The Opinions of Poles about the Need to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Refugees from the Area Covered by the Russian-Ukrainian War

The armed conflict in Ukraine has caused a lot of emotions around the world. Many countries have been involved in helping brutally attacked people, especially mothers and children. The versatile involvement of large powers is monitored and noticeable by the media. Active help from Poland is a very visible sign of human solidarity with the suffering Ukrainian nation. Open hearts, houses and institutions and humanitarian and medical aid are elements of Polish kindness and empathy. The aim of the research was to collect Poles' opinions about the need to provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians from the territories of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Capturing feelings of Poles towards Ukrainians during the war is an interesting issue that shows subjective opinions about the existential situation perceived in the space of mutual personal interactions. The results showing opinions on help were collected from a group of 1012 people throughout Poland with the help of an authorial questionnaire. The obtained data shows a positive attitude of Poles to Ukrainians. The most willing to help are people over 49 years old, more often with a good and very good financial situation. Respondents believe that general assistance from other countries and the European Parliament is not sufficient. Military support is accepted the most by the oldest participants of research, and less by the age group up to 30 years who support medical help more. More concerned about the ongoing conflict are respondents under the age of 30 and the least wealthy, including, more often, women. The richest respondents are least afraid of the effects of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The conducted research confirms the openness of Polish society to refugees and brings opinions about existential solidarity with the suffering Ukrainian nation.

Subjective Feelings of Polish Doctors after Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous confusion around the world in our daily existence. The security measures taken, such as physical distance, wearing a mask, quarantine or closing shopping malls, and even isolating large groups of the population, did not contribute to the complete overcoming of the problem. Information on the positive results of research into the COVID-19 vaccine and, finally, its administration offered hope that the pandemic would be overcome. The undertaken problem of research concerning the subjective analysis of the feelings of doctors in Poland after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shows an important area of the medical world, which is directly responsible for their own health and the patients entrusted to them. In addition, 149 people participated in the study (8-13 February 2021), including 57% of women and 43% of men. The minimum and maximum age of the respondents are 26 and 69 years old. Furthermore, 85% of respondents took two doses of the vaccine and 15% took one. The authorial questionnaire was completed by the participants in the study online in February 2021. The results obtained indicate that the COVID-19 vaccine generates hope for stopping the pandemic. In addition, 96% of research participants think so. Doctors in middle and mature age are the most optimistic, while the youngest ones are less optimistic. In addition, 57% of respondents do not worry about side effects after taking the vaccine. Fear at the time of vaccination was experienced by over 9% of doctors. The most frequently reported post-vaccination reactions are injection site pain, fatigue and headache. Increased temperature occurred in older female respondents. From a psychosocial perspective, men are more likely to fear being infected personally with the virus, and women are more likely to be infected with their loved ones. The presented subjective assessment presents the physicians' view captured at the moment in terms of existential and emotional. The presented feelings of the research participants reflect their personal satisfaction, responsibility for their own health, care for their relatives and patients.

Prevalence of Falls on Mount Fuji and Associated with Risk Factors: A Questionnaire Survey Study

Since little is known about the detailed situations of falls on Mount Fuji, the aim of this study was to clarify the risk factors of falls on Mount Fuji in Japan. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 556 participants who had climbed Mount Fuji and collected the following information: fall situation, mental status, fatigue feeling, sex, age, climbing experience on Mount Fuji and other mountains, summit success, whether staying at a lodge, use of a tour guide, and symptoms of acute mountain sickness. Among the 556 participants, 167 had a fall (30%). Among 167 participants who had experienced a fall, 30 had fallen more than three times (18%). The main cause (>60%) of fall were slips. The most optimal model using multiple logistic regression (no fall = 0, and fall = 1) found eight significant risk factors, including sex, prior climbing experience on Mount Fuji, staying overnight at a lodge, subjective feeling of relaxation, sleepiness, emotional stability, dullness, and eyestrain. These results suggest that females, people who have no prior climbing experience on Mount Fuji, and people who did not stay at a lodge should pay attention to an increased risk of falls on Mount Fuji.

Hydration status, total water intake and subjective feelings of adolescents living in a hot environment, during a typical school day

AIM

Individuals living in a hot environment appear to face increased risk of dehydration. Currently there is not extensive literature on the adolescent population in relation to hydration. The aim of the present study was to assess hydration status and total water intake (TWI) at school, of adolescents living in a hot environment, and to investigate the association of hydration and TWI with various subjective feelings.

METHODS

The hydration status of 141 adolescents (boys n = 102), age 15-17 years, was assessed via urine specific gravity (USG), at the beginning (07:30 am) and at the end (1:30 pm) of one school day. TWI from fluids and solid food was assessed via detailed food and fluid records. Subjective feelings (i.e. thirst, alertness, ability to concentrate) were recorded by specific scales.

RESULTS

Ninety percent of the students arrived dehydrated at school (USG >1.020). Thirteen students were hydrated (USG <1.020), 67 students were slightly dehydrated (USG 1.021-1.029), and 50 students were seriously dehydrated (USG >1.030). There was no difference in TWI between the three groups (765 ± 451 mL). TWI correlated with alertness (p = 0.005) and the ability to concentrate (p = 0.015), and inversely correlated with fatigue (p = 0.015). Seriously dehydrated students felt less alert in the morning (p < 0.035) whereas the feeling of thirst was similar between all groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of the dehydration of the adolescents during school time appeared to be extremely high, and thirst was not driving those adolescents to drink enough. Apart from health concerns, school performance could be affected by dehydration and inadequate water intake.

Impact of Wearing Graduated Compression Stockings on Psychological and Physiological Responses during Prolonged Sitting

We investigated the impact of wearing vs. not wearing graduated compression stockings on psychological and physiological responses in 18 healthy young people (12 men and six women) during 3 h prolonged sitting. Profiled of Mood States (POMS) scores did not show marked differences between with and without stockings. A 3 h sit significantly decreased saliva cortisol in both conditions; with no differences between conditions. Wearing stockings suppressed a subjective uncomfortable sensation (e.g., pain; fatigue; swelling) in the lower limbs, as assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS). Increase in heart rate at 1 h and 3 h was significantly greater without than with stockings. In addition, high-frequency oscillations (HF: 0.15–0.4 Hz), used as an indicator of parasympathetic nerve activity, showed higher values with than without stockings throughout the 3 h sitting period—significantly higher at 1 h. When data for both conditions were pooled pre-to-post changes in saliva cortisol were positively associated with higher uncomfortable sensations of VAS in the lower limbs and negatively associated with changes in the Vigor subscale of POMS. Collectively, these findings suggest that wearing graduated compression stockings may benefit from subjective comfort and increased parasympathetic nerve activity.

Understanding Mixed Emotions: Paradigms and Measures

In this review, we examine the paradigms and measures available for experimentally studying mixed emotions in the laboratory. For eliciting mixed emotions, we describe a mixed emotions film library that allows for the repeated elicitation of a specific homogeneous mixed emotional state and appropriately matched pure positive, pure negative, and neutral emotional states. For assessing mixed emotions, we consider subjective and objective measures that fall into univariate, bivariate, and multivariate measurement categories. As paradigms and measures for objectively studying mixed emotions are still in their early stages, we conclude by outlining future directions that focus on the reliability, temporal dynamics, and response coherence of mixed emotions paradigms and measures. This research will build a strong foundation for future studies and significantly advance our understanding of mixed emotions.

Music Improves Subjective Feelings Leading to Cardiac Autonomic Nervous Modulation: A Pilot Study

It is widely accepted that listening to music improves subjective feelings and reduces fatigue sensations, and different kinds of music lead to different activations of these feelings. Recently, cardiac autonomic nervous modulation has been proposed as a useful objective indicator of fatigue. However, scientific considerations of the relation between feelings of fatigue and cardiac autonomic nervous modulation while listening to music are still lacking. In this study, we examined which subjective feelings of fatigue are related to participants' cardiac autonomic nervous function while they listen to music. We used an album of comfortable and relaxing environmental music, with blended sounds from a piano and violin as well as natural sound sources. We performed a crossover trial of environmental music and silent sessions for 20 healthy subjects, 12 females, and 8 males, after their daily work shift. We measured changes in eight types of subjective feelings, including healing, fatigue, sleepiness, relaxation, and refreshment, using the KOKORO scale, a subjective mood measurement system for self-reported feelings. Further, we obtained measures of cardiac autonomic nervous function on the basis of heart rate variability before and after the sessions. During the music session, subjective feelings significantly shifted toward healing and a secure/relaxed feeling and these changes were greater than those in the silent session. Heart rates (ΔHR) in the music session significantly decreased compared with those in the silent session. Other cardiac autonomic parameters such as high-frequency (HF) component and the ratio of low-frequency (LF) and HF components (LF/HF) were similar in the two sessions. In the linear regression analysis of the feelings with ΔHR and changes in LF/HF (ΔLF/HF), increases and decreases in ΔHR were correlated to the feeling axes of Fatigue-Healing and Anxiety/Tension–Security/Relaxation, whereas those in ΔLF/HF were related to the feeling axes of Sleepiness–Wakefulness and Gloomy–Refreshed. This indicated that listening to music improved the participants' feelings of fatigue and decreased their heart rates. However, it did not reduce the cardiac LF/HF, suggesting that cardiac LF/HF might show a delayed response to fatigue. Thus, we demonstrated changes in cardiac autonomic nervous functions based on feelings of fatigue.

Effects of Canon chord progression on brain activity and motivation are dependent on subjective feelings, not the chord progression per se

A number of studies have indicated that relaxing and pleasant melodies are useful for the treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, and dementia. However, few studies have investigated what constitutive elements of the music had an effect on brain activity. As Canon chord progression is one of critical elements for pleasant melodies, we sought to examine the effects of Canon chord progression and pitch-shifted Canon chord progression on brain activity using performance on the auditory oddball task during event-related potentials (ERPs) in 30 healthy subjects. Unexpectedly, we found no differences in ERP components between subjects listening to Canon chord progression (n=15) or pitch-shifted Canon chord progression (n=15). Next, we divided participants into two groups: those who found the melody pleasant (n=17) and those who did not (n=13), for both Canon chord progression and pitch-shifted Canon chord progression. The average of P300 amplitude was higher at Fz in subjects found the music pleasant versus those finding it unpleasant. Moreover, subjects who found it pleasant exhibited higher motivation scores than those who felt it was unpleasant, whereas listening to Canon chord progression did not matter. These findings suggest that the effects of Canon chord progression on brain activity and motivation depend on subjective feelings, not the chord progression per se.

Nonrandom Acts of Kindness: Parasympathetic and Subjective Empathic Responses to Sadness Predict Children's Prosociality

How does empathic physiology unfold as a dynamic process, and which aspect of empathy predicts children's kindness? In response to empathy induction videos, 4- to 6-year-old children (N = 180) showed an average pattern of dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) change characterized by early RSA suppression, followed by RSA recovery, and modest subsequent suppression during positive resolution of the empathic event. Children's capacity for this pattern of flexible RSA change was associated with their subjective empathic feelings, which were concurrently associated with more sympathetic and prosocial responses to others. Conversely, only children's dynamic RSA change longitudinally predicted prosocial behavior 2 years later. These findings have implications for understanding the dynamic and multifaceted nature of empathy, and its relation with prosocial development.