MISUSE OF TOPICAL CREAMS AIMED AT PREVENTING AND TREATING MELASMA AND FRECKLES AMONG WORKING WOMEN

Topical creams used to treat and prevent melasma and freckles contain corticosteroids, hydroquinone, mercury, and retinoic to lighten skin color. Misuse of these products and the rate of adverse effects have increased greatly in recent years. This study aims to assess the misuse of topical cream to prevent and treat melasma and freckles among working women in northeast Thailand. Our population consisted of 1,143 working women in the region aged 30-59 years old. The respondents were recruited from four provinces eight districts using a structured questionnaire distributed via a multi-stage random sampling method. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to represent and analyze the data. Eight hundred sixty-two (75.42%) of the respondents were users, and 105 (12.18%) had misused the products. The prevalence of misuse of products containing mercury, steroids, hydroquinone, retinoic acid, and mercury plus retinoic acid was 43.8%, 11.43%, 15.24%, 12.38%, and 17.15%, respectively. Factors associated with misuse of this product were age 30-44 years, education level less than a bachelor’s degree, working as a housekeeper or freelancer, presence of melasma and freckles, average monthly income ≤ 15,000 THB and low levels of knowledge and health literacy. Misuse of medication to treat pigmentary disorders is a growing public health concern. Social media and nonprofit campaigns should be implemented to create awareness of these products' misuse and adverse effects.

SPATIAL ASSOCIATION PATTERNS OF SMOKING, TOBACCO OUTLET DENSITY, AND SECONDHAND SMOKE IN THAILAND

Thailand has a higher prevalence of smoking behaviors which puts people at risk of morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine the spatial association of smoking behaviors and their associated factors among the population of Thailand. This study was conducted using a data set from the National Statistical Office of Thailand, 2017. A Moran’s I, local indicators of spatial association (LISA), and spatial regression were used to identify the spatial autocorrelation between tobacco outlet density, the prevalence of secondhand smoke, and smoking behaviors among Thai people. According to the results, among 88,689 participants, the prevalence of smoking behaviors was 18.00 per 1,000 population. There was global spatial autocorrelation between tobacco outlet density, the prevalence of secondhand smoke, and smoking behaviors with the Moran’s I values of 0.120 and 0.375, respectively. The LISA analysis identified significant positive spatial local autocorrelation of smoking behaviors in the form of nine high-high clusters of tobacco outlets density and ten high-high prevalence clusters of secondhand smoke. The prevalence of secondhand smoke predicted smoking behaviors by 62.8 percent. There were spatial associations between tobacco outlet density and secondhand smoke problems that led the youngsters to start smoking. It is a general recommendation to strictly enforce policies and laws to control smoking, and cover all regions in Thailand.

PREHOSPITAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES UTILIZATION FOR CRITICAL PATIENTS AND ITS DETERMINANTS IN THAILAND

This research aimed to determine the situations and factors associated with prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) utilization for critical patients in Thailand. This cross-sectional study used the data of a survey conducted by the Information Technology for Emergency Medical System (ITEMS) of the National Institute of Emergency Medicine, Thailand. The survey collected the data among 1,145 participants using a structured questionnaire. The generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to identify the factors associated with prehospital EMS utilization among critical patients when controlling the effects of covariates presenting adjusted OR and 95% confidence interval. Among 1,145 critical patients, 33.71 % reported using the prehospital EMS of the emergency medical system. Factors that were associated with prehospital EMS use had a high level of knowledge on prehospital EMS (adj. OR = 6.49; 95%CI: 3.78-11.12), high level of trust in quality and safety of prehospital EMS (adj. OR = 4.72; 95%CI: 3.50-6.36), low-moderate severity of perceived illness (adj. OR= 3.71; 95%CI: 2.54-5.42), critical condition occurred at workplace/building (adj. OR=3.57; 95%CI: 2.33-5.47), at home/residential building (adj. OR = 2.21; 95%CI: 1.37-3.58), had adequate services in the area (adj. OR= 1.94; 95%CI: 1.45-2.60), finished at least secondary school (adj. OR= 1.62; 95%CI: 1.11-2.37), less than 15km distance between scene and EMS service site (adj. OR= 1.47; 95%CI: 1.10-1.98), and were very satisfied with services (adj. OR = 1.15; 95%CI: 1.08-1.22) from the reasons mentioned.

A STUDY OF LOCAL WISDOM, SOCIAL INTEREST, AND PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR IN IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this study is to develop a model of environmental leadership in profit-oriented companies. The theoretical basis is strategic thinking which includes cognitive psychology, systems thinking, and games theory to realize the triple bottom line-oriented environmental leadership performance. The study used quantitative methods in all 25 Rural Banks in Semarang City from April to May 2021, which involved 339 respondents consisting of commissioners, directors, managers, supervisors, and executives. The empirical data was analyzed using SEM-AMOS. The models consist of SEM 1: ELP = 0.256 LW + 0.288 SI + 0.138 PEB + e1 (R2 = 0.295); PEB = 0.446 LW + 0.094 SI + e2 (R2 = 0.247). The paper is novel because it seeks to contribute to the current debate in the literature about what factors affect the performance of environmental leadership. The other novelty of this research is a comprehensive model consisting of local wisdom, social interest, and pro-environmental behavior to improve environmental leadership performance. Based on this model, there is empirical evidence that environmental leadership performance (ELP) can be improved by increasing the combination of local wisdom (LW), social interest (SI), and pro-environmental behavior (PEB). The study also provides novelty that PEB mediates significantly positive the effect of LW on ELP, but PEB only mediates the effect of SI on ELP positively but not significantly. This study offers practical and theoretical implications, providing recommendations for Rural Banks to implement the environmental leadership models that include local wisdom and social interest, and an empirical confirmation of the environmental leadership model by combining strategic thinking and the triple bottom line for the development of literature and psychological assessment materials. Similarly, this study also provides policy implications. It is useful to evaluate and improve several regulations and leadership standards in Rural Bank to realize sustainable finance and evaluate psychological requirements based on the environmental leadership models.

EVALUATION MODEL FOR LOW VISION USERS IN MOBILE APPLICATION

This paper aims to discuss the usability evaluation model for mobile applications used by low vision users. Low vision users have difficulties using mobile applications due to limited view, bright sunshine, small text, and other reasons. This type of user uses mobile applications designed for users with normal vision, and they have many difficulties in reading, accessing, and understanding. Therefore, this paper provides a mobile application usability evaluation model for this type of user, and the proposed model includes usability measures that fulfill their usability requirements. This study employed a systematic review of previous research on good practices and requirements for low vision users to use mobile applications. Also, the new model was evaluated by the domain experts through a focus group session. This model aims to support the development of a mobile application that low vision users can use, which has not been supported in previous studies since it guides mobile application developers to develop mobile applications that fulfill low vision users' usability requirements. It also helps to identify usability problems in the current mobile applications for this type of user. This study will benefit low vision people in using mobile applications effectively, easily, and comfortably.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON MENTAL HEALTH AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS

This descriptive study provides basic data for developing a mental health promotion program by analyzing the mental health status under the impact of COVID-19 and verifying the factors affecting mental health. This study aims to identify the prevalence and associated factors of mental health after the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted targeting a total of 156 Korean adults aged 19~64 years. Using the SPSS Win 19.0 program, the frequency, mean, t-test or ANOVA, X2-test, linear regression, and logistic regression analysis were performed. A total of 31.4%, 20.5%, and 12.8% of all subjects classified depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation risk, respectively, and intolerance of uncertainty affected depression (β = .51) and anxiety (β = .63). In addition to intolerance of uncertainty, self-efficacy (β = -.16) was a factor affecting depression. The variables explain 35% of depression and 44% of anxiety. Further, employment status affected suicidal ideation, which increased the risk of suicidal ideation 2.71-fold with unemployed status. This paper is novel because it seeks to find that the intolerance of uncertainty was the common factor affecting mental health during COVID-19. The early detection of risk due to COVID-19 and the intolerance of uncertainty are common factors underlying mental health issues, underscoring the need for cognitive interventions at the individual level and sufficient information and psychological support related to the COVID-19 at the national level.

ROCK SLOPE SURFACE STABILITY ANALYSIS: A CASE STUDY ON HON LON ISLAND, KIEN HAI DISTRICT, KIEN GIANG PROVINCE, VIETNAM

The research aimed to study 24 rock slope surfaces along the road around Hon Lon Island, Kien Hai district, Kien Giang province, Vietnam. The analytical results have determined slope failure, wedge failure, and toppling, which occurred on almost slope surface and the average percentage of plane failure is the largest. The average percent of plane failure is 19.23%, the wedge failure is 15.35%, and the toppling fault is 6.73%. Besides, the analytical results have also identified the slope surfaces which can be the key blocks: ND-13, 18, 23, 25, 34, 37, 45, 51, 62, 63. The other analytical results show that the existence of key blocks at the rock slope surfaces in the N-S direction, dip to E at the survey locations: ND-13, 23, 63 and dip to W at the survey locations: ND-37, 45; in the NE-SW direction, dip to SE at the survey locations: ND-15, 62 and dip to NW at the survey locations: ND-18, 34; in the NW-SE direction, dip to SW at the survey location ND-51. These results have important significance to support for protecting slope surface safety.

AN INVESTIGATION TURBULENCE MODEL OF STANDARD k- TO GET OPTIMUM PARAMETERS OF TURBULENCE CONSTANTS (cµ, c1, AND c2) OF COMPRESSIBLE FLUID DYNAMICS IN A CONFINED JET

This research aims to find the optimal standard k-e turbulence model constants (cµ, c1e, and c2e) for better predicting compressible fluid dynamics in an air jet ejector. The turbulence field in a jet flow plays an important role in influencing the performance of the momentum transfer process at a shear layer in nozzle application for momentum source and mixing process. In this research, some activities have been done before analyzing and optimizing the turbulence model constants, including preliminary turbulence modeling study for compressible flow in the air-jet ejector, verification, and validation with primary experimental data as well as by other secondary data. The preliminary studies in turbulence modeling presented that the turbulence modeling of a 3mm air jet-ejector resulted in a similar trend of the relation between entrainment ratio and motive fluid pressure. The results showed that the sensitive parameters in the standard k-emodel dissipation and diffusion terms, cµ, c1e, and c2e, strongly affected the optimum value of turbulence kinetic energy (k) and dissipation rate (e), compared to the reference model. Better k and e could be obtained by changing the c2e into positively proportional, but the cµ and c1e must be changed with opposite proportionality. It was found that the optimum standard k-e model constants in the case of air-jet ejector with 3 mm nozzle diameter for cµ, c1e, and c2e are 0.05, 1.48, and 1.88, respectively, with the error values for k being -8.88% and e being -17.44%.

A NOVEL SOLAR SIMULATOR BASED ON COMBINED NATURAL-WHITE AND INFRARED LIGHT EMITTING DIODES

Despite the continuous trend of an LED solar simulator development, there was little to be found in the application of a phosphor-converted natural white LED (pc-nWLED) for construction. This article reported the design and construction of an LED solar simulator which combined a pc-nWLED with infrared LEDs. The objectives of this study are to determine the performance of a novel solar simulator including non-uniformity (SNE), temporal stability (TIE), and spectrum mismatch (SM). This is followed by an experimental study of the correlation between the LED’s temperature and SNE. A spectroradiometer, pyranometer, and a custom-made non-uniformity measurement system were applied to test the performance characteristics of this solar simulator. The results indicated that the proposed solar simulator could achieve the AAA class. The results showed 0.90-1.08 of SM, 0.83% TIE, and 1.34% of SNE. The SNE indicated the positive significant correlation with the LED’s temperature, with an approximate of +0.043% per °C. A good cooling system for the LED module was necessary to maintain constant light uniformity. The blue-chip phosphor converted white LED combination with color mixed of 730 nm, 850 nm, and 940 nm could emit a light spectrum that was very close to the reference spectrum of about 99.6%.

THE ROLE OF OVER THE TOP (OTT) SERVICE ON UTILIZATION OF TELECOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE BASED ON INDONESIAN TAX AND NON-TAX POLICY

The rapid development of Over the Top (OTT) services has enabled consumers to enjoy high service quality from technology even more. Nevertheless, OTT also brings other effects for telecommunications companies in Indonesia; namely, there are legal problems and obstacles faced regarding regulation and practice of tax and non-tax for OTT business providers because these services do not have a form of cooperation with telecommunications operators. In addition, the model of policies and regulations is still uncertain regarding how the tax and non-tax imposition should be in Indonesia. This study uses a normative juridical research method emphasizing secondary data (library research) with three legal materials, namely primary, secondary and tertiary legal materials. The research includes data searching and inventory and laws and regulations related to tax and non-tax imposition for OTT services on the utilization of telecommunication infrastructure and other relevant sources. Results of the study determine the extent to which regulations on the tax and non-tax imposition govern OTT media in Indonesia to understand and find the policy and regulatory issues related to tax and non-tax imposition practices faced by OTT business actors. In addition, it also aims to find obstacles in policy formulation and stipulation of tax and non-tax regulations for OTT business actors in Indonesia. Further, it seeks to find a tax and non-tax policies and regulations model for OTT business actors in Indonesia through a service collaboration, comparative, and normative approaches. Hence, this will also open up opportunities to increase state revenue from the imposition of tax and non-tax from all OTT service providers, both national and international.