W. Abdelghaffar, H. Snen, N. Haloui, H. Blibech, R. Rafrafi
{"title":"Pharmacological management of psychiatric agitation in COVID-19 hospitalized patients","authors":"W. Abdelghaffar, H. Snen, N. Haloui, H. Blibech, R. Rafrafi","doi":"10.5339/avi.2021.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/avi.2021.11","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p />","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42589362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Maqsood, J. Saleem, Muhammad Salman Butt, Ruhma Shahzad, Raja Zubair, M. Ishaq
Background Worldwide, office employees have experienced two novel phenomena during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown: working from home and reductions in their salaries. These phenomena have majorly impacted the lives of individuals as well as their families. The present study aims to measure the perceived stress levels among employees during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Pakistan. Methodology A cross-sectional approach was used to collect data from a sample of 385 employees working in three different IT-oriented private organizations. A semi-structured, Likert-scale questionnaire was used, containing the 10-item inventory from the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). A sociodemographic profile, working parameters, and frequency of PSS inventory were presented in the descriptive analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was made to compare the stress levels of the two groups resulting from their workloads and reductions in salary. Results An elevated perceived stress level (50.9%) was observed among the employees, showing a significant relationship with salary reduction and home work engagement (p<0.005). A strong negative correlation was observed (-0.860) for the salary reduction with PSS. Conclusion Working from home and reductions in salary caused increased perceived stress levels of the employees working in private organizations. Salary reductions proved to be a strong stressor, causing economic disruption and inability to cope with financial burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic.
{"title":"Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress levels of employees working in private organizations during lockdown","authors":"A. Maqsood, J. Saleem, Muhammad Salman Butt, Ruhma Shahzad, Raja Zubair, M. Ishaq","doi":"10.5339/avi.2021.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/avi.2021.7","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Background Worldwide, office employees have experienced two novel phenomena during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown: working from home and reductions in their salaries. These phenomena have majorly impacted the lives of individuals as well as their families. The present study aims to measure the perceived stress levels among employees during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Pakistan.\u0000 \u0000 Methodology A cross-sectional approach was used to collect data from a sample of 385 employees working in three different IT-oriented private organizations. A semi-structured, Likert-scale questionnaire was used, containing the 10-item inventory from the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). A sociodemographic profile, working parameters, and frequency of PSS inventory were presented in the descriptive analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was made to compare the stress levels of the two groups resulting from their workloads and reductions in salary.\u0000 \u0000 Results An elevated perceived stress level (50.9%) was observed among the employees, showing a significant relationship with salary reduction and home work engagement (p<0.005). A strong negative correlation was observed (-0.860) for the salary reduction with PSS.\u0000 \u0000 Conclusion Working from home and reductions in salary caused increased perceived stress levels of the employees working in private organizations. Salary reductions proved to be a strong stressor, causing economic disruption and inability to cope with financial burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic.","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44852336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As the Covid-19 pandemic persists, the public health interventions reported that many individuals during this pandemic situation experience different circumstances that lead to their poor mental health performance, such as isolation stress, anxiety, depression, anger, confusion, and unemployment. The aim of this study is to examine the existing literature in a comprehensive manner and to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of UAE health workers. This study also examined the psychological factors that influence workers’ mental health due to the pandemic of COVID-19. An online questionnaire was administered to answer the research question. The results proved that the pandemic has affected both physical and mental health of UAE health workers. Consequently, the adoption of preventive actions at the governmental, organizational, and individual levels is highly recommended. In this research, the implementation of effective communication and the application of adequate psychological services have been suggested. To this end, the role of policy makers to be involved in placing governmental initiatives that prevent the spread of the virus and protect the mental health of workers has been highlighted.
{"title":"COVID-19 and the mental health of professionals in the health sector in the UAE: An analytical study","authors":"Chokri Kooli","doi":"10.5339/avi.2021.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/avi.2021.9","url":null,"abstract":"As the Covid-19 pandemic persists, the public health interventions reported that many individuals during this pandemic situation experience different circumstances that lead to their poor mental health performance, such as isolation stress, anxiety, depression, anger, confusion, and unemployment. The aim of this study is to examine the existing literature in a comprehensive manner and to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of UAE health workers. This study also examined the psychological factors that influence workers’ mental health due to the pandemic of COVID-19. An online questionnaire was administered to answer the research question. The results proved that the pandemic has affected both physical and mental health of UAE health workers. Consequently, the adoption of preventive actions at the governmental, organizational, and individual levels is highly recommended. In this research, the implementation of effective communication and the application of adequate psychological services have been suggested. To this end, the role of policy makers to be involved in placing governmental initiatives that prevent the spread of the virus and protect the mental health of workers has been highlighted.","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46795648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated people and countries around the world. It has affected every aspect of human life. Despite the discovery of vaccines and widespread immunization drive which is a minor consolation, the consequences of it are likely to prevail for extended periods of time. This study explored the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An online survey was carried out among a sample of 78 expatriate residents. While most of the respondents recognized and highly valued the measures taken by the UAE government to support and deal with the pandemic, intense stress and uncertainty was reported. It was found that the Asian community was more anxious concerning the negative consequences of the pandemic than Arab or W stern residents. The worry among older people was also found to be more intense. Anxiety over health consequences, fear of job loss, and constraints for international travels were the most overwhelming concerns. The difficulties that the coronavirus has presented continue to devastate the psychological wellbeing of individuals even where an adequate governmental system for prevention and controlling the pandemic is in place.
{"title":"Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic among expatriate residents in the UAE","authors":"Panthayil. K. Baburajan","doi":"10.5339/AVI.2021.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/AVI.2021.3","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated people and countries around the world. It has affected every aspect of human life. Despite the discovery of vaccines and widespread immunization drive which is a minor consolation, the consequences of it are likely to prevail for extended periods of time. This study explored the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An online survey was carried out among a sample of 78 expatriate residents. While most of the respondents recognized and highly valued the measures taken by the UAE government to support and deal with the pandemic, intense stress and uncertainty was reported. It was found that the Asian community was more anxious concerning the negative consequences of the pandemic than Arab or W stern residents. The worry among older people was also found to be more intense. Anxiety over health consequences, fear of job loss, and constraints for international travels were the most overwhelming concerns. The difficulties that the coronavirus has presented continue to devastate the psychological wellbeing of individuals even where an adequate governmental system for prevention and controlling the pandemic is in place.","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42259896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jaseem Sirajudeen, A. Nair, Rabia Waseem Hassany, N. Purayil, J. Mathew, I. Elmadhoun, M. Mustafa
Fever with a rash is a common case scenario that clinicians encounter in their practice. The ubiquity of the presentation is proportional to the magnitude of the physician's dilemma due to its numerous causes. The diagnosis varies from infectious diseases to non-infectious, life threatening diseases including the current COVID-19 pandemic. Here we present a case of a 31-year-old male, who presented to the Emergency Department with fever and rash and was initially diagnosed and managed as a case of COVID-19 which on further evaluation proved to be brucellosis. This is a case of brucellosis with cutaneous manifestations which had been masquerading as COVID-19.
{"title":"All those exanthematous fevers are not Covid-19","authors":"Jaseem Sirajudeen, A. Nair, Rabia Waseem Hassany, N. Purayil, J. Mathew, I. Elmadhoun, M. Mustafa","doi":"10.5339/AVI.2021.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/AVI.2021.1","url":null,"abstract":"Fever with a rash is a common case scenario that clinicians encounter in their practice. The ubiquity of the presentation is proportional to the magnitude of the physician's dilemma due to its numerous causes. The diagnosis varies from infectious diseases to non-infectious, life threatening diseases including the current COVID-19 pandemic. Here we present a case of a 31-year-old male, who presented to the Emergency Department with fever and rash and was initially diagnosed and managed as a case of COVID-19 which on further evaluation proved to be brucellosis. This is a case of brucellosis with cutaneous manifestations which had been masquerading as COVID-19.","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48913879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
W. Abdelghaffar, N. Haloui, Noamen Bouchrika, Souha Yaakoubi, Amani Sarhane, Emna Kalai, Nihel Siala, Hajer Boulehmi, S. Trabelsi, S. Bourgou, F. Charfi, A. Belhadj, R. Rafrafi
General lockdown was declared in Tunisia in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It had a negative psychological and social impact on the Tunisian population and health professionals. Mental healthcare was crucial during this period but health services access was difficult because of movement restrictions. Mongi Slim Hospital contains three special COVID-19 units and there was an urgent need for a psychological intervention with increasing demands at the mental health department in this hospital. A psychological support unit (PSU) was implemented with a free helpline for both patients, families and hospital staff. The objective of this paper was to describe the design, implementation and activities of this unit. This PSU had preventive and management activities for both patients and health professionals. Recommendations drawn from this experience are to promote mental health care and to encourage implementation of such units in order to respond to the local need of patients and staff. This pilot experience should be generalized to other hospitals in Tunisia and worldwide.
{"title":"Psychological support unit design and implementation during COVID-19 pandemic: Case of Mongi Slim Hospital, Tunisia","authors":"W. Abdelghaffar, N. Haloui, Noamen Bouchrika, Souha Yaakoubi, Amani Sarhane, Emna Kalai, Nihel Siala, Hajer Boulehmi, S. Trabelsi, S. Bourgou, F. Charfi, A. Belhadj, R. Rafrafi","doi":"10.5339/AVI.2021.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/AVI.2021.2","url":null,"abstract":"General lockdown was declared in Tunisia in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It had a negative psychological and social impact on the Tunisian population and health professionals. Mental healthcare was crucial during this period but health services access was difficult because of movement restrictions. Mongi Slim Hospital contains three special COVID-19 units and there was an urgent need for a psychological intervention with increasing demands at the mental health department in this hospital. A psychological support unit (PSU) was implemented with a free helpline for both patients, families and hospital staff. The objective of this paper was to describe the design, implementation and activities of this unit. This PSU had preventive and management activities for both patients and health professionals. Recommendations drawn from this experience are to promote mental health care and to encourage implementation of such units in order to respond to the local need of patients and staff. This pilot experience should be generalized to other hospitals in Tunisia and worldwide.","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49384038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"To win the global war against Covid-19 terror: free of charge vaccine to all people who want to be vaccinated","authors":"M. Zakaria","doi":"10.5339/AVI.2021.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5339/AVI.2021.4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45094078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-22DOI: 10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-.PPAJTMC.V1
A. Ahmed
Cysteine cathepsins are defined as lysosomal enzymes which are member of the papain family. Cysteine cathepsins (Cts) prevalently exist in whole organisms varying from prokaryotes to mammals and possess in their active site greatly conserved residue of cysteine. Cts are engaged in the digestion of cellular protein, activation of zymogen, and remodeling of extracellular matrix (ECM). Host cells are entered by SARS-CoV-2 via endocytosis. Cathepsin L and phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate 5-kinase are crucial in terms of the endocytosis by cleaving the spike protein, which permits viral membrane fusion with endosomal membrane, and succeeded by the releasing of viral genome to the host cell. Thereby, inhibition of cathepsin L may be advantageous in terms of decreasing infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. Coordinate inhibition of multiple Cts and lysosomal function by different drugs and biological agents might be of value for some purposes such as parasite or viral infections and anti-neoplastic applications. It has been found that Zn 2+ deficiency or dysregulation leads to an exaggerated activity of Cysteine cathepsin increasing the autoimmune/inflammatory response. At this purpose Zn 2+ metal can be safely combined with a drug that increases the anti-proteolytic effect of endogenous Zn 2+ lowering the excessive activity of some CysCts. Biguanide derivatives complex with Zn 2+ have been found to be promising inhibitors of CysCts protease reactions. Molecular docking studies of Cathepsin L Inhibited by Metformin-Zn+2 complex have been performed showing two strong key interactions ( Cys-25&His-163) and an extra H-bond with Asp-163 compared to the co-crystallized Zn +2 (PDB ID 4axl).
半胱氨酸组织蛋白酶被定义为属于木瓜蛋白酶家族的溶酶体酶。半胱氨酸组织蛋白酶（Cts）普遍存在于从原核生物到哺乳动物的整个生物体中，其活性位点具有非常保守的半胱氨酸残基。Cts参与细胞蛋白质的消化、酶原的激活和细胞外基质（ECM）的重塑。宿主细胞通过内吞作用进入严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒2型。组织蛋白酶L和磷脂酰肌醇3-磷酸5-激酶通过裂解刺突蛋白进行内吞作用至关重要，刺突蛋白允许病毒膜与内涵体膜融合，并成功地将病毒基因组释放到宿主细胞。因此，抑制组织蛋白酶L在减少由严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒2引起的感染方面可能是有利的。不同药物和生物制剂对多种Ct和溶酶体功能的协同抑制可能对某些目的有价值，如寄生虫或病毒感染和抗肿瘤应用。已经发现Zn2+缺乏或失调导致半胱氨酸组织蛋白酶的活性增强，从而增加自身免疫/炎症反应。为此，Zn2+金属可以与一种药物安全地结合，该药物增加内源性Zn2+的抗蛋白水解作用，降低一些CysCts的过度活性。双胍衍生物与Zn2+的配合物已被发现是CysCts蛋白酶反应的有前途的抑制剂。Metformin-Zn+2复合物抑制组织蛋白酶L的分子对接研究表明，与共结晶的Zn+2（PDB ID 4axl）相比，组织蛋白酶有两个强的关键相互作用（Cys-25和His-163）和与Asp-163的额外氢键。
{"title":"After one year of COVID-19 Pandemic and Hundreds of Suggested Drugs, Will Cathepsin L Inhibitors be the Solution?","authors":"A. Ahmed","doi":"10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-.PPAJTMC.V1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-.PPAJTMC.V1","url":null,"abstract":"Cysteine cathepsins are defined as lysosomal enzymes which are member of the papain family. Cysteine cathepsins (Cts) prevalently exist in whole organisms varying from prokaryotes to mammals and possess in their active site greatly conserved residue of cysteine. Cts are engaged in the digestion of cellular protein, activation of zymogen, and remodeling of extracellular matrix (ECM). Host cells are entered by SARS-CoV-2 via endocytosis. Cathepsin L and phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate 5-kinase are crucial in terms of the endocytosis by cleaving the spike protein, which permits viral membrane fusion with endosomal membrane, and succeeded by the releasing of viral genome to the host cell. Thereby, inhibition of cathepsin L may be advantageous in terms of decreasing infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. Coordinate inhibition of multiple Cts and lysosomal function by different drugs and biological agents might be of value for some purposes such as parasite or viral infections and anti-neoplastic applications. It has been found that Zn \u0000 2+ deficiency or dysregulation leads to an exaggerated activity of Cysteine cathepsin increasing the autoimmune/inflammatory response. At this purpose Zn \u0000 2+ metal can be safely combined with a drug that increases the anti-proteolytic effect of endogenous Zn \u0000 2+ lowering the excessive activity of some CysCts. Biguanide derivatives complex with Zn \u0000 2+ have been found to be promising inhibitors of CysCts protease reactions. Molecular docking studies of Cathepsin L Inhibited by Metformin-Zn+2 complex have been performed showing two strong key interactions ( Cys-25&His-163) and an extra H-bond with Asp-163 compared to the co-crystallized Zn \u0000 +2 (PDB ID 4axl).","PeriodicalId":29746,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45792112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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