• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.1006-1012
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• 1999

This study was conducted to evaluate the ELISA kit for measuring the level of cortisol in the urine. The CV of within-run variation and day to day variation were 0.4~2.8 and 1.8~5.7, respectively. The minimum limitation of measurement was 1ng/ml. The cross reaction was high ($CR_{50}(%)=11.4{\sim}43.2$) in prednisolone, 11-deoxycortisol, 21-deoxycortisol and predinosone. There was low and no cross reaction in other steroid. To develop the ELISA kit we measured the cortisol level in diluted urine with PBS (procedure I), extracted urine with methylene chloride (procedure II) and extracted methylene chloride-extracted urine from thin-layer chromatography (procedure III). The CV value of procedure I, II, III was 9.4~28.3%, 7.2~8.9% and 2.5~5.7%, respectively. There was significant difference between procedure I with II, and pro-cedure I with III(p < 0.01), but no difference between procedure II with III significantly(p < 0.01). The mean UCCR of urine collected through am 8 to 10 was $9.5{\pm}7.6$(0.14~28.0) in 12-month-old dog(n = 47). In this study we can measure the cortisol level in extracted urine with methylene chloride and sequential thin-layer chromatography accurately using ELISA kit.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.293-301
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• 2001

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise therapy and relaxation therapy on the level of ACTH and cortisol in workers and to determine, from this information, the effectiveness of applied exercise therapy and relaxation therapy as a nursing intervention method for workers experiencing stress. Method: The subjects were divided into an exercise therapy group. a relaxation therapy group, and a control group. The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design (exercise therapy : n=12. relaxation therapy: n=12, control group, the group without exercise or relaxation therapy: n= 12). The subjects in the exercise therapy group were given a particular intensity for each kp over 30 min, bicycle ergometer which uses the LX PE training system before and after four weeks of training. The subjects did 60-70% exercise intensity exercise therapy for eight weeks The relaxation therapy subjects were trained using a modified Jacobson's relaxation technique for eight weeks. The exercise and relaxation therapy groups were trained at the following intensity for eight weeks (3 times/week, 30 min/day). Changes in the levels of ACTH and cortisol were identified. Two-way ANOVA and multiple range test (SNK: Student Newman Keul) were used to examine the effects of exercise therapy and relaxation therapy at four and eight weeks. Result: 1. Changes in the level of ACTH in the relaxation therapy group were statistically significant at .05 level, and were better than that of the exercise therapy group after eight weeks. But there was no significant difference between the exercise therapy group and the control group. 2. Change in the level of cortisol in the relaxation therapy group were statistically significant at .05 level as compared to the exercise therapy group and the control group after four weeks, but not after eight weeks. Also, the relaxation therapy was statistically significant at .05 level after four weeks compared to before treatment, but there was a tendency toward increased cortisol after eight weeks. Conclusion: Relaxation therapy was found to be more effective in stress treatment than exercise therapy and as such is a desirable nursing intervention method for stress hormone reduction in workers.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.133-139
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of aromatherapy on headache, anxiety, and serum cortisol level in middle-aged women with recurrent headaches. Methods: Nineteen patients in the intervention group and 21 in the control group participated in the exercise. They were randomly selected volunteers whose average headache score over 6 months with above 4 points on the visual analogue scale (VAS). The experimental group received aromatherapy for 5 days; inhalation (3 times per day) and an application on the neck and both shoulders (one time per day). Prior and post treatment scores in headache, anxiety, and measurement of serum cortisol in experimental group were measured. Then, these were compared with the control group. The headache score was measured by VAS; anxiety score was measured by State Trait Anxiety Inventory; serum cortisol was measured by Radio-Immune-Assay method. Results: Decrease in headache, anxiety, and serum cortisol level in the experimental group was greater than those in the control group. Conclusion: It confirmed aromatherapy is effective in reducing headache, anxiety, and serum cortisol level.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2016

Background: Previous research has shown that paramedics are exposed to risks in the form of injuries to the musculoskeletal system. In addition, there are studies showing that they are also at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and psychiatric diseases, which can partly be explained by their constant exposure to stress. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the use of shoulder straps decreases physical effort in the form of decreased heart rate and cortisol concentration. Methods: A stretcher with a dummy was carried by 20 participants for 400 m on two occasions, one with and one without the shoulder straps. Heart rate was monitored continuously and cortisol samples were taken at intervals of 0 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 60 minutes. Each participant was her or his own control. Results: A significant decrease in heart rate and cortisol concentration was seen when shoulder straps were used. The median values for men (with shoulder straps) at 0 minutes was 78 bpm/21.1 nmol/L (heart rate/cortisol concentration), at 15 minutes was 85 bpm/16.9 nmol/L, and at 60 minutes was 76 bpm/15.7 nmol/L; for men without shoulder straps, these values were 78 bpm/21.9 nmol/L, 93 bpm/21.9 nmol/L, and 73 bpm/20.5 nmol/L. For women, the values were 85 bpm/23.3 nmol/L, 92 bpm/20.8 nmol/L, and 70 bpm/18.4 nmol/L and 84 bpm/32.4 nmol/L, 100 bpm/32.5 nmol/L, and 75 bpm/25.2 nmol/L, respectively. Conclusion: The use of shoulder straps decreases measurable physical stress and should therefore be implemented when heavy equipment or a stretcher needs to be carried. An easy way to ensure that staff use these or similar lifting aids is to provide them with personalized, well-adapted shoulder straps. Another better option would be to routinely sewn these straps into the staff's personal alarm jackets so they are always in place and ready to be used.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.169-175
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• 2011

Objectives: The questionnaire of occupational stress index (OSI) has been popular in the workplace, and it has been tailored for bus drivers in Taiwan. Nevertheless, its outcomes for participants are based on self-evaluations, thus validation by their physiological stress biomarker is warranted and this is the main goal of this study. Methods: A cross-sectional study of sixty-three city bus drivers and fifty-four supporting staffs for comparison was conducted. Questionnaire surveys, 24-hour urine cortisol testing, and blood draws for dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) testing were performed. The measured concentrations of these biological measures were logarithmically transformed before the statistical analysis where various scores of stressor factors, moderators, and stress effects of each OSI domain were analyzed by applying multiple linear regression models. Results: For drivers, the elevated 24-hour urine cortisol level was associated with a worker's relationship with their supervisor and any life change events in the most recent 3 months. The DHEA-S level was higher in drivers of younger age as well as drivers with more concerns relating to their salary and bonuses. Non-drivers showed no association between any stressor or satisfaction and urine cortisol and blood DHEA-S levels. Conclusion: Measurements of biomarkers may offer additional stress evaluations with OSI questionnaires for bus drivers. Increased DHEA-S and cortisol levels may result from stressors like income security. Prevention efforts towards occupational stress and life events and health promotional efforts for aged driver were important anti-stress remedies.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.411-422
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• 2020

Background and objective: This study was conducted to find out the effects of healing farm resources and participant satisfaction on the level of stress and loyalty. Methods: The experiment was conducted on 18 subjects who participated in agro-healing activities (aged 49.5 years on average) and the concentration of cortisol, the level of stress and satisfaction with the services and program of a healing farm. The healing-agriculture activities were performed once a week, a total of 7 sessions, for 90 minutes and their saliva was collected before and after the activities. Results: The concentration of cortisol, a stress hormone, was statistically significantly reduced after the healing-agriculture activities in 5 out of 7 sessions. The total cortisol concentration showed statistically significant differences. The 6th session was comprised of different activities, compared to others, such as understanding weeds, managing a garden and making a pizza with fermentation enzymes, and the level of cortisol in the 6th session was the lowest after participating in the agro-healing activities, which indicated that the activities have the positive effect of lowering the level of stress. The level of stress was lowered from 18.39 to 16.78, which was consistent with the results of the concentration of cortisol. The level of satisfaction in the last session was below 50%, which indicated that the owner of the farm might be a little inexperienced in education and marketing on information and safety. The variables of participants including stress and satisfaction with services showed a strong influence on their loyalty. Conclusion: Satisfaction with services and loyalty to the healing farm showed a very high correlation, which was statistically significant. It also showed that participants' stress level and satisfaction with the services and program of the healing farm have a strong influence on their loyalty.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.99-104
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• 2022

This study was to analyze the effects of sudden rise in cortisol and human symptoms in the situation of rescue at river, The experimental results are as follows. The subjects were A, B, C, and the values of cortisol elevation before and after diving were 6.30ug/dl, 6.50ug/dl, and 6.57ug/dl, respectively. However, in the subject D, the elevation of cortisol before and after diving was significantly elevated to 11.00ug/dl. The reason for this is thought to be the depletion of physical strength through weighty due to the inferiority of the underwater view and tense during the sudden rise. The subjects E showed significantly lower cortisol elevation before and after diving, as 4.28ug/dl, because the age of E was the youngest of the subjects and the anxiety was low due to abundant experience of deep sea diving. Fatigue is 7 to 8, anxiety is 7 to 9, Both showed high values. Psychological strain increased fatigue in underwater search, and poor visual field seemed to increase anxiety. The research results will be provided as empirical data on the safe underwater search activities of rescuers.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.385-393
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of forest activities on the cortisol concentrations in the body and emotional vocabulary of kindergarteners. The participants were 36 kindergarten children aged 4-5, 17 in the control group and 19 in the experimental group. Forest activities consisted of six steps according to the level of kindergarteners, and the program was carried out at G City Environment Training Institute. Before and after the experiment, the children's emotional vocabulary was self-reported and salivary cortisol was analyzed to evaluate changes in the body's stress hormones. As a result, in the control group, positive words increased significantly from 0.14 to 1.53 (p=.003), but the decrease in negative words was not significant (p=.059). In the experimental group, positive words increased significantly from 0.47 to 2.84 after forest activities (p=.000). Negative words decreased significantly from 1.94 to 0.00 after forest activities (p=.000). In the analysis of salivary cortisol, the change in salivary cortisol concentrations was not significant (p=.667) in the control group, merely decreasing from 0.179 ㎍/dl to 0.161 ㎍/dl. However, the experimental group showed a significant decrease from 0.202 ㎍/dl to 0.161 ㎍/dl after forest activities (p=.049). These results suggest that forest play activities may be helpful in encouraging young children's emotional development by increasing positive vocabulary and decreasing negative vocabulary and reducing stress in kindergarteners.

• Stress
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.199-204
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• 2019

Backgoround: This study aimed to examine the influence of anxiety sensitivity on task performance and physiological stress response, and to assess the effect of depression in this process for the youth population. Methods: We presented participants with an uncontrollable stress situation where they were required to perform mental arithmetic, based on the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST). A total of 29 participants volunteered for this study. They completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to measure their levels of anxiety sensitivity and depression. Two saliva samples, one before and one after the experiment, were collected to assess the change in cortisol levels as an index of physiological stress response. Results: Participants with high anxiety sensitivity showed lower performance on the mental arithmetic tasks and a significant increase in a salivary cortisol level, compared to those with low anxiety sensitivity. Furthermore, cortisol levels showed a remarkable increase where high anxiety sensitivity was coupled with depressed mood. In other hands, the levels of cortisol remained unchanged despite high anxiety sensitivity with low depressed mood. Conclusions: Our results confirm that the interaction between anxiety sensitivity and depression affects participants' task performance and stress response, as measured through behavioral tasks and physiological data with self-report indices. Also, through the physiological data, we examined that those who have a high level of anxiety sensitivity showed maladaptive responses under high stressful situation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.888-899
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• 1995

Background: Topical inhaled steroids, budesonide(Bu) and beclomethasone dipropionate (BOP), are now established as effective drugs in the management of chronic asthma. These drugs have high topical anti-inflammatory effect with low systemic activity. This study was performed to determine the effects of two inhaled corticosteroids, Bu and BOP, on the adrenocortical supression in 44 patients with bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: The adrenocortical function was assessed by measurement of serum cortisol concentration at 8 o'clock in morning and free cortisol in 24-hour urine collection at interval in 44 patients. No steroid was administered during the pretreatment period of 10 days and the final 6 days of the study. Each subject inhaled BOP or Bu, in daily doses of 800 or 1,600 micrograms for 12 days. The dose was delivered by metered dose inhaler (MDI) or diskhaler or large spacing device attached to MDI. Results: The levels of serum cortisol and 24-hour urinary free cortisol were decreased during the treatment period in patients inhaled Bu delivered by MDI in daily doses of 800 and 1,600 micrograms. In contrast, serum cortisol level was decreased on 6 and 12th day of treatment period in patients with BDP diskhaler in daily doses of 800 micrograms. In daily doses of 1,600 micrograms, the serum cortisol and 24hour urine free cortisol levels were decreased on 6, 9 and 12th day of treatment period in patients with BDP disk haler. The serum cortisol and 24-hour urinary free cortisol levels were not significantly decreased during the treatment period in patients inhaled Bu delivered by large spacing device attached to a MDI. Conclusion: These results showed that 1) the endogenous cortisol secretion was suppressed after inhalation of BDP and Bu in daily doses of 800 and 1,600micrograms, 2) Bu with MDI suppressed the adrenocortical function more than BDP with diskhaler, in daily doses of 1600 micrograms. and 3)large spacing device attached to a MDI might decrease the risk of suppression in the hypothalamic -pituitary- adrenal axis.