The effect of occupational stress, psychological stress and burnout on employee performance: Evidence from banking industry

This paper presents an empirical investigation on the effects of occupational stress, psychological stress as well as job burnout on women’s employee performance in city of Karaj, Iran. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among all female employees who worked for Bank Maskan in this city. In our survey, employee performance consists of three parts of interpersonal performance, job performance as well as organizational performance. Cronbach alpha has been used to verify the overall questionnaire, all components were within acceptable levels, and the implementation of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test has indicated that the data were not normally distributed. Using Spearman correlation ratio as well as regression techniques, the study has determined that while psychological stress influenced significantly on all three components of employee performance including interpersonal performance, job performance as well as organizational performance, the effect on job performance was greater than the other components. In addition, occupational stress only influences on organizational as well as interpersonal performance. Finally, employee burnout has no impact on any components of employee performance

Improving Student’s Self-Efficacy and Perceived Susceptibility Toward Oral and Dental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives: We sought to assess the impact of educational intervention on female junior high school students’ perceived susceptibility and self-efficacy regarding oral and dental health. Methods: We recruited 100 female junior high school students (50 in intervention and 50 in control group) from Falavarjan city using multistage random sampling. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data about study variables. Students in the intervention group attended five 90-minute sessions designed to teach the students about dental hygiene. Results: We found no significant difference between the two groups with respect to the preintervention mean scores of knowledge, perceived susceptibility, and self-efficacy (p > 0.050). The postintervention mean scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.050). Conclusions: Training plans with particular behavioral goals and good instructional strategies can be useful in empowering students toward dental health

Dosimetric evaluation of scattered and attenuated radiation due to dental restorations in head and neck radiotherapy

Abstract In radiotherapy of head and neck cancer, the presence of high density materials modifies photon dose distribution near these high density materials during treatment. The aim of this study is to calculate the backscatter and attenuation effects of a healthy tooth, Amalgam, Ni-Cr alloy and Ceramco on the normal tissues before and after these materials irradiated by 6 and 15 MV photon beams, respectively. All measurements were carried out in a water phantom with dimension of 50 × 50 × 50 cm 3 with an ionization chamber detector. Two points before and four points after the dental sample were considered to score the photon dose. The depth dose on the central beam axis was explored in a water phantom for source to surface distance (SSD) of 100 cm in a 10 × 10 cm 2 field size. The percentage dose change was obtained relative to the dose in water versus depth of water, tooth, Amalgam, Ni-Cr alloy and Ceramco for the photon beams. The absolute dose (cGy) was measured by prescription of 100 cGy dose in the water phantom at depth of 2.0 and 3.1 cm for 6 and 15 MV photons, respectively. At depth of 0.6 cm, the maximum percentage dose increase was observed with values of 6.99% and 9.43%for Ni-Cr and lowest percentage dose increase of 1.49% and 2.63% are related to the healthy tooth in 6 and 15 MV photon beams, respectively. The maximum absolute dose of 95.58 cGy and 93.64 cGy were observed at depth of 0.6 cm in presence of Ni-Cr alloy for 6 and 15 MV photon beams, respectively. The presence of dental restorations can cause backscattering dose during head and neck radiation therapy. Introduction of compositions and electron density of high density materials can improve the accuracy of dosimetric calculations in treatment planning systems to deliver the relevant dose to target organ and reduce the backscattering dose in healthy tissues in the surrounding of tooth

Effects of Intraluminal Vancomycin in Decreasing Central Venous Catheter Infection

Background: Central venous catheters (CVC) are important intravenous routes, that nowadays they can be used for various reasons including resuscitation management, intravenous feeding, chemotherapy drugs, and blood transfusions. Due to the special importance and increasing usage of these catheters lengthening the duration of these catheters are very important. Infections are the most common cause of removal of this catheter.Methods: In this prospective study (cohort), 80 patients with central venous catheter were divided into two groups. In the first group Vancomycin once per day injected inside catheter equal to their intraluminal volume and remained for 2 h, then catheter was aspirated and washed. But in control group catheter was washed only with normal saline. Finally, catheter infection rates in the two groups were compared.Results: In the group that used intraluminal Vancomycin, catheter infection was ‎observed in 3 cases and was confirmed by blood culture, but in none of them ‎catheter infection agent was not Gram-positive cocci.‎ In control group, 18 cases of catheter infection were confirmed by culture that in 16 cases were caused by Gram-positive cocci that in 14 cases catheter was removed, and in 2 cases of catheter infection, infectious agent was Staphylococcus epidermidis which catheter maintained with appropriate antibiotics.Conclusions: Use of the intraluminal Vancomycin significantly reduces the rate of infection and thus increase the survival rate of CVC

The Effect of Ticlopidine on Early Arteriovenous Fistula Thrombosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Arteriovenous (AV) fistula is the first choice of a long-term vascular access for hemodialysis, but there is a 20-30% probability of thrombosis in the 1st month after its creation. Ticlopidine is a potent drug, which inhibits both primary and secondary platelet aggregation. This study is performed to evaluate the effect of ticlopidine in the prevention of AV fistula.Methods: Totally 124 patients in need of an AV fistula were divided into two groups after creation of their fistula. In the first group, we prescribed ticlopidine for 62 patients, and in the second group, 62 patients received placebo. The two groups were compared to see if their fistulas are patent or thrombotic after 1 and 3 months.Results: Of the 62 patients who received ticlopidine, four had fistula thrombosis, while in 62 patients who received placebo, 16 had fistula thrombosis (P = 0.003). This shows the significant effect of ticlopidine in the prevention of thrombosis in AV fistulas. Also, we compared age, sex, and the fistula location in the ticlopidine and placebo groups, and these attributes had no significant difference between the two groups (P &gt; 0.050).Conclusions: Considering the significant value of ticlopidine in the prevention of AV fistula thrombosis, it can be recommended after the surgery if there is no contraindication for its use

Recent progress in the intranasal PLGA-based drug delivery for neurodegenerative diseases treatment

One of the most challenging problems of the current treatments of neurodegenerative diseases is related to the permeation and access of most therapeutic agents to the central nervous system (CNS), prevented by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Recently, intranasal (IN) delivery has opened new prospects because it directly delivers drugs for neurological diseases into the brain via the olfactory route. Recently, PLGA-based nanocarriers have attracted a lot of interest for IN delivery of drugs. This review gathered clear and concise statements of the recent progress of the various developed PLGA-based nanocarriers for IN drug delivery in brain diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, brain tumors, ischemia, epilepsy, depression, and schizophrenia. Subsequently, future perspectives and challenges of PLGA-based IN administration are discussed briefly

Global incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 371 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Detailed, comprehensive, and timely reporting on population health by underlying causes of disability and premature death is crucial to understanding and responding to complex patterns of disease and injury burden over time and across age groups, sexes, and locations. The availability of disease burden estimates can promote evidence-based interventions that enable public health researchers, policy makers, and other professionals to implement strategies that can mitigate diseases. It can also facilitate more rigorous monitoring of progress towards national and international health targets, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. For three decades, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) has filled that need. A global network of collaborators contributed to the production of GBD 2021 by providing, reviewing, and analysing all available data. GBD estimates are updated routinely with additional data and refined analytical methods. GBD 2021 presents, for the first time, estimates of health loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The GBD 2021 disease and injury burden analysis estimated years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 371 diseases and injuries using 100 983 data sources. Data were extracted from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, censuses, household surveys, disease-specific registries, health service contact data, and other sources. YLDs were calculated by multiplying cause-age-sex-location-year-specific prevalence of sequelae by their respective disability weights, for each disease and injury. YLLs were calculated by multiplying cause-age-sex-location-year-specific deaths by the standard life expectancy at the age that death occurred. DALYs were calculated by summing YLDs and YLLs. HALE estimates were produced using YLDs per capita and age-specific mortality rates by location, age, sex, year, and cause. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for all final estimates as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles values of 500 draws. Uncertainty was propagated at each step of the estimation process. Counts and age-standardised rates were calculated globally, for seven super-regions, 21 regions, 204 countries and territories (including 21 countries with subnational locations), and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Here we report data for 2010 to 2021 to highlight trends in disease burden over the past decade and through the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings Global DALYs increased from 2·63 billion (95% UI 2·44–2·85) in 2010 to 2·88 billion (2·64–3·15) in 2021 for all causes combined. Much of this increase in the number of DALYs was due to population growth and ageing, as indicated by a decrease in global age-standardised all-cause DALY rates of 14·2% (95% UI 10·7–17·3) between 2010 and 2019. Notably, however, this decrease in rates reversed during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with increases in global age-standardised all-cause DALY rates since 2019 of 4·1% (1·8–6·3) in 2020 and 7·2% (4·7–10·0) in 2021. In 2021, COVID-19 was the leading cause of DALYs globally (212·0 million [198·0–234·5] DALYs), followed by ischaemic heart disease (188·3 million [176·7–198·3]), neonatal disorders (186·3 million [162·3–214·9]), and stroke (160·4 million [148·0–171·7]). However, notable health gains were seen among other leading communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) diseases. Globally between 2010 and 2021, the age-standardised DALY rates for HIV/AIDS decreased by 47·8% (43·3–51·7) and for diarrhoeal diseases decreased by 47·0% (39·9–52·9). Non-communicable diseases contributed 1·73 billion (95% UI 1·54–1·94) DALYs in 2021, with a decrease in age-standardised DALY rates since 2010 of 6·4% (95% UI 3·5–9·5). Between 2010 and 2021, among the 25 leading Level 3 causes, age-standardised DALY rates increased most substantially for anxiety disorders (16·7% [14·0–19·8]), depressive disorders (16·4% [11·9–21·3]), and diabetes (14·0% [10·0–17·4]). Age-standardised DALY rates due to injuries decreased globally by 24·0% (20·7–27·2) between 2010 and 2021, although improvements were not uniform across locations, ages, and sexes. Globally, HALE at birth improved slightly, from 61·3 years (58·6–63·6) in 2010 to 62·2 years (59·4–64·7) in 2021. However, despite this overall increase, HALE decreased by 2·2% (1·6–2·9) between 2019 and 2021. Interpretation Putting the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of causes of health loss is crucial to understanding its impact and ensuring that health funding and policy address needs at both local and global levels through cost-effective and evidence-based interventions. A global epidemiological transition remains underway. Our findings suggest that prioritising non-communicable disease prevention and treatment policies, as well as strengthening health systems, continues to be crucially important. The progress on reducing the burden of CMNN diseases must not stall; although global trends are improving, the burden of CMNN diseases remains unacceptably high. Evidence-based interventions will help save the lives of young children and mothers and improve the overall health and economic conditions of societies across the world. Governments and multilateral organisations should prioritise pandemic preparedness planning alongside efforts to reduce the burden of diseases and injuries that will strain resources in the coming decades