that a Western-based MFT can be adapted to work with Singaporean families. This study sheds light on the therapeutic processes that may be related to the changes in family relationships and coping with psychosis. In addition, it suggests that therapists taking an expert and authoritative approach may not fit with the needs of younger generations in Singapore. It advocates for therapists to take a flexible and fluid stance to work with Singaporean families.

Cough and cold medicine prescription rates can be significantly reduced by active intervention

Our aim was to construct and test an intervention programme to eradicate cough and cold medicine (CCM) prescriptions for children treated in a nationwide healthcare service company. The study was carried out in the largest private healthcare service company in Finland with a centralised electronic health record system allowing for real-time, doctor-specific practice monitoring. The step-by-step intervention consisted of company-level dissemination of educational materials to doctors and families, educational staff meetings, continuous monitoring of prescriptions, and targeted feedback. Outreach visits were held in noncompliant units. Finally, those physicians who most often prescribed CCM were directly contacted. During the intervention period (2017–2020), there were more than one million paediatric visits. Prescriptions of CCMs to children were completely eradicated in 41% of units and the total number of CCM prescriptions decreased from 6738 to 744 (89%). During the fourth intervention year, CCMs containing opioid derivatives were prescribed for only 0.2% of children aged < 2 years. The decrease in prescriptions was greatest in general practitioners (5.2 to 1.1%). In paediatricians, the prescription rates decreased from 1.5 to 0.2%. The annual costs of CCMs decreased from €183,996 to €18,899 (89.7%). For the intervention, the developers used 343 h and the attended doctors used 684 h of work time during the 4-year intervention. The costs used for developing, implementing, reporting, evaluating, communicating, and data managing formed approximately 11% of total intervention costs.Conclusion: The study showed that a nationwide systematic intervention to change cough medicine prescription practices is feasible and requires only modest financial investments. What is Known:• Cough and cold medicines (CCM) are not effective or safe, especially for children aged 6 years.• Although the use of CCMs has been declining, caregivers continue to administer CCMs to children, and some physicians still prescribe them even for preschool children. What is New:• A nationwide systematic intervention can significantly and cost effectively change CCM prescription habits of paediatricians, general practitioners, and other specialists.• Electronic health records provide additional tools for operative guideline implementation and real-time quality monitoring, including recommendations of useless or harmful treatments.

Revisit the Effectiveness of Educational Kinesiology on Stress and Anxiety Amelioration in Kindergarteners With Special Needs Using Biological Measures

Background: Educational kinesiology is a popular intervention that aims to improve brain functioning via physical movements. Yet, it lacks supporting scientific evidence and is regarded as pseudoscience. Given the popularity of educational kinesiology in school settings, it is important to revisit its effectiveness through scientific research. Previous studies that evaluated the effectiveness of educational kinesiology relied mainly on subjective measures, in which subjective bias is inevitable. Cortisol and oxytocin levels in saliva have been reported to be reliable stress and anxiety markers that provide unbiased objective data. This study explores the effect of educational kinesiology on the changes in salivary cortisol and oxytocin levels in kindergarteners with special needs.Methods: A quasi-experimental design was adopted in this study. Thirty-seven kindergarteners (3.5–6.5 years old) who were either diagnosed with one type of special needs or referred by school principals due to the requirement of special supports at school were assigned to either the intervention group, which received 1-h educational kinesiology intervention weekly for a total of 10 weeks, or the wait-list control group. Saliva samples were collected at baseline and after the completion of intervention programme for the measurement of cortisol and oxytocin levels. Scores of Parent-rated Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS-TC) were also collected at pre- and post-intervention. Because of the small samples, non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U test, Quade test, and Fisher's exact tests were used in this study where appropriate.Results: After controlled for the effect at baseline, gender and types of special needs, the changes in oxytocin levels were significantly higher in the intervention group compared with control [F(1, 35) = 4.747, p = 0.036, eta2 = 0.119], whereas no significant between-group difference in changes of cortisol levels was observed [F(1, 35) = 0.306, p = 0.584, eta2 = 0.009]. Results from PAS-TC showed significant improvement in anxiety levels after the intervention in the intervention group (p = 0.048, ϕ = 0.344, p = 0.037).Conclusions: Our findings suggest a plausible anti-anxiety effect of educational kinesiology in kindergarteners with special needs by elevating the oxytocin levels. Future studies are warranted to further confirm our findings with a larger sample.

Teacher-Implemented Self-Regulated Strategy Development Instruction for Story Writing with Year Two Students in New Zealand

<p>Writing is a complex skill and many students struggle to learn to write. Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for writing is an intervention strategy that can increase students’ writing performance. However, there is limited research on the use of this intervention with younger primary-school students and most of the existing research has been implemented by researchers or research assistants, rather than by actual classrooms teachers, which therefore limits the ecological validity of the research. The two studies included in this thesis investigated teacher-implemented SRSD writing instruction. Study 1 evaluated a 5-week intervention programme consisting of 19 lessons. Study 2 evaluated a 17-week intervention with 61 lessons. Studies 1 and 2 both used a mixed-methods design to investigate the effectiveness and social validity of the teacher-implemented Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) program on the story-writing performance with Year 2 students (6- to -7-year-old children) in New Zealand. In the quantitative strand, I conducted a quasi-experiment in which students either received SRSD writing instruction or their regular writing instruction. I collected student writing samples before and after the intervention and teachers completed a questionnaire on the social validity of the intervention. A mixed-model ANOVA with SRSD instruction as the between-subjects variable and time as the within-subjects variable indicated that students in the treatment condition had larger improvements relative to students in the comparison condition on measures of holistic quality, number and quality of story elements, and length of composition. In the qualitative strand, I conducted interviews with the classroom teachers to ascertain their perceptions of intervention. Results suggested that the intervention was beneficial for the students. In addition, teachers perceived the intervention as appropriate and reported that they enjoyed implementing the intervention. These results suggest that teacher-implemented SRSD interventions can be effective at improving early primary students’ writing performance and is socially valid for use by teachers in Year 2 classroom settings.</p>

Teacher-Implemented Self-Regulated Strategy Development Instruction for Story Writing with Year Two Students in New Zealand

<p>Writing is a complex skill and many students struggle to learn to write. Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for writing is an intervention strategy that can increase students’ writing performance. However, there is limited research on the use of this intervention with younger primary-school students and most of the existing research has been implemented by researchers or research assistants, rather than by actual classrooms teachers, which therefore limits the ecological validity of the research. The two studies included in this thesis investigated teacher-implemented SRSD writing instruction. Study 1 evaluated a 5-week intervention programme consisting of 19 lessons. Study 2 evaluated a 17-week intervention with 61 lessons. Studies 1 and 2 both used a mixed-methods design to investigate the effectiveness and social validity of the teacher-implemented Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) program on the story-writing performance with Year 2 students (6- to -7-year-old children) in New Zealand. In the quantitative strand, I conducted a quasi-experiment in which students either received SRSD writing instruction or their regular writing instruction. I collected student writing samples before and after the intervention and teachers completed a questionnaire on the social validity of the intervention. A mixed-model ANOVA with SRSD instruction as the between-subjects variable and time as the within-subjects variable indicated that students in the treatment condition had larger improvements relative to students in the comparison condition on measures of holistic quality, number and quality of story elements, and length of composition. In the qualitative strand, I conducted interviews with the classroom teachers to ascertain their perceptions of intervention. Results suggested that the intervention was beneficial for the students. In addition, teachers perceived the intervention as appropriate and reported that they enjoyed implementing the intervention. These results suggest that teacher-implemented SRSD interventions can be effective at improving early primary students’ writing performance and is socially valid for use by teachers in Year 2 classroom settings.</p>

Exploring Attrition and Completion in a Community Situated Family Violence Intervention Programme

<p>This thesis aims to explore the factors associated with attrition and completion for a New Zealand based community situated family violence intervention programme. It takes a mixed methods approach across two studies. Study one quantitatively investigated the attrition rate of the programme, and factors that predict this attrition. It used survival analysis techniques to analyse data files collected during the assessment phase of the programme. An attrition rate of 46% was identified, which is slightly higher than the average rate of attrition across family violence prevention programmes internationally. Ethnicity was the only variable found to predict attrition. Study two qualitatively explored the experiences of men who completed the intervention programme. Men were interviewed to provide insights into the facilitators and barriers to programme completion. Thematic analysis identified three themes of overcoming barriers to engagement and attendance; motivating factors for engagement; and the importance of active participation in facilitating healing. Aspects of the programme that could be strengthened to improve the engagement and attendance of future participants are discussed alongside the wider implications for family violence prevention practice and policy.</p>

Exploring Attrition and Completion in a Community Situated Family Violence Intervention Programme

<p>This thesis aims to explore the factors associated with attrition and completion for a New Zealand based community situated family violence intervention programme. It takes a mixed methods approach across two studies. Study one quantitatively investigated the attrition rate of the programme, and factors that predict this attrition. It used survival analysis techniques to analyse data files collected during the assessment phase of the programme. An attrition rate of 46% was identified, which is slightly higher than the average rate of attrition across family violence prevention programmes internationally. Ethnicity was the only variable found to predict attrition. Study two qualitatively explored the experiences of men who completed the intervention programme. Men were interviewed to provide insights into the facilitators and barriers to programme completion. Thematic analysis identified three themes of overcoming barriers to engagement and attendance; motivating factors for engagement; and the importance of active participation in facilitating healing. Aspects of the programme that could be strengthened to improve the engagement and attendance of future participants are discussed alongside the wider implications for family violence prevention practice and policy.</p>