Impact of Edutainment Programme in Developing Life Skills with Specific Reference to Critical and Creative Thinking among Adolescent Students of Chattisgarh State

This study examined the influence of teaching methods, relevance, and effect of edutainment on the development of life skills. Using an Experimental research paradigm, the study compared the F values of Pre-test and Post-test of both Control and Experimental groups to know the influence of different variables on each other. The study was conducted in rural and urban areas of Bastar district, Chattisgarh demonstrated that the means of edutainment used such as brainstorming sessions, games, screening of Hindi movie „Siddharth‟, and group discussions to convey subject matters like Human Rights, especially Rights of Children, were successful in developing both positive and creative thinking in them. The level of achievement using edutainment was more among Government school students, both in rural and urban areas

What Contributes to COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy? A Systematic Review of the Psychological Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

Vaccine hesitancy plays a crucial role in worldwide pandemic-control efforts. The multifaceted nature of vaccine hesitancy entails many psychological factors that are widely discussed in the literature, although few studies specifically compile these factors. Thus, this systematic review aims to synthesize the psychological factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy. As per the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) guidelines, a systematic search was conducted on electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, PsycNET, and Web of Science, and a manual search was conducted on Google Scholar. Out of the 2289 articles obtained, 79 studies that met the inclusion criteria were deemed eligible for the review. The findings highlight appraisals of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine safety and side effects, vaccine confidence/trust, trust in government and healthcare professionals, scepticism around vaccine production, conspiracy beliefs, emotions, and information and knowledge about the vaccine as the major psychological factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy. Concerningly, misinformation on COVID-19 vaccination spread through social media platforms, increasing vaccine hesitancy. Recommendations for government authorities, healthcare professionals, and implications for future research are also outlined

Uptake of acetylene on cosmic dust and production of benzene in Titan’s atmosphere

A low-temperature flow tube and ultra-high vacuum apparatus were used to explore the uptake and heterogeneous chemistry of acetylene (C2H2) on cosmic dust analogues over the temperature range en-countered in Titan’s atmosphere below 600 km. The uptake coefficient, γ, was measured at 181 K to be (1.6 ±0.4) ×10 -4 , (1.9 ±0.4) ×10 −4 and (1.5 ±0.4) ×10 −4 for the uptake of C2H2 on Mg2SiO4, MgFeSiO4 and Fe2SiO4, respectively, indicating that γ is independent of Mg or Fe active sites. The uptake of C2H2 was also measured on SiO2 and SiC as analogues for meteoric smoke particles in Titan’s atmosphere, but was found to be below the detection limit ( γ < 6 ×10 −8 and < 4 ×10 -7, respectively). The rate of cyclo-trimerization of C2H2 to C6H6 was found to be 2.6 ×10 -5 exp(-741/ T) s −1, with an uncertainty ranging from ±27 % at 115 K to ±49 % at 181 K. A chemical ablation model was used to show that the bulk of cosmic dust particles (radius 0.02–10 μm) entering Titan’s atmosphere do not ablate ( < 1% mass loss through sputtering), thereby providing a significant surface for heterogeneous chemistry. A 1D model of dust sedimentation shows that the production of C6H6 via uptake of C2H2 on cosmic dust, followed by cyclo-trimerization and desorption, is probably competitive with gas-phase production of C6H6 between 80 and 120 km