Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Female Doctors: A Cross Sectional Study from Rawalpindi

Introduction: Studies have shown that toiling in the medical field, especially in comparison to other professions is stressful. There is evidence that depression leads to reduced productivity in the workplace. Poor clinical judgement, increased chances of error in patient care and absenteeism all lead to reduced quality of work. Female doctors, in particular, are vulnerable to mental health issues owing to elements such as bullying, workplace sexual harassment, long working hours, frantic shifts, and domestic commitments. Materials and Methods: Over a six-month period (June 2020 to November 2020), we conducted a cross-sectional survey in three tertiary care hospitals in Rawalpindi, two of which were public sector and one private sector. We collected 328 samples by means of non-probability consecutive sampling. We used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS), a 42-item questionnaire via Lovibond and Lovibond with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.89. Mean and SD of DASS total and subscale scores were compared for subjects stratified by age, marital status, designation, hospital status, and monthly household income via Student t-test and ANOVA. Results: The total mean DASS score reported by our participants was 31±26.92. Total mean DASS scores were significantly greater in House Officers and decreased as the designation rank increased (p=0.007). Mean DASS subscale scores showed that the junior female doctors were significantly more anxious (p=0.004) and depressed (p=0.041) compared to the senior doctors. However, there was no significant difference in stress scores, indicating that all the female doctors that participated were experiencing stress regardless of their designation. There was also no significant difference in DASS scores between private and public sector hospitals. Conclusion: Female doctors working in tertiary care hospitals of Rawalpindi reported depression, anxiety, and stress. Steps need to be taken to reduce risk factors for these mental health issues in order to boost workplace satisfaction and productivity

Comparison of chest HRCT severity score in PCR positive and PCR negative clinically suspected COVID-19 Patients

Background: The limitations and false-negative results of Real-time Polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) in diagnosing COVID-19 infection demand the need for imaging modalities such as chest HRCT to improve the diagnostic accuracy andassess the severity of the infection. Objectives: The study aimed to compare the chest HRCT severity scores in RT-PCR positive and negative cases of COVID-19. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 50 clinically suspected COVID-19 patients. Chest HRCT and PCR testing of all 50 patients were done and the chest HRCT severity scores for each lung and bronchopulmonary segments were compared in patients with positive and negative PCR results. Chi-square and Mann Whitney U test were used to assess differences among study variables. Results: Chest HRCT severity score was more in PCR negative patients than in those with PCR positive results . However, the difference was not significant (p=0.11). There was a significant association in severity scores of the anterior basal segment of the left lung (p=0.022) and posterior segment upper lobe of right lung (p=0.035) with PCR results. This association was insignificantfor other bronchopulmonary segments (p>0.05). Conclusion: CR negativity does not rule out infection in clinically suspected COVID-19 patients. The use of chest HRCT helps to determine the extent of lung damage in clinically suspected patients irrespective of PCR results. Guidelines that consider clinical symptoms, chest HRCT severity score and PCR results for a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in suspected patientsare needed. Keywords: Chest High resolution computed tomography (HRCT); COVID-19; Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Job Stress and Burnout Among University Teachers with Mediating Effect of Social and Gender Support

The core objective of the research was to analyze the association between job stress and burnout among university teachers. It has been observed that stress and burnout is the natural phenomenon present in every working place, particularly among university teachers. Therefore a quantitative survey was conducted to determine whether stress and burnout are related and the impact of social support and gender differences on the relationship. For statistical analysis, teachers from four public universities in Lahore city were taken as samples. Survey questionnaires were distributed among 400 teachers through stratified random sampling. The results show that stress and burnout are positively correlated, but social support can mediate in reducing the stress to burnout relationship. Social support as a moderator plays a vital role in suppressing the pressure build-up among the teachers due to job stress and burnout. This study might be beneficial for teachers in understanding the consequences of stress and the importance of social support from university and family. This study might help retain work-life balance among teachers. &nbsp

Enhanced Solubility and Stability of Aripiprazole in Binary and Ternary Inclusion Complexes Using Hydroxy Propyl Beta Cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and L-Arginine

The low water solubility of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (aripiprazole) is one of the most critical challenges in pharmaceutical research and development. This antipsychotic drug has an inadequate therapeutic impact because of its minimal and idiosyncratic oral bioavailability to treat schizophrenia. The main objective of this study was to improve the solubility and stability of the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (ARP) via forming binary as well as ternary inclusion complexes with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and L-Arginine (LA) as solubility enhancers. Physical mixing and lyophilization were used in different molar ratios. The developed formulations were analyzed by saturation solubility analysis, and dissolution studies were performed using the pedal method. The formulations were characterized by FTIR, XRD, DSC, SEM, and TGA. The results showcased that the addition of HPβCD and LA inclusion complexes enhanced the stability, in contrast to the binary formulations and ternary formulations prepared by physical mixing and solvent evaporation. Ternary formulation HLY47 improved dissolution rates by six times in simulated gastric fluid (SGF). However, the effect of LA on the solubility enhancement was concentration-dependent and showed optimal enhancement at the ratio of 1:1:0.27. FTIR spectra showed the bond shifting, which confirmed the formation of new complexes. The surface morphology of complexes in SEM studies showed the rough surface of lyophilization and solvent evaporation products, while physical mixing revealed a comparatively crystalline surface. The exothermic peaks in DSC diffractograms showed diminished peaks previously observed in the diffractogram of pure drug and LA. Lyophilized ternary complexes displayed significantly enhanced thermal stability, as observed from the thermograms of TGA. In conclusion, it was observed that the preparation method and a specific drug-to-polymer and amino acid ratio are critical for achieving high drug solubility and stability. These complexes seem to be promising candidates for novel drug delivery systems development

Calcium-, magnesium-, and yttrium-doped lithium nickel phosphate nanomaterials as high-performance catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation reaction

Electrochemical water oxidation over high-efficiency (Ca, Mg, or Y) doped lithium metal (Ni) phosphate electrocatalyst

Influence of geographical locations on yield, oil productivity and fatty acid profiling in four olive cultivars

Olives and its oil are considered an imperative element of diet due to their excellent nutritional quality. Geographical factors (i.e., geology, slope, elevation and temperature) and genetic variability in different olive cultivars influence plant growth, yield, oil and profiling of fatty acids. The prime objective of this investigation was to demonstrate the prodigious consequences of high temperature on the growth, production, and fatty acid composition of four olive cultivars (Coratina, Frantoio, Ottobratica and Leccino) at three different geographical locations (BARI, IOF, HRS) with the range of 460-751 m altitude during the year 2017 and 2018. The study has been carried out to investigate different parameters such as climatic conditions (rainfall and temperature), phenological attribute and yield traits (fruit set, fruit weight, yield, and oil content), and oil quality and profiling of fatty acids (free fatty acid contents, peroxide, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid). The results indicated a positive correlation of yield with rainfall and negative with the temperature was observed among olive cultivars. The results showed higher rainfall (1189 mm) and temperature (37.51 °C) at location-1 and lower rainfall (525 mm) and temperature (36.05 °C) at location-3. Coratina and Frantoio depicted significantly higher fruit set and yield in warmer climatic regions (Location-1 and Location-2) while Leccino and Ottobratica showed better results in the cooler region. Higher oil content was found in Frantoio and Coratina at location-3 among other locations and other cultivars. Overall, the lowest free fatty acid value was exhibited in Coratina and the highest in Ottobratica at all locations in both seasons. The contents of peroxide were observed higher in Leccino and lower in Coratina at all locations. The results revealed less variation among fatty acid composition in cultivars and seasons, however, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid and oleic acid contents were found higher at location-2, linoleic acid at location-3, and linolenic acid at location-2 in all four olive cultivars. Custer analysis revealed two main groups and group-I contained two subgroups (A and B) while group-II contained three subgroups (C, D and E). In principal component analysis (PCA), PC1 axis had Leccino-L3, Leccino-L1, Frantoio-L1, Ottobratica-L1, Coratina-L1, and Leccino-L3 and explained 91.99% of the total variation. Therefore, geographic location influence growth, yield and olive oil quality attributes.Keywords: Climatic conditions; Acid value; High temperature; Free fatty acids;· Oleic acid;· Olive cultivars; Pothwar-Pakista