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Aims: The study aimed to describe and compare the status of COVID-19 occurrence in Chiba prefecture and Viet Nam to recommend lesson-learned in COVID-19 control between two populations. Methods: We used the official database of COVID-19 published online by the Chiba Prefectural Government, and the Viet Nam Ministry of Health. The database’s variables include ID, age, gender, residence, sources of infection, the onset date of symptoms, and the positive confirmation date. The observation period starts on 23 January 2020, when the first positive patient appeared in Viet Nam and the end on 13 July 2020. Results: There were 1,166 and 373 positive cases, giving the estimated number of positive cases per million persons was 186.2 and 3.9 in Chiba and Viet Nam, respectively. The ratio of asymptomatic patients to those with symptomatic in Viet Nam is much higher than Chiba prefecture (3.14 vs. 0.15). In Chiba, there were two waves of COVID-19 occurrence; the first wave reached a peak on 28 Mar. 2020 with 64 positive cases and the second wave reached a peak on 11 Jul. 2020 with 29 positive patients. In Viet Nam, the first local case was on 23 Jan. 2020 and the last local case was on 16 Apr. 2020. During the last 88 days, from 16 Apr to 13 Jul. 2020, there were no local positive cases. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the prohibition of unnecessary commuting, meeting at the public places, and night outings of the 20-60 age group of people should be very effective in preventing infection spread. More importantly, as a lesson-learned from Viet Nam, we need to take action of testing, tracing, isolating suspected people who have closely contacted the confirmed positive cases, and quarantine people at the port of entry and immigration as fast as possible before the situation gets worse.

Abstract: The new structure of MgB2 monofilamentary wires for stator windings of fully superconducting motors is proposed to reduce their AC losses in iron core slots for the application of an alternating transport current. In order to validate the proposed structure of wire for loss reduction, numerical calculations are carried out by means of a finite element method using edge elements formulated with a self-field due to currents induced in an analysis region. It is assumed that the voltage–current characteristics of the MgB2 superconductor are given by Bean’s critical state model, in which the critical current density is independent of the local magnetic field. The influences of wire structures on the AC losses are discussed quantitatively toward the optimum design of stator windings in fully superconducting motors with the MgB2 wires. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Pharmacotherapy of depression in children and adolescents is complex. In the absence of research into the efficacy and safety of antidepressants in this group of patients, their off-label prescription is common. This paper aimed to illustrate the prescription pattern of antidepressants in children and adolescents from major psychiatric centres in Asia. Methods: The Research on Asia Psychotropic Prescription Pattern on Antidepressants worked collaborati vely in 2013 to study the prescription pattern of antidepressants in Asia using a unified research protocol and questionnaire. Forty psychiatric centres from 10 Asian countries / regions participated and 2321 antidepressant prescriptions were analysed. Results: A total of 4.7% antidepressant prescriptions were for children and adolescents. Fluoxetine, sertraline, and escitalopram were the most common antidepressants prescribed for children and adolescents. Almost one-third (30.3%) of prescriptions were for diagnoses other than depressive and anxiety disorders. There was less antidepressant polypharmacy and concomitant use of benzodiazepine, but more concomitant use of antipsychotics in children and adolescents compared with adults. Conclusion: Off-label use of antidepressants in children and adolescents was reported by 40 Asian psychiatric institutions that participated in the study. In-service education and regulatory mechanisms should be reinforced to ensure efficacy and safety of antidepressants in children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the prescription pattern of antidepressants in patients with medical co-morbidity from major psychiatric centres in Asia. Methods: The Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Pattern for Antidepressants (REAP-AD 2013) collected data from 42 psychiatric centres in 10 Asian countries and regions. Antidepressant prescriptions of 2320 patients with various psychiatric disorders were evaluated. Of these, 370 patients who had specified medical co-morbidities formed the study cohort. Results: Escitalopram (20%) and mirtazapine (20%) were the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in patients with medical co-morbidity followed by sertraline (16%), trazodone (15%), and paroxetine (12%). Overall, more than half (52%; 247/476) of prescriptions comprised selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Slightly less than two-thirds (63%; n = 233) of patients received at least 1 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. In addition, 79% of patients were prescribed only 1 antidepressant. The mean number of antidepressants used per patient was 1.25 (standard deviation, 0.56). There were subtle differences in the most preferred antidepressant across medical illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, liver dysfunction, acid peptic disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Differences were also seen in prescription patterns across different countries. Conclusion: Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors formed the bulk of antidepressant prescriptions in the presence of medical co-morbidity, mirtazapine was also commonly used in the presence of medical co-morbidities. Specified medical morbidities do influence the selection of antidepressants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, including executive function, emotional regulation, and motivation, can persist into adulthood and are often associated with mental illnesses. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help ADHD adults in Japan, but the lack of studies and the variability in group CBT approaches make its effects unclear. Japan lacks unified CBT programs and adult ADHD guidelines, making it difficult to implement international individual CBT recommendations due to cultural differences. This study will assess the feasibility of a novel CBT program for Japanese adult ADHD patients., Methods: This feasibility study will be open, nonrandomized, single-arm, multicenter study. Twelve ADHD patients aged 20-65 years who are currently receiving treatment will be included based on Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) clinical severity threshold. An intervention phase of 12-16 weeks and a 12-week follow-up will total 24-28 weeks for all participants. The intervention will use a new CBT program tailored to individual assessments., Results: The primary objective is to determine feasibility using dropout rates, adverse events, and CAARS score changes between Weeks 1 and 16. The secondary outcomes will assess long-term effects of treatment beyond the intervention period and provide descriptive statistics on sex, depression, quality of life, and autistic scores in relation to the intervention outcomes. The full analysis set and per protocol set will be used for statistical analysis., Conclusions: This study is essential for the development of CBT interventions in accordance with Japan's healthcare system that are tailored to the unique needs of its population., Competing Interests: Hisateru Tachimori and Hironori Kuga, PCNR Editors, are the Editorial Board members of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports and co‐authors of this article. To minimize the bias, they were excluded from all editorial decision‐making. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)

Background: To identify risk factors for mental distress and investigate whether the factors were different between men and women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), using KOKOROBO data, which is an online platform that aims to facilitate access to mental health services., Methods: We used baseline data on KOKOROBO users 13 years of age or older in Japan who accessed it from October 11, 2021, to April 6, 2023, excluding those receiving treatment for mental health problems. Global severity, based on the most severe measure on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression with baseline characteristics for each gender, and for under 30 and 30 years of age or older in women. We conducted the same analysis of suicidal ideation for each gender., Results: In the 686 men and 1274 women, 117 (17.1%) and 100 (7.8%) had minimal global severity respectively, and the rest suffered from mental distress to some extent. For women, ages under 30 years (adjusted OR (aOR): 0.352, 95%CI: 0.231-0.539, P < 0.001), marriage (aOR: 0.453, 95%CI: 0.274-0.746, P = 0.002), and concerns about COVID-19 infection were associated with global severity, while having children (aOR: 0.509, 95% CI: 0.284-0.909, P = 0.023) and decrease of going out during the COVID-19 pandemic had a protective effect on global severity and suicidal ideation for men, respectively. Living with family was a risk factor for mental distress in unmarried women over 30 years of age. Less communication with family or others and responding to the questionnaire late at night (00:00-05:59) were associated with severe global severity in both genders., Conclusions: Age, living arrangement, marriage, having children, concerns about COVID-19 infection, and lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic had gender-specific effects on mental distress, while frequent communication and regular life rhythm maintained mental health in both genders. Young women and, unmarried middle-aged women living with their families tended to experience mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic., Trial Registration: The Ethics Committee of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry approved this study (approval number B2020141) on April 15, 2021., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (PASC) is a subtype of pancreatic cancer with a poorer prognosis than pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC). The pathogenesis of this histological subtype has not been fully explained due to its rarity., Methods: Of the 245 patients who underwent pancreatic resection for pancreatic cancer, six (2.3%) were diagnosed with PASC. They were retrospectively allocated to Group A (≥ 50% adenocarcinoma components) or Group S (≥ 50% squamous cell carcinoma components)., Results: The six patients with PASC were all males between the ages of 63 and 77 years, with tumors of 12 to 52 mm in diameter. Tumors were located in the pancreatic head (n = 2) and the pancreatic tail (n = 4). Relative to Group A, all three patients in Group S had larger tumors diameters, ≥ 40 mm with invasion to other organs. Cancer-specific survival of Group S was worse than that of the PDAC group (median survival, 1.5 years vs. 4.1 years). All patients in Group A were alive at the end of follow-up. Recurrence-free survival of Group S was inferior to that of the PDAC group (median survival, 0.2 years vs. 1.8 years; Group A, not defined). Immunohistochemistry revealed the MIB-1 positivity rate in squamous cell carcinoma regions was 1.8 times higher than that in adenocarcinoma regions in the same specimens., Conclusion: In PASC patients, an increased proportion of squamous cell carcinoma components was associated with aggressive behavior and a worse prognosis. This was due to the high MIB-1 positivity rate of squamous cell carcinoma components., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize published studies and ongoing clinical trials of psychological interventions for mental health problems associated with COVID-19 infection. The study protocol was developed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Extension for Scoping Reviews. We conducted systematic searches for studies published or registered between January 2020 and October 2022 using eight scientific databases and clinical trial registries, which identified 40 complete published studies and 53 ongoing clinical trials. We found that most studies were randomized controlled trials (74%) while the remaining used study designs of lower methodological quality. Most studies investigated interventions for acute COVID-19 patients (74%) and others explored post-COVID conditions (PCC) or recovered patients. Cognitive and behavioral therapies were the main intervention approaches (31%), followed by multidisciplinary programs (21%) and mindfulness (17%). The most frequently evaluated outcomes were anxiety (33%), depression (26%), quality of life (13%), and insomnia (10%). No studies on youths, older people, or marginalized communities were found. These findings summarize the burgeoning research on a range of psychological interventions for individuals infected with COVID-19. However, the field is in its infancy and further research to develop an evidence base for targeted care is necessary. The gaps identified in the current study also highlight the need for more research on youths, older people, and members of marginalized communities, and PCC patients. It is important to ascertain interventions and delivery strategies that are not only effective and affordable but also allow high scalability and accessibility., Competing Interests: Masaya Ito has received royalties for books and writings on psychological treatment from Shindan to Chiryo sha, Sogen sha, and several publishing companies in Japan. He has also received honorariums for workshops and supervision related to psychological treatments. Hironori Kuga is an Editorial Board member of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports and a co‐author of this article. To minimize bias, they were excluded from all editorial decision‐making related to the acceptance of this article for publication., (© 2024 The Author(s). Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)

Competing Interests: Dr. Hironori Kuga is an Editorial Board member of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports and a co‐author of this article. To minimize bias, he was excluded from all editorial decision‐making related to the acceptance of this article for publication.

Objectives: To develop the Parenting Behavior Checklist to Promote Preschoolers' sleep (PCPP), quantify sleep-promoting parenting behaviors for children, and examine the scale's reliability and validity., Methods: The PCPP was developed based on the recommendations of the ABCs of SLEEPING for children's sleep, which is strongly supported by research evidence. Its validity and reliability were evaluated using data from 140 participants. Structural validity was estimated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach's α. Hypothesis testing was evaluated by analyzing the correlations between each factor of the Japanese Sleep Questionnaire for Preschoolers (JSQ-P) and the PCPP., Results: Regarding structural validity, EFA was conducted because CFA showed a poor model fit. The PCPP comprised one factor and six items. The JSQ-P subfactors of insomnia or circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, undesirable morning symptoms and behaviors, and insufficient sleep were moderately negatively correlated with the PCPP; the subfactor of undesirable daytime behaviors related to sleep problems was weakly negatively correlated with the PCPP. Thus, the sleep-promoting parenting behaviors listed in the PCPP were associated with better sleep in children., Conclusions: The PCPP showed sufficient reliability and validity. Future studies should use the scale to examine more effective interventions regarding sleep-promoting parental behaviors for children.