Methods: This study included 224 mothers of under-five children living in urban slums of Udupi Taluk, Karnataka. A total of 17 urban slums were selected randomly using random cluster sampling.

Results: Undernutrition was high among children of illiterate mothers (63.8%), and the children of working mothers were affected by more morbidity (96.6%) as compared with housewives. Morbidity was also found to be high among children belonging to families with low incomes (66.1%) and low socio-economic backgrounds (93.1%). Safe drinking water, water supply, sanitation, hygiene, age of the child, mother's and father's education, mother's occupation and age, number of children in the family, use of mosquito nets, type of household, and family income were significantly associated with child morbidity, nutritional status, immunization status, and personal hygiene of under-five children living in urban slums.

Conclusion: Overall, in our study, family characteristics including parental education, occupation and income were significantly associated with outcomes among under-five children. The availability of safe drinking water and sanitation, and the use of mosquito nets to prevent vector-borne diseases are basic needs that need to be urgently met to improve child health.

DESIGN: Prospective case series, Proof of concept pilot study.

SETTING: Tertiary Health Care Center, Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Malaysia. Department of Surgery.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 17 patients diagnosed with advanced COJ tumour and who had never undergone any surgical, endoscopic, or chemoradiotherapy and indicated for stenting were recruited.

INTERVENTIONS: The study period was over nine months, and follow-up was one-month post-stenting.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Endpoint measures were feasibility of deployment of the new design, symptoms relief, early stent migration, early complication, GERD Q score, and (QOL)assessment.

RESULTS: The ART stent was inserted successfully in all cases (17/17, 100%). There were two stent migrations due to the flexibility of the stent at the neck. There were no early or post-stenting one-month complications associated with the procedure. A good flow of contrast was seen in all the stents deployed. GERD Q score was low in all patients pre and post-stenting. Post-stenting there was a relief of dysphagia, weight gain, and a 60% improvement in QOL score.

CONCLUSIONS: ART stent is feasible and technically successful in COJ tumours. It provides good symptom relief, improves the QOL, and has minimal early complications.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study.

SETTING: The study was carried out in Seremban 2, Malaysia using a self-administered questionnaire adapted from validated questionnaires of two previous studies.

PARTICIPANTS: Through opportunistic sampling, three hundred and ninety-two literate adults (above 18) residing in Seremban 2, Malaysia, participated in this study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were assessed among the participants.

RESULTS: Three hundred seventy (94.4%) respondents demonstrated satisfactory knowledge. A satisfactory attitude score was achieved by 349 (89%) respondents, while 281 (71.7%) achieved a satisfactory practice score. Better knowledge was significantly associated with college or university education (p=0.028). Female gender (p=0.011) and college or university education (p=0.043) were significantly associated with better practice (p<0.05). Significant but weak to fair correlations between knowledge, attitude and practice were observed.

CONCLUSION: Overall, there was satisfactory knowledge, attitude, and practice of face mask use among the Seremban 2 adult population in Malaysia. However, future public health education targeted toward the use of face masks requires more emphasis on proper usage and disposal to translate good knowledge into a good attitude and practice of face mask use to ensure the effectiveness in curbing the spread of infection.