• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.259-266
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to compare balance ability according to the immersion level of virtual reality-based training for the balance enhancement of the elderly. Methods: This study included 48 elderly people aged 65 years and older (male 16, female 32). According to the immersion level of applied virtual reality training, 16, 17, and 15 persons were randomly assigned to full immersion, semi-immersion, and control groups. The subjects who were assigned to the full immersion group and semi-immersion group received virtual reality training for 6 weeks at 20 min at a time, 3 times per week. The control group received no intervention. Balance ability was evaluated by measuring the stability limit and the tandem walking test before and after the intervention. Results: Results showed significant differences among the three groups in the limit of stability of all directions and the tandem walking test after the intervention. The results of the limit of stability showed a significantly higher value in the full-immersion group than in the control group, and the results of the tandem walking test showed a significantly lower value in the full-immersion and semi-immersion groups than in the control group. Conclusion: The results indicate that the head-mounted display equipment for applying full-immersion virtual training is the most effective in enhancing the balance ability of the elderly.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.184-195
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to clarify the space use pattern and the daily living activities of the elderly with dementia in the common space (dining room, day corner) of nursing home in Japan. The subjects were six units of the 2 nursing homes in Tokyo. For this, researcher visited from September 5 to December 5 and collected data by observations of behavior of the elderly with dementia in common space and interviews with staff for the information about basic characteristics of the elderly with dementia and administration and operation of the facilities. The data were analyzed using the frequency and percentage with SPSS 11 program and recorded in the form of behavior map. The results revealed as follows: first, 6 types (self-concentration type, physical environment-interest type, passive others-interest type, staffs-interaction type, other elderly-interaction type, visitors-interaction type) of the daily living activities of the elderly with dementia in common space were founded. Second, the daily living activities of the elderly with dementia in common space tended to focus on self-concentration type and physical environment-interest type. Third, physical environmental characteristics of common space affected space usage pattern of the elderly with dementia. And it was perceived like as living oriented space, social interaction space, facility space, staff oriented space. Conclusively it was suggested to plan dining space as semi-private space, day comer as semi-public space.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.674-684
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• 2011

More and more elderly and disabled people are using electric scooters instead of electric wheelchairs because of higher mobility. However, people with high levels of impairment or the elderly still have difficulties in driving the electric scooters safely. Semi-autonomous electric scooter system is one of the solutions for the safety: Either manual driving or autonomous driving can be used selectively. In this paper, we implement a semi-autonomous electric scooter system with functions of localization and path following. In order to recognize the pose of electric scooter in outdoor environments, we design an outdoor localization system based on the extended Kalman filter using DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) and wheel encoders. We added an accelerometer to make the localization system adaptable to road condition. Also we propose a path following algorithm using two arcs with current pose of the electric scooter and a given path in the map. Simulation results are described to show that the proposed algorithms provide the ability to drive an electric scooter semi-autonomously. Finally, we conduct outdoor experiments to reveal the practicality of the proposed system.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.44 no.7 s.221
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• pp.177-188
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• 2006

This study evaluated 26 elderly residents living independently in 4 group homes for their abilities in daily living and analyzed their behaviors of space occupancy and activities of daily living. The aim of the study was to identify the relationships between the physical environments of the group homes and the daily activities of the residents. The results of this study are summarized as follows. 1) Most residents in the group home considered bathing and cooking to be the most difficult of their living activities. The residents were categorized into "Independent," "Semi-dependent" and "Dependent" groups, on the basis of their ADL and IADL scores, and individual groups were examined. On ADL scorelt was shown, then, that 65.4% of the residents were was independent in ADL, but there was no any significant difference in IADL between the independent, semi-dependent and dependent groups. In addition, there was a difference in ADL and IADL among the groups. The independent group's residents were shown to be independent in ADL and IADL, whereas the but those of the semi-dependent and dependent groups' residents were lower in IADL than in ADL. 2) When their behaviors of space occupancy were examined, it appeared that the independent group showed a different space sharing pattern among individual residents, with a wide range of behavior of space occupancy. Meanwhile, The semi-dependent group mostly shared a common space with simple activities of daily living while no any service low leisure program was provided. However, the dependent group mainly consisted of residents who had a low level of independence in ADL and IADL, so that their behaviors of space occupancy were entirely negative.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Interior Design Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.54-58
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to clarify the daily living activities of the elderly with dementia and user oriented spatial needs of the staff in the common space of nursing home in Japan. Data was taken from six units of the 2 skilled facilities. The results revealed as follows; 4 types of elderly activities were founded, and physical environmental characteristics affected residents' space usage. And it was perceived like as living oriented space, social interaction space, facility space, staff oriented space. Conclusively it was suggested to plan dining space as semi-private space, day corner as semi-public space.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.156-166
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• 2011

This study investigated the casual jacket design preferences of women aged 50s and 60s and suggested a prototype design for functional clothing. All age groups liked the casual jacket with a length between the waist and hip, a convertible collar, and a single-breasted design. Those in their 50s preferred fitted or semi-fitted casual jackets while those in their 60s preferred semi-fitted casual jackets. Although, there were significant differences between the preferred jacket designs and ready-made brand jacket designs, most brand jacket designs were casual, semi-fitted, middle-hip length, single-breasted, and with stand-rolled or convertible collars. The analysis of the sleeve styles in brand jackets showed that consumers needed designs that are more decorative. Fashion designers for senior citizens need to design elderly clothing that is comfortable, fashionable, functional, and considers a universal design for ease of clothing function. It will also make the senior citizen fashion market more appealing to consumers. To provide jacket designs for senior citizens, we suggested casual jacket designs for embedding a functional device as well as a new jacket design library for women in their 50s and 60s.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2015

Objective: Balance is a preceding task for functional activities in daily activities as well as community-dwelling activities. To learn skilled and functional activities, it is also necessary to imagine an appropriate and effective movement representation used to plan and execute the functional activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of balance imagery of semi-tandem stance on a flat floor and balance beam on balance abilities for elderly and young adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Fifteen elderly and thirty-four young adults were enrolled in this study. In order to determine whether there is a change in postural control ability according to the different imagery training methods used, standing static balance measurements were performed. According to the therapist's instructions, participants were to stand in a semi-tandem position on the Good Balance System for 1 minute while imagining that they were standing on a balance beam, and while the postural control abilities was assessed. Results: Postural control was significantly different in balance ability of semi-tandem stance on a flat floor compared to on a balance beam in both geriatrics and young adults. Postural sway was more significantly decreased in young adults than older adults during balance imagery of semi-tandem stance on a flat floor as well as on balance beam (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the ability to mentally represent their actions was similar in older adults compared to young adults, although older adults showed a drop in efficiency of postural control more than young adults.

• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.102-102
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• 1998

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.277-285
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to develop a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ) for subjects aged 50yr and over and to evaluate the validity of this SQ-FFQ. Dietary intake was assessed using SQ-FFQ that included 98 commonly consumed flood items selected from the results of the Korean Health and Nutritional Survey, 1998. Subjects (n = 2,660) aged 50yr and over were recruited from 7 metropolitan cities and 8 small cities. Each subject was interviewed using this SQ-FFQ developed in our laboratory and 24hr-recall method. Excluding incomplete data, Data from 1,149 subjects were used in this validity study. The nutrient intakes assessed by this SQ-FFQ were validated by comparing with the results from 1 day 24-hour recalls. Pearson's correlation coefficients between two methods were 0.71, 0.64, 0.53, and 0.43 for energy, carbohydrate, protein, and fat, respectively for all subjects. Spearman's correlation coefficients were higher than those of Pearson's correlation coefficients. Kappa values for energy, carbohydrate, protein, and fat were 0.79, 0.72, 0.70, and 0.64, respectively. The percentage for misclassification of the lowest quartile into the highest quartile or vice versa was 1.25-1.39% for all nutrients. Therefore, this SQ-FFQ seems to be useful in assessing the nutritional status of the middle-aged and elderly subjects in Korea.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.210-222
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• 2004

In recent years, the number and proportion of Korean elderly have grown rapidly, and elderly individuals show a disproportionate risk for poor nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of sociodemographic background to nutrient intake of persons 65 years of age or older, living in 15 cities in Korea. Data on 1973 subjects (603 males, 1370 females), who participated in the Korean Elderly Nutrition Survey (2000), were analyzed. Their mean age was 72.3 years and their mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.2 kg/$m^2$. Basic sociodemographic data were obtained through personal interviews. The 98-item semi-food frequency questionnaire, developed and previously validated for Korean middle-aged and elderly subjects, was administered. “Percentage of subjects who consumed under 75％ Korean RDA,” “number of nutrients consumed below 75％ Korean RDA,” “mean nutrient adequacy ratio,” and “nutrient density” were used to determine nutritional status. Male elderly had better nutritional quality than female elderly. Nutritional quality decreased with age, especially in older elderly (over 75). Elderly who were underweight (BMI 〈 20 kg/$m^2$) showed poorer nutritional quality than those who were normal weight (BMI 20∼25 kg/$m^2$) and overweight (BMI $\geq$ 25 kg/$m^2$). Elderly who lived alone had significantly poorer nutritional quality than those who lived with a spouse, and/or with children. Lower education level and economic dependence also showed lower nutritional quality. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the effects of specific sociodemographic factors on nutritional quality. For number of nutrients under 75％ RDA as a dependent variable, education level explained 4.8％ of the variance, followed by living status, age, body mass index, gender, and living expense support (Model $R^2$ = 0.091). For mean nutrient adequacy ratio as a dependent variable, model $R^2$ was 0.098. Therefore, sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, body mass index, living status, educational level, and economic status influenced elderly nutrition status. These results indicate that an elderly nutrition intervention should focus on subjects who are poorly educated, living alone, age 75 or older, and/or underweight.