Anxiety, Academic Resilience, and Burnout Among Medical Students in Iran: A Cross-sectional Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had unpleasant consequences for health care providers, including medical stagers and intern students;due to the importance of this issue, this study was conducted to evaluate anxiety, resilience and burnout. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was performed on stager and intern medical students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in Rasht, Iran. Data were collected using a list containing Student Demographic Information, Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBISS), Academic Resilience Inventory (ARI) and Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS). Data analysis was performed using SPSS v.19 at the level of significance 0.05. Results: High levels of burnout and anxiety were calculated to be 21.1 and 7%, respectively. Burnout score was higher in people with grade point average less than 17 (p=0.014);burnout score was also higher in males (p=0.009). Other results showed that COVID-19 anxiety score was significantly higher in females (p=0.029). The results of multivariate linear regression indicated that the variables including academic resilience (β=0.330) and COVID-19 anxiety (β=0.218) significantly explain 20% of the variance of burnout in students. Also, with the introduction of demographic variables, it was increased to 31% in which the share of gender variable (β=0.283) was significant in this model. Conclusion: Academic resilience, anxiety and gender had an effective role on the rate of student burnout. Accordingly, it is suggested that health care providers and psychologists pay attention to student empowerment by providing appropriate therapeutic interventions during and after the COVID-19 epidemic. © 2022 Seventh Sense Research Group®

Burnout, Anxiety, and Professional Self-Concept in Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran

The aim of this study was to evaluate the burnout, anxiety, and professional self-concept of nurses according to their demographic and occupational information. 160 nurses from Razi and Poursina hospitals in Iran were selected as a sample in this cross-sectional online survey and answered the tools Demographic and Occupational Information Questionnaire (DOIQ), Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) and Nurse Self-Concept Questionnaire (NSCQ). Data analysis was performed in two descriptive and inferential sections using SPSS-19 statistics software. The participation rate in this study was 87.5% (n=140). The mean age was 32.56 (SD=7.26) years. The burnout rate in emotional exhaustion (EE) was 24.3%, depersonalization (DP) was 32.1%, and personal accomplishment (PA) was 60.7%, 21.4% of nurses had high anxiety, and 53.6% had low NSCQ. EE score was higher in nurses with less than ten years of experience (t=2.21) and single people (t=-3.18). DP score was higher in people under 35 years (t=3.20), with work experience of fewer than ten years (t=4.34), and single people (t=-3.07). Females in PA reported more burnout (t=-2.43). CDAS score was higher in females (t=3.20). NSCQ score was higher in married people (t=-3.07). CDAS was positively correlated with EE and DP and negatively correlated with PA. NSCQ was negatively correlated with EE and DP and positively correlated with PA. At first, a high CDAS score and then celibacy, less than ten years of work experience, and a low NSCQ score were effective in multiple linear regression analysis for MBI-HSS. Copyright © 2022 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.

An overview of inhibitory methods in MAPK signaling pathway for the treatment of Covid-19 infection

A new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2) first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has spread to other regions of China and all over the world as of January, 2020. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global problem associated with infection caused by a newly discovered coronavirus and causes severe respiratory disorders. Accordingly, various studies have been conducted on it and different aspects of the disease have been identified. ACE2 (Angiotensin converting enzyme 2) is the main receptor for SARS-CoV-2. ACE2 protein allows the virus to re-enter a wide range of human cells and to manage and treatment the Covid-19, special attention should be paid to this feature. Angiotensin II has an inhibitory effect on the expression level of ACE2 through activation of two strategic proteins, ERK1 (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1) and ERK2. Propagation of these viruses in permissive cells activates signaling pathways, which leads to activation of the MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) superfamily. Accordingly, some studies have explored the molecular mechanisms of MAPK signal pathways involved with inhibitory treatment. Based on recent studies, this article summarizes the mechanisms of MAPK signal transduction pathways involved with inhibitory treatment. This adds great value to the research of molecular mechanisms of inhibitory treatment and also establishes an effective source for its clinical use.

Candidate inhibitors against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2

Covid-19 is a highly infectious viral disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, which has spread worldwide since its emersion in December 2019, causing an unprecedented pandemic. Currently, it has no targeted vaccines or treatments, and effective treatment options are very limited. It is important to identify drugs that effectively inhibit a specific target of the SARS coronavirus. This is the third deadly outbreak of coronaviruses in human society which has put pressure on the global health care system and affected the global economy a well. However, the treatment options of Covid-19 are still very limited. The development of drugs that target and inhibit essential proteins in the viral life cycle is a practical approach to overcoming this hard situation. The main protease, a cysteine protease, is an attractive target for antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronavirus infections due to its essential role in viral replication and transcription. To quickly detect effective compounds for clinical use, programs such as molecular docking drug design and virtual screening of pre-designed drugs to identify new compounds and drugs that target the main protease of the COVID-19 are performed. Combining these structural studies, virtual screening, and experimental screen, several therapeutic candidates such as repurposed drugs and ab initio designed drugs have been proposed. In this review study, suggestions for inhibitors and possible potentially effective drugs against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 were discussed. This study paves the way for advanced experimental research to evaluate the pharmacological potential of these compounds for the treatment of Covid-19.