the Action of Water and Saline Solutions Upon Certain Slightly Soluble Phosphates. 1

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Personalised electronic messages to improve sun protection in young adults

The incidence of all skin cancers, including melanoma, continues to rise. It is well known that ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the main environmental risk factor for skin cancer, and excessive exposure at a young age increases the risk of developing skin cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the acceptability and feasibility of delivering sun protection messages via electronic media such as short message services (SMS) to people 18-40 years, and explore factors associated with their acceptability. Overall, 80% of participants agreed that they would like to receive some form of sun protection advice; of these, 20% prefer to receive it via SMS and 42% via email. Willingness to receive electronic messages about the UV index was associated with being unsure about whether a suntanned person would look healthy and greater use of sun protection in the past. Careful attention to message framing and timing of message delivery and focus on short-term effects of sun exposure such as sunburn and skin ageing should increase the acceptability of such messages to young people. We conclude that sun protection messages delivered to young adults via electronic media appear feasible and acceptable

Awareness Level about Breast Cancer Risk Factors, Barriers, Attitude and Breast Cancer Screening among Indonesian Women

Background: Globally, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women and is a leading cause of mortality in Indonesia. Raising awareness of breast cancer is particularly important to help at risk women seek medical treatment for this disease. This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the Indonesian women’s level of knowledge about breast cancer risk factors, barriers, attitude and breast cancer screening. Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study administered the breast cancer awareness Indonesian scale (BCAS-I) to 856 Indonesian women. Samples were selected in rural and urban combinations from three provinces by stratified random sampling. The ordinal logistic model was used to investigate the clustering effect of the participant’s characteristics in this study. Results: Of the women, 62% lived in rural areas and 38% lived in urban areas. Living in an urban area was significantly associated with a lower knowledge of the risk factors. However, living in an urban area was significantly associated with better attitudes and healthier behaviours related to breast cancer awareness. Women with higher education levels had 70% worse attitudes toward breast cancer awareness. Women living South of Sumatera, women living in Yogyakarta, and unmarried women were 5.03, 3.84, and 1.56 times as likely to have higher perceived barriers, respectively. Conclusion: Urban women had a poorer level of knowledge of breast cancer risk factors compared to women living in more rural areas. The result of this study may reflect inadequate breast cancer awareness campaigns or a lack of breast cancer awareness campaigns. These findings suggest that additional education programs aiming to increase awareness and educate the public are needed. Keywords Breast cancer; Breast cancer screening; Indonesian Wome

Validation of the Breast Cancer Awareness Scale Indonesian (BCAS-I) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Breast cancer is the commonest issue in public health. The screening method particularly clinically-breast examination is likely to drive the leading for early diagnosis of breast cancer, and breast cancer awareness is the key to encouraging in help seeking these treatments. Several breast cancer awareness instruments have been developed that the authors report as validated. However, instruments like those are highly contextualized to particular health care settings. The aim of this study was to develop the BCAS instrument among Indonesian women. Indonesian women aged 18 to 80 years were selected by stratified random sampling in five municipalities in Yogyakarta provinces by two locations (rural–urban) combinations were collected. Parallel analysis based on confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. The association of the BCAS-I subscales with participant characteristics was undertaken using proportional odds ordinal logistic regression. The questionnaires were completed by 200 Indonesian women (100% response rate). The average age was 36 (SD = 12) and ranged from 18 to 74 years old. Most participants resided in rural areas (62%), and 60% didn’t have health insurance. According to the parallel analysis, a five-factor solution was used. The factor solution was followed: knowledge of risk factors, knowledge of signs and symptoms, attitude to breast cancer prevention, a barrier of breast screening, and health behavior related to breast cancer awareness. And the alpha value of 0.78 indicates sufficiently high reliability to provide confidence interpreting the score. This study demonstrated that the BCAS-I tool is shown to valid and reliable in Yogyakarta women, Indonesia. Psychometric properties are needed to determine the construct, concurrent, criterion, and predictive validity of the BCAS-I scale

Validation of the Breast Cancer Awareness Scale Indonesian (BCAS-I) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Breast cancer is the commonest issue in public health. The screening method particularly clinically-breast examination is likely to drive the leading for early diagnosis of breast cancer, and breast cancer awareness is the key to encouraging in help seeking these treatments. Several breast cancer awareness instruments have been developed that the authors report as validated. However, instruments like those are highly contextualized to particular health care settings. The aim of this study was to develop the BCAS instrument among Indonesian women. Indonesian women aged 18 to 80 years were selected by stratified random sampling in five municipalities in Yogyakarta provinces by two locations (rural–urban) combinations were collected. Parallel analysis based on confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. The association of the BCAS-I subscales with participant characteristics was undertaken using proportional odds ordinal logistic regression. The questionnaires were completed by 200 Indonesian women (100% response rate). The average age was 36 (SD = 12) and ranged from 18 to 74 years old. Most participants resided in rural areas (62%), and 60% didn’t have health insurance. According to the parallel analysis, a five-factor solution was used. The factor solution was followed: knowledge of risk factors, knowledge of signs and symptoms, attitude to breast cancer prevention, a barrier of breast screening, and health behavior related to breast cancer awareness. And the alpha value of 0.78 indicates sufficiently high reliability to provide confidence interpreting the score. This study demonstrated that the BCAS-I tool is shown to valid and reliable in Yogyakarta women, Indonesia. Psychometric properties are needed to determine the construct, concurrent, criterion, and predictive validity of the BCAS-I scale. Keywords: Breast Cancer Awareness Scale, Psychometric Properties, Indonesian Women

Validation of an Indonesian Version of the Breast Cancer Awareness Scale (BCAS-I)

Background: Raising breast cancer awareness is a key strategy to reduce associated mortality. While a paucity of adequately validated instruments for breast cancer awareness is applicable across cultures, even outside the health care setting such instruments have been developed. Objective: This study investigated the validity and psychometric properties of a breast cancer awareness scale in Indonesia (BCAS-I). Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among Indonesian women conveniently selected within three provinces (Yogyakarta, South of Sumatera and East Nusa Tenggara) located in rural-urban areas using stratified random sampling. First, we translated all questionnaires from English to the local language and then back-translated. The third step was to perform psychometric testing of the adapted instrument by establishing internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha score 0.79) and construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: In the 856 participants who responded (responded rate = 98.28%), the age ranged from 18 to 80 years old (mean = 30, SD = 11). The BCAS-I was shown to have good internal consistency, and CFA demonstrated the model fit data adequately (χ2 = 922.267, df = 515, p <0.001, comparative fit index = 0.965, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.96, goodness-of-fit index = 0.97, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.97, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.03 95% confidence interval: 0.027, 0.034). The final version of BCAS-I consists of 33 items across 5 domains that cover most key aspects of breast cancer awareness for this population. Conclusion: The BCAS-I demonstrated good psychometric properties and was found to be valid to provide a measurement of breast cancer awareness in Asian women in general and Indonesian women in particular

Does Geijera parviflora Lindl. (Rutaceae) facilitate understorey species in semi-arid Australia?

Species composition under tree canopies often differs from that of surrounding micro-environments. In arid and semi-arid zones, trees can be beneficial to understorey vegetation. This study examined zones of vegetation composition and soil physiochemical parameters associated with Geijera parviflora Lindl. The importance of shade, rainfall redistribution, seed bank and soil moisture were examined. Species abundance, soil moisture, seed bank composition, rainfall redistribution and soil nutrient concentration were measured under five randomly selected mature G. parviflora trees in south-western New South Wales, Australia. To complement the findings from this study, artificial shade plots were constructed in a canopy-free area and species abundance measured seven months after shade construction. The study demonstrated that G. parviflora was associated with zonation of understorey vegetation. Two zones of understorey vegetation were found in relation to G. parviflora: (i) under the tree canopy with high species diversity, and (ii) beyond the canopy, this community being dominated by Dissocarpus paradoxus throughout the year with Crassula colorata appearing after rainfall. The zone beyond the canopy also had lower soil nutrient concentrations. Soil moisture, nutrient concentration and the seed bank density were significantly higher under the canopy. However, the canopy reduced precipitation reaching the soil surface. The effects of the canopy on understorey species composition and soil moisture were enhanced after winter rainfall. Artificial shade increased species abundance and richness under a 90%-shading treatment. The results indicated that G. parviflora generated spatial heterogeneity over the broader plant community increasing species richness, abundance and diversity under the canopy. This emphasises the importance of arid zone trees in conserving understorey plant diversity. Shading, soil nutrient concentration and increased seed bank density and soil moisture appeared to be key influences on the plant communities under the canopy. © Australian Rangeland Society 2007.C

Validation of an Indonesian Version of the Breast Cancer Awareness Scale (BCAS-I)

Background: Raising breast cancer awareness is a key strategy to reduce associated mortality. While a paucity of adequately validated instruments for breast cancer awareness is applicable across cultures, even outside the health care setting such instruments have been developed. Objective: This study investigated the validity and psychometric properties of a breast cancer awareness scale in Indonesia (BCAS-I). Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among Indonesian women conveniently selected within three provinces (Yogyakarta, South of Sumatera and East Nusa Tenggara) located in rural-urban areas using stratified random sampling. First, we translated all questionnaires from English to the local language and then back-translated. The third step was to perform psychometric testing of the adapted instrument by establishing internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha score 0.79) and construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: In the 856 participants who responded (responded rate = 98.28%), the age ranged from 18 to 80 years old (mean = 30, SD = 11). The BCAS-I was shown to have good internal consistency, and CFA demonstrated the model fit data adequately (χ2 = 922.267, df = 515, p <0.001, comparative fit index = 0.965, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.96, goodness-of-fit index = 0.97, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.97, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.03 95% confidence interval: 0.027, 0.034). The final version of BCAS-I consists of 33 items across 5 domains that cover most key aspects of breast cancer awareness for this population. Conclusion: The BCAS-I demonstrated good psychometric properties and was found to be valid to provide a measurement of breast cancer awareness in Asian women in general and Indonesian women in particular. Keywords: Breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, instrument validation, Indonesian wome