Characteristics of Sleep Disturbance and Comparison Across Three Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Healthcare Workers.

Objective: Healthcare workers (HCWs) suffered from a heavy mental health burden during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to explore the differences in sleep disturbance in three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan among HCWs. Moreover, factors associated with sleep disturbances in the third wave were investigated.

The Impact of Psychological Burdens and Vaccine Worries on Confidence and Adherence to Governmental Policies Against COVID-19 Among Patients with Substance Use Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study in Taiwan.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an impact on patients with substance use disorder (SUD). We aimed to investigate factors associated with confidence and adherence to governmental policies against COVID-19 (social desirability) among patients with SUD.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during 2020 to 2021.

The social and mental impact on healthcare workers: A comparative and cross-sectional study during two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a heavily burden on healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide. The aim of this study was to compare differences in psychological and social impact between two waves of the pandemic among first- and second-line HCWs in Taiwan. The current study derived data from two cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2020 and 2021.

Predictors of Workplace Substance Reuse among Patients with Alcohol or Illegal Substance Use Disorder in the Workplace.

Substance and alcohol use in the workplace have become a global health burden; however, the etiologies have seldom been explored. The aims of this study were to develop a Workplace Substance Reuse Questionnaire (WSRQ) to measure the multidimensional factors associated with the reuse of alcohol or illegal substances in the workplace. The predictors of reuse were also investigated.

Relationship of Societal Adaptation with Vaccine Worries among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Vaccine hesitancy has become a major public health problem among healthcare workers (HCWs) in this coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between societal adaptation and vaccine worries and the mediating effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicators in HCWs. A total of 435 HCWs (327 women and 108 men) were recruited.

BST-1 as a serum protein biomarker involved in neutrophil infiltration in schizophrenia.

Objectives: Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness. The serum protein biomarkers of schizophrenia were explored using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technology. The underlying function of the identified protein biomarker was also investigated.

The Societal Influences and Quality of Life Among Healthcare Team Members During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus infection disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is likely to put healthcare professionals across the world in an unprecedented situation. A total of 683 healthcare workers were recruited in this study. Short form12 items (SF-12), Societal Influences Survey Questionnaire (SISQ), and Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test (DRPST) were used to survey participants.

COVID-related psychological distress fully mediates the association from social impact to sleep disturbance among patients with chronic schizophrenia.

The aims of the current study were to identify factors associated with sleep disturbance and Coronavirus disease-19 related psychological distress (CPD), and to develop a conceptual model to verify the mediating effect of CPD on the association between social impact and sleep disturbance. This study recruited patients with schizophrenia. Factors associated with the level of sleep disturbance and CPD were identified using univariate linear regression, and further selected into a stepwise multivariate linear regression model.

Predictors for Depression, Sleep Disturbance, and Subjective Pain among Inpatients with Depressive Disorders during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can have a negative impact on patients with mood disorders. The aim of this study is to explore the societal influence of COVID-19 and associated impacts on levels of depression, sleep disturbance, and subjective pain among patients with mood disorders. This cross-sectional study recruited inpatients with depression and bipolar disorder.

Professional perspectives on providing recovery-oriented services in Taiwan: a qualitative study.

Background: The experiences of professionals in well-established recovery-oriented programs are valuable for professionals in similar practice settings. This study explored professionals' experiences with providing recovery-oriented services in community psychiatric rehabilitation organizations.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 professionals from five recovery-oriented psychiatric rehabilitation organizations in Taiwan.

Effects of aerobic walking on cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial.

Cognitive deficits, which are core manifestations in schizophrenia and exhibit a limited response to antipsychotic treatment, contribute to poor treatment outcomes and functional disability. Evidence on the effect of aerobic walking (AW) and exercise intensity on cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia is lacking. In total, 79 patients with schizophrenia were recruited for a 12-week randomized control trial and allocated to the treatment-as-usual (TAU, n = 38) and treatment-as-usual plus AW (TAW, n = 39) groups.

Mental health in biological disasters: From SARS to COVID-19.

Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), provokes fear, anxiety and depression in the public, which further affects mental health issues. Taiwan has used their experience of the SARS epidemic for the management of foreseeable problems in COVID-19 endemic.

Aim/objective: This review summarizes issues concerning mental health problems related to infectious diseases from current literatures.

Challenge and strategies of infection control in psychiatric hospitals during biological disasters-From SARS to COVID-19 in Taiwan.

Psychiatric hospitals play an important role in supporting patients with mental illness to relieve symptoms and improve functioning in a physically and psychologically safe environment. However, these hospitals are also vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases. In early 2020, a psychiatric hospital and a psychiatric unit were reported to have nosocomial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.

COVID-19-related information sources and psychological well-being: An online survey study in Taiwan.

• For the public, receiving information sources from medical staff and the Internet was associated with better and poorer psychological well-being, respectively. • For health care workers, attending formal lessons was significantly associated with better psychological well-being in coping with COVID-19. • People used a variety of sources of information on COVID-19, where Internet and traditional media were the most common used sources.

Differences in awareness of and willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis and anticipated condom use among serodiscordant couples in Taiwan.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has proven to be effective in reducing the risk of HIV transmission in uninfected individuals who engaged in sexual activity with HIV-infected partners. Serodiscordant couples are the key targets of PrEP implementation. The study aimed to compare awareness of and willingness to use PrEP and anticipated condom use among 112 HIV-serodiscordant couples: 32 heterosexuals couples, 70 men who have sex with men (MSM) couples, and 10 people who inject drugs (PWID) couples.

Serum levels of β-hydroxybutyrate and pyruvate, metabolic changes and cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia during antipsychotic treatment: a preliminary study.

Background: β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB) and pyruvate have been associated with the brain energy utilization, which may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In this prospective study, we aim to investigate the trends of β-HB and pyruvate levels, metabolic changes, and cognitive function in schizophrenia patients receiving antipsychotic treatment.

Objective: We recruited 38 schizophrenia patients who had been treated with antipsychotics for 12 weeks, as well as 38 healthy age- and gender-matched subjects.

Morphological changes of the optic lobe from late embryonic to adult stages in oval squids Sepioteuthis lessoniana.

The optic lobe is the largest brain area within the central nervous system of cephalopods and it plays important roles in the processing of visual information, the regulation of body patterning, and locomotive behavior. The oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana has relatively large optic lobes that are responsible for visual communication via dynamic body patterning. It has been observed that the visual behaviors of oval squids change as the animals mature, yet little is known about how the structure of the optic lobes changes during development.

Gender differences in susceptibility to schizophrenia: Potential implication of neurosteroids.

Past research has indicated gender differences in the clinical characteristics and course of schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated whether gender differences in the manifestation of schizophrenia are correlated with neurosteroids, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and pregnenolone. We further explored the potential relationship between the aforementioned neurosteroids and psychopathology.

The Chinese Version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia: Data of a Large-Scale Mandarin-Speaking Population.

Objective: The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) is a cognitive assessment tool used to measure the broad aspects of cognition that are most frequently impaired in patients with schizophrenia. This study aims to develop the normative data of the Chinese version of the BACS among the Mandarin-speaking population.

Method: This cross-sectional study included 382 healthy participants (age range: 19-79 years; mean age: 48.

Increased serum levels of cysteine in patients with schizophrenia: A potential marker of cognitive function preservation.

Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Cysteine, a semi-essential amino acid, is the precursor of the antioxidant glutathione. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in serum levels of cysteine between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.