A facile one-pot synthesis of novel 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazoles under conventional and microwave conditions and evaluation of their in vitro antimicrobial activities

AbstractA rapid and efficient solvent-free synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazoles (3a–l) from fatty acid hydrazides (1a–f) under microwave irradiation is described. The structural elucidation of these compounds is based on their spectral data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS). All the newly synthesized compounds have been screened for their antibacterial and antifungal activities. The compounds 3f, 3j and 3l were found to be most potent anti-microbial agents

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pregnant Women with Perinatal Anxiety Symptoms in Pakistan: A Qualitative Study

The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on people with existing mental health conditions is likely to be high. We explored the consequences of the pandemic on women of lower socioeconomic status with prenatal anxiety symptoms living in urban Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This qualitative study was embedded within an ongoing randomized controlled trial of psychosocial intervention for prenatal anxiety at a public hospital in Rawalpindi. The participants were women with symptoms of anxiety who had received or were receiving the intervention. In total, 27 interviews were conducted; 13 women were in their third trimester of pregnancy, and 14 were in their postnatal period. The data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using framework analysis. Key findings were that during the pandemic, women experienced increased perinatal anxiety that was linked to greater financial problems, uncertainties over availability of appropriate obstetric healthcare, and a lack of trust in health professionals. Women experienced increased levels of fear for their own and their baby’s health and safety, especially due to fear of infection. COVID-19 appears to have contributed to symptoms of anxiety in women already predisposed to anxiety in the prenatal period. Efforts to address women’s heightened anxiety due to the pandemic are likely to have public health benefits.</jats:p

Cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Pregnancy Experience Scale-Brief version (PES-Brief) in Pakistani women with antenatal anxiety symptoms.

BackgroundPregnancy experiences influence fetal and birth outcomes. There is scarcity of locally validated tools to assess pregnancy experiences. We aimed to validate the Pregnancy Experience Scale-Brief (PES-Brief) in pregnant Pakistani women with anxiety symptoms.MethodsA two-step process was used including 1) adaptation via translation/back-translation followed by cognitive interviewing with 10 participants and 2) factor analysis and validation with 605 women in Rawalpindi Pakistan who had mild-moderate symptoms of anxiety, attended the antenatal clinic, and were ≤22 weeks of gestation and ≥18 years old. We calculated internal consistency and reliability and conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.ResultsCultural adaptation led to inclusion of one item of the hassles subscale and exclusion of one item in the uplifts subscale, resulting in 9 uplifts and 11 hassles. Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure, with the adapted items exhibiting loading values of ≥0.24 for their respective factors. Internal consistency was demonstrated for uplifts (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89) and hassles (Cronbach's alpha = 0.85) subscales. Uplift intensity was moderately correlated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety subscale (r = 0.54, 95% CI:0.30-0.77).ConclusionThe Urdu PES-Brief is a reliable and valid tool for use in Pakistani pregnant women with antenatal anxiety. Future studies on its validity are needed on women without symptoms anxiety

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

7-Hydroxy-coumarin derivatives: synthesis, characterization and preliminary antimicrobial activities

A new series of 7-O-coumarinyl alkenoates were synthesized from 7-hydroxyl-coumarin and fatty acids using DCC and DMAP as catalyst. The synthesized compounds were characterized on the basis of their spectral data. All the target compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogene, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli and fungal cultures of Candida albicans, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis and Cryptococcus neoformans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for the test compounds as well as for reference standards. Among the tested compounds, 7-O-coumarinyl (9Z, 12R)-12-hydroxyoctadec-9-enoate and 7-O-coumarinyl (12Z, 9R)-9-hydroxyoctadec-12-enoate showed the most potent antifungal as well as antibacterial activities

A facile, one-pot synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of o-hydroxy anilide derivatives and 1-substituted-1,3-dicyclohexylurea analogs of long chain carboxylic acids

A series of novel o-hydroxy anilide derivatives and 1-substituted-1,3-dicyclohexylurea analogs of long chain carboxylic acids have been synthesized. The structures of the synthesized compounds were elucidated by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectral data. All the synthesized compounds were tested for their antimicrobial activity by disk diffusion assay with slight modifications against Gram-positive, Gram-negative strains of bacteria as well as fungal strains. After that minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) of all the synthesized compounds were determined. The investigation of antimicrobial screening data revealed that all the tested compounds showed moderate to good microbial inhibitions. Compounds 3e, 4e, 3f and 4f were found to be the most potent antimicrobial agents. [Display omitted] ► Products obtained from easily available starting material in a short reaction time in good yields. ► The synthesized compounds were tested for their antimicrobial activity. ► MICs, MBCs and MFCs were also determined. ► All compounds showed moderate to good inhibitions. ► Compounds bearing hydroxy group were found to be the most potent antimicrobial agents

Prediction of Successful Induction of Labour jointly using Bishop Score and Transvaginal Sonography in Primigravida Women in Pakistan

Objective: To assess the diagnostic efficacy of the Bishop Score and Transvaginal Ultrasonography (TVS) in predicting successful labor induction in primigravida women in a peri-urban population in Islamabad. Additionally, the study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of combining the predictions from both methods to enhance accuracy in predicting successful labor induction. Methodology: A prospective comparative study was conducted at the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, and Farooq Hospital, Islamabad, from December 2021 to December 2022. A total of 520 pregnant, primigravida women undergoing labor induction were included, and they were randomly divided into two groups for assessment using either the Bishop Score or Transvaginal ultrasonography. The outcome of interest was documented as the initiation of active labor within 24 hours. The efficacy of each method was validated separately and jointly, and the predictive accuracy of all three predictors was compared. Results: The two groups demonstrated that both TVS and the Bishop Score were individually effective at predicting successful labor induction (p&lt;0.00001 for both methods). TVS outperformed the Bishop Score in several key predictive measures, such as accuracy and the F1 Score. However, combining predictions from both the Bishop Score and TVS significantly improved both positive and negative predictive values (by more than 10% for each metric), resulting in a more reliable prediction. Conclusion: Both the Bishop Score and TVS are effective methods for predicting successful labor induction in the peri-urban population of Islamabad, Pakistan. While TVS showed significant quantitative advantages over the Bishop Score, combining both predictors yielded even better performance, suggesting that using both methods together should be prioritized for prediction

Synthesis and evaluation of in vitro antimicrobial activity of novel 2,3-disubstituted-4-thiazolidinones from fatty acid hydrazides

The efficient cyclocondensation reaction of fatty acid hydrazides with thioglycolic acid (TGA)/mercapto acetic acid and Thio lactic acid under anhydrous condition in the presence of catalyst anhydrous ZnCl2 in dimethyl formamide solvent is described. The synthesis provides the product, substituted thiazolidinone, in appropriate yield. The synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectra and these compounds were tested for in vitro antibacterial activity against the representative group of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC-27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC-25922), Streptococcus pyogenes, and Klebsiella pneumonia (Clinical isolate), Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA +ve), and also tested for antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigates, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Penicillium marneffei, Candida albicans. Minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bacterial concentration, and minimum fungicidal concentration were determined for the test compounds along with the reference standards used

Facile one-pot synthesis of novel 3-substituted-1, 6-dihydro-1,2,4-triazin-5-(2<i style="">H</i>)-ones from fatty acid hydrazides and their <i style="">in-vitro</i> antimicrobial activity

605-610A series of 3-substituted-1,6-dihydro-1,2,4-triazin-5(2H)-ones, have been synthesized using the cyclocondensation reaction of fatty acid hydrazides with 2-chloroacetamide in N,N-dimethylformamide medium. The structural elucidation of the synthesized compounds is based on IR, 1H NMR, mass spectral data and elemental analysis. These compounds have been tested for their in-vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. The MIC, MBC and MFC have also been determined