• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2021

Background and objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a forest healing program in terms of depression, neuropsychological and physiological benefits for the elderly. Methods: For this purpose, we developed a forest therapy program for the elderly who are vulnerable to dementia and conducted a total of 11 sessions of forest therapy activities in a forest once a week. We measured the changes in depression, resting-state Electroencephalography(EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV) before and after the program. There were 60 subjects aged over 65 yesrs old. 30 subjects participated in the forest therapy program, and the other were in the control group. The Geriatric Depression Scale was used to measure the level of depression, neuroNicle FX2 (Laxtha, Korea) was used to measure the resting-state EEG, and photoplethymogram (ubpulse T1, Laxtha, Korea) was used to measure the HRV. Results: The results showed that the depression index of the experimental group improved with statistical significance after the program (experiment group = 3.267 decrease of the mean). In the EEG measurement, the alpha-peak frequency at rest (experimental group = 0.227 Hz increase of the mean) was improved (mean increase = 0.23 in the experimental group, p < .05). The high frequency of HRV, which represents the parasympathetic nerve activity of the body's autonomous response, was also significantly improved (mean increase = 0.396 in the experimental group, p < .05). Conclusion: The results suggest that the forest therapy program can reduce the cognitive, psychological and physical risk factors of dementia for the elderly at risk of cognitive decline. Therefore, forest therapy activities may be suitable for the prevention of dementia in the elderly.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.18.1-18.15
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• 2023

It has been reported that some exercise could enhance the anti-viral antibody titers after vaccination including influenza and coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines. We developed SAT-008, a novel digital device, consists of physical activities and activities related to the autonomic nervous system. We assessed the feasibility of SAT-008 to boost host immunity after an influenza vaccination by a randomized, open-label, and controlled study on adults administered influenza vaccines in the previous year. Among 32 participants, the SAT-008 showed a significant increase in the anti-influenza antibody titers assessed by hemagglutination-inhibition test against antigen subtype B Yamagata lineage after 4 wk of vaccination and subtype B Victoria lineage after 12 wk (p<0.05). There was no difference in the antibody titers against subtype "A." The SAT-008 also showed significant increase in the plasma cytokine levels of IL-10, IL-1β, and IL-6 at weeks 4 and 12 after the vaccination (p<0.05). A new approach using the digital device may boost host immunity against virus via vaccine adjuvant-like effects.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the subjects after visiting the Gyorae forest on the activity of the autonomic nervous system. Methods: Before and after the forest bath, it was measured using a ubiquitous machine. Results: After the bath there was no significant difference in the sympathetic nerve activity (LF) of the control group, but the difference was significant in the experimental group by increasing (p<.038), and in the variance analysis, there was a significant difference between the groups (p<.014), between pre-and post-bath (p<.026), and also between the groups and pre-and post-bath (p<.018). The changes in parasympathetic activity (HF) were not significant in both the control and experimental. In the LF/HF ratio, the experimental group was significantly increased, and in the analysis of variance, there was also significant difference between group and before and after bath (p<.04). Mean pulse rate in the experimental group was a significant increase after bath (p<.026). In the change of pulse standard deviation, the value of the control and the experimental groups by variance analysis was a significant difference between the groups (p<.014). There was no difference between the mean values of the control and the experimental groups in the change of mean heart rate deviation. Conclusions: The autonomic nervous systems were activated after Gyorae forest bathing, where may be useful place for healing.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1394-1401
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of 12 wk of aerobic exercise on lipid profiles, antioxidant enzyme activities, oxidative products, and autonomic nervous activity (ANA) in children with obesity. We studied 16 children with obesity and 19 age-matched normal weight controls over a period of 12 wk, during which time moderate intense running exercise was performed. Measurements included peak oxygen uptake, body composition, blood lipid profiles, ox-LDL, 8-OHdG, SOD, GPx activities, total mRNA, and ANA. There were no differences in body weight between periods in the OW group, but body weight increased after 12 wk in OR and CO groups. There were no differences in WHR between periods in the OR and CO groups, but the WHR values decreased after 12 weeks in the OW group. In the obese group, the baseline TG was higher than in the controls (p<0.05), while the ANA level was lower. There were differences in antioxidant enzyme gene expressions between periods in all groups. In conclusion, oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activities in obese children were found to be similar to those of normal weight children. However, TG was higher and ANA was lower in obese children than in normal weight children. These results indicated that increased TG and decreased ANA levels begins in childhood in obese patients. Also, regular aerobic exercise may modify the antioxidant enzyme gene expression in early life.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.606-620
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• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Although some juices affect subjective sleep quality, there is a lack of information on the effect of a specific juice on objective sleep quality and heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep; thus the present study investigated whether a blended juice made from natural extracts influenced sleep quality and HRV during sleep in adults with disturbed sleep. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A randomized, crossover study was conducted on twenty-five adults (15/10, female/male) complaining of difficulty initiating or maintaining nighttime sleep (Pittsburgh sleep quality index [PSQI] ≥ 5). During feeding sessions (FS), subjects received sleep-inducing juice made of natural ingredients (250 mL/trial) twice a day for 8 weeks or non-FS (N-FS) for 8 weeks while maintaining normal activities. Sleep quality and parameters were recorded via wearable actigraph for 7 consecutive days, and PSQI scores were assessed before and after the intervention. HRV was also monitored at rest and during sleep. RESULTS: After receiving the sleep-inducing juice intervention (FS), PSQI scores were significantly decreased (P < 0.001) and correlated with a significant decline in fatigue severity scale and visual analogue scale levels (P < 0.05; both). HRV indices of vagal activity were significantly improved during FS (P < 0.05), and no significant differences in N-FS were observed. Sleep efficiency and total sleep time increased significantly (P < 0.05) and sleep latency, total counts, sleep fragmentation index, and movement index, decreased significantly (P < 0.05, all 4) during FS, with no significant differences-observed during N-FS. CONCLUSIONS: This study results demonstrated that an 8-week course of sleep-inducing juice has led to improve sleep quality, suggesting an enhanced cardiac vagal tone during sleep. Thus, it could be a well-tolerated option for adults with disturbed sleep.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1665-1672
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• 2009

This study examines the comfort of outdoorwear by electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) analyses. An experiment that consisted of rest (30 min), exercise (30 min), and recovery (20 min) periods was administered in a climate chamber with 10 healthy male participants. Two kinds of outdoorwear made of 100% cotton fabrics ('Control') and specially engineered fabrics having the feature of quick sweat absorbency and high speed drying fabric ('Functional') are evaluated in the experiment. ECG and EEG signals were obtained during the rest and recovery periods for the two outdoorwear conditions. The ECG analysis identified a smaller decrement of high frequency (HF) power for the 'Functional' when compared with the 'Control' during the recovery period. Next, the EEG analysis showed that the relative band powers of slow $\alpha$ and mid $\alpha$ increased for the 'Functional' while they decreased for the 'Control' and that the ratio of $\alpha$ power to high $\beta$ power was higher for the 'Functional'. The evaluation results indicate that the participants could remain relaxed more with less stress while wearing the functional outdoorwear that demonstrated the positive effects on autonomic nervous system (ANS) activities. The present study is significant in regard that use of ECG and EEG for the assessment of wear comfort is the first in the field of clothing and textile.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.420-427
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• 2002

Partial nerve injury is the main cause of neuropathic pain disorders in humans. Acupuncture has long been used to relieve pain. It is known to relieve pain by controlling the activities of the autonomic nervous system. Although the mechanism of neuropathic pain and analgesic effects of electroacupuncture (EA) have been studied in a rat model system, its detailed mechanism at the molecular level remains unclear. To identify genes that might serve as either markers or explain these distinct biological functions, a cDNA microarray analysis was used to compare the expression of 8,400 genes among three sample groups. Messenger RNAs that were pooled from the spinal nerves of 7 normal. 7 neuropathic pain, and 7 EA treatment rat models were compared. Sixty-eight genes were differentially expressed more than 2-fold in the neuropathic rat model when compared to the normal, and restored to the normal expression level after the EA treatment. These genes are involved in a number of biological processes, including the signal transduction, gene expression, and nociceptive pathways. Confirmation of the differential gene expression was performed by a dot-blot analysis. Dot-blotting results showed that the opioid receptor sigma was among those genes. This indicates that opioid-signaling events are involved in neuropathic pain and the analgesic effects of EA. The potential application of these data include the identification and characterization of signaling pathways that are involved in the EA treatment, studies on the role of the opioid receptor in neuropathic pain, and further exploration on the role of selected identified genes in animal models.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.97-103
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• 2007

The object of this study is to evaluate confounding effect of sleeping behavior on heart rate variability (HRV) in healthy volunteers during a randomized clinical trial. From 6 healthy volunteer, we acquired circadian electrocardiography(ECG) with a Holter monitoring device(DigiTrak Plus, Philips). The compatible analytical program, Zymed, was used for calculation of RR intervals of 24h ECG signal. Then, we generated HRV signals and calculated 9 HRV parameters in time domain and frequency domain for every 30 minute with Matlab 6.x software. We also encoded participants' activities as follows; stable condition(1), sleeping behavior(2), eating behavior(3), and undefined condition(4). Using SPSS 12.0, we tested if there was any difference between HRV parameters of day-time and night-time and between those of a subject in stable condition and in sleeping behavior. As a result, one of the most important parameter-LF/HF ratio, which indicates the autonomic balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, as same the other parameters, showed large inter-individual variations in circadian profiles. And, the mean LF/HF ratio of each participant was different between in stable condition and in sleeping behavior (p<.05). Consequently, the effect of sleeping behavior must be considered when one or more of HRV parameters, especially LF/HF ratio, are used as assessment index in clinical studies.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2019

Oxidative stress is considered a major contributor in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy and in diabetes complications, such as nephropathy and cardiovascular diseases. Diabetic neuropathy, which is the most frequent complications of diabetes, affect sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves. This study aimed to investigate whether 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) protects SH-SY5Y neuronal cells against high glucose-induced toxicity. In the current study, we found that diabetic patients exhibited higher lipid peroxidation caused by oxidative stress than healthy subjects. 7,8-DHF exhibits superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. High glucose-induced toxicity severely damaged SH-SY5Y neuronal cells, causing mitochondrial depolarization; however, 7,8-DHF recovered mitochondrial polarization. Furthermore, 7,8-DHF effectively modulated the expression of pro-apoptotic protein (Bax) and anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2) under high glucose, thus inhibiting the activation of caspase signaling pathways. These results indicate that 7,8-DHF has antioxidant effects and protects cells from apoptotic cell death induced by high glucose. Thus, 7,8-DHF may be developed into a promising candidate for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

This study aims to examine the effect of healing program using insect. For the insect resources, the program uses 3 species of emotional insects. The subjects were a total of 29, the elderly with mild dementia and adults with developmental disabilities in the facility. The activities are 9 programs in total and each program takes 2 hours once a week. For data collection, we measured a blood pressure, stress level using autonomic nervous system activity, and scale of happiness, depression and insomnia by a survey. The datas were collected every week before and after the program. As a result of paired-sample t-test analysis, the participants of the agro-healing program using insects had positive effects as follows: reducing a depression, relieving a symptom of insomnia and stabilizing a blood pressure. Through the results of this study, it was possible to confirm the positive effects of the agro-healing program using insects. If farms lead agro-healing program using insects on their own, it could be expected to contribute to improve the quality of life through agriculture as well as to improve the farms' income.