Effects of mobile mindfulness training on mental health of employees: A CONSORT-compliant pilot randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Employee stress and well-being affect organizational efficiency and productivity, as well as physical and psychological health of employees. Mindfulness is believed to reduce stress, prevent diseases, and promote well-being. Mindfulness has been used as the main component of various smartphone-based healthcare applications. Previous studies have suggested that mindfulness applications have a positive effect on employee stress and mental health. However, relatively few randomized controlled trials have examined the effectiveness of mindfulness applications on employees. This study aims to evaluate whether mobile mindfulness training (MMT) as a stress self-management tool improves employees' perceived stress, subjective well-being, and Mibyeong, a condition that is not a disease but shows obvious health abnormalities. METHODS: Participants were recruited through advertisements displayed at 3 workplaces, including a patent attorney's office, a construction company, and a public relations firm. A total of 45 employees were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: the MMT group (Group A) receiving smartphone application-based mindfulness training, and a wait-list control (WLC) group (Group B), who received no intervention. Group A employees conducted MMT following daily and event guidelines for 4 weeks. In contrast, Group B employees did not receive any intervention in that time. The outcome variables were perceived stress, subjective well-being, and Mibyeong. Surveys were conducted at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up (fourth week post-intervention). RESULTS: Demographic characteristics and baseline assessments were not significantly different between the 2 groups. The results of this study revealed that subjective well-being and Mibyeong were significantly improved in the MMT group compared with the WLC group. Moreover, this improvement was maintained up to at least 4 weeks later. However, perceived stress was not significantly reduced in the MMT group compared to the WLC group. CONCLUSION: Four weeks of MMT improved the subjective well-being and Mibyeong of employees. However, further studies are required to investigate the effect of MMT on other areas of mental health.

Interstitial lung disease induced by the roots of Achyranthes japonica Nakai: Three case reports.

BACKGROUND: The roots of Achyranthes japonica Nakai (AJN), called "Useul-puli," has been traditionally used to control pain and improve dysfunction in osteoarthritis patients in South Korea. CASE SUMMARY: We described 3 patients diagnosed with herbal medicine induced interstitial lung disease after consuming boiled the roots of AJN. They were referred to our hospital because of the modified Medical Research Council grade 4 dyspnea. Chest computed tomography showed bilateral ground-glass opacities with patchy consolidation. After treatment with systemic glucocorticoid therapy and discontinuation of the roots of AJN, their symptoms improved, and almost all ground-glass opacities and patchy consolidations on chest radiography and chest computed tomography resolved. CONCLUSION: We present three cases of interstitial lung disease induced by the roots of AJN.

Education, reregistration, and recommendation effect of iPhone Poomsae education app in Taekwondo academy.

This paper analyzed the effect of a smartphone application in Taekwondo Academy. The iPhone app was self-developed to display Taekwondo education contents for Poomsae training. From the viewpoint of education, reregistration and recommendation effect, it showed statistically significant difference in 196 trainee sample survey. Therefore, the research suggest that the use of smartphone technology in Poomsae education would be a great help to the trainee for the acquisition of Taekwondo knowledge and make a great contribution to the growth of Taekwondo.

Antimutagenicity and cytotoxicity of the constituents from the aerial parts of Rumex acetosa.

Four anthraquinones isolated for the first time from the aerial parts of Rumex acetosa (Polygonaceae), a Korean and a Japanese medicinal plant, and two synthetic derivatives were examined for their cytotoxicities against five cultured human tumor cell lines, i.e. A549 (non-small cell lung), SK-OV-3 (ovary), SK-MEL-2 (melanoma), XF498 (central nerve system) and HCY15 (colon), using the Sulfrhodamine-B method in vitro and antimutagenic activities by Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 and SOS chromotest with E. coli PQ37. Among the tested compounds, emodin strongly inhibited the proliferation of each examined tumor cell line with IC50 values ranged from 2.94 to 3.64 microg/ml and showed potent antimutagenic activities with 71.5% and 53.3% at the concentration of 0.1 mg/plate against the mutagens, NPD and sodium azide, respectively. Its antigenotoxic activity was also very effective at the final concentration of 10 microg/reaction tube against the mutagens, MNNG and NQO by SOS chromotest, reducing the induction factors by 19.6% and 43.5%, respectively. The structure-activity correlation study suggests that an additional OH group at C-6 position in the anthraquinone nucleus may play an important role for their cytotoxicities and an introduction of OH- or OCH3 group at C-6 position is necessary for their antimutagenicities.

Antimutagenic constituents from the thorns of Gleditsia sinensis.

Antimutagenic activity-guided fractionation of an extract prepared from the thorns of Gleditsia sinensis LAM. led to the isolation of one triterpenoid and four steroids, which were identified as D:C-friedours-7-en-3-one (1), stigmast-4-ene-3,6-dione (2), stigmastane-3,6-dione (3), stigmasterol (4), and beta-sitosterol (5). Triterpenoid 1 was found for the first time in a natural source and the steroids 2-5 were first isolated from this plant. Stigmasterol was the most active antimutagen, showing 51.2% and 64.2% reduction of the induction factor against the mutagens MNNG and NQO, respectively, in the SOS chromotest. Some NMR data of the steroids 2 and 3 obtained have to be revised.

Inhibitory effects of the essential oil from SuHeXiang Wan on the central nervous system after inhalation.

The present study was performed to evaluate the central nervous system inhibitory effects of the essential oil from SuHeXiang Wan (Storax pill), a prescription usually used for treating epilepsy in traditional Chinese medicine, on fragrance inhalation (aroma therapy). Preinhalation of the fragrance oil markedly delayed the appearance of pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsion, but showed weak activities on picrotoxin- and strychnine-induced convulsions, which implies this drug may inhibit the convulsion by GABAergic neuromodulation. This essential oil inhibited the binding of [(3)H]Ro15-1788, a selective antagonist for the benzodiazepine receptor and also the binding of [(3)H]flunitrazepam, a selective agonist for the receptor, in the presence of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and NaCl, showing a positive GABA shift, which suggested the strong possibility of the agonistic activity of the essential oil to the GABA/benzodiazepine receptor complex in rat cerebral cortices. Furthermore, inhalation inhibited the activity of GABA transaminase as the inhalation period was lengthened. The GABA level was significantly increased and glutamate content was significantly decreased in mouse brain by preinhalation of the essential oil. The above results suggest that the anticonvulsive effect of this essential oil can also originate from the enhancement of GABA level in the mouse brain, because convulsion depends partially on GABA concentration which can be properly preserved by inhibiting GABA transaminase. Fragrance inhalation progressively prolonged the pentobarbital-induced sleeping time as inhalation time was lengthened and inhibited brain lipid peroxidation, to which the anticonvulsive action is attributed; this also supported the above results, confirming the inhibitory effects of the essential oil of SuHeXiang Wan on the CNS via the GABAergic system.