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The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between skeletal antero-posterior profile of popular family cartoon characters and their perceived personal characteristics. The Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB) was used to identify popular animated family movies released since 2000. Cartoon characters were identified, and classified based on their gender (male/female), skeletal profile (Class I, II or III) and character assessment (protagonist/antagonist). Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out. Chi Square analysis was used to assess the differences (p-value) between gender and character assessment against the skeletal profile. Fifty popular animated family movies were identified. Within these 88 humanoid cartoon characters were identified made up of 32 male protagonists, 27 female protagonists, 22 male antagonists and 7 female antagonists. 40, 30, 21 were assessed as having a Class I, II and III skeletal profiles respectively. Statistically significant differences were observed in both FPFA and MPFP values for Class III characters (P = 0.009 and P = 0.006, respectively). However, no significant variations were noted when comparing the remaining groups. Female antagonists and male protagonists were most likely to be portrayed with a Class III skeletal pattern when compared to female protagonists and male antagonists respectively.

Surgery causes anxiety in children and negatively affects postoperative pain control. Various distraction methods, such as virtual reality (VR), have been shown to reduce anxiety levels and improve surgical outcomes. This study aimed to determine the effect of watching cartoons through a VR headset before surgery on systolic blood pressure, postoperative pain, and anxiety levels as primary, secondary, and tertiary outcomes, respectively, in children aged 7-12 years undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. This randomized controlled experimental study was conducted at a tertiary hospital between November 10, 2023, and June 1, 2024, among 102 children scheduled for tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, who were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 51; VR intervention) and a control group (n = 51; no intervention). The primary outcomes were anxiety levels measured using the Perioperative Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children and postoperative pain evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale. Sociodemographic characteristics and vital signs were also assessed. Systolic blood pressure values were significantly lower in the experimental group at than in the control group at all time points (p < 0.05). Postoperative pain values were lower in the experimental group (3.35 ± 1.43 vs. 6.53 ± 1.36, p < 0.05), with similar results observed 8 h post-surgery (1.29 ± 1.08 vs. 6.57 ± 1.17, p < 0.05). Anxiety values were also significantly lower in the experimental group (24.12 ± 11.17 vs. 69.41 ± 12.56, p < 0.05), with similar results observed 8 h post-surgery (12.35 ± 10.50 vs. 67.0 ± 11.37, p < 0.05). VR technology, particularly through watching the Shrek cartoon, significantly reduced systolic blood pressure, pain, and anxiety levels in children undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Thus, VR could be an effective noninvasive tool for managing pain and anxiety in pediatric patients during the preoperative and postoperative periods. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06763276).

The objective of this study is to evaluate users’ perceptions and preferences on the design features of the COVID-19 prevention promotion icon from the perspective of users’ aesthetic and perceptual needs. In this study, 120 officially published icons from 24 countries and regions were collected from online platforms for ranking tests, and then the top-ranked icons were subjectively rated by the semantic differential method. By evaluating the quality of users’ perceptions of multiple semantic dimensions of icons, we extracted the perceptual semantic words that users valued as the main icon design features. Spearmen correlations were applied to derive possible correlations between user rankings and semantic scales, and a Friedman test was also conducted to determine the true differences in user perceptions and preferences for different styles of icons. Factor analysis was conducted to extract six perceptual words that influence the design features of the COVID-19 prevention promotion icon. The methodology adopted in this study facilitated the screening of design features related to icon effectiveness, and the findings show that “Interesting,” “Simple,” “Familiar, “Recognizable,” “Concrete,” and “Close(semantic distance)” are the key features that influence users’ perception and preference of COVID-19 icon design. The results of this study can be used as the basis for designing and improving publicity icons for preventive measures in COVID-19, and the methods adopted in this study can be applied to evaluate other types of icon design.

Graphic stories, or adult themed comics, are a popular new cultural trend. Michael J Green and Kimberly R Myers argue that they are also a valuable tool for medicine

In November 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to five firms for the unauthorised marketing of 15 different vaping products that look like toys, food or cartoon characters and are likely to promote use by youth.3 Brian King, PhD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, noted at the time that the ‘The designs of these products are an utterly flagrant attempt to target kids’.3 Despite the FDA’s warning of potential injunction, seizure and/or civil money penalties, products identified in this paper remained available for purchase in the USA as of late February 2023, suggesting that control of such products requires stronger surveillance and enforcement of violations and cross-national cooperation. Funding Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products funded Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science at the University of Southern California (U54CA180905). Available: https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/05/obsessed-with-tiny-things-mini-brands-collectibles.html [Accessed 21 Feb 2023 ].

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by a range of interpersonal difficulties, which are, in part, related to adverse experiences during childhood. Unresponsive parenting and traumatization may cause functional impairment of mentalization, i.e. the ability to reflect upon own and others’ mental states. However, the relationship of poor parenting, trauma and mentalization in BPD has not exhaustively been studied. Thirty patients diagnosed with BPD and 30 matched control subjects were asked to sequence a novel cartoon-based mentalization task involving complex emotions such as jealousy, shame, guilt etc. In addition, they were required to reason about cognitive and affective mental states of the cartoon characters. The quality of parental care was assessed using a self-report measure for recalled parental rearing style, and childhood trauma was measured in retrospect using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Patients with BPD performed more poorly in all aspects of the cartoon task. Mentalizing skills, particularly relating to affective mental states, were uniquely associated with the quality of recalled parental care and childhood trauma. Together, the quality of parental care and the experience of childhood trauma negatively impact on mentalization in BPD, even in an experimental “offline” task.

Rural and remote communities often face significant challenges maintaining their health and well-being. In developing countries, these challenges are further compounded by (1) limited access to clean water, (2) ineffective sanitation, (3) low education and literacy levels and (4) low awareness of the role of personal hygiene practices in reducing communicable disease transmission. Existing health education materials distributed within such communities are often presented in a traditional written format, making them inaccessible to people with low literacy levels. Therefore, recent evidence supports an alternative health communication approach through the use of picture-based materials. This study has assessed the effectiveness of a cartoon-based pictorial educational tool (CBPET) in communicating key messages about hygiene and bacteria contained within the environment and bodily fluids. The CBPET that was developed was tested in a Tanzanian village, representative of a community with low literacy and a resource-poor setting. The CBPET was found to effectively deliver key health promotion messages to the local community. Developing healthcare education in a universal language format based on pictures or cartoons could be the way forward.

Although previous studies have found cartoons in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) advertisements, social media posts, and a small sample of labels, there has yet to be an analysis of cartoons located on the labels attached to bottles of e-juice (the solution that contains nicotine and other chemicals). As such, the objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence and types of cartoons on e-juice labels. Two researchers independently analyzed the presence and types of cartoons on the labels of e-juice flavors available on eliquid.com. Based on the Master Settlement Agreement's definition of a cartoon, the cartoons were placed into five categories: (1) comically exaggerated people, (2) comically exaggerated animals, (3) comically exaggerated creatures, (4) anthropomorphic creatures, or (5) extra-human creatures. There was a total of 1587 brands that offered 7135 e-juice products. Of those, 311 brands (19%) offered 1359 products (19%) that contained cartoons on the e-juice labels. From the labels that contained cartoons, 790 (58%) were of comically exaggerated people, 247 (18%) were of anthropomorphic creatures, 212 (16%) were of comically exaggerated animals, 73 (5%) were of comically exaggerated creatures, and 37 (3%) were of extra-human creatures. Given the previous success of Joe Camel on youth tobacco use, the prevalence of cartoon images found in this study is noteworthy. In addition, the number of brands that had cartoons on e-juice labels indicates that this issue is pervasive among businesses that sell e-juice. This study adds to the body of knowledge on this topic by describing a concerning number of cartoons located on e-juice labels, indicating a need for policy that prohibits the use of cartoon images in e-cigarette packaging.

Helminths, such as Ascaris lumbricoides, infect more than a billion people globally. In this cluster-randomized trial in China, a school-based simple educational program was shown to substantially decrease the incidence of these infections in schoolchildren. A third of the global population, mainly in developing countries, is infected with soil-transmitted helminths, which are intestinal parasitic nematode worms. 1 Infection with these parasitic worms is associated with poverty in rural locations, inadequate sanitation and waste disposal, a lack of clean water, and poor hygiene and is common in areas with limited access to health care and preventive measures. 2 Roundworms ( Ascaris lumbricoides ) are the largest and most prevalent soil-transmitted helminths, accounting for 1 billion infections; whipworms ( Trichuris trichiura ) and hookworms ( Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale ) each infect 600 million to 800 million persons. Estimates . . .