Stellate ganglion radiation by polarized light (SGR) and placebo radiation were applied to healthy adults to compare the effects on the autonomic nervous system and electroencephalogram (EEG) of these radiations and the following results were obtained:
(1) The pulse rate tended to decrease during and after both SGR and placebo radiation. In contrast, the systolic blood pressure tended to increase during and after both radiations. No significant difference between radiations was found in either the pulse rate or systolic blood pressure. The coefficient of variation of the pulse rate (CV-PR), which reflects conditon of the cardiovascular parasympathetic nervous function, tended to increase during and after SGR and tended to decrease during placebo radiation. The value of CV-PR was significantly higher after SGR than after placebo radiation.
(2) The surface skin temperature of the lower extremities after SGR was slightly higher than that after placebo radiation, but the temperature of the upper extremities did not show any difference between SGR and placebo radiation.
(3) The relative power of alpha-2 wave as determined by quantitative EEG tended to be greater during and after SGR than during and after placebo radiation. The value 10min after SGR was significantly higher than after placebo radiation.
These results suggested that SGR activated the cardiovascular parasympathetic nervous function and relatively suppressed the cardiovascular sympathetic nervous function. We concluded that SGR influences not only the cardiovascular autonomic nervous system and surface skin temperature of the lower extremities, but also a wide range of EEG.

　　This study sought to analyze the conditions of nurses in acute care hospitals struggling with mental health issues. We administered a questionnaire survey to 204 nurses and analyzed 163 valid responses. A total of 81 conditions related to the working environment and 35 conditions related to interpersonal relations were identified. Conditions related to the working environment included working overtime beyond regular workhours, feelings of stress due to assignments, frequency of night shifts, stress in new environments, mistakes made on the job, worries about assigned positions, worries about work procedures, inability to take public and paid holidays, balance between work and raising children, heavy burden of responsibility, loss of confidence, flashbacks to occasions of past stress, trauma, and poor quality of nursing care. Conditions related to interpersonal relations included stress due to pressure from superiors and co-workers, attitude of senior colleagues, stress from senior colleagues, verbal abuse from superiors, behavior of doctors, negative feelings toward patients, changes in department assignments after maternity leave, verbal abuse from co-workers, verbal abuse from senior colleagues, neglect of duties by chief nurses, attitude of juniors, cooperation with other departments, and training of juniors. There were more statements about conditions related to the working environment than to interpersonal relations.

In this study, 10 healthy students were subjected to experiments. They bathed in plain hot spring water and hot spring water with 2% Togol mud at 39°C for 10min at an interval of 1 week. No difference in the change rates of pulse rate and blood pressure was observed between the two types of bathing. Forehead and oral temperatures decreased slightly after bathing in plain hot spring water. However, after bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud, the forehead temperature tended to be higher than that before bathing while the oral temperature increased significantly after bathing. Skin surface temperatures on the chest wall, left instep, and right forearm increased significantly after both types of bathing. Changes in the skin temperature after bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud tended to be greater than those after bathing in plain hot spring water. Eight out of 10 students felt warmer after bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud. These findings suggest that bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud is useful for medical care.

The purpose of this research was to develop a reflection program to support the practice of end-of-life care for nurses and to examine its effectiveness and feasibility. We developed and examined the effectiveness of a facilitator-based reflection program (FRP) and card-based reflection program (CRP). Average scores for both the FRP and CRP were measured using a Knowledge, Attitude and Difficulty Scale for palliative care and Self-education Ability Scale implemented before, immediately after, and 3 months after the program. The changes in scores were compared. This research was conducted with approval from the ethics review committee. Nine people participated in the FRP, and 15 in the CRP. FRP significantly reduced difficulty concerning palliative care compared to CRP. FRP significantly increased knowledge compared to CRP. Similar results were obtained within the FRP group. Both FRP and CRP were considered highly feasible because the program evaluation was high. In the future, it is necessary to clarify the effect of the reflection program by reviewing the research design.