Validation of a specific phobia questionnaire by University students in Malaysia

Specific phobia is a subcategory of anxiety disorders that remains poor understanding due to inadequate screening tools. This study aimed to develop and validate a new Specific Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ). This SPQ was developed based on literature reviews and inputs from related experts for content validity. The SPQ questionnaire consisted of 14 items and after content validity and face validity testing procedure, 12 items were chosen for the final questionnaire. The questionnaire was then distributed via Google form to university students in Klang Valley. A total of 267 students participated in this study with 70.8% were female with mean age of 23.28 (Standard deviation of 4.98) years. Validity analysis using exploratory factor analysis from the final study indicated that the Kaiser-Meyer- Olkin value was 0.77 and extracted three domains; animals, blood injection injury and situational-environment. Reliability analysis showed that Cronbach’s α values were 0.84, 0.86, 0.78 and 0.72 for the total items, animal, blood injection injury and situational-environment domains, respectively. The newly developed SPQ showed good reliability and validity for evaluating specific phobia

Population Dynamics of Aedes aegypti and Dengue as Influenced by Weather and Human Behavior in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Previous studies on the influence of weather on Aedes aegypti dynamics in Puerto Rico suggested that rainfall was a significant driver of immature mosquito populations and dengue incidence, but mostly in the drier areas of the island. We conducted a longitudinal study of Ae. aegypti in two neighborhoods of the metropolitan area of San Juan city, Puerto Rico where rainfall is more uniformly distributed throughout the year. We assessed the impacts of rainfall, temperature, and human activities on the temporal dynamics of adult Ae. aegypti and oviposition. Changes in adult mosquitoes were monitored with BG-Sentinel traps and oviposition activity with CDC enhanced ovitraps. Pupal surveys were conducted during the drier and wetter parts of the year in both neighborhoods to determine the contribution of humans and rains to mosquito production. Mosquito dynamics in each neighborhood was compared with dengue incidence in their respective municipalities during the study. Our results showed that: 1. Most pupae were produced in containers managed by people, which explains the prevalence of adult mosquitoes at times when rainfall was scant; 2. Water meters were documented for the first time as productive habitats for Ae. aegypti; 3. Even though Puerto Rico has a reliable supply of tap water and an active tire recycling program, water storage containers and discarded tires were important mosquito producers; 4. Peaks in mosquito density preceded maximum dengue incidence; and 5. Ae. aegypti dynamics were driven by weather and human activity and oviposition was significantly correlated with dengue incidence

Temporal abundance of Aedes aegypti in Manaus, Brazil, measured by two trap types for adult mosquitoes

A longitudinal study was conducted in Manaus, Brazil, to monitor changes of adult Aedes aegypti (L.) abundance. The objectives were to compare mosquito collections of two trap types, to characterise temporal changes of the mosquito population, to investigate the influence of meteorological variables on mosquito collections and to analyse the association between mosquito collections and dengue incidence. Mosquito monitoring was performed fortnightly using MosquiTRAPs (MQT) and BG-Sentinel (BGS) traps between December 2008-June 2010. The two traps revealed opposing temporal infestation patterns, with highest mosquito collections of MQTs during the dry season and highest collections of BGS during the rainy seasons. Several meteorological variables were significant predictors of mosquito collections in the BGS. The best predictor was the relative humidity, lagged two weeks (in a positive relationship). For MQT, only the number of rainy days in the previous week was significant (in a negative relationship). The correlation between monthly dengue incidence and mosquito abundance in BGS and MQT was moderately positive and negative, respectively. Catches of BGS traps reflected better the dynamic of dengue incidence. The findings help to understand the effects of meteorological variables on mosquito infestation indices of two different traps for adult dengue vectors in Manaus