PURPOSE: This study was to explore health experiences of the low-income elderly living alone reflected in Newman's Health as expanding consciousness theory. METHOD: The researcher used Newman's praxis methodology because it is good for showing the process of interaction between the researcher and the low-income elderly living alone. RESULTS: The significant characteristics of early health experience during a participant's lifetime were demonstrated that blamed themselves, being burden of themselves hopeless of their lives. However, after a turning point in health experience. The health experience of most of the participants evolved as expanding consciousness. CONCLUSION: This study has provided support for Newman's theory of health. Most of the participants recognized meanings in their patterns and authentic caring relationships with the nurse as researcher, pattern recognition as a nursing practice was a meaningful transforming process in the participant-nurse partnership. This participatory approach expands the scope of sharing health experience with the elderly living alone and with caring community people.
Aged* ; Consciousness* ; Humans ; Nursing

No abstract available.
Consciousness* ; Neurosciences* ; Philosophy*

No abstract available.
Consciousness Disorders* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Reviving patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (DOCs) has always been focused and challenging in medical research. Owing to the limited effectiveness of available medicine, recent research has increasingly turned towards neuromodulatory therapies, involving the stimulation of neural circuits. We summarised the progression of research regarding neuromodulatory therapies in the field of DOCs, compared the differences among different studies, in an attempt to explore optimal stimulation patterns and parameters, and analyzed the major limitations of the relevant studies to facilitate future research. METHODS: We performed a search in the PubMed database, using the concepts of DOCs and neuromodulation. Inclusion criteria were: articles in English, published after 2002, and reporting clinical trials of neuromodulatory therapies in human patients with DOCs. RESULTS: Overall, 187 published articles met the search criteria, and 60 articles met the inclusion criteria. There are differences among these studies regarding the clinical efficacies of neurostimulation techniques for patients with DOCs, and large-sample studies are still lacking. CONCLUSIONS Neuromodulatory techniques were used as trial therapies for DOCs wherein their curative effects were controversial. The difficulties in detecting residual consciousness, the confounding effect between the natural course of the disease and therapeutic effect, and the heterogeneity across patients are the major limitations. Large-sample, well-designed studies, and innovations for both treatment and assessment are anticipated in future research.
Clinical Trials as Topic ; Consciousness ; Consciousness Disorders/therapy* ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome

Humans ; Brain-Computer Interfaces ; Consciousness Disorders ; Consciousness ; Electroencephalography ; Brain

We administered new imidazole dervative, nizofenone, to 15 cases in the acute stage following subarachnoid hemorrhage between December, 1990 and March, 1991 to determine its therapeutic value of ischemic protection. The appearance of delayed ischemic deficit was not prevented, but its prognostic adverse effect was ameliorated. The ability to perform the normal activity was 67% in the group which did not show the delayed ischemi deficit. And the ability to perform the normal activity was also 67% in the group whih showed the delayed ischemic deficit. No significant side effect was seen in the end of its administration. But in 6 cases, the administration was stopped because of deterioration of patient' consciousness level despite its administration. No therapeutic value was observed in the poor grade(Hunt and Hess grade III-IV) patients. The ability to perform the normal activity was still 29% in the poor grade group. The mortality was 13% despite nizofenone. In this clinical trial, we concluded that nizofenone had the ameliorating effect to the adverse effect of the delayed ischemic deficit in the good grade(Hunt and Hess grade I-II) patients. But the effect to the poor grade patients was not observed. So large scaled controlld study would be necessary to verify its good therapeutic effect to the whole population of subarachnoid hemorrhage patients.
Consciousness ; Humans ; Mortality ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage*

Consciousness has become a legitimate theme of neuroscientific discourse over the last two decades. Neuroscientific investigation seeking neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) has ranged from the neuronal level to the system level. Regarding system level studies, there is a large body of evidence supporting the idea that functional connectivity studies can help in examining NCC. Functional connectivity studies have suggested the involvement of the thalamo-cortical, frontoparietal, and other cortico-cortical connectivity under anesthetic-induced unconsciousness and in disorders of consciousness. Likewise, effective connectivity has been used to investigate the causal interactions among elements of functional connectivity in various consciousness states, and provided a deeper understanding of NCC. Moreover, as an extended version of connectivity studies, complex network methods have also been used for studies on NCC. In this review, we focused on the aspect of the brain system level of NCC including functional and effective connectivity networks from methodological perspectives. In addition, as for states of consciousness, anesthetic-induced unconsciousness and disorders of consciousness are the main subjects. This review discusses what we have learned from recent studies about the exploration of human brain connectivity on consciousness and its neural correlates.
Brain ; Consciousness ; Humans ; Neurons ; Unconsciousness

Purpose: This study was performed to identify the factors that change exercise behave. This study will also classify and identify the characteristics of excercise stages to which the elderly belong Also, to identify the processes of change which influence on the changes in exercise performed by the elderly. Methods: Convenient samples of 198 subjects over the age 60 in Seoul Korea(mean age=70) were selected from elderly communities and were all mentally conpetant older adults. The data were collected from April 1,1999 to May 30, 1999. The research instruments were measured the change in exercise (Marcus et al., 1992b), such as Stage of Change measure(Marcus et al,1992a). The data were analyzed by SAS Program. Results: 1. According to the measure of change without missing data, 191 subjects were distributed each stage of change for exercise: 50 subjects (26.1%), 7 subjects (3.6%), 52 subjects (27.2%), 4 subjects (2%), and 78 (40.8%) belonged to the precontemplation stage, the contemplation stage, the preparation stage, the action stage and the maintenace stage. 2. According to the factor analysis, 6 factors of change were identified as appropriate processes of change and were named by the researchers. The names were; 'Supportive helping relationship', 'Self cognitive determination', 'Environmental reinforcement', Consciousness raising', Reinforcement of negative condition and 'Conversion of negative condition'. 3. According to the stage of change, there were significant mean differences in the 'Supportive helping relationship(F=22.04, p=.0001)', 'Self cognitive determination (F=50.87, p=.0001)', 'Reinforcement of negative condition(F=7.84,p=.0006)'. 4. Through the discriminant analysis, it was found that Self cognitive determination is the most influential variable as one of the processes of change which can discrimiate the three stages of change (precontemplation, preparation, and maintenance). Also the next significant variable was Reinforcement of negative condition. Conclusion: The process of the dey change is one of concepts of The transtheoretical model known as strategies and the techniques people use as they go through the different stages of change. Even though this study is cross- sectional not longitudinal study, the finding of this study gives useful information for exercise intervention, by using this strategy of exercise for elderly in different stages of change in exercise.
Adult ; Aged* ; Consciousness ; Humans ; Seoul

Purpose: This study was performed to identify the factors that change exercise behave. This study will also classify and identify the characteristics of excercise stages to which the elderly belong Also, to identify the processes of change which influence on the changes in exercise performed by the elderly. Methods: Convenient samples of 198 subjects over the age 60 in Seoul Korea(mean age=70) were selected from elderly communities and were all mentally conpetant older adults. The data were collected from April 1,1999 to May 30, 1999. The research instruments were measured the change in exercise (Marcus et al., 1992b), such as Stage of Change measure(Marcus et al,1992a). The data were analyzed by SAS Program. Results: 1. According to the measure of change without missing data, 191 subjects were distributed each stage of change for exercise: 50 subjects (26.1%), 7 subjects (3.6%), 52 subjects (27.2%), 4 subjects (2%), and 78 (40.8%) belonged to the precontemplation stage, the contemplation stage, the preparation stage, the action stage and the maintenace stage. 2. According to the factor analysis, 6 factors of change were identified as appropriate processes of change and were named by the researchers. The names were; 'Supportive helping relationship', 'Self cognitive determination', 'Environmental reinforcement', Consciousness raising', Reinforcement of negative condition and 'Conversion of negative condition'. 3. According to the stage of change, there were significant mean differences in the 'Supportive helping relationship(F=22.04, p=.0001)', 'Self cognitive determination (F=50.87, p=.0001)', 'Reinforcement of negative condition(F=7.84,p=.0006)'. 4. Through the discriminant analysis, it was found that Self cognitive determination is the most influential variable as one of the processes of change which can discrimiate the three stages of change (precontemplation, preparation, and maintenance). Also the next significant variable was Reinforcement of negative condition. Conclusion: The process of the dey change is one of concepts of The transtheoretical model known as strategies and the techniques people use as they go through the different stages of change. Even though this study is cross- sectional not longitudinal study, the finding of this study gives useful information for exercise intervention, by using this strategy of exercise for elderly in different stages of change in exercise.
Adult ; Aged* ; Consciousness ; Humans ; Seoul

The author studied 62 consecutive patients with spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage and 38 patients with spontaneous pontine hemorrhage, diagnosed by computerized tomography scanning from May 1983 to December 1994 and assessed the relationship of outcome of initial GCS score, CT findings, and treatment modality. In cerebellar hemorrhage, good outcome was achieved in patients with high initial GCS score(>13), small hematoma, patent quadrigeminal cistern, absent hydroceohalic change, and the location of the hemorrhage in the hemisphere. Although the size of hematoma was an impotant prognostic factor, it had no constant bearing on the level of consciousness, degree of quadrigeminal cistern obliteration, and outcome. Absence of quadrigeminal cistern obliteration predicted a good outcome whether the hematoma was evacuated or not, as long as obstructive hydrocephalus, if present, was relieved darly. However, partial obliteration of the quadrigeminal cistern was a predictor of good outcome if the hematoma was evacuate d within 48 hours after the onset of hemorrhage. Total obliteration of the quadrigeminal cistern inevitably predicted an unfavorable outcome. In pontine hemorrhages, a good outcome was achieved in patients with high initial GCS score(>13), small size hematoma(<5cc) and patent quadrigeminal cistern. Especially, the size of the hematoma was an important prognostic factor and guideline for the determination of surgical candidates. Small hematomas(<5cc) responded more positively to conservative management than to surgery. However, early hematoma evaculation(<48hr) had improved the outcome in moderate sized hematomas(5-10cc). Large hematomas(>10cc) inevitably showed an unfavorable outcome.
Consciousness ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus