Self-compassion in Irish social work students: Relationships between resilience, engagement and motivation

Self-compassion recognises a meaning of life's suffering, aligning with existential positive psy-chology. Although this construct is known to protect our mental health, how to augment self-compassion remains to be evaluated. Social work students suffer from high rates of mental health problems, however research into self-compassion in this population remains to be devel-oped. This study aimed to evaluate i) relationships between self-compassion and more tradition-al positive constructs—resilience, engagement and motivation, and ii) differences of these con-structs between the levels of studies, to inform how self-compassion can be enhanced in social work students. One hundred twenty-nine Irish social work students completed self-report scales regarding self-compassion, resilience, engagement and motivation. Correlation, regression, and one-way MANOVA were conducted. Self-compassion was associated with gender, age, resili-ence, engagement and intrinsic motivation. Resilience and intrinsic motivation were significant predictors of self-compassion. There was no significant difference in the levels of these constructs between the levels of studies. Findings suggest that social work educators across different levels can strengthen students’ resilience and intrinsic motivation to cultivate the students' self-compassion. Moreover, the close relationships between self-compassion, resilience and in-trinsic motivation indicate that orienting students to a meaning of the studies helps their mental health.N/

COVID-19: challenges faced by Nepalese migrants living in Japan

Worldwide, COVID-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of migrants, impacting many facets of their lives. Nepalese make up one of the largest groups of migrants residing in Japan. Crises, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could disproportionately affect migrants from low- and middle-income countries like Nepal, widening health and economic inequalities. An in-depth, comprehensive assessment is needed to appraise the diverse problems they encounter. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, this study aimed to identify challenges faced by Nepalese migrants in Japan as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and to discuss their needs to counter these challenges. This qualitative study employed an interpretivist approach to appraise the first-hand experience of Nepalese migrants living in Japan. Fourteen participants (8 males and 6 females, aged 21 to 47 years old) were recruited to participate in semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews (45–60 min) regarding: (a) their perceived current physical and mental health, (b) problems faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (c) perception of available and necessary support structures. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit the participants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Six themes were identified: 1) experiencing psychosomatic symptoms, 2) adoption of new healthy behaviors, 3) financial hardship, 4) family concerns, 5) reflections on discrimination and 6) reflections of existing support and expectations of support systems. The findings of our study illustrate the specific impact of COVID-19 among Nepalese migrants regarding their unstable employment conditions, perceived lack of social support, possible obligation to send money home, difficulty in accessing services due to the language barrier, and a lack of effective governmental support from Nepal. Pandemic-related adversity has negatively impacted migrants’ mental well-being, exacerbating their vulnerability. Comprehensive and timely support should be provided to the vulnerable migrant population. Effective coordination among relevant parties in both countries, including the governments concerned, should be facilitated.Institute of Medical Care and Societal Health, Japan

Non-Consensual Sex among Japanese Women in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Large-Scale Nationwide Survey-Based Study

Background: Non-consensual sex including rape and sexual assault has been a global concern and may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, however the information on this topic is limited. Therefore, our objective was to survey the incidence rate of non-consensual sex among Japanese women aged 15-79 years between April to September 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.Materials and Methods: We utilized the data obtained from a nationwide, cross-sectional internet survey conducted in Japan between August and September 2020. Sampling weights were applied to calculate national estimates, and multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with non-consensual sex. Data was extracted from a cross-sectional, web-based, self-administered survey of approximately 2.2 million individuals from the general public, including in men and women.Results: Excluding men and responses with inconsistencies, the final analysis included 12,809 women participants, with 138 (1.1%) reporting experiencing non-consensual sex within a five-month period. Being aged 15–29 years and having a worsened mental or economic status were associated with experiencing non-consensual sex.Conclusions Early intervention to prevent individuals from becoming victims of sexual harm should be extended to economically vulnerable and young women, especially during times of societal upheaval such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Japan should prioritize the implementation of comprehensive education on the concept of sexual consent

Impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Nepal

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Cross-Country Student Perceptions about Online Medical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Introduction: Most educational institutions around the world have shifted from traditional face-to-face to online education amid COVID-19. This change may particularly impact medical students, whose education is heavily influenced by clinical learning experiences. Accordingly, we investigated medical students’ perceptions about positive and negative aspects of online medical education in Japan and overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: In-depth online interviews were conducted among 13 Japanese medical students and five medical students from Slovakia, Norway, and Hungary. Interviews were conducted from 23rd September to 3rd October 2020 using the snowball sampling method. Questions were focused on five main areas: Q1 the type of online education; Q2 advantages and disadvantages of online education; Q3 any changes in the relationship with teachers, friends, and family; Q4 any opinions about further improvements in online education; and Q5 any needs for affiliation with a particular university. Then thematic analysis was conducted. (3) Results: The results of the thematic analysis revealed the following four themes that represent the positive and negative aspects of online medical education; Theme 1: Timesaving and Flexibility; Theme 2: Technical problems and lack of digital skills; Theme 3: Unstandardized teaching skills; Theme 4: Lack of experience beyond medical school lectures. (4) Conclusions: While online education was found useful in terms of saving time and creating a flexible learning environment, many important drawbacks were noted such as internet and computer problems and unstandardized teaching skills, and lack of quality assurance. In addition, experiences outside the classroom such as making relationships with faculty and friends, conducting research and participating in extracurricular activities were missed, which they normally enjoy in college life

Association between COVID-19 incidence and postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries in Japan until September 2020: a cross-sectional, web-based survey

Objectives This study aimed to examine whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries in Japan.Design and setting A cross-sectional, web-based, self-administered survey was conducted nationwide from August 25 to September 30 2020. We used data from the Japan ‘COVID-19 and Society’ Internet Survey collected by a large internet research agency, Rakuten Insight, which had approximately 2.2 million qualified panellists in 2019.Participants From a volunteer sample of 28 000 participants, we extracted data from 3678 participants with planned elective surgeries on any postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries.Outcome measures The main outcome measure was any postponement or cancelltion of elective surgeries. In addition, for all respondents, we extracted data on sociodemographic, health-relatedcharacteristics, psychological characteristics and prefectural-level residential areas. We used weighted logistic regression approaches to fulfil the study objectives, minimising potential bias relating to web-based surveys.Results Of the 3678 participants, 431 (11.72%) reported experiencing postponement or cancellation of their elective surgeries. Notably, the participants living in prefectures where the declaration of the state of emergency was made on 7 April 2020 were significantly more likely to experience postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries than those residing in prefectures with the stateof emergency beginning on 16 April 2020 (174 (26.02%) vs 153 (12.15%)).Conclusions The proportion of patients whose elective surgery had been postponed was limited during Japan’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, although the declaration of a state of emergency increased the likelihood of postponement. It is imperative to increase awareness of the secondary health effects related to policy intervention in pandemics and other health crises and to use appropriate countermeasures such as standard infectious control measures and triage of surgical patients

Changes in the spatial distribution of COVID-19 incidence in Italy using GIS-based maps

Massive spreading of the pandemic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in different continents [1, 2], have been observed. Analyses mostly focused on the number of cases per country and administrative levels, multiple times without considering the relevance of the incidence rates. These help to see the concentration of disease among the population in terms of cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Even more using geographical information systems (GIS)-based maps stakeholder may rapidly analyze changes in the epidemiological situation [3, 4]. Although the epidemic of COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) started in Italy on January 31, 2020, no reports on the use of GIS-based maps have been published to analyze the distinct differences in incidence rates across its regions and provinces during the last months. For these reasons, we have developed epidemiological maps of incidence rates using official populations, by regions and provinces, for COVID-19 in Italy using GIS.N/

Community behavioral and perceived responses in the covid-19 outbreak in Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study

Community responses are important for the management of early-phase outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Perceived susceptibility and severity are considered key elements that motivate people to adopt non-pharmaceutical interventions. This study aimed to i) explore perceived susceptibility and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, ii) examine the practice of non-pharmaceutical interventions, and iii) assess the potential association of perceived COVID-19 susceptibility and severity with the practice of non-pharmaceutical interventions among people living in Afghanistan. Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed, using online surveys disseminated from April to May 2020. Convenience sampling was used to recruit the participants of this study. The previously developed scales were used to assess the participants' demographic information, perceived risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and perceived severity of COVID-19. Multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the potential association of perceived COVID-19 susceptibility and severity with the practice of non-pharmaceutical interventions. Results: The internet was the main source for obtaining COVID-19 information among participants in this study. While 45.8% of the participants believed it was "very unlikely" for them to get infected with COVID-19, 76.7% perceived COVID-19 as a severe disease. Similarly, 37.5% believed the chance of being cured if infected with COVID-19 is "unlikely/very unlikely". The majority of participants (95.6%) perceived their health to be in "good" and "very good" status. Overall, 74.2% mentioned that they stopped visiting public places, 49.7% started using gloves, and 70.4% started wearing a mask. Participants who believed they have a low probability of survival if infected with COVID-19 were more likely to wear masks and practice hand washing. Conclusions: It appears that communities' psychological and behavioral responses were affected by the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan, especially among young internet users. The findings gained from a timely behavioral assessment of the community might be useful to develop interventions and risk communication strategies in epidemics within and beyond COVID-19.N/

Endocrine disruptors and obesity: a current review on environmental obesogens

Obesity represents an important public health concern because it substantially increases the risk of multiple chronic diseases and thereby contributing to a decline in both quality of life and life expectancy. Besides unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and genetic susceptibility, environmental pollutants also contribute to the rising prevalence of obesity epidemic. An environmental obesogen is defined as a chemical that can alter lipid homeostasis to promote adipogenesis and lipid accumulation whereas an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) is defined as a synthetic chemical that can interfere with the endocrine function and cause adverse health effects. Many obesogens are EDCs that interfere with normal endocrine regulation of metabolism, adipose tissue development and maintenance, appetite, weight, and energy balance. An expanding body of scientific evidence from animal and epidemiological studies has begun to provide links between exposure to EDCs and obesity. Despite the significance of environmental obesogens in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, the contribution of synthetic chemical exposure to obesity epidemic remains largely unrecognised. Hence, the purpose of this review is to provide a current update on the evidences from animal and human studies on the role of fourteen environmental obesogens in obesity, a comprehensive view of the mechanisms of action of obesogens and current green and sustainable chemistry strategies to overcome chemical exposure to prevent obesity. Designing of safer version of obesogens through green chemistry approaches requires a collaborative undertaking to evaluate the toxicity of endocrine disruptors using appropriate experimental methods, which will help in developing a new generation of inherently safer chemicals

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects