Prevalence, Causes and Patterns of Anxiety Towards Examinations and Attitude Towards Coping: a Study Among Medical Students

DergiPark: 379052tmsjAims: The objective of this study is to assess symptoms of test anxiety among medical students and its association with various academic, social and health-related factors. The specific aims are to determine: the prevalence of symptoms of test anxiety, the factors responsible for and different patterns of test anxiety, the correlation of socio-demographic data with test anxiety in medical students and the attitude towards coping strategies developped by them to deal with test anxiety.Methods: A sample size of 200 medical students meeting the inclusion criteria and giving consent was chosen from all professional years from the Ras Al-Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University. The tools used were Visual Analogue Scale indicating severity of anxiety, Test Anxiety Inventory, and a self-designed questionnaire to correlate the various predisposing factors.Results: Results showed 45.5% of the students felt severe examination-related anxiety. Female gender, peer pressure, insufficient sleep, mealtime irregularity, inability to concentrate, concern about previous examination results, perception of the course load as heavy and interpersonal issues were found to be correlated with the severity of examination-related anxiety.Conclusion: Examination-related anxiety has a great impact on medical students, often leading to maladaptive behaviors which may have a negative effect on both examination performance and long-term mental and physical health. We recommend that students receive counseling to cope with this anxiet

Patent ductus arteriosus: an uncommon cause of tracheobronchial compression in infants

Tracheobronchial compression is an important cause of respiratory distress in children, requiring precise diagnosis and early surgical management. Common causes of the compression are either intrinsic or extrinsic, the latter being usually due to vascular rings. We report a 10 weeks old boy in whom a dilated pulmonary artery due a large patent ductus arteriosus was the cause for extrinsic compression

Assessment of patulin in different cultivars of apples, juices, and distribution in decay portion

Patulin (PAT) is a toxic class of mycotoxins, which is produced by fungi mainly by Penicillium expansum. Samples of apples (740 samples from Amri, Gacha, Kala Kulu, and Golden cultivars) and of apple juices (740 samples) available domestically in Pakistan were analysed for PAT contamination using HPLC with a UV detector. The results have shown that 67.5% and 61.6% samples of apples and juices were found to be positive with PAT, respectively. The highest averages levels 310.8 ± 21.5 μg/kg and 290.8 ± 14.6 μg/kg were found in samples of golden apples and juices, respectively. The findings have shown that 44.8% samples of apples were found levels higher than the European Union (EU) permissible limit (i.e. 50 µg/kg). Furthermore, 41.0% samples of apple juices have amount of PAT higher than the recommended limit of EU. The artificially inoculated apple with Penicillium expansum, a level 5080 ± 230.4 μg/kg was found in the decayed section. The maximum dietary intake of PAT was estimated to be 15.7 and 17.93 µg/kg bw/day in males and female individuals. The results have shown that even removing the decayed portion of apples, a considerable amount of PAT penetrates during the process of making juices

Pulmonary agenesis: Vascular airway compression and gastroesophageal reflux influence outcome

Pulmonary agenesis (PA) is a rare malformation that can be isolated or associated with other anomalies. We report 3 cases of left-sided PA having ipsilateral renal agenesis, facial, and radial ray anomalies. Patients presented in infancy with nonspecific respiratory symptoms and were diagnosed to have PA on chest radiograph and computed tomographic scan. Bronchial compression, by dilated pulmonary artery and associated severe gastroesophageal reflux, aggravated respiratory symptoms and required surgical intervention. The relevant literature is briefly reviewed

Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A systematic review of the literature

This article presents a comprehensive review of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the evaluation and/or diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. A systematic review was undertaken to summarise the recommendations reported in CPGs. MEDLINE® (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature® (EBSCO Information Services, Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA) and other databases were searched to retrieve CPGs. A total of five guidelines were included for analysis. The selected CPGs were appraised independently by five reviewers using the AGREE II instrument. The highest total score was achieved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines (91.4%) followed by the CPGs from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, Canadian Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Resource Alliance, British Association of Psychopharmacology and the American Academy of Paediatrics. By appraising current ADHD guidelines, clinicians cannot only identify CPGs related to ADHD but can also determine which guidelines should be considered of high quality and trustworthy to follow during clinical practice. The researchers recommend using the AGREE II instrument for CPG appraisal in healthcare professional education and training. Improvements in the applicability of guidelines are warranted in the future to enhance its clinical use and relevance.   KEYWORDS Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Practice Guidelines; Adolescents; Children; Diagnosis

Advanced Urea Precursors Driven NiCo₂O₄ Nanostructures Based Non-Enzymatic Urea Sensor for Milk and Urine Real Sample Applications

The electrochemical performance of NiCo2O4 with urea precursors was evaluated in order to develop a non-enzymatic urea sensor. In this study, NiCo2O4 nanostructures were synthesized hydrothermally at different concentrations of urea and characterized using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Nanostructures of NiCo2O4 exhibit a nanorod-like morphology and a cubic phase crystal structure. Urea can be detected with high sensitivity through NiCo2O4 nanostructures driven by urea precursors under alkaline conditions. A low limit of detection of 0.05 and an analytical range of 0.1 mM to 10 mM urea are provided. The concentration of 006 mM was determined by cyclic voltammetry. Chronoamperometry was used to determine the linear range in the range of 0.1 mM to 8 mM. Several analytical parameters were assessed, including selectivity, stability, and repeatability. NiCo2O4 nanostructures can also be used to detect urea in various biological samples in a practical manner