Association of perceived stress and stiff neck/shoulder with health status: multiple regression models by gender.

It is well known that psychological stress affects health status. Stiff neck and shoulder in a broad sense is one of the major somatic complaints among Japanese. The objective was to determine how much perceived stress and stiff neck/shoulder are associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by gender.

Computer-assisted measurement of perceived stress: an application for a community-based survey.

The assessment of stress is a key issue in health promotion policies as well as in treatment strategies for patients. The aim of this study was to confirm the accessibility and reliability of computer-assisted data collection for perceived stress measurement, using the Japanese version of the Perceived Stress Scale (JPSS), within the setting of a community-based survey. There were two groups of participants in this survey.

Concentration effects of green odor on event-related potential (P300) and pleasantness.

The effects of eight compounds, constituting the so-called "natural green odor", including leaf alcohol, on the event-related potential (P300) were investigated. In experiments with a series of single compounds, each of these eight compounds could be characterized by an overall change consisting predominantly of an increase, a decrease or no change in the amplitude of P300, whereas in experiments with a series of two-component mixtures, noticeable synergism could not be demonstrated, contrary to our expectation. Experiments with leaf alcohol (3Z-hexenol) performed at two concentrations showed a significantly different degree of pleasantness and an increase or decrease in the amplitude of P300 depending on their concentration, suggesting that concentration is important in odorant-presentation studies.