Being far from conventional conservatism, artists tend to insist on going ahead of their times. It is likely that innovative writers are censured and suppressed by the dominant culture, for they violate not only cultural stereotypes but also social expectations. Kate Chopin, the author of The , was one of those writers who are far ahead of their times, and she was condemned throughout the U.S.A. though she had established her literary reputation as a regional writer before its publication in 1899. The novel was unrecognized for a long period because it was regarded as scandalous by much of the society. In spite of its tumultuous history, the American feminist literary movement in the 1960s, half a century after publication, helped Kate Chopin become a prestigious writer. In other words, because of the new rise of American feminist criticism, The has been considered one of the most highly sophisticated books in the United States literary canon. The proper status of the work has been afforded, and it has found an appeal with general readers and secured a place as well in the literary curricula in many American college and university courses. Chopin creates Edna Pontellier, the heroine of the story, as a married woman who is spiritually awakened in the course of her domestically restricted life and seeks her own individuality. The novel encompasses many themes such as dignity of individuality and vision of freedom. One of the most important themes that Chopin wants to present in the story is evidently Edna’s awakened love for a charming man named Robert Lebrun. Throughout Edna’s spiritual struggle toward self-fulfillment in her life, her love for him is awakened after his first denial of her. However, his second denial of her immediately causes her ultimate depression, and she walks into the ocean alone, hopelessly, for she has no solution for her loss of love. Death is the only escape that she is able to imagine.

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The mechanism of prolongation of sleeping (anesthesia) time after phenobarbital (PB) treatment was assessed in mice with ethionine (ET)-induced liver disorders (ET-treated group). The brain γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamic acid (GLU), lactic acid (LA), and pyruvic acid (PA) levels were significantly higher in the ET-treated group than the control group. The ET-treated group showed an abnormal neurotransmission and a decrease in energy metabolism. After administration of PB (175 mg/kg, i.p.), sleeping time and the brain GABA, GLU, LA, PA, and PB levels at the point were compared between ET-treated and control groups. Sleeping time in the ET-treated group was two times longer than that in the control group. At the point, the brain GABA and LA levels in the ET-treated and control groups and the PA level in the ET-treated group were significantly lower than those without PB treatment; and the GLU level in the ET-treated group was significantly higher than that without PB treatment. The brain concentrations of PB in both groups remained the same for seven hr after PB treatment.There was no difference in the brain PB concentration between the two groups at the point, although the ET-treated group showed impairment of excretion of PB at 18 hr of PB treatment. In conclusion, is not directly correlated with a decrease in PB in the brain, but rather to changes in the brain GABA, GLU, and other substances, and an inhibition of the neurotransmission and decreased energy metabolism in the brain are considered to be involved in the prolongation of PB-induced sleeping time in the ET-treated mice.

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Recent field studies have reported the effects of exercise on the cortisol

response (CAR); however, no study has experimentally examined the effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise intensity on CAR among 14 healthy male university students. Participants rested for 20 min (control condition) and exercised on a cycle ergometer for 20 min at 40% (low), 60% (moderate), and 80% (high) intensity of VO₂max on separate days. Saliva samples were collected 10 times as follows: 1) before and 2) immediately after the experimental session, 3) 10 min, 4) 20 min, and 5) 30 min into the recovery period, 6) 9 PM and 7) 11 PM in the evening following the session, 8) immediately after , 9) 15 min, and 10) 30 min post- the day after the session. Cortisol concentration increased after the high-intensity exercise and recovered in the evening following the session. The 30 min post- sampling point the day after the session of high-intensity exercise was higher than the control condition (p = .039). In addition, the higher intensity exercise condition led to the magnitude of change in CAR (CAR_c) (p = .006) and the area of cortisol increased under the curve (AUC_i) (p = .034), making it higher than the control condition. There were no significant differences in other confounders. These results suggest that CAR showed a higher value in healthy male university students the day after performing high-intensity exercise.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the day-to-day variations of salivary cortisol to discuss the appropriate timing for collecting saliva in a day for stress evaluation.
Materials and methods: Saliva samples from twelve healthy adults were collected by means of Salivette^® (SARSTEDT Co.) three times per day, immediately after (Time1), 6:00 PM (Time2) and 30 min before going to bed (Time3), on 5 nonconsecutive days. Cortisol concentration was measured using a radioimmunoassay.
Results: Salivary cortisol concentration showed the larger value at Time1 than that at Time2. The mean value of %CV for day-to-day variation showed the smallest value at Time1 (mean: 43.1%) and the largest value at Time3 (mean: 100.3%). There were significant differences in %CV value between Time1 and Time3, Time2 (mean: 64.1%) and Time3.
Conclusions: There are considerable day-to-day variations in salivary cortisol concentration measurements. From the viewpoint of day-to-day variation, collecting saliva immediately after in the morning is thought to be more advantageous for evaluating cortisol concentration.

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A deep Neural Network (DNN) is used to estimate the sleep onset and awaking time of a subject with physiological data during sleep, in order to control the sleeping environment based on sleep phase. The results of the estimation from 40 minutes before the actual sleeping time show approximately 2.8 minutes mean error. Regarding awaking time, the results of the estimation from 120 minutes before show approximately 9.9 minutes mean error. Furthermore, the results of estimation in case of the range from 60 to 20 minutes before the actual

time show approximately 7.5 minutes mean error. The proposed DNN estimation is found to be effective for control of a comfortable awaking environment.

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Along with urbanization of the living environment, the number of patients with circadian rhythm sleep disorder (CRSD) has been increasing. There are several treatment candidates for CRSD, such as light therapy, drugs (melatonin and vitamin B12), and sleep hygiene education. However, successful treatment method has not been established. In free-running type (FRT) CRSD, the endogenous circadian rhythm cannot be entrained to the 24-h light-dark cycle, resulting in free running on a cycle 0.5-2.5 h longer than the 24-h period. This condition is relatively common in blind individuals and is unusual in sighted individuals. Here we report two sighted patients with FRT, successfully treated with a melatonin receptor agonist, ramelteon. Patient 1 (36-year-old female) had suffered from FRT for nearly 4 months after resigning her job. She was given sleep hygiene education together with ramelteon at first and the free-running cycle stopped after treatment day 15. Triazolam was added from the day 25 to promote earlier sleep onset. And the sleep-wake schedule was normalized by the day 34. Patient 2 (33-year-old male) had suffered from FRT for nearly 8 months after starting to take a leave of absence from his job. He was given sleep hygiene education and was treated with ramelteon and methylcobalamin. His sleep-wake schedule was normalized from the first treatment day. By the combined treatment with ramelteon, both patients have maintained favorable sleep-wake schedules. The agonist action of ramelteon at the melatonin 2 receptor may have primarily contributed to the cessation of the free-running cycle in these patients.

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Present study was to investigate the effects of caregiver burden on cortisol response (CAR) in dementia caregivers. The participants were 156 women caring for family member with dementia. The participants were extracted the high burden group (more than 21) or the low burden group (less than 21) by the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview. The participants collected the saliva samples, and completed the questionnaire at their home. The saliva samples were collected four occasions: immediately, on , 30 minutes after , 17:00 pm, and 21:00 pm. CAR has occurred for only the low burden group, but not for the high burden group. These results indicated that the high burden group felt caregiver burden strongly, and had lapsed into the chronic stress state. These findings suggest that high intensity caregiving situations might lead to dysregulated the HPA system due to chronic stress that reflects the psychological and physical exhausted.

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Living at home enables muscular dystrophy (MD) patients to maintain family and social relationships, and to make decisions regarding their lifestyle. Consequently, it is considered that patients living at home have an improved quality of life (QOL) and reduced chronic stress levels when compared to patients confined to a hospital. The study aims to compare the relationships between chronic stress and QOL of hospitalized MD patients vs home-care MD patients using non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV). It is hoped that these findings will support the transition of medical care to the home. Results of the study show that the cortisol response (CAR), an index of chronic stress, was significantly attenuated in the inpatient and home-care patient groups, compared with the healthy control group, and that in SF-36 Health Survey the general health perceptions (GH) concept was significantly higher in the inpatients than in the home-care patients. Therefore, it can be surmised that muscular dystrophy patients using NPPV are in a state of chronic stress, irrespective of the care environment. Also, nursing is still required even for patients who are cared for at home in order to improve their sense of well-being.


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We used home uroflowmetry to assess urinary excretion over a 24-hr period and used the results of this study to evaluate the reliability of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and to determine the daily variation in urinary excretion. Fifteen patients (mean age 68.3 years) with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were examined using home uroflowmetry. These patients also completed the IPSS questionnaire. The IPSS score was checked for agreement with the data recorded by home uroflowmetry. Urinations were classified into the following 4 periods. The 24-hr period was divided into the active period and the sleeping period. The home uroflowmetry parameters were compared to these periods. The IPSS scores for frequency and intermittency of urination correlated well with the respective home uroflowmetry scores. Regarding daily variation, maximum flow rate (Qmax) was often highest in the evening and lowest at night, and the voided volume and voiding time tended to be highest at night, and lowest in the afternoon. The mean Qmax and mean average flow rate (Qave) were significantly higher during the active period than during the sleeping period. In contrast, the mean voided volume and mean voiding time were significantly higher values during the sleeping period than during the active period. Two items on the IPSS questionnaire, frequency and interruption of the urinary stream, were found to be highly reliable. Qmax and Qave values varied during the 24-hr period and were an estimated 10% and 20% higher, respectively, during the active period than during sleeping period.

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During the identification of a target embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation sequence, observers frequently miss a target when it appears early in the sequence as compared to when it appears later. This phenomenon, called attentional , reflects a gradual modulation of temporal attention for a rapid sequence. In this study, we inserted a temporal gap (0, 100, 500, or 1000ms) in the sequence and measured the critical conditions that destroyed the modulated state of temporal attention. The results showed that the correct identifications of the target were impaired immediately after the 1000-ms gap (Experiments 1). However, this impairment was eliminated by superimposing a continuous sequence of random dots so that the sequences temporally separated by the gap could be encapsulated as a single event (Experiment 2). These findings suggested that the temporally modulated attention could be maintained within a single event.

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Self-, waking up at a designated time decided before sleeping, could prevent failure in the blood circulation vessel system such as heart attack, acute increases in heart rate or blood pressure upon waking. Previous research showed that anticipatory changes occurred in heart rate prior to from a short nap by means of self- for young participants. However, the effects of self- remained unclear for elderly people. The present study examined the effects of self- on heart rate and blood pressure in a short afternoon nap (20 min) among the elderly. Nine participants [74.1 (SD = 5.01) years old] underwent both self- and forced- conditions. In the self- condition, it was revealed that blood pressure gradually increased before the scheduled time of , and that heart rate did not show a rapid increase at arousal. In contrast, forced- induced acute increases in both heart rate and blood pressure. These results suggest that self- facilitates a more smooth transition from sleep to wakefulness via autonomic activation before the time of self-.

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Relationship between effect and inhibitory action of amine-oxidase activity of a drug, discovered by Mann, Quastel, and Ohta, was examined systematically by the use of analeptics, such as methylpropamin, dimethylpropamin, and 2-(3, 4-methylene-dioxyphenyl) isopropylamine, and a series of other pharmaceuticals. Further examinations were made on the possibility of the use of this point as a supplementary means in the judgement of potency of effect, which is difficult to be obtained from animal tests. At the same time, effect of these pharmaceutics on brain tissue respiration was tested with a rabbit. Majority of these pharmaceutics indicated inhibitory action on amine-oxidase activity in greater or lesser degree and the levorotatory compound of analeptics, which does not indicate effect in human body, inhibited amine-oxidase activity, same as dextrorotatory compound. It was found that the correlationship between effect and inhibition of amine-oxidase activity was exceptionally weak. At the same time, these pharmaceutics indicated weak inhibitory action on tissue respiration but there seemed to be no correlation between that and effect.

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Objective: A sufficient duration of time off after work is necessary to ensure workers’ health. Better quality of off-job time can also facilitate recovery from fatigue, but its quantitative influence is largely unknown. We aimed to examine how off-job time quality (as measured by the frequency of emailing after work), and off-job duration is associated with psychological detachment, actigraphic sleep, and saliva cortisol using a 1-month observational study.

Methods: The participants were 58 daytime employees working at an information technology company. Sleep actigraphy and saliva cortisol as well as self-reported outcomes were repeatedly measured for 1 month. Two-way (work e-mail frequency × off-job time) multilevel mixed-effects linear regression analyses were performed in both continuous and categorical variables.

Results: The frequency of work e-mailing after hours was significantly associated with self-reported outcomes and actigraphic sleep quality, while a significant association was not found in cortisol

responses and actigraphic sleep duration. A significantly larger cortisol response after was found in shorter, rather than longer, durations of off-job time. Self-reported detachment, rumination and carry-over fatigue showed significant interactions between work e-mail and off-job time, suggesting that worse outcomes were found in a higher frequency of work e-mail even when employees had longer amounts of off-job time.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that ensuring the quality and duration of off-job time is beneficial for recovery from work with sufficient sleep. Specifically, the frequency of e-mailing after work should be minimized to make recovery complete.

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This paper discusses the grasses-and-trees-mind 草木心 of the Shōbōgenzō’s 正法眼蔵 “

Supreme Mind” 発無上心 chapter, and its relationship with the chapter on “Religious ” 発菩提心 in the twelve-volume version of the Shōbōgenzō’, which bears the same name in the original title.

The grasses-and-trees-mind assumes religious awakenings 発心 in religious awakenings. This premise indicates that each of the various phenomena of the universe and matter 諸法 becomes a real state 実相 within the Buddha’s body 仏身. The virtue of building temples, which has been discussed previously, is also assumed to be included within that Buddha’s body. In other words, the grasses-and-trees-mind is superimposed on religious awakenings.

Next, a part of the description in the “Religious

” chapter is identical to the description in the “ Supreme Mind” chapter. However, since the description is limited to one spot, it is reasonable to say that the description in “Religious ” forms the basis for the description in “ Supreme Mind.” Hence, on the basis of the description in “Religious ,” considering the hierarchy of religious awakenings, the idea of religious in the “Religious ” chapter is placed lower than it is in “ Supreme Mind.”

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Sleep and are critical issues for people under high levels of stress in modern society. However, only a few studies on the effects of music on have been conducted; thus, we focused on the effect of music on comfortable in humans. This paper is the first to analyze the comfort of forced relative to music and the brain. This is an analytical and observational study: a descriptive study of from naps with music using three psychological tests. Ten healthy subjects (5 men and 5 women) participated in this experiment. Quantitative analyses were conducted on the subjects' feelings when awakened from a nap either with music or with an alarm tone. The music changes with time: We change width of the frequency to output. Participants were awakened after naps of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes for a total of 8 times overnight. Subjective feelings just after were measured with three psychological questionnaires. The differences between the subjective data with music and with an alarm tone were calculated and analyzed. The results indicate that with music was more comfortable than with an alarm tone. Additionally, differences in comfort levels between with music and with an alarm tone were smaller at 30 and 90 minutes than at 60 and 120 minutes, suggesting the effects of the circadian rhythms.

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Past studies have suggested that the cortisol response (CAR) is a robust index for assessing daily stress. The present study examined the stability of CAR in individuals and the relationship between CAR and moods states and the influence of gender on CAR. CAR was measured in two successive days. Participants were student athletes (men=36, women=12) in a university athletic club that participated in club practice over five days a week. They were instructed to collect saliva just after and 30 minutes following . The Moods was measured using the short form of the Profile of Moods States (POMS-S). The results indicated high stability of CAR values for the two successive days. Furthermore, there was a relationship between CAR and negative moods. Moreover, women showed significantly lager increases of the early morning free cortisol levels after compared to men.

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寝具の快適性を追求する指標を得るため,簡易で規制の少ない体動計を用いて自然な睡眠を記録し,種々の体動測定項目とめざめ感の良否との関係を検討したところ,次のような成績が得られた。1)めざめ感の良否は,5種の体動測定項目-1時間あたりの体動数(FB),平均静止時間(MR),最大静止時間(MAR),最大静止時間までの所要時間(TMAR),最大静止時間までの体動回数(FMAR)-と関連があり,めざめ感が快適な時,FBは少なく,MR,MARは長く,TMARは短く,FMARは少ない,結果となった。2)5種の体動測定項目のうち,FB,MR,MARは,めざめ感の良否と有意な相関を示す傾向がみられたが,TMAR,FMARは,MARの出現時期と関係があるため,指標とすることは困難と思われる。3)FB,MRは個人差が示されたが,MAR,TMAR,FMARは個人差は示されなかった。4)以上の結果,“めざめ感の良い寝具”を検討する際の指標としては,FB,MR,MARが最適であり,個人差の影響を消す実験計画をたてた上で,各種寝具を比較検討することは意味があると思われる。

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