• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.83-91
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The goal of this study was to investigate changes in dual-task performance according to age and difficulty of cognitive tasks for the in community-dwelling elderly populations, as well as to examine their changes in hand dexterity according to age and cognitive function. Methods: A total of 135 people aged 65 years old and over participated in the study. To evaluate each participant's dual-task performance, each participant completed a dual task. To assess their cognitive function, the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K) and the Korean version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-K) were the tools used. Participants were divided into three groups based on their age: 65-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80-89 years. Results: The findings showed that age groups and the difficulty of the cognitive task significantly affected the amount of time required for dual-task performance (p<.001). Additionally, the dual-task correct response rate (CRR) decreased significantly with age groups and the difficulty of the cognitive task (p<.001). The amount of time required for finger dexterity performance increased significantly with age groups (mean score±standard deviation [SD]; 19.46±2.26 in subjects aged 65-69 years; 21.92±2.61 in subjects aged 70-79 years; and 23.82±2.92 in subjects aged 80-89 years; p<.001). Moreover, as a result of the correlation between hand dexterity and cognitive function, MoCA-K was -0.563 and MMSE-K was -.412, showing a statistically significant correlation (p<.001). Conclusions: Age and the difficulty of the cognitive task affect the community-dwelling elderly populations in terms of dual-task performance and dual-task CRR. In addition, aging and general cognition have an impact on hand dexterity. Based on the results of this study, it is anticipated that the results will serve as a reference for domestic clinical trials that confirm cognitive decline in the elderly using dual task and hand dexterity evaluation.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.25-39
• /
• 2021

Objectives: Ssanghwa-tang (SHT) is a traditional herbal formula comprising nine medicinal herbs, and it is used for reducing fatigue in Korea. SHT exerts various effects such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aging activities, and protection against acute hepatotoxicity. However, the genotoxicity of SHT has not yet been established. Methods: Ten components were identified in SHT water extract by using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. We assessed the genotoxicity of SHT by using bacterial reverse mutation (Ames test), chromosome aberration, and in vivo micronucleus tests. Results: The contents of paeoniflorin, glycyrrhizin, and liquiritin apioside in SHT were 15.57, 6.94, and 3.48 mg/g extract, respectively. SHT did not increase the revertant colonies of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli strains in the presence or absence of metabolic activity. Although SHT did not induce structurally abnormal chromosomes in Chinese hamster lung (CHL) cells in the presence of metabolic activity, the number of structurally aberrated chromosomes increased dose-dependently in the absence of metabolic activity. In the in vivo micronucleus test, SHT did not affect the formation of micronuclei compared with the vehicle control. Conclusions: Genotoxicity of SHT was not observed in the Ames test and in vivo micronucleus test. However, based on the results of chromosome aberration test, it can be presumed that SHT has the potential to induce genotoxicity because it induced structurally abnormal chromosomes in the absence of metabolic activity.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.141-157
• /
• 2023

The present work aimed to present the development of 'Funt', the augmented reality-based digital app as an educational tool for foreign language learning. Our work further evaluated the learning efficacy of the tool by the assessment of the three dependent measures including learning motivation, learning satisfaction, and learning involvement. With a learning app of 'Funt', students can use AR app to access recognition-based or location-based experiences such that any objects, artifacts, or media appear to be in the app. Students are then able to interact with the digital content by manipulating it to learn more about it. Students's engagement should also increase when they create their own experience in AR to demonstrate their understanding of a particular concept or words. Learning effects were evaluated on survey data collected from a hundred respondents aging six to nine years. One-group design for pre-test and post-test was utilized to examine the differences of learning efficacy by comparing the non-'Funt' group and the Funt group scores. A pairwise t-Test was performed for pairwise comparisons between two learning groups. The results indicate that the 'Funt' group scored significantly higher than the non-'Funt' group in the measures of learning motivation, learning satisfaction, and learning involvement. Overall, our results suggest that 'Funt' attracted the students' attention, provided them with a fun context to learn English vocabulary, and develop positive motivation and satisfaction towards vocabulary learning through AR technology.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.55 no.spc1
• /
• pp.1197-1210
• /
• 2022

Recently, users' complaints on drinking water quality are increasing according to emerging interest in the drinking water service issues such as pipe aging and various water quality accidents. In the case of drinking water quality complaints, not only the water pollution but also the inconvenience on the chlorine residual for disinfection are included, thus various efforts, such as rechlorination treatment, are being attempted in order to keep the chlorine concentration supplied evenly. In this research, for a more accurate water quality simulation of water distribution network, the water quality reaction coefficients were estimated, and an optimization method of chlorination/ rechlorination scheduling was proposed consideirng satisfaction of water quality standards and chlorine residual equalization. The proposed method was applied to a large-scale real water network, and various chlorination schemes were comparatively analyzed through the grid search algorithm and optimized based on the suitability and uniformity of supplied chlorine residual concentration.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.40-54
• /
• 2023

Background: Based on the increase in the needs for convalescent rehabilitation medical services in Korea, this study aims to calculate the needs for rehabilitation services and examine its determinants for 229 regions. Methods: Claim data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were used to estimate patients who need to receive rehabilitation services, and data from various sources were also used for analysis. The number of cases and incidence rates of hospitalization related to convalescent rehabilitation were calculated to estimate the needs for services by region, and the results were visualized via a map. Multivariate regression and fixed effects regression using panel data were performed to identify the determinants of regional variation of the incidence rate. Results: First, the incidence rate of rural areas such as Jeolla-do, Gyeongsang-do, and Chungcheong-do was higher than urban areas (metropolitan cities). Second, the population, proportion of the elder, medical aid recipients, financial independence, traffic deaths, smoking, diabetes rate, and medical infrastructure correlated significantly with the incidence rate. Third, 'rho' values which mean the fraction of variance due to individual terms in panel data regression models were 0.965 and 0.976, respectively. Conclusion: The incidence rate of hospitalizations was correlated with most independent variables in this study and there is a gap between urban and rural areas. These regional disparities are fixed in our society. An improved regional convalescent rehabilitation system is suggested to cover the entire area including rural areas with a high rate of aging.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.37-46
• /
• 2022

Background: Non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is associated with ischemic stroke risk in the aging population. Observational studies have indicated beneficial effects of direct-acting oral anticoagulant (DOAC) against ischemic stroke compared to warfarin. This study aimed to investigate ischemic stroke incidence and bleeding risk in patients on DOAC therapy. Methods: Using the database of Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment-Aged Patient Sample 2015, we conducted a retrospective cohort study. Study subjects with NVAF diagnosis and prescribed anticoagulants were enrolled. Propensity score (PS) matching by age, sex, comorbidities, and medications were used. The clinical outcomes were major adverse cerebro-cardiovascular events (MACCEs, ischemic stroke/systemic embolism, myocardial infarction, cardiac death) and bleeding events. A cox proportional hazard model analysis was performed to compare the outcomes with hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Total 4,773 elderly patients with NVAF were initially included. Four PS-matched groups including rivaroxaban vs. warfarin-only (n=1,079), dabigatran vs. warfarin-only (n=721), rivaroxaban vs. dabigatran (n=721), and switchers of warfarin to rivaroxaban vs. warfarin-only (n=287) were analyzed. Every group showed statistically similar results of MACCEs and bleeding events, except for the group of rivaroxaban vs. dabigatran. Rivaroxaban users showed higher risks of bleeding events than dabigatran users (HR 2.25, 95% CI 1.01-4.99). Conclusion: In the elderly patients with NVAF, efficacy and safety outcomes among oral anticoagulants including DOACs and warfarin were similar, while rivaroxaban are more likely to have higher bleeding risks than dabigatran. Further research using large size sample is needed.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.306-313
• /
• 2023

Background: As social problems due to the acceleration of the aging era and the increase in the elderly population are becoming serious, virtual reality (VR)-based healthcare is emerging as an approach for preventing and managing health issues. Objects: This study used validity and reliability analyses to examine the clinical efficacy that is, the clinical value and usability of a novel VR cognitive evaluation system index that we developed. Methods: We developed a VR cognitive evaluation system based on motion recognition analysis evaluation for individuals aged 65 to 85. After conducting the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Exam (K-MMSE) cognitive evaluation, the evaluation score was verified through correlation analysis in the VR cognitive evaluation system. To verify the construct validity of the two groups, the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) grades were categorized into a normal cognitive group (GDS grade 1) and a cognitive impairment group (GDS grades 2 and 3). The data were measured twice to determine the reliability between the two measurements and assess the stability and clinical value of the evaluation system. Results: Our evaluation system had a high correlation of 0.85 with the widely used K-MMSE cognitive evaluation. The system had strong criterion-related validity at the 95% confidence interval. Compared to the average score of GDS grade 1 in the VR cognitive evaluation system, the average score of GDS grades 2 and 3 in the VR cognitive evaluation system was statistically significantly lower while also having strong construct validity at the 95% confidence interval. To measure the reliability of the VR cognitive evaluation system, tests-retests were conducted using the intraclass correlation coefficient (3,1), which equaled 0.923 and was statistically significant. Conclusion: The VR cognitive evaluation system we developed is a valid and reliable clinical tool to distinguish between normal cognitive status and mild cognitive impairment.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.51-58
• /
• 2024

Background: The rise in national health care costs has emerged as a global problem given the ever-aging population and rapid development of medical technology. The utilization of interventional pain management has, similarly, shown a continued rise worldwide. This study evaluates the differences in the medical costs in the field of interventional pain treatment (IPT) between two countries: Korea and Japan. Methods: Korean medical insurance costs for 2019 related to pain management focused on IPT were compared to those of Japan. Purchasing power parity (PPP) was used to adjust the exchange rate differences and to compare prices in consideration of the respective societies' economic power. Results: The cost of trigger point injections in Japan was 1.06 times higher than that of Korea, whereas the perineural and intraarticular injection prices were lower in Japan. The cost of epidural blocks was higher in Japan compared to Korea in both cervical/thoracic and lumbar regions. As for blocks of peripheral branches of spinal nerves, the cost of scapular nerve blocks in Japan was lower than that in Korea, given a PPP ratio 0.09. For nerve blocks in which fluoroscopy guidance is mandatory, the costs of epidurography in Japan were greater than those in Korea, given a PPP ratio 1.04. Conclusions: This is the first comparative study focusing on the medical costs related to IPT between Korea and Japan, which reveals that the costs differed along various categories. Further comparisons reflecting more diverse countries and socio-economic aspects will be required.

• Journal of Drive and Control
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.53-64
• /
• 2024

Global population growth has resulted in an increased demand for food production. Simultaneously, aging rural communities have led to a decrease in the workforce, thereby increasing the demand for automation in agriculture. Drones are particularly useful for unmanned pest control fields. However, the current method of uniform spraying leads to environmental damage due to overuse of pesticides and drift by wind. To address this issue, it is necessary to enhance spraying performance through precise performance evaluation. Therefore, as a foundational study aimed at optimizing drone-based pest control technologies, this research evaluated water-sensitive paper (WSP) via density map estimation using convolutional neural networks (CNN) with a encoder-decoder structure. To achieve more accurate estimation, this study implemented multi-task learning, incorporating an additional classifier for image segmentation alongside the density map estimation classifier. The proposed model in this study resulted in a R-squared (R²) of 0.976 for coverage area in the evaluation data set, demonstrating satisfactory performance in evaluating WSP at various density levels. Further research is needed to improve the accuracy of spray result estimations and develop a real-time assessment technology in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.35-43
• /
• 2024

With continuous advancements in industry, science, and technology, there is a steady increase in the number and utilization of new chemicals. The growing societal emphasis on chemical safety management is paralleled by an increasing public demand for robust safety measures. While various ministries at the government level oversee the safety management of chemical substances, the occurrence of accidents related to chemical substances remains frequent each year due to problems such as aging facilities and careless handling. Upon analyzing domestic chemical accident cases, incidents occurred predominantly in the sequence of leakage, explosion, fire, and others. The main causes of these accidents were examined, revealing facility defects and non-compliance with safety management as the primary contributing factors. In this study, Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) was employed to identify hazardous risk factors associated with the handling of hydrofluoric acid in workplaces, and a risk assessment was performed using Bow-Tie method. Based on the results of this study, it is expected to enhance safety management plans aimed at preventing chemical accidents in workplaces dealing with similar facilities. Ultimately, these insights contribute to the development of an advanced chemical safety management system, capable of proactively preventing potential chemical accidents.