Effectiveness of Education Using Comic Media on Knowledge About Covid-19 Among Elementary School Students

@#Introduction: Children typically have a diminished capacity to comprehend the COVID-19 epidemic. To convey information about COVID-19 to elementary school students (ESS), it takes educational comic media that children like because it is “fun,” “ informative, “ and well-understood. However, the effectiveness of this intervention has yet to be thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to measure the knowledge of ESS after studying COVID-19 with comics. Methods: A pre-post quasi-experimental design with a control group was used in this study. There were 66 ESS recruited on purpose. Intervention (n = 33) and control (n = 33) groups were formed. The intervention group received COVID-19 education using comic book media. Who Will Win the Fight Between Kids, Vaayu, and Corona?, a COVID-19 Awareness Comic, was translated into Indonesian. The education was given twice every two weeks, while the standard school intervention was given to the control group. To collect data, researchers designed a questionnaire based on a literature study. The questionnaire was valid and reliable, with a Cronbach alpha of 0.71, and the results were analysed using the independent sample t-test. Results: There was a substantial difference in Knowledge towards COVID-19 ratings between the control and intervention groups (p = 0.001). The mean Knowledge towards COVID-19 score of the intervention group was higher than that of the control group (M=4.33 vs M=1.63). Knowledge about COVID-19 differed significantly between the intervention and control groups (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Comic books are effective in increasing knowledge about COVID-19 in ESS.

Valoración del servicio ecosistémico regulación hídrica en el Piedemonte Amazónico, Caquetá, Colombia / Evaluation of the ecosystem service protection of water sources in Amazon Piedemont, Caquetá, Colombia

RESUMEN Belén de los Andaquíes, Caquetá, ubicado en el piedemonte amazónico, es reconocido como municipio verde de Colombia, por su riqueza hídrica y paisajística. Es una zona con experiencia y potencial en la instauración de pagos por servicios ambientales PSA, como instrumento económico para incentivar la conservación de bosques, en la zona de influencia directa a la quebrada la Mono, una de las fuentes hídricas de relevancia en el suministro de agua, para el consumo humano en la población. Se empleó el método de valoración contingente, para hallar la disponibilidad a pagar DAP de los habitantes del área urbana, por la conservación de los bosques, para la protección del servicio ecosistémico de regulación hídrica. La DAP fue positiva y esto evidencia que la comunidad puede experimentar aumentos en el bienestar económico, a raíz de una medida de protección ambiental. Existe viabilidad económica y relevancia social al implementar estos instrumentos de política ambiental, para proteger servicios ecosistémicos importantes, en la mitigación y en la adaptación al cambio climático.

ABSTRACT Belén de los Andaquíes, Caquetá, located in the Amazon piedmont, is recognized as a green municipality of Colombia, for its wealth of water and landscapes. It is an area with experience and potential in the establishment of payments for environmental services PES, as an economic instrument to encourage the conservation of forests in the area of direct influence of the Mono stream, one of the most important sources of water for human consumption in the population. The contingent valuation method was used to find the willingness to pay WTPs of the inhabitants of the urban area for the conservation of forests for the protection of the ecosystem service of water regulation. The WTP was positive value, and this is evidence that the community can experience increases in economic welfare as a result of an environmental protection measure. There is economic viability and social relevance in implementing these environmental policy instruments to protect ecosystem services important for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Vinorelbine-cyclophosphamide compared to cyclophosphamide in peripheral blood stem cell mobilization for multiple myeloma

Background: High dose Cyclophosphamide [Cy] and Vinorelbine Cyclophosphamide [Vino-Cy] are stem cell [SC] mobilisation options for patients with multiple myeloma [MM]. We present a comparison of mobilisation outcomes using these regimens

Patients and methods: Vino-Cy patients received Vinorelbine 25 mg/m[2] on day 1, cyclophosphamide 1500 mg/m[2] on day 2, and pegylated GCSF on day 4 or GCSF 10 mcg/kg/day from day 4 onwards. Cy patients were given cyclophosphamide 4000 mg/m[2] on day 1 and GCSF10 mcg/kg/day from day 5 onwards. The target CD34 + SC collection was 5 * 10[6] per kg/BW

Results: 149 patients were included. SC collection was lower in the Vino-Cy group [8.20 * 10[6]/ Kg BW] compared to the Cy group [11.43 * 10[6]/Kg BW], with adjusted geometric mean ratio of 0.59 [95% CI 0.41 to 0.86, p = 0.006]. Time taken to achieve an adequate PB SC count was shorter for Vino-Cy [9 +/- 1 day compared to 12 +/- 2 days for Cy, adjusted absolute mean difference -3.95, 95% CI -4.85 to -3.06, P < .001]. Mobilisation related toxicities [in particular, neutropaenic fever] were greater for Cy

Conclusion: Vino-Cy is a potential alternative to Cy given the need for effective mobilisation protocols with acceptable toxicity

Perceived Stress Scale Psychometric Validation for Malaysian Diabetic Patients.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to provide factorial analytic findings, construct validation and normative data for the Malaysian diabetic patients. Gender difference was also examined with racial response to PSS-10. Study design: Population base cross sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: Penang between Nov 2009 and March 2010. Methodology: Cluster random sampling technique was employed for the selection participants in the community. A total of 1924 diabetic patients with age ≥ 18 (mean age = 39.51) were approached; 992 of them were female and 932 of them were male. People rated how often they had experienced these feelings in the last week on a five-point Likert scale from 0 = never to 4 = very often. The scale was translated into Malay language independently by two psychological counselors who had at least a master’s degree and bilingual efficiency. The LISREL 8.30 program was used to assenting factor analysis. Chisquare (χ 2)/df (degree of freedom) ratio, GFI (goodness of fit index), AGFI (adjusted goodness of fit index) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were used to evaluate the fit of the model (two-factor). Results: Barlett’s test of sphericity was 1603.417 (p<0.001) and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of the sampling adequacy was 0.83. Varimax rotation was conducted with these two identified factors. Factor A integrated items 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 10, labeled as ‘Perceived Avoidance’ while Factor B containing items 4, 5, 7, 8 and labeled as ‘Perceived Controllable’. Item variance showed 45.73 per cent of accountability with Factor A and 13.43 per cent with Factor B. Mandatory factor analysis for the two-factor of Malaysian version of PSS yielded: GFIs: χ 2 (39) = 127.846, p<0.001, χ 2/df= 4.1; GFI = 0.97; AGFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.06 and CFI = 0.99. Conclusion: PSS-10 is a reliable tool for assessing the stress measures among diabetic living of the society. High stress level is identified among the females as compared to male diabetic patients. Overall the whole cohort has high perceived stress level.