• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1174-1180
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• 2006

The present study was sought to clarify whether the combination of mental activity with subway noise affects hematological variables. Fifty-six healthy volunteers participated in this experiment and underwent a stress task consisting of combination_of mental activity (mental arithmetic) with subway noise for 50 min and 60min of recovery after the end of the stress task. Venous blood samples were collected for measuring CBC, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), fibrinogen concentration, D-dimer and high sensitive C-reactive protein (H-CRP) levels before (baseline), 50min of stress task (S-50m), and 60 min of recovery (R-60m). Total leukocyte, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts significantly increased at R-60m compared with baselines. RBC count at S-50m was higher, while monocyte counts at S-50m and R-60m were lower than those of baselines. aPTTs shortened at S-50m and R-60m, but PT reduced at R-60m as compared with baselines. D-dimer and H-CRP levels at S-50m and R-60m were significantly higher than those of baselines. These findings imply that a combination of mental activity with subway noise nay cause leukocytosis, homo-concentration, shortened PT and aPTT, decreased ESR, and raised D-dimer and H-CRP levels, suggesting possible development of inflammation and prothrombogenic reaction attributable to a subway environment.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.365-382
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• 1991

This study was designed to measure the physical, mental-emotional and social health status of elderlies according to rural areas, medium - small cities, and large city environment. Data collection was done from July 18 to August 17 1990. The subjects were a convenience sample after their place of residence was stratified into large, medium- small cities and rural areas. Those who attended elderly centers in Seodaemun, Mapo, and Kangnam districts in Seoul were considered to be residents of a large city and interviewed by trained research assistants and student nurses. Elderlies living in Chungju, Jinju, Chuncheon, and Jeonju cities were coded as residents of medium-small cities and were interviewed by professors of nursing colleges. Rural residents were interviewed by the community health practioners working in community health clinics in North and South Kyongsang, North and South Jeolla, and Kyonggi provinces. The tool used in this study was the health assessment tool developed by Choi, Young Hee in 1990. This tool was organized into 20 physical health status, 17 mental - emotional health status, and 37 social health ststus items. Physical health status items consisted of six factors - personal hygiene activity ability, external activity utilizing traffic, mass media, and spare time ability, sexual ability, digestive system related ability, sexual ability, sensory ability, and elimination ability. Mental - emotional health status items consisted of two factors - mental health factor and emotional health factor. Social health status items consisted of seven factors -grandparental role ability, parental role ability, spoused role ability, friendship role ability, kinship role ability, group member role ability, and religious believer role ability. Data Analysis included frequencies, percentage, mean, standard deviation, ANOVA, and chi - square test. The results of the analysis are as follows : 1. The mean physical health status score for large city residents was 4.1132, for rural residents 4.0787, and for medium and small city residents 3.9565. There were significant differences according to residential area for personal hygiene activity ability, external activity ability, sexual ability, and digestive system related ability items 2. The mean mental -emotional health status score for rural residents was 3.8291, for medium and small city residents 3.7967, and for large city residents 3.7807. There was a significant difference according to residential area in the mental health ability item. 3. The mean social health status score for medium and small city residents was 3.0000, for rural residents 2.9362, and for large city residents 2.8960. There were significant differences according to residential area for kinship role ability and religious believer role ability items. The following conclusion was derived from the above results 1. The physical health status of elderlies residing in medium - small cities and in rural areas was lower than that of those residing in Seoul, a large urban area. Therefore, more medical facilities are needed in rural area so as to monitor their health, prevent disease, and promote their health. 2. The mental -emotional ststus and social health status of elderlies residing in the large city were lower than that of those residing in medium - small cities and rural areas. This may reflect weakening of the strong traditional family bond that may happen with urbanization. Continued support for elderly parents is essential and education should emphasize the traditional cultural norm and value of filial piety. 3. Facilities and programs for elderly are needed so that they may spend their time more valuably in their urban environment.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 2012

Classification of human thought is an emerging research field that may allow us to understand human brain functions and further develop advanced brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. In the present study, we introduce a new approach to classify various mental states from noninvasive electrophysiological recordings of human brain activity. We utilized the full spatial and spectral information contained in the electroencephalography (EEG) signals recorded while a subject is performing a specific mental task. For this, the EEG data were converted into a 2D spatiospectral pattern map, of which each element was filled with 1, 0, and -1 reflecting the degrees of event-related synchronization (ERS) and event-related desynchronization (ERD). We evaluated the similarity between a current (input) 2D pattern map and the template pattern maps (database), by taking the inner-product of pattern matrices. Then, the current 2D pattern map was assigned to a class that demonstrated the highest similarity value. For the verification of our approach, eight participants took part in the present study; their EEG data were recorded while they performed four different cognitive imagery tasks. Consistent ERS/ERD patterns were observed more frequently between trials in the same class than those in different classes, indicating that these spatiospectral pattern maps could be used to classify different mental states. The classification accuracy was evaluated for each participant from both the proposed approach and a conventional mental state classification method based on the inter-hemispheric spectral power asymmetry, using the leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV). An average accuracy of 68.13% (${\pm}9.64%$) was attained for the proposed method; whereas an average accuracy of 57% (${\pm}5.68%$) was attained for the conventional method (significance was assessed by the one-tail paired $t$-test, $p$ < 0.01), showing that the proposed simple classification approach might be one of the promising methods in discriminating various mental states.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.110-118
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Depression and anxiety are common mental health problems. Anthocyanins from berries might have an inhibitory effect on monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzymes and alleviate various mood and anxiety symptoms. This study examined the effects of a daily supplement of an anthocyanin-rich product on mental health problems. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis from a randomized, 6-week, open-label trial in 300 healthy participants aged 18-60 years who consumed 1 or 2 servings of anthocyanin-rich mulberry milk daily. The General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to monitor mental health problems. In addition, the saliva activity levels of MAO-A, MAO-B, and cortisol were examined at the baseline and after 6 weeks. RESULTS: The total scores of the GHQ-28 and HADS and all their subscales decreased in both groups (all P < 0.05). The cortisol, MAO-A, and MAO-B activities decreased significantly (all P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences between the groups (all P > 0.05). Significant correlations were noted between the decreased activity level of MAO-A enzyme and decreased scores from the GHQ-28 somatic subscale and the HADS depression subscale (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Daily consumption of anthocyanin-rich mulberry milk possibly improves mental health problems by reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms in the working population. The suppression of MAO-A activity is a possible underlying mechanism.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.680-691
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• 2021

This study investigated the relationship of physical activity types with depression, stress and happiness in the elderly. The data were from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2019, 2,381 cases. The results showed the levels of Activity of Daily Living were relatively high, but the levels of moderate recreational activity and aerobic physical activity prevalence were low. The levels of depression, stress and happiness were satisfactory. There were some differences in depression, stress and happiness by the levels of activity of daily living, moderate recreational activity and aerobic physical activity prevalence. The implications to enhance physical activities and mental health for the elderly were discussed.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.507-513
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to describe and identify factors that affect job satisfaction of nurses in community mental health facilities. The participants were 201 nurses from 59 nationwide community mental health facilities in Korea. The collected data were analyzed using a t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical multiple regression with SPSS 20.0 for Windows. The mean scores of nursing activity, job stress, and job satisfaction were 2.0, 2.4, and 3.1, respectively. Nursing activity and job stress were significantly correlated with job satisfaction. According to the multiple regression analysis, perceived health status, nursing activity (management of daily living), and job stress explained 21% of the variance in job satisfaction. This study suggested the necessity of developing and conducting programs for job stress reduction and job competency enhancement to improve job satisfaction of nurses in community mental health facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.829-846
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• 2014

Using complex sample design, this article analyzes the difference between sex and age groups of mental health, physical activity, suffering lifestyle diseases, drinking, and smoking using the fifth Korea national health and nutrition examination survey data (2011-2012), and then analyzes the effect of mental health, physical activity, suffering lifestyle diseases, drinking, and smoking on EQ-5D, a measure of health-related quality of life. The results show that mental health, physical activity, suffering lifestyle diseases, drinking and smoking are statistically different among gender and age groups, and that age group, education level, suffering diabetes, recognizing stress, thinking suicide are statistically influential on EQ-5D.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.43-52
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• 2021

Restless Legs Syndrome/Willis-Ekbom Disease (RLS/WED) is a sleep disorder characterized by sensorimotor symptoms such as unpleasant sensations before sleep, akathisia, and periodic limb movements during sleep. It is also closely related to hyperarousal and is often accompanied by insomnia. Although the mechanism is not clear, the understanding of etiology and pathophysiology has greatly expanded through recent advances in genetic and neurobiological research. The most important pathophysiology of RLS/WED is brain iron deficiency. Such iron deficiency in the brain is caused by complex interactions between several genetic factors and various environmental factors, including comorbidities. Iron deficiency in the brain results in dysfunction of several neurotransmitters. A decrease in adenosine activity appears first, followed by an increase in the activity of glutamate and dopamine. A decrease in adenosine activity and an increase in glutamate activity stimulate the brain arousal system, resulting in hyperarousal. In addition, overproduction of dopamine and glutamate leads to dysfunction of the cortical-striatal-thalamic circuit, resulting in symptoms such as akathisia and periodic limb movements during sleep.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.173-180
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• 2005

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to assess the effect auricular acupuncture for acute mental stress using power spectrum analysis of the heart rate variability(HRV). Methods : 10 healthy volunteers participated in this study. After 5 minute rest, the first mental stress was provided for 5 minute. And then subjects rested for 15 minute. The second mental stress was provided for 5 minute. The acupoint, Shin-Mun point of the ear was stimulated for 15 minute. HRV was recorded before and after the first and second mental stress, and after auricular acupuncture stimulation. Results : After mental stress, normalized LF and LF/HF ratio is significantly increased. Before and after simple rest, normalized LF and normalized HF is significantly changed, but LF and LF/HF ratio is not significantly changed. On the other hand, before and after auricular acupuncture treatment, normalized LF, normalized HF is significantly changed, and also LF and LF/HF ratio is significantly decreased. Conclusion : The result suggest that auricular acupuncture can decrease more significantly in cardiac sympathetic activity due to mental stress than simple rest.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.76-86
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of study was to examine the relationship between obesity and its associated factors (psychiatric symptom, duration of illness, type of medication, physical activity, dietary habits, depressive symptom, and stress) in patients with chronic mental illness registered to community mental health welfare centers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional correlation study using a convenience sampling. A total of 392 participants were recruited from community mental health welfare centers. The obtained data were analyzed using binary and multinomial logistic regression. Results: Atypical antipsychotic medication, duration of illness, dietary habits (overeating, and drinking instant coffee) were significantly contributed variables into body mass index (BMI) obesity. Atypical antipsychotic medication and instant coffee were significantly related to abdominal obesity. Conclusion: These results emphasized the needs of tailored obesity-preventive management for the community-dwelling patients with chronic mental illness, topically focusing on the administration of atypical antipsychotic medication, duration of illness, and dietary habits.