Evaluation of Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical and Dental Students and Frontline Health Care Workers

Background: The recent global crisis afflicted by Coronavirus has led to psychological consequences like anxiety, fear and insecurity among health care workers. Fear of contracting infection and transmitting to close contacts has emerged as a serious concern. Through this study, we aimed to evaluate different psychological sequel experienced by medical and dental students and frontline health workers during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross sectional online survey was opted using a link platform targeting frontline health care workers and medical students. Data was collected from September until November 2020. Descriptive statistics was used to address demographic characteristics of participants. Associations among selected qualitative variables were determined using Chi square test. All analysis was done by using SPSS and a p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A collection of 391 responses was received. There were 266(68%) female and 125(32%) male participants. Vulnerability of family members to COVID-19 was the major concern as reported by 264(67.5%) which was significantly higher among nurses 38(84.4%) and paramedical staff 25(100%) with a p-value <0.001. Around 43(95.6%) nurses and 24 (96%) paramedical staff members were experiencing sleep disturbances p<0.001. Majority 65(90%) physicians had a concern of missing important scientific events. Only 144(36.8%) participants believed vaccination would be effective against COVID-19. ​​Conclusion: The fear of contracting infection and transmitting to family members has created an overall negative impact on mental health of health care workers. This generates the need to conduct high quality research focusing on addressing measures to promote psychological resilience among health care workers. Keywords: COVID-19; Anxiety; Mental Health; Pandemics

Development and Characterization of Porous Hydroxyapatite Scaffold by Using Polymeric Sponge Method

In recent years, scrupulous attention has been given to the preparation of porous hydroxyapatite (HA). Porous HA exhibits strong bonding to the bone and provide a mechanical interlock leading to a firm fixation of the material. Bone tissue grows well into the pores, increasing strength of the HA implant. Its high surface area leads to excellent osteoconductivity and resorbability providing fast bone ingrowth. This paper briefly describes the preparation of porous HA scaffold by polymeric sponge method for artificial bone application. The technique of saturating a body of porous polyurethane foam with slurry containing HA powder, water and additives was applied and proved to be successful. The characterization of the hydroxyapatite porous scaffolds was assessed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

Refinement of arsenic attributable health risks in rural Pakistan using population specific dietary intake values

Background: Previous risk assessment studies have often utilised generic consumption or intake values when evaluating ingestion exposure pathways. If these values do not accurately reflect the country or scenario in question, the resulting risk assessment will not provide a meaningful representation of cancer risks in that particular country/scenario. Objectives: This study sought to determine water and food intake parameters for one region in South Asia, rural Pakistan, and assess the role population specific intake parameters play in cancer risk assessment. Methods: A questionnaire was developed to collect data on sociodemographic features and 24-hour water and food consumption patterns from a rural community. The impact of dietary differences on cancer susceptibility linked to arsenic exposure was evaluated by calculating cancer risks using the data collected in the current study against standard water and food intake levels for the USA, Europe and Asia. A probabilistic cancer risk was performed for each set of intake values of this study. Results: Average daily total water intake based on drinking direct plain water and indirect water from food and beverages was found to be 3.5 L day-1 (95% CI: 3.38, 3.57) exceeding the US Environmental Protection Agency’s default (2.5 L day-1) and World Health Organization’s recommended intake value (2 L day-1). Average daily rice intake (469 g day-1) was found to be lower than in India and Bangladesh whereas wheat intake (402 g day−1) was higher than intake reported for USA, Europe and Asian sub-regions. Consequently, arsenic-associated cumulative cancer risks determined for daily water intake was found to be 17 in children of 3-6 years (95% CI: 0.0014, 0.0017), 14 in children of age 6-16 years (95% CI: 0.001, 0.0011) and 6 in adults of 16-67 years (95% CI: 0.0006, 0.0006) in a population size of 10000. This is higher than the risks estimated using the US Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization’s default recommended water intake levels. Rice intake data showed early life cumulative cancer risks of 15 in 10000 for children of 3-6 years (95% CI: 0.0012, 0.0015), 14 in children of 6-16 years (95% CI: 0.0011, 0.0014) and later life risk of 8 in adults (95% CI: 0.0008, 0.0008) in a population of 10000. This is lower than cancer risks in countries with higher rice intake and elevated arsenic levels (Bangladesh and India). Cumulative cancer risk from arsenic exposure showed the relative risk contribution from total water to be51%, from rice to be44% and wheat intake 5%. Conclusions: The study demonstrates the need to use population specific dietary information for risk assessment and risk management studies. Probabilistic risk assessment concluded the importance of dietary intake in estimating cancer risk, along with arsenic concentrations in water or food and age of exposed rural population

Iatrogenic Cushing syndrome due to topical steroid use in paediatric population of Pakistan

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Computing ve topological indices of Tickysim SpiNNaker Model

Topological parameters are employed to calculate the biological activity, thermodynamic properties, chemical reactivity and physical features of different structures, since various studies show a strong bond between the molecular structure and its properties [2, 4, 8, 14, 23, 25]. Therefore, helping the researchers to make up for the shortage of laboratory experiments and can provide theoretical ground for the manufacturing of diverse products. The aim of this paper is to calculate ve-version of sum-connectivity index, harmonic index, atom bond connectivity index and geometric arithmetic index of Tickysim SpiNNaker Model Sheet, by considering edge partitioning method. These can be used for better understanding of architectural techniques and innovative designs.Publisher's Versio

Modified Finite Difference Schemes on Uniform Grids for Simulations of the Helmholtz Equation at Any Wave Number

We construct modified forward, backward, and central finite difference schemes, specifically for the Helmholtz equation, by using the Bloch wave property. All of these modified finite difference approximations provide exact solutions at the nodes of the uniform grid for the second derivative present in the Helmholtz equation and the first derivative in the radiation boundary conditions for wave propagation. The most important feature of the modified schemes is that they work for large as well as low wave numbers, without the common requirement of a very fine mesh size. The superiority of the modified finite difference schemes is illustrated with the help of numerical examples by making a comparison with standard finite difference schemes

Study of eccentricity based topological indices for benzenoid structure

Topological indices play paramount role in defining chemical and structural properties of different compounds. Chemical graph theory is useful for predicting the bioactivity and physicochemical properties through numerical invariants. A broad range of topological indices are studied and used in theoretical chemistry. The eccentricity of a graph is maximum distance from one vertex a to another vertex b. The connectivity based topological indices depict vital role in mathematical chemistry. In this paper, we discuss Benzenoid Hourglass Network and calculate its total eccentricity, average eccentricity, atom-bond connectivity index, eccentricity based Zagreb index and geometric-arithmetic index. Some new helpful closed formulas are developed

Topological Indices of Certain Transformed Chemical Structures

Topological indices like generalized Randić index, augmented Zagreb index, geometric arithmetic index, harmonic index, product connectivity index, general sum-connectivity index, and atom-bond connectivity index are employed to calculate the bioactivity of chemicals. In this paper, we define these indices for the line graph of k-subdivided linear [n] Tetracene, fullerene networks, tetracenic nanotori, and carbon nanotube networks