Results of the COVID-19 mental health international for the general population (COMET-G) study.

INTRODUCTION: There are few published empirical data on the effects of COVID-19 on mental health, and until now, there is no large international study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an online questionnaire gathered data from 55,589 participants from 40 countries (64.85% females aged 35.80 ± 13.61; 34.05% males aged 34.90±13.29 and 1.10% other aged 31.64±13.15). Distress and probable depression were identified with the use of a previously developed cut-off and algorithm respectively. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics were calculated. Chi-square tests, multiple forward stepwise linear regression analyses and Factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tested relations among variables. RESULTS: Probable depression was detected in 17.80% and distress in 16.71%. A significant percentage reported a deterioration in mental state, family dynamics and everyday lifestyle. Persons with a history of mental disorders had higher rates of current depression (31.82% vs. 13.07%). At least half of participants were accepting (at least to a moderate degree) a non-bizarre conspiracy. The highest Relative Risk (RR) to develop depression was associated with history of Bipolar disorder and self-harm/attempts (RR = 5.88). Suicidality was not increased in persons without a history of any mental disorder. Based on these results a model was developed. CONCLUSIONS: The final model revealed multiple vulnerabilities and an interplay leading from simple anxiety to probable depression and suicidality through distress. This could be of practical utility since many of these factors are modifiable. Future research and interventions should specifically focus on them

Analysis of the Effect of the MBKM Internship Program and Certified Independent Study (MSIB) on University Performance Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya

Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya as one of the leading private campuses in Indonesia has a high commitment to improving the quality of higher education.  One of the efforts of the Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya in improving the quality of higher education is through the development and improvement of every aspect of activities that refer to the Higher Education Main Performance Indicators (KPI) that have been set by the Ministry of Education and Culture.  The activity program that refers to the Main Performance Indicators (IKU) is the Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) activity program, which has been well implemented by the Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya since 2019. However, in an effort to continuously improve the MBKM program, analysis is needed  an in-depth look at readiness and the impact obtained at the level of study programs, faculties, and universities.  One of the MBKM programs that refers to the KPI and needs to be analyzed is the Certified Independent Study & Internship MBKM program. On this basis, this study conducted an in-depth analysis of the readiness and impact of the MBKM Internship & Certified Independent Study program at the Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.  Based on the results obtained, the level of readiness of the Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya in supporting the MBKM program is quite good with an average percentage of readiness above 50%.  In measuring the impact of MBKM, it is found that the MBKM policy, Internship Program and Independent Studies greatly affect the performance of the Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya significantly with an impact effect of 75.4%

Implementation of an ecohealth approach for better management of leptospirosis in Kulon Progo District, Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia

Outbreaks of leptospirosis in Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia cause serious problems in humans and animals. With case fatality rates for the Kulon Progo District, Yogyakarta Special Province of 5.8% for 2011, 7.1% for 2012 and 33.3% for 2013 the PH importance has been clearly demonstrated. High mortalities in human due to renal failure can be observed whereas in animals a loss of production (i.e. due to abortions) is most prominent. The observed re-emergence of leptospirosis seems to be caused by multifactor components, and highly linked to environmental factors. However, observed cases of leptospirosis and related health impacts need to be better understood. Classical sector specific approaches have failed to be effective. Thus a more successful control and prevention requires alternative concepts such as EcoHealth to ensure transdisciplinary and participatory approaches across sectoral barriers. The objective of this study is to explore potential risk factors for leptospirosis in human and animals by using qualitative and quantitative tools for data collection. In-depth interviews (IDI) targeted on knowledge of zoonotic diseases particularly leptospirosis and behavior of people. Focus group discussions (FGD) were performed and included farmers, village officials, and stakeholders from Municipal Health Services and Livestock Services. The survey was carried out in between April to May 2013 in selected communities (N=9) of Kulon Progo with high (N=3), medium (N=3) and low cases (N=3) of human leptospirosis based on a recent serological survey. It is anticipated that the results from the FGD and IDI will provide additional information to the first phase of the project (Oct 2011 – May 2012) which focused on quantitative data collection such as prevalence surveys for leptospirosis in animals, questionnaires and spatial analysis using GIS including veterinarians, physicians, ecologists, demographist, social sciences, others stakeholders (government and public sector). Key results from both phases will be presented and synthesized. The synthesis from the qualitative and quantitative surveys will contribute to a better integrated understanding of disease emergence and the basis for a more effective addressing of public health policy concerns in order to better management the disease

Modeling climate dynamically

A dynamical systems approach to energy balance models of climate is presented, focusing on low order, or conceptual, models. Included are global average and latitude-dependent, surface temperature models. The development and analysis of the differential equations and corresponding bifurcation diagrams provides a host of appropriate material for undergraduates

Diffusive heat transport in Budyko\u27s energy balance climate model with a dynamic ice line

M. Budyko and W. Sellers independently introduced seminal energy balance climate models in 1969, each with a goal of investigating the role played by positive ice albedo feedback in climate dynamics. In this paper we replace the relaxation to the mean horizontal heat transport mechanism used in the models of Budyko and Sellers with diffusive heat transport. We couple the resulting surface temperature equation with an equation for movement of the edge of the ice sheet (called the ice line), recently introduced by E. Widiasih. We apply the spectral method to the temperature-ice line system and consider finite approximations. We prove there exists a stable equilibrium solution with a small ice cap, and an unstable equilibrium solution with a large ice cap, for a range of parameter values. If the diffusive transport is too efficient, however, the small ice cap disappears and an ice free Earth becomes a limiting state. In addition, we analyze a variant of the coupled diffusion equations appropriate as a model for extensive glacial episodes in the Neoproterozoic Era. Although the model equations are no longer smooth due to the existence of a switching boundary, we prove there exists a unique stable equilibrium solution with the ice line in tropical latitudes, a climate event known as a Jormungand or Waterbelt state. As the systems introduced here contain variables with differing time scales, the main tool used in the analysis is geometric singular perturbation theory