Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Comprehensive power quality performance assessment for electrical system of a nuclear research reactor

Abstract Studying the power quality (PQ) is an essential issue to ensure the safe and accurate operation of sensitive equipment particularly for nuclear installations. Assessment of PQ involves collecting and analysing data resources and then evaluating it with reference to PQ standards. There are many alternatives for PQ and it is difficult to make an appropriate selection among them in the existence of their multiple criteria which are usually conflicted. So this selection subject can be classified as a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. To do so, a reliable and scientific method for studying and evaluating the overall system PQ is required. This study aims to assess performance of PQ for the electrical power system at a Nuclear Research Reactor (NRR) during a certain period using multiple measures for the most decisive PQ phenomena. It focuses on a number of the most important PQ phenomena namely frequency fluctuation (deviation), unbalances of current and voltage, current and voltage harmonic distortion, flicker and power factor. After combining all results into six samples (alternatives), the criteria weights are determined based on an objective method for weighting which is called CRITIC method. Then, the alternatives are ranked using compromise MCDM method-VIKOR method. The obtained results are analyzed and discussed to evaluate performance of NRR electrical system from the PQ view. It showed that the compromise solution that obtained by CRITIC-VIKOR can be a guide to facilitate the PQ evaluation of nuclear installation electrical system. Also, it can empower the operators with the benefits of benchmarking and monitoring a single index instead of several indices. Moreover, it is very useful for helping stakeholders to understand how the PQ performance changes under a certain operating condition of the facility. Finally, it is can be considered as a good model to weight each PQ phenomena and identify the time intervals for best and worst total PQ in NRR

An abattoir study of the prevalence of foot lesions and claw measurements in water buffalo in Egypt.

BackgroundLameness has been associated with compromised animal welfare and reduced productivity in dairy cattle herds worldwide. However, little is known about the prevalence of claw lesions in the dairy buffalo population in Egypt. Furthermore, the optimum measurements for claw trimming in buffalo are unknown. A cross-sectional cadaver study was conducted where 135 pair buffalo hind feet were collected from 4 slaughterhouses and examined for the presence of claw lesions. The proportion and associated 95% confidence interval (CI) of each type of lesion were calculated. A separate set of healthy claws (n = 26) underwent ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT). The agreement between US and CT measurements was assessed using Passing-Bablok regression and intraclass correlation coefficient. The CT measurements were used to calculate trimming recommendations.ResultsAt least one lesion was identified in 242 claws (89.6%, 95% CI = 85.4-93.0). In healthy claws, poor to moderate agreement was identified between US and CT measurements which could be due a sample size of the study. The average ± standard deviation (SD) minimum recommended external wall length of the lateral and medial claws in heifers was 7.1 ± 0.36 cm and 7.5 ± 0.35 cm, respectively. The average ± SD minimum recommended external wall length in buffaloes over five years of age was 8.2 ± 0.27 cm and 8.4 ± 0.39 cm for the lateral and medial claws, respectively.ConclusionsThe study found a high prevalence of claw lesions in buffalo in Egypt, the clinical significance of which requires further elucidation. Recommended measurements will help guide claw trimming in buffalo to minimise lesions

Additional file 1 of An abattoir study of the prevalence of foot lesions and claw measurements in water buffalo in Egypt

Additional file 1. Claw examination sheet