Assessment of stress, anxiety, and depression among the nursing personnel employed in tertiary care hospital during COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Work related stress is an important occupational hazard among the forefront healthcare workers like nursing personnel. It is their demanding nature of occupation which exposes them to a higher risk of developing negative mental states. Aims and Objectives: Objectives of the study were to assess the stress, anxiety, and depression among the nursing personnel and their potential risk factors for stress, anxiety, and depression. Materials and Methods: A descriptive observational study was conducted among the nursing personnel employed in a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata. The data collection was done with the help of a predesigned pretested semi-structured questionnaire having information regarding socio demographic profile, history and personal history, and the questions from depression, anxiety and stress scale following permission from Institutional Ethics committee. The data were compiled, analyzed, and presented. Results: The present study found that 29.09%, 40% and 33.64% of the study subjects were suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Nuclear families, staying at hostel, nonspecific symptoms, COVID-19 exposure, and nonspecific symptoms were significant contributing factors for depression. COVID-19 exposure was significantly associated with anxiety. Nuclear families, presence of nonspecific symptoms were significant contributing factor for stress. No significant association was found with age, educational level, marital status, leisure activity, chronic morbidity, testing, and quarantine. Conclusion: Early assessment of the occupational stress, anxiety, and depression among the nursing personnel can initiate targeted intervention strategies. This would improve their personal and professional quality of life which affects the quality of health-care service

Microwave-convective hot air and vacuum drying of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels seeds and its effect on total phenolics content, vitamin C and antioxidant activity

Seeds of (Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels) are rich in medicinal values. In this work, the effect of drying on its total phenolics content (TPC), vitamin C (vit C) and antioxidant activity (AA) was studied. Seeds were dried at 60, 70, 80, and 100 °C using both microwave-convective hot air drying (MCD) at 1, 2, and 3 W/g, keeping air velocity fixed at 0.5 m/s, and vacuum drying (VD) at 60, 160, and 260 mm Hg. Dried seeds were powdered and evaluated. Statistically, MCD at 60 °C, 2 W/g was selected as the best drying method and condition that retained the highest functional properties. Compared to fresh seed powder, this drying condition retained 82% of TPC and ≈ 34% vit C and increased AA by about 52%. The drying curve at 60 °C, 2 W/g was fitted to four different mathematical models, viz., Lewis, Page, Henderson and Pabis, and Logarithmic. Logarithmic model was found to be best suited for characterising the drying profile. The final product was non-hygroscopic and free-flowing with a negligible degree of caking

Microwave-convective hot air and vacuum drying of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels seeds and its effect on total phenolics content, vitamin C and antioxidant activity

136-144Seeds of (Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels) are rich in medicinal values. In this work, the effect of drying on its total phenolics content (TPC), vitamin C (vit C) and antioxidant activity (AA) was studied. Seeds were dried at 60, 70, 80, and 100 °C using both microwave-convective hot air drying (MCD) at 1, 2, and 3 W/g, keeping air velocity fixed at 0.5 m/s, and vacuum drying (VD) at 60, 160, and 260 mm Hg. Dried seeds were powdered and evaluated. Statistically, MCD at 60 °C, 2 W/g was selected as the best drying method and condition that retained the highest functional properties. Compared to fresh seed powder, this drying condition retained 82% of TPC and ≈ 34% vit C and increased AA by about 52%. The drying curve at 60 °C, 2 W/g was fitted to four different mathematical models, viz., Lewis, Page, Henderson and Pabis, and Logarithmic. Logarithmic model was found to be best suited for characterising the drying profile. The final product was non-hygroscopic and free-flowing with a negligible degree of caking

Incidence of multidrug-resistant organisms causing ventilator-associated pneumonia in a tertiary care hospital: A nine months′ prospective study

<b>Background: </b> Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important intensive care unit (ICU) infection in mechanically ventilated patients. VAP occurs approximately in 9-27&#x0025; of all intubated patients. Due to the increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant organisms in ICUs, early and correct diagnosis of VAP is an urgent challenge for an optimal antibiotic treatment. <b> Aim of the Study: </b> The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of VAP caused by multidrug-resistant organisms in the multidisciplinary intensive care unit (MICU) of our tertiary care 1,400-bedded hospital. <b> Materials and Methods: </b> This prospective study was done in the period from December 2005 to August 2006, enrolling patients undergoing mechanical ventilation (MV) for&#62; 48 h. Endotracheal aspirates (ETA) were collected from patients with suspected VAP, and quantitative cultures were performed on all samples. VAP was diagnosed by the growth of pathogenic organism _10⁵ cfu/ml. <b> Results: </b> Incidence of VAP was found to be 45.4&#x0025; among the mechanically ventilated patients, out of which 47.7&#x0025; had early-onset (&#60; 5 days MV) VAP and 52.3&#x0025; had late-onset (>5 days MV) VAP. Multiresistant bacteria, mainly <i> Acinetobacter spp. </i> (47.9&#x0025;) and <i> Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27&#x0025;), </i> were the most commonly isolated pathogens in both types of VAP. Most of the isolates of <i> Escherichia coli </i> (80&#x0025;) and Klebsiella <i> pneumoniae (100&#x0025;) </i> produced extended-spectrum beta lactamases (ESBLs). As many as 30.43&#x0025; isolates of <i>Acinetobacter spp. </i>showed production of AmpC beta lactamases among all types of isolates. Metallo-beta lactamases (MBLs) were produced by 50&#x0025; of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa </i>and 21.74&#x0025; of Acinetobacter spp. <b> Conclusion</b> : High incidence (45.4&#x0025;) of VAP and the potential multidrug-resistant organisms are the real threat in our MICU. This study highlighted high incidence of VAP in our setup, emphasizing injudicious use of antimicrobial therapy. Combined approaches of rotational antibiotic therapy and education programs might be beneficial to fight against these MDR pathogens and will also help to decrease the incidence of VAP

CA single track simulation of laser conduction welding with stainless steel 316L (1.4404)

The study presents a coupled cellular automata (CA) approach for a single track microstructure simulation used for laser conduction welding. A high-power CO2 laser beam (1000W) traverses the substrate, with the beam shaped by conventional optics, which produces a Gaussian profile. The process relies on a shallow melt phase to maintain a conduction limited weld. Laser conduction welding does not require a filler material. The stainless steel material 1.4404 was used as substrate material with an initial grain size of 10µm and 20µm. The melt pool geometry, temperature history, cooling rates and diffusivities define the grain morphology. Temperature-dependent diffusivity coefficients and atomic spacing parameters are suggested. The simulation outputs of the grain morphology are qualitatively and quantitatively compared to experimental results. Initial results have shown that due to the individual melt pool conditions complex microstructures are developed. These fine, complicated microstructures cannot be satisfactorily resolved and quantified using standard optical microscopy. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) has to be used for validation.ISSN:2212-827

Parameters Development for Optimum Deposition Rate in Laser DMD of Stainless Steel EN X3CrNiMo13-4

Laser Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) has been developed as a manufacturing process to deposit coatings on existing materials and proves advantageous in Additive Manufacturing (AM) of complex and precise components. However, it is necessary to carefully determine the proper process parameter combinations to make this method economically viable for industries. The intent of this study is to address enhancement in productivity of laser DMD of stainless steel EN X3CrNiMo13-4. Accordingly, the effects of the main laser process parameters of laser power P, scan speed v, powder flow rate m˙, and spot diameter s on track geometries and build-up rate are discussed. The regression analysis is conducted to derive correlations between the combined set of main parameters and deposition rate. The results show a good linear regression correlation of R2 >0.9 for the geometrical characteristic of aspect ratio, dilution, and deposition rate. The constructed processing map, using linear regression equations, presents proper process parameters selection in connection with deposition rate, aspect ratio, and dilution rate