ABSTRACT
This study was performed to investigate the relationship between mental state (especially flow experience [Flow Experience Checklist of Ishimura]) health-related quality of life (Medical Outcome Study 8-Item Short-Form Health Survey), and stress (salivary amylase concentrations). The subjects were 119 healthy elderly persons living in rural areas who participated in a "meeting for the elderly" at a nursing home in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. The subjects were classified into apathetic, anxious, relaxed, and flow groups. It was found that physical health was significantly better when performing important daily activities in the group who experienced flow and the relaxed group than in the group that was in an apathetic state. However, no significant relationship was observed between the degree of flow experience and stress. The present findings suggested that interventions which make the activities of daily life either "high-challenge, high-skill" situations or "low-challenge, high-skill" situations could have a positive influence on the physical health of community-living elderly Japanese. A longitudinal study should be performed in the future.
Subject(s)
Happiness , Mental Health , Quality of Life/psychology , Rural Health , Activities of Daily Living , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Amylases/analysis , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Independent Living , Japan , Male , Saliva/chemistry , Stress, Psychological , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
During the continuous culturing of neural PC12 cells, a drug hypersensitive PC12 mutant cell line (PC12m3) was obtained, which demonstrated high neurite outgrowth when stimulated by various drugs. When the immunosuppressant drug FK506 and nerve growth factor (NGF) were introduced to the PC12m3 cells, the frequency of neurite outgrowth increased approximately 40-fold for NGF alone. However, the effect of FK506 on neuritogenesis in PC12 parental and drug insensitive PC12m1 mutant cells was much lower than in PC12m3 cells. The sustained activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase plays an important role in neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells. Interestingly, the drug hypersensitive PC12m3 cells exhibited the sustained activation of MAP kinase with FK506 in comparison to low or no activities in PC12 parental or drug insensitive PC12m1 cells. These results indicate that PC12m3 cells have a novel FK506-induced MAP kinase pathway for neuritogenesis.
