The Relationship of Cognitive Flexibility and Selfcompassion With Depression and Anxiety Among Healthcare Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has considerably affected various aspects of our lives and different groups of society. In this regard, healthcare staff is more affected by the pressure of heavy workloads and daily exposure to suspected COVID-19 cases. This study aimed to investigate depression and anxiety as two basic factors of mental health among healthcare workers and the role of self-compassion and cognitive flexibility during the pandemic. Methods: A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted. Healthcare workers were the target group, and the samples were collected through the online groups from healthcare staff of coronavirus hospitalized centers in Tehran. A convenience sampling method was used in this study. The general anxiety disorder-7 scale, patient health questionnaire, cognitive flexibility inventory, and self-compassion short-form scale were used online for data collection. Totally 551 respondents were entered into the analysis process of the current study. Results: A total of 437 respondents (79.3%) had mild to severe anxiety symptoms, and 447(81.1%) had mild to severe depressive symptoms. Cognitive flexibility had a significant negative relationship with anxiety and depression (r=-0.40, r=-0.37, respectively, P<0.001). Similarly, the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety and depression was significantly negative (r=-0.48, r=-0. 47, respectively, P<0.001). Discussion: This study demonstrates the positive effects of cognitive flexibility and selfcompassion on healthcare staff during COVID-19 © 2023, Iranian Rehabilitation Journal.All Rights Reserved.

Quality can improve as productivity increases: Machining as proof

Increasing productivity is a crucial task, especially during a crisis when a shortage of products occurs. In addition, a major concern related to higher productivity is the loss of quality that may result in an even worse situation than when there is no product. However, this general common sense is not always true. Beyond their roles during a crisis, quality and productivity are key players after the crisis for competitive advantages and economic recovery. It was initially thought that quality and productivity are opposite to each other and need to be compromised. Once an economic crisis occurred in the 1970s, a novel perspective on the quality-productivity relationship was proposed and played a prominent role in the recovery from that crisis. Researchers such as Deming proposed that productivity can in fact increase as quality increases. This perspective helped people in that crisis and has so far been continually explored in industry and academia. Now, herein, we propose a new perspective that is the reverse of the aforementioned perspective and has its own benefits. We examine it in machining that is a process used in almost all industrial activities. We consider the cutting speed as a productivity (and throughput) measure and the workpiece temperature as a quality metric. We show that why the workpiece temperature may decrease at higher cutting speeds. From various experimental data in the literature, we also realize that the behavior of the workpiece temperature versus the cutting speed is steeper before the peak than that after the peak. We analytically try to explain this observation as well. Then, we analyze our general perspective from three aspects. First, we propose and implement a volume partition analysis. Second, we introduce a new dimension in Taguchi's view of quality. Third, we introduce the circuit model in the realm of quality and productivity, based on which we develop the mutual interactions between quality and productivity. The proposed perspective in this study is expected to be a helpful mindset change in manufacturing both during and after the COVID-19 crisis. © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.