Background: Paying attention to the issue of mental health in the workplace, especially with current pandemic conditions of COVID-19 is of significant importance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factors affecting occupational burnout among health care center staff during the pandemic of coronavirus infection. Methods: The present study was a case-control study carried out in the first half of the year 2020 on medical staff working in hospitals in Tehran. The sample size was 324 individuals, including 175 employees working in general (non-COVID) wards and 149 people working in COVID-19 wards. Demographic characteristics questionnaire and two standard questionnaires of Maslach Burnout Inventory and Parker and DeCotiis Job Stress Scale were distributed. Results: Total score of job stress and its two dimensions (time and pressure) had a significant relationship with different levels of occupational burnout. Logistic regression analyses showed significant relations between job stress with emotional exhaustion (95% CI, 1.11-1.19, OR=1.15) and depersonalization. Participants in both wards experienced statistically significant increasing trends given the different components of occupational burnout concurrently by increasing their total stress score. Conclusion: Hospital staff’s levels of stress and occupational burnout regardless of where they worked (COVID-19 wards or general wards) were not significantly different and existed among the members of both groups. On the other hand, job stress and its dimensions (time pressure and anxiety) had a significant relationship with the main dimensions of occupational burnout.

Background: Peak oxygen consumption (VO2) measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a significant predictor of mortality and future transplantation in heart failure patients with severely reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The present study evaluated the differences in peak VO2 and other prognostic variables between treadmill and cycle CPETs in these patients. Methods: In this cross-over study design, thirty males with severe HFrEF underwent CPET on both a treadmill and a cycle ergometer within 2–5 days apart, and important CPET parameters between two exercise test modalities were compared. Results: Peak VO2 was 23.12% higher on the treadmill than on cycle (20.55 ± 3.3 vs. 16.69 ± 3.01, p < 0.001, respectively). Minute ventilation to carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2) slope was not different between the two CPET modes (p = 0.32). There was a strong positive correlation between the VE/VCO2 slopes during treadmill and cycle testing (r = 0.79; p < 0.001). VE/VCO2 slope was not related to peak respiratory exchange ratio (RER) in either modality (treadmill, r = 0.13, p = 0.48; cycle, r = 0.25, p = 0.17). The RER level was significantly higher on the cycle ergometer (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Peak VO2 is higher on treadmill than on cycle ergometer in severe HFrEF patients. In addition, VE/VCO2 slope is not a modality dependent parameter and is not related to the patients’ effort during CPET.

Aeromonas salmonicida (A. salmonicida) is a facultative Gram-negative bacillus, inhabiting in water. It is a common source of furunculosis and septicemia in fish. Report on the human infection with this organism is rare. A male farmer referred with weakness and intermittent fever. He had cardiac valves’ regurgitation due to fever with rheumatic heart disease. He had a history of swimming in well water. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a mobile mass of 1.3 × 0.9 cm attached to the mitral valve chordae, suggestive of a vegetation. Aeromonas salmonicida was isolated from the blood. After cardiac surgery and taking ceftriaxone for 4 weeks, he was discharged in good general condition. Five previous case reports of human infection with this organism were found. The patient was the sixth human case, and the first endocarditis, reported with this organism. A. salmonicida is a rare agent for human infection. Contact with water is a risk factor for this type of infection. It seems that the use of modern diagnostic methods has been effective in identifying the microorganism.

BackgroundSeveral reports have suggested low bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). We determined bone mineral status in patients with AIS to evaluate the effect of brace treatment on BMD.MethodsBMD was measured in 46 patients (mean age, 17.8 ± 4.9 years) with AIS (17 with brace and 29 without brace) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan and compared the results to an age-matched (mean age, 16.6 ± 3.9 years) control group (n = 54).ResultsThe AIS group had significantly lower bone mass at the lumbar spine (Z-score, -1.500 vs. -0.832) and hip (Z-score, -1.221 vs. -0.754) except at the femoral neck. No difference in BMD was found between patients with AIS who used a brace and those who did not.ConclusionsThe results confirmed that BMD was low in AIS patients and it was not affected by brace treatment.