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Background and Objectives: Physical activity, recreation and walks successfully counteract negative symptoms of stress in people, especially in large cities, and have many positive psychological and physiological effects. There are many studies showing that contact with nature plays an important role in the regeneration of the human body. The city is not without green enclaves such as forests, parks or greenery along the streets. However, it is not entirely clear how the different physical characteristics of the urban space affect mood improvement, increase of positive feelings, vitality level, etc. Materials and Methods: In the study, two urban environments (apartment and green suburbs) were used, as well as two forests (coniferous and deciduous) to measure the impact of these environments on human physiological and psychological relaxation during a walk in a randomized experiment. The participants of the experiment were 75 young adult Poles studying in the largest Polish agglomeration, Warsaw. Before each experiment, the physiological and psychological state of the participant was measured indoors (pre-test). Four psychological questionnaires were used in the project (Profile of Mood States; Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; Restorative Outcome Scale; Subjective Vitality Scale), and physiological measurements (heart rate, blood pressure) before and after the short walking program were evaluated. Results: As a result of the analyses, it was shown that both staying in an urban environment with greenery and staying in a forest environment have a positive effect on the physiological and psychological relaxation of the subjects. A short walk in the suburbs was no less attractive than a walk in the forest in fall. The above indicates that various places with urban vegetation can be successfully used for recreation, just as in a forest where forest bathing is practiced. This indicates that different places with urban greenery can be successfully used for recreation, as can the forests where forest bathing is carried out.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of different variegation of interior plant foliage on visual attention, subjective emotions and cerebral activity. Thirty Egyptian male subjects were presented with five different varieties of Hedera helix for 60 s in random orders. During this time, eye movements and cerebral activity were recorded, and subjective data were then gathered via a semantic differential scale. The results show clear evidence in support of the use of green-yellow and bright green-coloured plants in locations in which comfort and calmness are required, while red and dark green plants can be used to improve energy in places such as offices and children's areas. In contrast, the green-white plants stimulated mostly negative emotions. These findings suggest that landscape and interior designers should pay more attention for choosing foliage colours during indoor decoration.

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Despite the existence of plentiful studies on how plants can positively affect human wellbeing, few have focused on the potential effects of flower colours on stressed people. The present study was designed to illustrate the psychophysiological relaxation impacts of seeing purple and blue hydrangea flowers among finance workers. Thirty employees were asked to view purple, blue flowers or an empty table for 3-min, during which we measured the participants' brain activity, heart rate variability and skin conductance. We also assessed their emotions and mood states. Findings suggest that, compared with viewing the control, viewing blue and purple flowers resulted in a significant increase in alpha relative waves in the prefrontal and occipital lobes, and a significant increase in parasympathetic nervous activity. A significant increase in the sensation vote for ‘comfort', ‘relaxation' and ‘cheerfulness', as well as a dramatic improvement in the mood state was observed. The results show clear evidence for the support of the use of blue and purple flowering plants in places where comfort and calmness are required. In addition, blue flowers were more favoured and had the greatest positive effects. Results indicate that viewing flowering plants would be a promising therapeutic approach for enhancing physiological functions and improving psychological relaxation for office workers.

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Laparoscopic appendectomy is as safe and effective as the open procedure. It significantly reduces the rate of postoperative wound infection. However, it is still acceptable to perform the open procedure, especially in hospitals without a large amount of laparoscopic experience.

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