Explaining the Experience of Academic Burnout by Medical Students, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Introduction: Academic burnout is a phenomenon that has received great attention in recent decades, as it has a negative effect on the performance of education and mental health among the students. This study aimed to achieve a deep understanding of the original essence of academic burnout phenomenon. Method: Qualitative descriptive phenomenological research method, chain sampling method, and in-depth interviews were used in this study on the medical students in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, in the academic year of 2014-15. Interviews were recorded and then, written. This process was continued to reach saturation point of data and the sample number reached to 9 people. Obtained data were analyzed using Smith method. To verify the trustworthiness, implication, and authenticity of the data, summary of statements were presented to the participants, and they announced to coordinate their views with the findings of researchers; and if there was a contradiction, perceptions of researcher were amended. Results: Experiences of academic burnout were summarized in 3 main theme included "poor planning", "problems of motivation", and "problem of adaptation", and 8 subthemes included "flaws in targeting", "postponing", "repeating programming mistakes", "disinterest", "external motivation", "feeling fatigue and impatience", "external locus of control", and "efficiency expectations". Conclusion: These findings can provide useful information on the characteristics and the situation of medical students, and also preventive strategies and corrective interventions to improve academic performance. Keywords: Burnout, Experiences, Student

Human cardiac organoids: A recent revolution in disease modeling and regenerative medicine

Three-dimensional (3D) myocardial tissues for studying human heart biology, physiology and pharmacology have recently received lots of attention. Organoids as 3D mini-organs are created from multiple cell types (i.e. induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) or embryonic stem cells (ESCs)) with other supporting co-cultured cells such as endothelial cells or fibroblasts. Cardiac organoid culture technologies are bringing about significant advances in organ research and allows for the establishment of tissue regeneration and disease modeling. The present review provides an overview of the recent advances in human cardiac organoid platforms in disease biology and for cardiovascular regenerative medicine

Antibacterial properties of tualang honey and its effect in burn wound management: a comparative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of honey as a natural product of <it>Apis </it>spp. for burn treatment has been widely applied for centuries. Tualang honey has been reported to have antibacterial properties against various microorganisms, including those from burn-related diagnoses, and is cheaper and easier to be absorbed by Aquacel dressing. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential antibacterial properties of tualang honey dressing and to determine its effectiveness as a partial thickness burn wound dressing.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In order to quantitate the bioburden of the swabs, pour plates were performed to obtain the colony count (CFU/ml). Swabs obtained from burn wounds were streaked on blood agar and MacConkey agar for bacterial isolation and identification. Later, antibacterial activity of Aquacel-tualang honey, Aquacel-Manuka honey, Aquacel-Ag and Aquacel- plain dressings against bacteria isolated from patients were tested (<it>in-vitro</it>) to see the effectiveness of those dressings by zone of inhibition assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven organisms were isolated. Four types of Gram-negative bacteria, namely <it>Enterobacter cloacae</it>, <it>Klebsiella pneumoniae</it>, <it>Pseudomonas </it>spp. and <it>Acinetobacter </it>spp., and three Gram-positive bacteria, namely <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>, coagulase-negative <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(CONS) and <it>Streptococcus </it>spp., were isolated. Total bacterial count decreased on day 6 and onwards. In the <it>in-vitro </it>antibacterial study, Aquacel-Ag and Aquacel-Manuka honey dressings gave better zone of inhibition for Gram positive bacteria compared to Aquacel-Tualang honey dressing. However, comparable results were obtained against Gram negative bacteria tested with Aquacel-Manuka honey and Aquacel-Tualang honey dressing.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Tualang honey has a bactericidal as well as bacteriostatic effect. It is useful as a dressing, as it is easier to apply and is less sticky compared to Manuka honey. However, for Gram positive bacteria, tualang honey is not as effective as usual care products such as silver-based dressing or medical grade honey dressing.</p

The everchanging epidemiology of meningococcal disease worldwide and the potential for prevention through vaccination.

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia worldwide and is associated with high case fatality rates and serious life-long complications among survivors. Twelve serogroups are recognised, of which six (A, B, C, W, X and Y) are responsible for nearly all cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). The incidence of IMD and responsible serogroups vary widely both geographically and over time. For the first time, effective vaccines against all these serogroups are available or nearing licensure. Over the past two decades, IMD incidence has been declining across most parts of the world through a combination of successful meningococcal immunisation programmes and secular trends. The introduction of meningococcal C conjugate vaccines in the early 2000s was associated with rapid declines in meningococcal C disease, whilst implementation of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine across the African meningitis belt led to near-elimination of meningococcal A disease. Consequently, other serogroups have become more important causes of IMD. In particular, the emergence of a hypervirulent meningococcal group W clone has led many countries to shift from monovalent meningococcal C to quadrivalent ACWY conjugate vaccines in their national immunisation programmes. Additionally, the recent licensure of two protein-based, broad-spectrum meningococcal B vaccines finally provides protection against the most common group responsible for childhood IMD across Europe and Australia. This review describes global IMD epidemiology across each continent and trends over time, the serogroups responsible for IMD, the impact of meningococcal immunisation programmes and future needs to eliminate this devastating disease

52-week High Momentum Strategy: Evidence from Iranian Stock Markets

Abstract This paper extends the 52-high momentum literature which published by George and Hwang in 2004, by stressing the parameters of the trading strategy to investigate its robustness. This study illustrates whether 52-week high momentum strategy is profitable in Tehran Stock Exchange. The time period analyzed is 2000 to 2012. Our sample includes all the companies joined the stock market before 2000 and have been traded in at least 70% of the total trading days from 2000 to 2012. In this research, in order to form winner and loser portfolios a similar method to Jegadeesh and Titman&apos;s (1983) has been used. The strategy buys stock whose price has increased over the previous six months, and who also close to their 52-week high price. Stocks are only bought (sold), if their price has increased (decreased) over the past six months and is close to (far from) the 52-week high Price. The results suggest that using 52-week high Momentum strategy in TSE 2 have created positive abnormal returns in the medium time horizon

A Study on Babesia Infection in Sheep of Pars Abad Moghan Region, Ardabil Province (2014)

Background & objectives: Pars Abad Moghan city, due to the mild weather and numerous Pastures for animals feeding, is a suitable place for breeding sheep and goat. Babesiosis is one of the most important parasitic infection in animals, especially ruminants. Babesia is a protozoa living inside the red blood cells and transmitted to the host by hard Tick especially Rhipicephalus, Hyalomma, Dermacentor and Haemaphysalis. The aim of this study was to consider Babesia infection in sheep of Pars Abad Moghan city. Methods: In order to investigate the prevalence of babesia, 105 sheep in two different seasons of spring and summer were prepared and blood sample was taken and thin and thick smears were done. Thin blood smear was fixed with methanol and in order to determine the presence of the protozoan parasite, Giemsa with ratio of 1 to 14 in distilled water was used for staining. Results: The results showed that the number of 33 samples (31.42%) were infected with Babesia. Among these, 18 samples (17.14%) were infected with Babesia ovis, 9 (8.57%) with babesia motasi and 6 samples (5.71%) were infected simultaneously with both species of Babesia ovis and Babesia motasi. Conclusion: The rate of infection to Babesia among the sheep in Pars Abad Moghan city is remarkable. Early diagnosis and early treatment can prevent spread of the disease in this area

Efficiency of an Adjoint Industrial CFD Code

Sensitivity analysis with the aim of design optimization is a growing area of interest in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. However, one of the major challenges is to deal with a large number of design variables for largescale industrial applications. One of the effective solution approaches is to compute adjoint-based sensitivities in the differentiated CFD code. In this paper, we develop a discrete adjoint code for an unstructured pressure-based steady NavierStokes solver using Algorithmic Differentiation (AD) by operator overloading (OO) tool. To reduce the huge memory requirement of the adjoint code we apply effective techniques by implementation of checkpointing schemes and by symbolic differentiation of the iterative linear solver. We combine the flexibility of an operator overloading tool with the efficiency of an adjoint code generated by source transformation through coupling these approaches. Moreover, we improve the performance of the adjoint computation by exploiting the mathematical aspects of the involved fixed-point iteration through reverse accumulation. We compare the effectiveness of these methods in terms of reduction of the numerical cost and accuracy of the sensitivities for the optimization of a vehicle climate duct industrial test case

Keratinocyte Skin Cancers in General Surgery: The Impact of Anaesthesia, Trainee Supervision, and Choice of Reconstruction

Background. Keratinocyte skin cancers are common in Australia, incurring disproportionately high health expenditure in comparison with mortality. General surgeons often excise these lesions as day-surgery. Balancing individual complexities of these cancers with trainee supervision and health expenditure is key to deliver efficacious care and maintain day-surgery volume for patients during a pandemic. Methods. A retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed, examining 414 procedures from January 2019 to December 2020. Pathology was reviewed, and benign lesions excluded. Complete excision was based on 5 mm margins for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 0.5 mm microscopic margins for low-risk basal cell carcinoma (BCC) subtypes, and 3 mm for high-risk. Results of trainee-performed local anesthetic (LA) excision and general anesthetic (GA) excision (consultant scrubbed) were compared. Results. 288 excisions were reviewed for completeness, location, and reconstruction modality. 69% were BCC (199), and 31% were SCC (89). These were excised under GA (72.5%) and LA (27.5%). 25.6% of BCC excisions were “close,” and 22.6% were “positive” under GA, whilst 31% were “close” and 15.5% were “positive” under LA. 52.8% of SCC excisions were “close,” and 7.8% were “positive” under GA, compared with 42.8% “close” and 9.5% “positive” under LA. Complex reconstruction (skin graft, flap) was more common under GA (38% SCC and 36.1% BCC), but occurred at a modest rate under LA (22% BCC and 28.5% SCC). Conclusions. The results confirm that comparable margins and reconstruction options are achievable when excising keratinocyte cancers under LA by surgical trainees. This is fundamental in cost and timesaving, as well as reducing risk of aerosolisation of virus during GA, in a pandemic