Mental Comfort Research Articles

Experiences of water poverty in the metropolitan area of Barcelona: implications for the Global North

ABSTRACT Water poverty, primarily understood as a problem of affordability, is increasingly important in developed countries. It burdens vulnerable households with mounting debts or deprives them of this fundamental resource. Faced with this threat, households may modify their habits to reduce consumption and seek also assistance to reduce the amount of the water bill. Both strategies imply stressful efforts, often exacerbated by unexpected events like the COVID-19 pandemic. Using semi-structured interviews with 35 vulnerable households in a working-class town near Barcelona, in this paper we blend a quantitative assessment of home water habits with a qualitative analysis of strategies to reduce water bill costs. Results reveal a strong commitment to water savings but clashes with essential household needs, particularly for children. Respondents lament that despite intense water saving, bills remain high, given water's perceived expense and limited subsidy access. In sum, addressing the issue of water poverty from the subjective experience of those struggling against it in their daily lives allows to identify situations where basic physical and mental comfort of the more vulnerable is under severe stress. These experiences and perceptions are linked to sociopolitical and economic processes such as accumulation by dispossession or ecological modernization, contributing to water poverty.

Identification of Criteria for Evaluating the Location of Youth Recreation and Leisure Centers

Mental comfort for any individual is an important factor on the way to achieving one's goals and objectives. Based on research focused on young people, and conducted in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical activity positively affects mental comfort and is one of the social preventive measures for maintaining mental comfort. Thus, designing spaces dedicated to young people has become a common social interest. The purpose of the article was to identify criteria for locating recreational and leisure centers for young people. For the purposes of the study, a detailed literature review was conducted, following which the most relevant locational features were listed, defining criteria for evaluating their location. In addition, a keyword co-occurrence network was developed using VOSviewer software. The research was conducted on the basis of the Scopus database. The presented review highlighted the lack of comprehensive studies on the analysis of the location of youth recreation and leisure centers, which is definitely a gap that needs to be filled. Taking such a study into consideration when conducting planning work would certainly be a valuable effort to help creating a friendly urban infrastructure and an effective network of services.

Investigation on the limits of type 1 diabetes therapy automation using insulin pumps

Type 1 diabetes is an incurable chronic disease that usually has its onset in childhood. The disease means that the patient’s body irreversibly loses its ability to produce the insulin hormone. Since the lack of insulin in the organism always leads to death, the therapy primarily consists in supplying the hormone from the outside inright doses and in the right time. Administration errors can result in poor mood, health complications or even death. The introduction of insulin pumps for common use as basic devices for insulin delivery has significantly improved the quality of the therapy, and what follows, the physical and mental comfort of patients. It is still easy to get an opinion that these devices completely automate the therapy process, but this is not true. The aim of this research was to determine the possible level of the automation of the type 1 diabetes therapy solely based on an insulin pump. First, the principle of operation of typical modern insulin pumps was described. This became the basis for the development of a special biocybernetic model of a patient with diabetes. Then, the model was used in numerous computer simulations whose output was confronted with historical data obtained from real patients. The research confirms that the use of a typical modern insulin pump alone does not fully automate the therapy of type 1 diabetes. Nevertheless, possible methods could be identified to achieve a higher quality of treatment and to find opportunities for additional automation. These methods can be considered as an alternative to the socalled artificial pancreas.

Prefer what you like? Evaluation and preference of cycling infrastructures in a bicycle simulator

Problem: Previous research on cyclists’ route evaluations and preferences already identified influencing factors and relevant evaluation criteria, but studies mostly focused on selected aspects like safety or comfort. This study examined the evaluation of routes more comprehensively considering five evaluation criteria, and further aims to compare the evaluation with the preference of routes. For this, we used the experimental approach of a bicycle simulator. Method: Our participants cycled route segments that varied in certain route characteristics. Each segment was rated in total and on five criteria generated in a previous study, namely Mental Comfort, Interaction, Environment, Ease of Use, and Physical Comfort. At the end, all route segments were ranked according to their quality. Results: Results showed that separated paths were rated the best, while busy footpaths and uphill segments were rated the worst. Interestingly, interacting with pedestrians was described to be more attention-demanding but not as mentally uncomfortable as interacting with motor traffic. The evaluation and preference of routes mostly went hand in hand but differed for the footpath, which was ranked better than it was rated. Results further indicated that gradient has such a strong impact on the physical comfort of a route that it even influenced the overall evaluation. Discussion: Our findings suggest that the evaluation and preference of routes is influenced by the degree of separation, traffic volume, the type of the road user that the cyclists may need to interact with, but most importantly, it is influenced by the interaction of these three aspects. Practical Implications: The five criteria we used can reliably assess the evaluation and preference of routes. They help to differentiate the reason for negative evaluation of routes. This differentiation is crucial to improve cycling routes, as different causes for dissatisfaction among cyclists require different consequences.

A Study on Occupational Health and Safety Practices on Construction Site Workers for Finding Discomfort Level

Both physical and mental comfort is essential in every workplace for improving productivity. Work environment distress is exceptionally normal for laborers utilized in proactive tasks; especially the specialists occupied with building locales in India are occupied with various kinds of active work in inconvenient conditions in outrageous environment dust, and so on. So, research should be crucial for concentrating on distress levels. Along these lines, the specialists need to consider sufficient security the executives rehearse notwithstanding appropriate working stances. Consequently, an endeavor was made in this review to distinguish the potential assignment execution-related danger factors and the related uneasiness levels for the specialists occupied with building destinations with the plan to give conceivable ergonomic arrangements, to such an extent that the exhibitions of laborers' can be improved to an ideal level. In this article, an effort is taken to measure both physical and mental (psychological) discomfort levels of construction site workers.

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, Anxiety, Depression and Sexual SatisfactionAmong Men Who Have Sex With Men

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been implemented as a prevention against HIV; however, its impact on mental health, sexual and life satisfaction has not been addressed. We assessed 114 HIV-negative participants from Spain with ages ranging from 19 to 58 years; 60.5% were PrEP users ( n = 69) and 39.5% were non-users ( n = 45). They completed five questionnaires about life and sexual satisfaction, depression and anxiety. We performed correlations and multiple regression analyses. The PrEP group showed a statistically significant relationship between better sexual satisfaction, and greater life satisfaction. The PrEP group also showed a statistically significant negative relationship with depression and anxiety which was not found in PrEP non-users. Moreover, we found that younger PrEP users had higher scores in anxiety and lower scores in depression than older users. The hierarchical regression analyses also showed that number of sexual partners was a major predictor in the PrEP group for NSSS. The indirect correlation between sexual satisfaction, depression, and anxiety in the PrEP group could underly the benefits of PrEP for patients' sex lives such as increased sexual liberties due to lower anxiety and mental comfort when experiencing chemsex.

Necessity of Pressure-free Time at Work—Historical Consideration—

Many developed countries, including Japan, have capitalist economies based on market principles. In capitalism, businesses try to develop new products and increase their added value, and expand the market in order to generate new profits. Owing to the universalization of capitalist efficiency, our daily lives are becoming condensed to only the necessary things in life. In addition, the advancement of science and technology, which is the driving force behind the expansion of profits, has forced people to become obsessed with new technology and information, and as a result, we have also lost our mental comfort. In this paper, first, we explain the time required to secure the energy necessary for human survival throughout human history. Second, we describe labor productivity with the emergence and development of capitalism. Third, we explain the difference between essential time and pressure-free time, and consider the necessity of pressure-free time during working hours. Finally, we discuss the relationships among pressure-free time, presenteeism, and work engagement.

Spiritual coping strategies: Relationship with physical, anxiety, and depression symptoms of patients with cancer.

Spirituality is considered an important source against chronic diseases and can promote self-esteem, mental comfort, and hope in patients. Concerning its importance, the present study aims to investigate spiritual coping strategies and its relationship with physical, anxiety, and depression symptoms of patients with cancer who are referred to the oncologic ward. This was a descriptive-correlative study that 159 patients with cancer participated in the study. Information was collected using a four-part questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale, physical symptoms as well as anxiety and depression symptoms. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results of the study showed that the mean (±SD) of the application of methods of spiritual coping strategies was 35.69 ± 10.92 and for its subscales the mean (±SD) of the application of religious coping and nonreligious coping strategies were 16.92 ± 5.6 and 18.77 ± 6.24, respectively. Furthermore, physical symptoms perceived by patients were tiredness, drowsiness, and lack of appetite. There was no significant correlation between physical, anxiety, and depression symptoms and spiritual coping strategies (r = -0.12, P = 0.12; r = 0.07, P = 0.41; and r = -0.05, P = 0.5 respectively). Regarding no significant relationship between physical, anxiety and depression symptoms and spiritual (religious and nonreligious) coping strategies in this study, belief towards cancer and cultural aspects of patients may be more essential to their sense of wellness and help them to cope with negative aspects of illness or treatment. Therefore, more study needs to be done in this area.

The Impact of Social Pension Schemes on the Mental Health of the Chinese Elderly: A Mediating Effect Perspective of Two-Way Intergenerational Support.

With the rapid decline in China’s fertility rate, the acceleration of aging, the continuous miniaturization and nucleation of China’s family structure, and the deterioration of the elderly’s living conditions and mental states, the elderly’s mental health has emerged as a major public health issue and a major social problem. Pensions are the elderly’s primary source of income, and they can help them meet their basic needs while also promoting family harmony and improving their mental health. Based on the data of the 2012, 2016, and 2018 Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we empirically examined the impact of pensions on the elderly’s mental health by using the fixed effects model, mediating effect model, and so on. The results show that receiving pension benefits can significantly reduce the level of depression and improve the mental health of the elderly. Receiving pension benefits causes reverse intergenerational economic transfer, which reduces the effect of pensions on the elderly’s mental health to some extent, but the life care and mental comfort provided by children increases when the elderly share pensions with their children. Overall, receiving pension benefits improves the mental health of the elderly. In addition, the effect of pensions on the elderly with different characteristics is heterogeneous. The older elderly, women, the elderly living with their children, and the elderly in rural areas all benefit more from receiving pension benefits. Moreover, the worse the mental health of the elderly is, the stronger the influence of pensions on their mental health is. Our discussion has important policy implications.

Образовательно-развивающая активность старшеклассников в условиях ограничений в связи с пандемией COVID-19

Most studies analyse educational process specifics during the spread of Covid-19 using higher education as an example. There is insufficient amount of research devoted to the study of students’ activity at different levels of school education. The purpose of the study is to identify the differences in terms of manifestation and determination of high school students’ educational and developmental activity in normal life and under social isolation. Hypothesis: educational and developmental activity of high school students increases under the conditions of forced isolation. This activity is expressed in an intensified interest in self-development. It is compensatory in nature due to a reduced number of social contacts and opportunities for the implementation of other forms of social activity. The study was carried out on a sample of high school students (N = 169) aged from 16 to 18 years. Techniques: the author's questionnaire aimed at identifying the degree of manifestation of educational and developmental activity; “Assessment of mental activation, interest, emotional tone, tension and comfort” (L. A. Kurganskiy, T. A. Nemchin); “Quality of Life Index” (R. S. Eliot, in the adaptation of N. E. Vodopyanova). The study found that educational and developmental activity of high school students under conditions of self-isolation is higher than in normal life. In general, their education and self-development activity is conditioned by their personal psycho-emotional states. If students are less active during distance learning, their activity is more determined by their mental states. If educational and developmental activity of high school students is high, they are focused on personal achievements, satisfied with their health, communication and support from others, and less prone to negative emotions. The results of the study can be used in psychological and pedagogical work with high school students, who are forced to be under conditions of social isolation in order to increase their educational and developmental activity.

Cyclists' perception of cycling infrastructure – A Repertory Grid approach

Previous research indicate that cyclists prefer safe and comfortable infrastructure. However, concepts like safety or comfort may be understood and defined in different ways by different individuals. Moreover, these concepts are so broad that it is unclear to which specific characteristics of the traffic infrastructure they are linked. Therefore, the aim of this study is to inductively examine individual evaluation criteria that cyclists use to perceive and evaluate certain route attributes. Using the Repertory Grid technique, we elicited the personal constructs of 23 participants about given route attributes and asked them to rate every attribute on every construct. The constructs were categorized and clustered resulting in five evaluation criteria, namely Mental Comfort, Physical Comfort, Interaction, Environment, and Ease of Use. Both comfort clusters were rated the most relevant for route choice, but they strengthen the suggestion of two distinct aspects of comfort, one referring to mental stress, the other referring to physical effort. Furthermore, the analyses revealed Interaction as a relatively new route criterion which also raises a new view on the negative evaluation of motor traffic and expands the concept of stress. Regarding the evaluation of route attributes, a high traffic volume and cobbled stone were rated the most negative, whereas separated cycling facilities were evaluated as most positive. Findings of this study expand existing research by qualitative insights and provide a more detailed understanding of route criteria like comfort or safety. This can be used to enhance cycling facilities and to offer preferable infrastructure for cyclists.

Analysis of the factors influencing the immersion experience of video art expression in slow-paced food short videos for audiences in Chinese first-tier cities

With the rapid development of society, slow-paced food videos are becoming more and more popular among people living in fast-paced first-tier cities. They are taking the time to watch this kind of video to immerse themselves in it for solace. For video creators, How to immerse the audience in the video is the fundamental problem they have been studying. This study is based on the questionnaire method and the regression analysis. The critical contribution of this work is the verification of the form of visual presentation, which creators frequently use in slow-paced food videos. The factors affecting the audience's immersion experience in low-paced food short videos are sorted into three types: time-lapse photography multi-angle camera editing and slow editing. All three are prominent and easy to capture in images, which generate emotional feelings for the audience. In addition, the current user needs are mainly curiosity and mental comfort. Besides, sensory immersion is the main way to immerse.

The Importance of Surgical Sex Reassignment in TheOpinion of Female-To-Male Transsexuals.

<br><b>Introduction:</b> The term transsexualism determines people whose gender identity is contrary to their genetic sex and physical features. This condition leads to a discrepancy between the psychological gender preferred by transsexuals and their biological sex. Transsexuals experience a feeling of being incarcerated in a foreign body and therefore wish to alter their sex by hormone therapy and surgical treatment.</br><br><b>Aim:</b> The aim of this study is to describe the opinions of female-to-male transsexuals concerning sex reassignment surgery with selecting the most important stage.</br><br><b>Method:</b> The questionnaire studies were performed among a group of 82 female-to-male transsexuals with a mean age 25.2 years. Patients were at different stages of treatment. Results: More than 90% of the questionnaired transsexuals expect to complete their treatment with hope. For 86.6% of transsexuals, the most important stage in surgical treatment is the phalloplasty, the second panhysterectomy (70.7%), and the third breast reduction (69.5%).</br><br><b>Conclusions:</b> Phalloplasty is the most important stage in sex reassignment surgery in the opinion of transsexuals. Each stage of treatment improves the mental comfort of female-to-male transsexuals.</br&gt.

THE ESSENCE AND FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOL EDUCATION

Introduction. Today, the managers of a modern school are faced with the task of organizing the work of the teaching staff at such a level as to provide all the conditions for the personal development of the student, the development of his creative potential, the conditions for a full-fledged life process, mental comfort, and increased learning efficiency. The article analyzes the essence and functional features of the quality management of school education in the implementation of these tasks. Research methods. Today, the issue of quality management of human activities is becoming the cornerstone of world civilization. However, most scientists believe that the state of scientific research on the aspect of school education, dedicated to quality management, does not fully meet the needs of modern theory and practice of pedagogical management. In most scientific work, the methodology of school management is considered in general and, as a rule, does not fall into the ranks of special studies, except for very few publications. In this regard, today in school education there is a certain diversity in understanding the essence of quality management and its functional characteristics. Results and discussions. In its essence, as a feature of Quality Management in Education, V.N. Azarov, A. Bellabarra, M.M. Potashnik and others noted that the goals of two different characters, which can enter into a certain conflict: pedagogical; they say that it is possible to face economic groups. Of course, pedagogical goals are considered basic. According to its status, the main task of an educational institution of a certain level is to meet the needs of the population for educational services of a certain profile. Naturally, the production of educational services requires financial resources to provide material resources and manpower, organize an effective educational process, create appropriate conditions. It is for this reason that the tasks of economic character are an important part of the activities of an educational institution, regardless of its type, level, subordination and form of ownership. Bunda, the successful implementation of all the tasks facing a modern educational institution requires an appropriate quality management system. Conclusion. Based on the experience of previous researchers, it is recommended that in modern understanding quality management is based on the interaction of professionals, it is based on the satisfaction of the needs of the students towards the effective provision of appropriate compensation, the society, the specific people and the educational services provided by the state to determine the optimal management, the targeted, systematic process The essence of the quality management of school education can be explained by the groups of functional characteristics that reflect the quality of the potential for achieving the purpose of school education, the formation of the competency of students and the quality of the result of Education.

Addressing Disparities for Intersectional BIPOC Communities: The Hood Medicine Initiative Case Study.

Addressing Disparities for Intersectional BIPOC Communities: The Hood Medicine Initiative Case Study.

Can Dog-Assisted Intervention Decrease Anxiety Level and Autonomic Agitation in Patients with Anxiety Disorders?

Few studies have explored the influence of an Animal-Assisted Intervention on patients with mental disorders. We investigated it’s impact on anxiety symptoms. We divided 51 patients with anxiety symptoms into two groups—treatment group, that went for a short 15–20 min’ walk with a dog, his handler and a researcher and control group, that went for a walk only with a researcher. We used State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of fear, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Ford Insomnia Response to Stress (FIRST), Brief symptom Inventory (BSI) and VAS of satisfaction after trial to assess. We also checked the resting blood pressure and resting heart rate before and after performing psychological tests while sitting. We have obtained full data of 21 people from the research group and 26 people from the control group. After the intervention, the treatment group reported lower anxiety levels as a state (Mean (M) = 34.35; Standard Deviation (SD) = 6.9 vs. M = 40.94; SD = 8.6) and fear (M = 1.05; SD = 1.0 vs. M = 2.04; SD = 2.2) than the control group. After a walk with a dog, trait anxiety (M = 34.35; SD = 6.9 vs. M = 46.3; SD = 9.6), state anxiety (M = 48.9; SD = 7.2 vs. M = 53.9; SD = 7.8), fear (M = 1.05; SD= 1.0 vs. M = 2.57; SD = 2.3) and resting heart rate (M = 71.05; SD = 12.3 vs. M = 73.67; SD = 13.1) decreased significantly, while walking without a dog only reduced state anxiety (M = 47.24; SD = 11.0 vs. M = 40.94; SD = 8.6). Multivariate analysis of variance showed that after the walk, state anxiety was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group, F(1.35) = 6.706, p <0.05, η2 = 0.161. Among those who walked with a dog, the intervention also led to significant decreases in fear and resting heart rate, F(1.44) = 11.694, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.210 and F(1.45) = 8.503; p < 0.01; η2 = 0.159, respectively. For anxious patients, a short walk with a dog is more beneficial than a walk without one. We found significant positive effects of a dog’s company on vegetative arousal and mental comfort. This is another study confirming the possible therapeutic effect of the animal on anxiety symptoms. Further research is required, especially in the large groups of patients, as recommendations on the use of Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) are needed.

Does human-dog attachment increase the resilience and resistance to COVID-19? A biopsychosocial approach and future research

This article is a biopsychosocial proposal about improvement of resilience to diseases, including the COVID-19, due to affective attachment between humans and dogs. Resilience concerns the physical and emotional human capacity to respond positively to the adverse events such as diseases. Recently, some authors have proposed independent hypotheses about role of oxytocin (OT) and crossed immunity to increase the psychological resilience and immune response against the COVID-19. This text extends the hypothesis to a biopsychosocial field, including the well-known benefits of the human-dog affective attachment on human health. And proposes that a strong and reciprocal affection between human and dog can increase the resilience and resistance to COVID-19, due the role of OT in the immune response, adding to crossed immunity. Other benefits such as emotional buffering, mental comfort and stress alleviation are adjunctive roles of dogs on human health and vice-versa.

What is modern philosophy of technoscience capable of?

The first article of this research series discussed the critical issues involved in apprehension of the present-day agenda in geomechanics. The current perception is that the mining science needs deeplaid and long-term solutions to go with the up-to-date expectations. This article continues debating on feasible interaction between the technoscience (geosciences, in particular) and the philosophy of science. A brief description of history of the science philosophy is given. Traditional philosophy proclaims privilege of theory over practice, while metaphysical rationalization goes along a specific path in Russia. Technological practices complicate and get beyond control of simplified theoretical models. Science is progressing and advancing, and gives rise to increasingly more areas of research, locking the mankind out of hope to compose all twists and turns into a single and uniform pattern. Scientists have come to an idea that the unity of numerous domains of prodigious and diverse science rests upon the fact that researchers operate the same rules, i.e. use the same &lsquo;scientific method&rsquo;. Researchers and engineers concerned with the challenges of technosciences have a philosophical choice: either to use one of the existing metaphysical schemes while understanding its unprovability and choosing it because of habit and mental comfort; or to let philosophers rethink their metaphysical approaches and to handle specific problems in each specific case by trial and error. Intercommunion of scientists, engineers and philosophers is illustrated. The conclusion is drawn that the scopes and modes of such interaction can only be found and exposed in progress of teamworking.

Study of the Emotional Well-Being of Students in the Process of Education in the Modern School

The article is devoted to the current problem of the modern school - the emotional well-being of students in the learning process. The study analyzes the role of the emotional component in students' learning activities, the impact of emotions on learning outcomes, and the importance of emotional well-being in maintaining and strengthening their health. The purpose of the study was to identify the causes of emotional discomfort of students in the learning process, the ways to ensure the emotional well-being of students, the implementation of which will improve learning success, maintain and strengthen students' health. The following methods were used to study the state of the emotional well-being of the students: 1) a questionnaire developed by the authors of the research to study the emotional well-being of students at school; 2) the method of assessment of mental activation, interest, emotional tone, tension and comfort, created by L. Kurganskyi and his colleagues; 3) a card to identify factors of learning success. The results of the study showed a low level of the emotional well-being of students in modern schools. Based on the analysis of the study outcomes, the causes of emotional discomfort of students in the learning process are identified. The possibility of improving the effectiveness of learning, educational achievements of students by ensuring their emotional well-being in the learning process is described. Practical ways to improve the emotional well-being of students in the modern school and the formation of their emotional health are outlined and substantiated.

Analysis of Home-Based Rehabilitation Awareness, Needs and Preferred Components of Elderly Patients with Hip Fracture Surgery in South Korea.

The importance and necessity of home-based rehabilitation with professional and systematic interventions should be considered since home-based rehabilitation has been institutionalized as it is more feasible, cost effective, and even safer than in-hospital rehabilitation in most countries—though not in South Korea. In addition, the need for home-based rehabilitation is increasing due to the increasing number of hip fracture patients and limited capacity of acute hospital rehabilitation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness, needs, and preferred components of home-based rehabilitation services after discharge for elderly patients with hip fracture surgery in South Korea. A survey of 98 elderly patients who recently underwent hip fracture surgery was performed using a questionnaire. More than 75% of patients agreed on the need for home-based rehabilitation, even though most had never heard of it. The reason for the need for home-based rehabilitation was that it is possible to receive continuously ongoing treatment (53.0%), and it alleviates the inconvenience of visiting hospitals (27.7%). In addition to this, about 15.7% of patients responded that they could achieve mental comfort. In other words, patients can recover in an emotionally stable environment without the psychological anxiety they might experience in hospital. Thus, in order to maximize the effectiveness of home-based rehabilitation and provide comprehensive guidance including exercise, education, motivational support, and environmental modification, to patients undergoing hip fracture surgery, the component of the rehabilitation program must be developed based upon rehabilitation experts’ knowledge and patients’ value. Additionally, corresponding policies should be established.