• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of a 12-week combined cognitive and physical exercise program on cognitive and physical functions in older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Design: A one-group pretest-posttest study. Methods: Twelve participants with MCI engaged in a weekly 60-minute session of combined cognitive and physical exercise program. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), while physical function was evaluated through measures of muscle strength, postural balance, and walking capabilities. Muscle strength assessments included the arm curl test, handgrip strength, and the 5 sit-to-stand test. Postural balance was evaluated using the one-leg stance test, timed up-and-go test, functional reach test, and four square step test. Walking function was analyzed through a gait analysis device. Pre- and post-intervention measurements were compared to determine the effects of the exercise program. Results: The results demonstrated significant improvements in MoCA, arm curl test, timed up-and-go test, walking speed, and cadence following the 12-week intervention (p<0.05). MoCA scores revealed enhanced cognitive performance, while measures of muscle strength, including the arm curl test, exhibited significant changes. Improvements in timed up-and-go test scores indicated enhanced mobility, accompanied by increased walking speed and cadence, as evidenced by gait analysis. Conclusions: This study suggests that a structured 12-week program incorporating both cognitive and physical exercises can lead to meaningful improvements in cognitive and physical functions among older adults with MCI.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.179-186
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• 1990

A numerical analysis of crutch walking cycle has been performed to determine the transmissibility of a single-degree-of-freedom crutch system when a non-harmonic periodic forcing function is acting on the spring-damping-mass system. The results indicate that the damping factor which can reduce the forces transmitted to the human body plays an important role. In crutch walking, the stride angle of dynamic crutches must be limited for the comfortable walking.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.320-327
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• 2006

This paper introduces a new entertainment robot called ELIRO-II(Eating Lizard RObot version 2)which is a bio-mimetic quadruped walking robot with autonomous eating function. We focus on the realization of the behavior of an animal, i.e., wandering around to find food and eating food. The ELIRO-II is modeled after a lizard, which has four legs, 2-DOF waist-joint, an eye part, a mouth part and a stomach part. The effectiveness of the developed robot is shown through real experiments.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.299-303
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• 2014

Demand of moving auxiliary equipment has increased recently to an increase in the elderly population. pedestrian demand is either moving auxiliary equipment are also increasing. regional migration, such as pedestrian and the elderly and patients is a device to support the sharing received walking the weight of inconvenient people. In this paper, by mounting the electric function to the current manual walking, to prepare the electric walking to support the user's walking. the design applies a lightweight folding structure so that it can be moved to a ride at long distances, were fabricated.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.97-103
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to exploratively examine factors affecting walking at night anxiety among the elderly. Study sample for the analyses was 9,120 persons aged over 65. Factors affecting walking at night anxiety among the elderly were composed of sociodemographic factors, health-related factors, and social perception factors. Sociodemographic factors include gender, age, region, education, having or not having a spouse, household income. Health-related factors include walking ability, vision, subjective health status, cognitive function. Social perception factors include perception about other's compliance with laws and perception about safety from crime. The main results of the analyses are as follows. Among sociodemographic factors, factors that had significant effects on walking at night anxiety among the elderly were gender, age, region, education. Among health-related factors, factors that had significant effects on walking at night anxiety among the elderly were walking ability, vision, subjective health status, cognitive function. Among social perception factors, factors that had significant effects on walking at night anxiety among the elderly were perception about other's compliance with laws and perception about safety from crime. Results of this study show that there is a need for multiple methods to make safe and comfort walking environment for the elderly.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.936-941
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• 2014

Walking mechanisms are very important for legged robots to ensure their stable locomotion. In this research, Klann-linkage is suggested as a walking mechanism for a water-running robot and is optimized using level average analysis. The structure of the Klann-linkage is introduced first and design variables for the Klann-linkage are identified considering the kinematic task of the walking mechanism. Next, the design problem is formulated as a path generation optimization problem. Specifically, the desired path for the foot-pad is defined and the objective function is defined as the structural error between the desired and the generated paths. A process for solving the optimization problem is suggested utilizing the sensitivity analysis of the design variables. As a result, optimized lengths of Klann-linkage are obtained and the optimum trajectory is obtained. It is found that the optimized trajectory improves the cost function by about 62% from the initial one. It is expected that the results from this research can be used as a good example for designing legged robots.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.847-856
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• 2017

Excessive vibrations can occur in long-span structures such as floors or footbridges due to occupant?s daily activity like walking and cause a so-called vibration serviceability issue. Since 1970s, researchers have proposed many human walking load models, and some of them have even been adopted by major design guidelines. Despite their wide applications in structural vibration serviceability problems, differences between these models in predicting structural responses are not clear. This paper collects 19 popular walking load models and compares their effects on structure?s responses when subjected to the human walking loads. Model parameters are first compared among all these models including orders of components, dynamic load factors, phase angles and function forms. The responses of a single-degree-of-freedom system with various natural frequencies to the 19 load models are then calculated and compared in terms of peak values and root mean square values. Case studies on simulated structures and an existing long-span floor are further presented. Comparisons between predicted responses, guideline requirements and field measurements are conducted. All the results demonstrate that the differences among all the models are significant, indicating that in a practical design, choosing a proper walking load model is crucial for the structure?s vibration serviceability assessment.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2021

Objective: This review aims to analyze the effects of electromechanically assisted walking in patients with cerebral palsy(CP). Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We reviewed systematically using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist guidelines. The inclusion criteria for this study were all CP patients. The intervention was electromechanically assisted walking. The outcome measures included gait parameters, function, spasticity. Studies excluded from this review were excluded from the review if they were non-English languages and if the study was not published as a full report, and if they were not randomized controlled trials (RCTs) designs. The RevMan 5.4 program was used to evaluate and explain the results. The risk of bias was evaluated independently by two reviewers. The quantitative meta-analysis, including mean differences (MD) and associated standard deviations (SD) from baseline and follow-up assessments, were recorded. Results: A total of 634 articles were searched. Two hundred eighty-nine duplicate articles were excluded, and 345 of 634 originals were left for selection. Of these 74 papers, 44 were out of topic, and 19 reported no mean or standard deviation values. And one was a non-experimental study. Finally, ten studies were included. All 10 RCTs of electromechanically assisted walking were analyzed. The meta-analysis showed a significant improvement in gait cycle (95% CI (confidence intervals), 0.09 to 0.19, I2=0%), Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) D (95% CI, 3.27 to 13.17, I2=0%) and GMFM E (95% CI, 0.22 to 6.41, I2=0%). Conclusions: Electromechanically assisted training helps in walking in patients with CP.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.spc1
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• pp.452-460
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• 2005

Based on an introduced optimal trajectory planning method, this paper mainly deals with the accuracy analysis during the function approximation process of the optimal trajectory planning method. The basis functions are composed of Hermit polynomials and Fourier series to improve the approximation accuracy. Since the approximation accuracy is affected by the given orders of each basis function, the accuracy of the optimal solution is examined by changing the combinations of the orders of Hermit polynomials and Fourier series as the approximation basis functions. As a result, it is found that the proper approximation basis functions are the $5^{th}$ order Hermit polynomials and the $7^{th}-10^{th}$ order of Fourier series.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

Background: The method of measuring the walking function of patients with chronic stroke differs depending on patients walking capability and environmental conditions. Objects: This study aimed to demonstrate the influences of walking capacity and environmental conditions on the results of short- and long-distance walk tests in patients with chronic stroke. Methods: Forty patients with chronic stroke volunteered for this study, and allocated to group-1 (<.4m/s, household walking, $n_1=13$), group-2 (.4~.8m/s, limited community ambulation, $n_2=16$), and group-3 (>.8m/s, community ambulation, $n_3=11$) according to their walking capacity. The 10-meter walk test (10MWT) and 6-min walk tests, (6MWT) were used to compare the short- and long-distance walk tests results, which were randomly performed under indoor and outdoor environmental conditions. Results: The comparison of the results obtained under the indoor and outdoor conditions revealed statistically significant differences between the groups in the 6MWT and 10MWT (p<.05). Post-hoc tests' results showed significant differences between groups-1 and -2 and between groups-1 and -3 in the 10MWT, and between group-1 and -3 in the 6MWT. Furthermore, in group-2 the 10MWT and 6MWT results significantly differed between the indoor and outdoor conditions, and the values measured under the indoor and outdoor conditions significantly differed between 10MWT and 6MWT (p<.05). Group-3 showed a significant difference in 10MWT results between the indoor and outdoor conditions (p<.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that the results of the short- and long-distance walk tests may differ depending on the walking capacity of patients with chronic stroke and the environmental condition under which the measurement is made, and these effects were greatest for the patients with the limited community ambulation capacity.