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Introduction: Adolescence and young adulthood are especially critical times to learn about mental health, given that 75% of mental health issues are developed by the age of 24. Animations have great potential to effectively deliver mental health information to young people. A series of five short animated films to promote mental health literacy were created with and for young people in partnership with the multi-award-winning independent animation studio, Aardman Animations. The aim of this study was to explore young people's perceptions of the cocreated animated films. Methods: Seven Youth Juries were conducted to capture young people's opinions and recommendations about the content related to mental health literacy and presentation style of the cocreated animated films. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the audio transcripts. Results: Many participants reported a view that the animated films had the potential to promote mental health literacy, especially for understanding mental health and reducing stigma. Some recommendations were provided to improve the films, such as including subtitles and having a better transition to the companion website. Conclusion: Cocreated animations have great potential to promote the mental health literacy of young people. We hope that the findings from the present study will inform future media development to make them as effective as possible. Patient or Public Contribution: Young people were actively involved in the development, production, implementation and evaluation (up to the time before data analysis) of the animated films.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an audio and animated cartoon questionnaire (AACQ) at improving consent process in child for biospecimen donation. METHODS A multi-center randomized and controlled survey was performed at two pediatric hospitals in China from 2019 to 2020. Children aged from 7 to 18 years in the pediatric surgery wards were invited to investigate the participants' willingness and attitudes for donating biospecimens. A total of 264 children, including 119 in the AACQ group and 145 in the TQ group, and 67 parents of children were analyzed. A separate knowledge test was acquired in the questionnaires. RESULTS Our findings showed that the response rate of the AACQ group (89.85%) was significantly higher than that of the TQ group (68.44%; p

In this study, to investigate whether infants showed face-specific brain activity to a cartoon human face, we conducted a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) experiment and a behavioral experiment. In the fNIRS experiment, we measured the hemodynamic responses of 5- and 6-month-old infants to cartoon female and cartoon character faces using fNIRS. The results showed that the concentration of oxy-Hb increased for cartoon female faces but not for cartoon character faces. This indicates that face-specific brain activity occurred for cartoon female faces but not cartoon character faces, despite the fact that both are faces. In the behavioral experiment, we examined whether the 5- and 6-month-old infants preferred cartoon female faces to cartoon character faces in the upright and inverted conditions. The results showed a preference for cartoon female faces in the upright but not in the inverted condition. This indicates that 5- and 6-month-old infants can perceive cartoon female faces, but not cartoon character faces, as faces. The results of the two experiments indicated that face-specific brain activity occurred for cartoon female faces. This indicates that infants can perceive cartoon female faces as faces.

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of two cartoons which depict autistic characters in improving attitudes towards autistic peers in two separate studies. Forty-six children participated in study 1 (4–7 years), and 47 children participated in study 2 (8–11 years). Both the conative (behavioural) component of attitudes and knowledge about autism were measured before and after the cartoon interventions. Knowledge of autism increased after watching the cartoons in both studies but attitudes to autism only improved in study 1. Knowledge was shown to correlate with change in some but not all attitude measures. The findings suggest that cartoons can improve attitudes to autism, but this may depend on how information is presented.

Comics are complex documents whose reception engages cognitive processes such as scene perception, language processing, and narrative understanding. Possibly because of their complexity, they have rarely been studied in cognitive science. Modeling the stimulus ideally requires a formal description, which can be provided by feature descriptors from computer vision and computational linguistics. With a focus on document analysis, here we review work on the computational modeling of comics. We argue that the development of modern feature descriptors based on deep learning techniques has made sufficient progress to allow the investigation of complex material such as comics for reception studies, including experimentation and computational modeling of cognitive processes.

Children's math learning (N = 217; Mage = 4.87 years; 63% European American, 96% college-educated families) from an intelligent character game was examined via social meaningfulness (parasocial relationships [PSRs]) and social contingency (parasocial interactions, e.g., math talk). In three studies (data collected in the DC area: 12/2015-10/2017), children's parasocial relationships and math talk with the intelligent character predicted quicker, more accurate math responses during virtual game play. Children performed better on a math transfer task with physical objects when exposed to an embodied character (Study 2), and when the character used socially contingent replies, which was mediated by math talk (Study 3). Results suggest that children's parasocial relationships and parasocial interactions with intelligent characters provide new frontiers for 21st century learning.

Rationale Studies show that the presentation of healthy foods within media does not lead to healthier food choices in children. A persuasive strategy is needed. We investigated how healthy peer cues shown in an audiovisual cartoon influence children's food choice. Method In an experiment, we showed children a cartoon presenting no food (i.e., the control condition), one child eating raspberries (i.e., the minority condition), or all children eating raspberries (i.e., the majority condition). We measured children's majority awareness—that is, their awareness of peers' preference for raspberries—as a mediator variable. We assessed children's fruit choice as a dependent variable and tested the moderating role of food neophobia. Results Children in the majority condition did not show a higher majority awareness compared to the control condition. Compared to the control and majority conditions, however, the minority condition prompted children to conclude that most of their peers do not like raspberries, leading to a subsequent lower likelihood of choosing fruit. Children's levels of food neophobia did not moderate these results, but food neophobia moderated the direct effect of experimental conditions on food choice, independent of majority awareness. In particular, children with high levels of food neophobia refrained from choosing the healthy snack when the minority of peers ate raspberries in the cartoon. Conclusions This study has provided some indications into how healthy food presentations within an audiovisual stimulus can influence children's food choice. Prompting children's healthy eating behaviors by presenting healthy foods in media content is not as easy as prompting unhealthy food choices by presenting unhealthy foods. Children's natural preference for fruit is attenuated by peer cues shown in media when a peer is in a minority. Overall, content producers should be aware of the risks of minority peer cues.

Animation is the collision of art and science. How does an animation studio like DreamWorks Animation use scientific principles and engage in science education to make our films better? By facilitating scientific master-classes, demos, and lectures we give our creators a fundamental understanding of reality that enables them to create the animation caricature known as the Illusion of Life. We leverage principles of biology and physics to create believable performances. I will share insights about our custom programming such as master-classes on Quadruped Anatomy and Flight and how these result in a better image on screen. Conversely, animators offer storytelling tools to the scientific community. Animators often use visualization tools similar to those that many scientists use, but in differing narrative orders and with budgets often far exceeding those of scientists. I will highlight strategies of presentation enhancing understanding and increasing the speed of building bridges to share information with the public. This can help scientists leverage their own scientific principles as they present the importance and excitement of their work to the public, as well as to one another.

Comics have always responded to pandemics/catastrophes, documenting the way we deal with such crises. Recently, graphic medicine, an interdisciplinary field of comics and medicine, has been curating comics, editorial cartoons, autobiographical cartoons, and social media posts under the heading "COVID-19 Comics" on their websites. These collected comics express what we propose to call covidity, a neologism that captures both individual and collective philosophical, material, and wide-ranging emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Treating such comics as the source material and drawing insights from theorists Ian Williams, Alan Bleakley, Susan Sontag, and others, this article examines graphic medicine's representation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conceptual metaphors of war, anthropomorphism, and superheroism are used to represent and illustrate the lived experience of the pandemic, and the article investigates metaphor types, their utility, and motivational triggers for such representations. In doing so, the essay situates graphic medicine as a productive site that presents the pandemic's multifarious impact.

To analyze the determinants and severity of perineal pain in the adventures of Tintin and Snowy.All 23 adventures of Tintin and Snowy (Hergé, Moulinsart Ed.) were reviewed in order to determine the presence, causes and severity of perineal pain (PP) observed in the various heroes of this comic book. Several parameters were studied: the cause which could be either accidental or voluntary; the type of patient (good guys-bad guys); the hero concerned (Tintin, Captain Haddock, Thompson and Thomson, Snowy, Professor Calculus …); the duration of the pain (by the number of boxes where the subject was represented suffering from such pains); finally, the severity of these pains, by the number of stars or signs designating the region and stereotyping the importance of the pain. The Student and ChiFive hundred and one traumas were found in the adventures of Tintin and Snowy, including 47 PP, 9.4% of cases compared to 299 head traumas (60% of cases). Six albums out of the 23 did not report any PP. PPs are usually traumatic either by a fall (68%) or by direct trauma (kick to the back 6%, spanking 4%) much more exceptionally by a bite (2 cases), a burn (2 cases), needles or arrows inserted in the bottom (5 cases) and a bullet wound (1 case). Tintin is the most concerned (19%) with Captain Haddock (23%), followed by Snowy (15%). The bad guys and the good guys don't share equally the perineal pain since the good guys are forgivably more exposed (79% vs. 21%). There is no correlation between head trauma and PP (rThe frequency of traumatic PP in Tintin's adventures is important and is second only to head injuries. This frequency of PP traumas is undoubtedly linked to the hectic and adventurous life of Tintin and his acolytes exposed in all circumstances to all kinds of direct or indirect injuries. Future studies will have to specify the risk of after-effects and the psychological impact of PPs on the heroes concerned.4.

Laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 has been delayed in some laboratories due to high demand for testing and supply shortages. This has led to proposals and plans that reimbursement for delayed results be reduced or not paid at all (1, 2). Read the comic strip to find out more.

The 68(th) Montagna Symposium on the Biology of the Skin was held from October 10–14, 2019, at Salishan Lodge in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. The theme of the meeting was “Decoding Complex Skin Diseases: Integrating Genetics, Genomics, and Disease Biology”. The meeting emphasized integration of multiple themes and disciplines to better understand some of the most common skin diseases, ranging from psoriasis to alopecia areata to vitiligo to lupus erythematosus to atopic dermatitis and food allergy. Promising therapeutic strategies are emerging for all of these diseases, providing clues for ways to connect the bench to the bedside. A common thread was the success of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which have highlighted the importance of regulatory signals vs. coding variation. These diseases also share an environmental component linked to immune system function. Hence, beyond GWAS studies, this meeting focused on gene regulatory mechanisms, the “single-cell revolution”, in vivo systems for dissection of disease pathogenesis, and the relationship between genetics and environment in the context of host defense. We concluded with a “Translational Roundtable” designed to explore how these interrelated fields can best be directed towards long term disease control, and ultimately, cure.

It is important for all professionals who work with individuals who have ASD to have sufficient knowledge of the disorder. The development of ASD knowledge may occur during preservice training and/or through professional development. Currently, there is no "gold standard" measure of ASD knowledge. A study focusing on the development of a reliable and valid measure of ASD knowledge for practitioners and preservice professionals is warranted. To address this need, the current study provides preliminary information on the development and preliminary validation of the Autism Spectrum Knowledge Scale Professional Version-Revised (ASKSP-R) with a sample of school-based professionals (N = 427). Results suggest the ASKSP-R is a univariate measure with good reliability. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Background Cartoon characters on processed food packaging increase the perception of product preference among children, but their effect among adults has rarely been examined. We evaluated the effect of a cartoon character on breakfast cereals on beliefs about buying them for children, as well as whether demographic characteristics modified this effect. Methods An experimental study was conducted with adults from online consumer panels in Mexico (n = 3755). Participants were randomly assigned to a “cartoon” condition (n = 1789), in which they viewed a breakfast cereal box with a Minion character on the front of the package, or the “control” condition (n = 1966), in which the same cereal box was displayed with no character on the package. Participants were asked: “Is this a good cereal to buy children?” with the response options “Yes”, “No”, or “Don’t know”. Multinomial adjusted logistic models regressed responses to this question (Yes = 0, No = 1, 2 = Don’t know) on experimental condition. Differences in the effect of the cartoon character across demographic characteristics were tested by introducing multiplicative interaction terms. Results The adjusted model showed that participants in the “cartoon character” condition were 1.67 (1.45–1.94) times more likely to consider the cereal as being “Not good to buy for children” than those in the control condition (p Conclusion Among this sample of Mexican adults, a cereal with a cartoon character on the packaging was more often perceived as “not good to buy for children” compared to a cereal without it. This effect was smaller among parents, potentially due to children influences of parental decisions during food purchasing.

The Exhibition Program, part of the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine, spotlights the collection of the library by creating exhibitions and educational resources that explore the social and cultural history of medicine. Our goal is to stimulate people’s enthusiasm for history and encourage visitors of all ages to learn more about themselves and their communities. We do what we do because we believe that health and well-being are fundamental human rights and are essential to our American way of life. And we believe exhibitions are a logical expression of that commitment.Oftentimes, exhibitions focus on underrepresented subjects or lesser-known types of literature, which helps to inform the library’s collection development activity. Collection development staff take a keen interest in viewing exhibitions, attending related lectures, and performing bibliographic research on topics that are unlikely to be captured in conventional scientific and professional literature. This heightened awareness leads staff to discover niche publishers, significant authors, and unique titles, thereby enriching the collection for future generations.Following the decision to embark on an exhibition about graphic medicine, collections staff more closely investigated this class of literature. This column explores how wider social and cultural influences can change the medical literature and inform and enrich the collections policies of an institution.

This was to evaluate the effect of visual distraction on anxiety of children during dental treatment. This randomized, crossover clinical trial study was conducted on 28 children (aged 4–5 years) randomly divided into two groups of 14 each. Group 1, treatment procedure in the first visit was completed while the patients were watching a cartoon as a visual distraction tool, at the second visit, the procedure was carried out with conventional tell-show-do. Group 2, had visual distraction in their second visit and conventional tell-show-do during the first visit. Treatment procedures were similar in both groups during two sessions. The anxiety level was determined using Venham picture test and pulse rate (PR) at the beginning and the end of each appointment. Patient behaviour was also scored using Frankl behaviour rating scale (FBRS). Self-reported dental anxiety was reduced significantly by visual distraction (p-value

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Primary skin cancer prevention campaigns are essential and more effective among children, not only because of the importance of sun exposure effects during this period, but also because this age is when individuals are developing behaviours. The Brazilian Society of Dermatology - Regional State of Sao Paulo developed and conducted the programme named 'The Sun, Friend of Childhood', a school health education and disease prevention project for children and parents. Our objective was to evaluate the cognitive and behavioural effects of the children and parents before and after an education model-based intervention of sun protection. METHODS We carried out a study on a school population of Social Service of Industry - Regional State of Sao Paulo, from the first to the fifth years of the regular course (6-10 years). Our educational project was planned to be based on two children's learning tools (comic magazine and a DVD cartoon). Questionnaires in relation to habits and knowledge in sun exposure were applied to the children (3776) before and (2748) after the intervention. A questionnaire was applied to 3663 parents regarding personal details and habits of their children. RESULTS According to the McNemar's statistical test, all changes in the children in acquiring new knowledge about good practices for sun exposure were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Educative sun exposure programmes in childhood are a relevant tool to modify the history of life for next generations, to concern the skin cancer and good health practices.

This study compared the following effects of two vaccine information flyers-one developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) versus one adapted from this information to a comic medium (comic)-on adults: (a) attitude toward the flyer; (b) perceived informativeness of the flyer; (c) intention to seek more information about adult immunizations after viewing the flyer; and (d) intention to get immunized after viewing the flyer. A between-group, randomized trial was used to randomly assign adults (age 18 years or older) at an ambulatory care center to review the CDC or comic flyer. Participants were asked to complete a survey to measure several outcome variables. Items were measured using a 7-point semantic differential scale. Independent-samples t-test was used for comparisons. A total of 265 surveys (CDC n = 132 vs comic n = 133) were analyzed. The comic flyer had a statistically significant effect on participants' attitudes and their perception of the flyer's informativeness compared to the CDC flyer. Flyer type did not have a statistically significant effect on intention-related variables. The study findings showed that the comic flyer was positively evaluated compared to the CDC flyer. These findings could provide a new direction for developing adult educational materials.

There are unaesthetic aspects in teaching people about the early detection of colorectal cancer using the fecal immunochemical test. Comics were seen as a way to overcome those unaesthetic aspects. This study used the Asian grocery store-based cancer education venue to pilot-test the clarity, cultural acceptability, and alignment of five colorectal cancer education comics intended for publication in Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) community newspapers. After developing the colorectal cancer education comics, API students asked shoppers to review a comic from their collection and provide feedback on how to make the comic clearer and more culturally pertinent to API readers. To evaluate viewers' responses, the students gathered such unobtrusive data as: (1) how many of the predetermined salient information points were discussed as the student educators interacted with shoppers and (2) how many comics the shoppers were willing to review. Shoppers were also asked to evaluate how effective the comics would be at motivating colorectal cancer screening among APIs. The students were able to cover all of the salient information points with the first comic. As evidence of the comics' capacity to engage shoppers' interest, shoppers willingly evaluated all five comics. Using multiple comics enabled the educators to repeatedly address the four salient colorectal cancer information points. Thus, the comics helped student educators to overcome the unesthetic elements of colorectal cancer discussions, while enabling them to engage shoppers in animated discussions, for far more time than with their conventional didactic educational methods.

School-based intervention would be promising to spread stroke knowledge widely. This study aimed to clarify the effectiveness of our new educational aids that were developed for elementary school children to impart information about stroke to children and their parents in 2 different ways: with or without stroke lessons by a neurologist.We enrolled 562 children (aged 11 to 12 years) and their parents (n = 485). The students were divided into 2 groups: 323 received a lesson on stroke by a stroke neurologist without watching an animated cartoon (Group I), and 239 watched an animated cartoon without the lesson (Group II). All of the children took the manga home, and talked about stroke with their parents. Questionnaires on stroke knowledge were administered at baseline (BL), immediately after the lesson (IL), and 3 months (3M) after the lesson.There were significant increases in the adjusted mean scores for risk factors as well as stroke symptoms at 3M in both groups compared with BL scores, although the children in Group I scored significantly better than those in Group II at IL and 3M (P .05). In both children and parents, the correct answer rates of the FAST mnemonic at 3M were around 90%, with no significant differences between groups.Stroke education for elementary school children using our educational aids provided knowledge of stroke symptoms to the children as well as their parents even without lessons on stroke, although a better understanding of stroke was obtained from lessons led by stroke neurologists.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of positive images versus neutral images on child behavior during dental treatment and their dental anxiety after dental treatment. Study design: Sixty, 4 to 6 year old healthy pediatric dental patients, indicated for pulpotomy and stainless steel crown restorations, were divided randomly into two equal groups. Group I (experimental group viewed positive dental images and group II (control group) viewed neutral cartoon images prior to treatment. Behavior was assessed using Frankl rating scale in all four treatment phases: seating, local anesthesia administration, pulpotomy and overall rating. Patient's anxiety was determined according to Venham Picture Test (VPT) before and after dental procedure. Results: Behavior rating using the Frankl scale showed a statistically significant difference in the two groups in the overall rating (P= 0.003, 0.001 respectively). No statistically significant difference was found between both groups in any of the treatment phases (P= 0.288, 0.060, 0.719 respectively) and between the mean VPT scores before and after procedures (P=0.95, 0.93 respectively. Conclusion: Viewing neutral or positive dental images did not have an effect on child's anticipatory anxiety level. However, it is an effective method of improving the behavior in children.

Nowadays, entertainment-education (E-E) is often used as a persuasive strategy to stimulate prosocial behavior. Although E-E is mostly regarded as a persuasive strategy in itself, in an increasing number of E-E programs several persuasive strategies are used to communicate the educational message to the audience. This study investigates the effects of a strategy widely used in health communication, but not previously studied in the field of E-E: framing. To this means we examined the effect of two different ways an E-E message can be framed: by emphasizing either the losses of not performing the behavior in question or the gains of performing this behavior. A serial multiple mediation model showed that framing affected intention to refrain from drunk cycling via counterarguing and attitude toward drunk cycling; the use of a gain frame decreased counterarguing, which decreased the attitude toward drunk cycling. This subsequently resulted in a higher intention to refrain from this behavior. Implications of these results are discussed.

Resumo Publicados diariamente de 1994 a 2002 no jornal Correio Popular, de Campinas, os quadrinhos Os cientistas, produzidos por jornalistas e pesquisadores brasileiros, apresentaram a prática científica de modo crítico e irreverente, expondo a insegurança e as frustrações dos cientistas, além dos conflitos entre eles e da dificuldade de comunicação com outros grupos, como os jornalistas. Este artigo mostra a diversidade de personagens, temas, apresentação gráfica e seus possíveis significados, por meio de uma amostra de tiras publicadas nos quatro primeiros anos.

Many people have a habit of moving their legs and believe that this behavior is due to the restless legs syndrome (RLS), a highly prevalent neurological condition that greatly impairs the quality of life of affected individuals. This behavioral pattern, characterized by the habit of moving one’s legs and feet, may be an important confounding factor in the diagnosis of RLS. Objective: To describe the main movements associated with this benign behavioral state to characterize a possible clinical condition that can contribute to the differential diagnosis of RLS. Methods: Experienced sleep specialists, who primarily see RLS patients listed the most frequent movements people without RLS report while describing their suspected RLS. We first compiled a list of the lower-limb movements described by the specialists. Then, one of the authors (KC) carried out all movements of the list on camera to obtain a video footage. This footage was sent to one of the authors, EPC, who, alongside a group of students, drew graphic representations (cartoons) of the recorded movements. Results: The panel of sleep experts described 13 leg movements commonly reported by their patients. The experts reported 11 simple movements and two combined movements. Conclusion: In this study we developed an instrument that allows us to oppose and distinguish a pathological condition (RLS) from a behavioral phenomenon. This state of behavioral leg fidgeting needs to be better characterized and may eventually be recognized as a clinical entity per se. Resumo Muitas pessoas têm o hábito de movimentar as pernas e acreditam que esse comportamento decorre da Síndrome das Pernas Inquietas (SPI), uma condição neurológica altamente prevalente com grande impacto na qualidade de vida dos indivíduos acometidos. Esse padrão de comportamento, caracterizado pelo costume de mover as pernas e os pés, pode ser um importante fator confundidor no diagnóstico da SPI. Objetivo: Descrever os principais movimentos associados a esse estado comportamental benigno, com a finalidade de caracterizar uma eventual condição clínica que possa contribuir para o diagnóstico diferencial da SPI. Métodos: Especialistas em distúrbios do sono, que atendem principalmente pacientes com SPI, listaram os movimentos que as pessoas sem SPI reportam com maior frequência enquanto descrevem a sua suspeita de síndrome. Elaboramos uma lista de movimentos dos membros inferiores descritos pelos especialistas e um dos autores (KC) realizou esses movimentos para que fossem gravados em vídeo. Essa filmagem foi enviada ao autor EPC, que, em conjunto com um grupo de alunos, realizou a representação gráfica (cartoon) dos movimentos gravados. Resultados: Os especialistas reportaram 13 movimentos de pernas, sendo 11 movimentos simples e dois movimentos combinados. Conclusão: Neste estudo, elaboramos um instrumento que permite opor, com a finalidade de diferenciá-las, uma condição patológica (SPI) de um fenômeno comportamental. Esse estado de inquietude comportamental das pernas necessita ser mais bem caracterizado, podendo eventualmente vir a ser reconhecido como uma entidade clínica per se.

BACKGROUND: During cancer treatment, children undergo potentially stressful hospitalizations and procedures. Animatronic devices are a promising means of distraction intervention. This study aimed to assess acceptability and feasibility of the My Special Aflac Duck® (MSAD) intervention among pediatric oncology patients and parents. We hypothesized that MSAD would be feasible to implement, have greater than 50% acceptance, and be useful distraction. PROCEDURES: This feasibility study enrolled oncology patients aged 3–11 years admitted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta between May and August 2018. Patients were exposed to MSAD for 3 days and completed quantitative and qualitative assessments of acceptability. Patient and hospital data were abstracted. RESULTS: Seventeen (80.9%) of 21 eligible patients enrolled; 64.7% were

Introduction 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. Methods 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. Results 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 Conclusions 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. Implications 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.

CMAJ will soon begin publishing graphic medicine articles in its Humanities section. Graphic medicine is a form of visual storytelling that explores narratives of the body, health care, healing and disability. This burgeoning area of medical humanities is part of growing popular interest in graphic

espanolAntecedentes: La empatia es la capacidad de un individuo para entender al otro desde el punto de vista cognitivo y emocional. La empatia es un constructo complejo que representa un reto en su evaluacion, por lo cual es necesario contar con instrumentos validados en poblacion mexicana. Objetivo: Validacion de la prueba de Tiras comicas para evaluar empatia. Metodo: Muestreo por conveniencia, se midio la consistencia interna, la validez convergente con el coeficiente de empatia, la validez de constructo con analisis factorial y la capacidad de discriminar entre sujetos con deficit de empatia por psicopatologia con controles por medio de una curva Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) por sus siglas en ingles. Resultados: La escala de Tiras comicas se evaluo en 86 controles, 19 pacientes con esquizofrenia, α de Cronbach = 0.894. La correlacion con el coeficiente de empatia fue de 0.88, con una sensibilidad del 81.3% y la especificidad del 38%. Conclusiones: Se valido la prueba de Tiras comicas con adecuados parametros psicometricos. EnglishIntroduction: Empathy is the ability of an individual to understand it from another cognitive and emotional point of view. Empathy is a complex that represents a retouch in its evaluation, so, it is necessary to have instruments validated in the Mexican population. Objective: Validation of the Comic Strip Test to evaluate empathy. Method: Sampling for convenience, based on internal consistency, convergent validity with the Empathy coefficient, construct validity in the factorial analysis, and the ability to discriminate between subjects with lack of empathy (psychopathology) and the control subjects through a curve ROC. Results: The comic strips test was evaluated in 86 controls, 19 patients with schizophrenia (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.894). The correlation with the empathy coefficient was 0.88, with sensitivity of 81.3% and specificity of 38%. Conclusions: The Comic Strip Test was validated with parametric psychometric parameters.

Food messages transmitted in media are considered to affect children´s eating habits. Depending on the healthiness of the food messages, these food portrayals can be supportive or non-supportive in educational food content, affecting eventually childhood obesity. This study aims to analyze how food references present in children´s animated cartoons are depicted, considering not only their prevalence and prominence but also their educational nature which is measured by the overall message that is being transmitted. A content analysis of non- branded food placements was conducted on the basis of 25 international cartoon series for children (aged 3-12) with 4,790 minutes of viewing. A total of 1,065 food placements occurred with a rate of one placement approximately every five minutes. A balance was found between the frequency of low and highly-recommended consumption foods and the same happened considering the educational nature of the global message. When the target age and the country of origin were considered, the least educational messages predominated in those series aimed at the oldest children group and produced in North America. This study intends to contribute to the problem of childhood obesity by indicating the educational nature of the food messages that children are confronted with. As prevalence and prominence of non-supportive food placements to educational food content is high, policy makers should consider these findings when designing public policies that aim to prevent childhood obesity.

For microbiologists, the importance of microorganisms in our daily lives and their impact on our well-being is evident. However, microbiology literacy in our society is far from being enough for individuals to make informed choices and to demand actions based on that information. The vaccine hesitation movement and the alarming increase in antimicrobial resistance due to overuse and misuse of antibiotics are just two examples of how much work is needed to make our society literate in topics related to microbiology. Considering the challenges of communicating a discipline surrounded by misconceptions, which studies the role of living organisms that cannot be seen in plain sight, we need to explore different strategies to effectively contribute to microbiology literacy in our society. Here, we will comment on the use of comics for such a task.

Medical education is an arduous process with widespread study of very complex information across diverse subjects. The use of medical illustrations in schematic or cartoon-like appearances is an old method of conveying intricate information. They are relatively absent in medical classrooms today. The purpose of this study was to survey members of a medical university, students and teachers regarding their opinions of medical cartoons. Most respondents had favourable opinions of cartoons in medical education. More research is required to conclude what parameters make cartoons effective teaching aids. Moreover, many teachers may lack formal training in applying cartoons within their curriculum.

The past decade has seen a rapid growth of cognitive and brain research focused on visual narratives like comics and picture stories. This paper will summarize and integrate this emerging literature into the Parallel Interfacing Narrative-Semantics Model (PINS Model)-a theory of sequential image processing characterized by an interaction between two representational levels: semantics and narrative structure. Ongoing semantic processes build meaning into an evolving mental model of a visual discourse. Updating of spatial, referential, and event information then incurs costs when they are discontinuous with the growing context. In parallel, a narrative structure organizes semantic information into coherent sequences by assigning images to categorical roles, which are then embedded within a hierarchic constituent structure. Narrative constructional schemas allow for specific predictions of structural sequencing, independent of semantics. Together, these interacting levels of representation engage in an iterative process of retrieval of semantic and narrative information, prediction of upcoming information based on those assessments, and subsequent updating based on discontinuity. These core mechanisms are argued to be domain-general-spanning across expressive systems-as suggested by similar electrophysiological brain responses (N400, P600, anterior negativities) generated in response to manipulation of sequential images, music, and language. Such similarities between visual narratives and other domains thus pose fundamental questions for the linguistic and cognitive sciences.