• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.306-314
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• 2022

Background: Due to the rapid aging of the South Korean population, neurological diseases such as dementia are increasing. Many studies have reported that the incidence of dementia is associated with environmental factors along with age. Objectives: This study analyzed the association between cognitive function and ten heavy metals in the body: arsenic, aluminum, chromium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, iron, copper, zinc, and lead. Methods: From 2018 to 2019, a total of 120 participants who suffered from cognitive impairment were recruited for this study. Blood and urine samples were collected and analyzed for heavy metal concentrations using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Demographic information was obtained through face-to-face questionnaires completed by a trained investigator. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Korean version of the Boston Name Waiting Test. The associations between cognitive function scores and heavy metal concentrations were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The average age of the 120 participants was 72.7 years, and 69.2% were female. The mean of the MMSE-K and K-BNT scores were 22.9 and 37.9, respectively. The geometric mean of aluminum (Al) was 8.42 ㎍/L. MMSE-K was associated with iron (Fe), but the significance was removed in the logistic regression based on 24 points. K-BNT was significantly associated with aluminum and the odds ratio for K-BNT above 38 decreased by 45% as the aluminum concentration increased. Conclusions: The association between aluminum and the K-BNT score indicated that aluminum is associated with language-related cognitive decline. Based on this result, further study will be conducted by considering co-exposure effects of heavy metals including aluminum.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to figure out the effect of 12 weeks pilates program for body shape improvement and lumbar stabilization of senior women with chronic back pain and to provide data for developing excercise program which is appropriate for senior women to make aging delayed and to have more physical activity domain by inquiring into their pain reducing. The subjects of this study were 16 senior women with chronic back pain which were classified into two group with experimental group(n=8) and control group(n=8) by applying simple random sampling after conducting Visual Analogue Scale(VAS). Their motion range of pain was from 3 centimeters to 5 centimeters. Pilates excercise for lumbar stabilization in this study was originated the previous literature of Lee et al(2011) and the excercise was modified in the form of pilates. The program in the study was performed under the guidance of a professional pilates trainer. The results are as follows. Firstly, the experimental group showed positive improvement in making vertebra slope but the control group showed pain increased. Secondly, the lumbar pain decreased in the experimental group but it increased in the control group. As a result, the pilates program for lumbar stabilization can be considered as a program for pain relief and body shape improvement of senior women with chronic back pain.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.612-622
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• 2023

T-cell deficiency may occur in various clinical conditions including congenital defects, cell/organ transplantation, HIV infection and aging. In this regard, the development of artificial thymus has recently been attracting much attention. To achieve this aim, the development of techniques for 3D culture of thymic stromal cells is necessary because thymocytes grown only in a 3D thymic microenvironment can be differentiated fully to become mature, immunocompetent T cells; the same cannot be achieved for thymocytes grown in 2D. This study aimed to develop a nanotechnology-based 3D culture technique using polymeric scaffolds for thymic epithelial cells (TECs), the main component of thymic stromal cells. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that the pores of both PCL and PCL/PLGA scaffolds were filled with TECs. Interestingly, TECs grown in 3D on polydopamine-coated scaffolds exhibited enhanced cell attachment and proliferation compared to those grown on non-coated scaffolds. In addition, the gene expression of thymopoietic factors was upregulated in TECs cultured in 3D on polydopamine-coated scaffolds compared to those cultured in 2D. Taken together, the results of the present study demonstrate an efficient 3D culture model for TECs using polymeric scaffolds and provide new insights into a novel platform technology that can be applied to develop functional, biocompatible scaffolds for the 3D culture of thymocytes. This will eventually shed light on techniques for the in vitro development of T cells as well as the synthesis of artificial thymus.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.51-63
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• 2023

Background: This study involved a geriatric oral care expert who developed the competencies of students in the Department of Dental Hygiene and conducted preliminary research to develop an effective curriculum. Methods: A questionnaire was conducted in the last week of class targeting students who took courses in geriatric dentistry, geriatric dental hygiene, and practice. In order to confirm the educational effect according to the differences in the geriatric dental hygiene curriculum, the differences in students' achievement of major competencies, awareness of the geriatric dental hygiene process, class satisfaction, and ageism were analyzed. Results: Regarding major competency attainment, 'communication competency' was significantly higher in PBL education that combined theory and practice than that theory-oriented PBL education (p=0.038). For ageism, the tendency to avoid older adults was low in PBL education, which combined theory and practice, and was statistically significant (p=0.040). For class satisfaction, the rate of responding 'very high' for the 'class atmosphere' was significantly high (p=0.025) for PBL education that combined theory and practice. Conclusion: The PBL teaching method can be useful as a geriatric dental hygiene curriculum. However, it would be more effective to create a curriculum so that education in geriatric dental hygiene care practice can be combined with theory rather than a theoretical education alone.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.290-300
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• 2023

This study was understood the risk mechanism of falls in the elderly and reviewed previous research data to see if the principle of Pilates rehabilitation exercise could have a positive effect on balance ability and postural stabilization in the elderly, and the purpose of this study is to present literature-based data on the fall prevention effect of rehabilitation Pilates exercise. First, the rehabilitation Pilates exercise makes it available for strengthening the center of the body to stabilize the spine and pelvis and stimulates the nerve root, thereby having an effect on the balance and the joint stabilization. Second, a proprioceptive sensory impairment and a musculoskeletal degenerative disease due to aging increase the loss of balance ability and the instability in posture maintenance, thereby coming to raise the risk of a fall damage caused by the difficulty in performing motor functions and by the gait disturbance. Third, the rehabilitation Pilates exercise leads to improving the core muscle strength in older adults, resulting in being capable of expecting the betterment in the balance and the reaction time motor function. And there is a positive impact on the improvement in body imbalance and on the stability in movement involved in the fall prevention, resulting in being able to suggest the possibility of likely contributing to a reduction in a fall risk rate. In conclusion, the rehabilitation Pilates as the elderly exercise program showed effects on the improvement in the body's muscular strength, on the upgrade in a sense of balance, and on the stabilization of core. Thus, it was considered to diminish the risk factors for a fall damage caused by musculoskeletal degeneration and to be capable of preventing a serious disorder of activity due to a chronic senile disease.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.957-966
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• 2018

Recently, the demand for remote patient monitoring based on IoT has been increased due to aging population and an increase in single-person household. A non-contact biological signal measurement system using multiple IR-UWB radars for remote patient monitoring is proposed in this paper. To reduce error signals, a multilayer Subtraction algorithm is applied because when the background subtraction algorithm was applied to the biological signal processing, errors occurred such as voltage noise and staircase phenomenon. Therefore, a multilayer background subtraction algorithm is applied to reduce error occurrence. The multilayer background subtraction algorithm extracts the signal by calculating the amount of change between the previous clutter and the current clutter. In this study, the SVD algorithm is used. We applied the improved multilayer background subtraction algorithm to biological signal measurement and computed the respiration rate through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). To verify the proposed system using IR-UWB radars and multilayer background subtraction algorithm, the respiration rate was measured. The validity of this study was verified by obtaining a precision of 97.36% as a result of a control experiment with Neulog's attachment type breathing apparatus. The implemented algorithm improves the inconvenience of the existing contact wearable method.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.67-84
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• 2023

In this study, Korean older adults (70-75 yrs) were divided into two groups according to the degree of reading exposure, and real-time data were collected through a reading eye movement tracking experiment. Then, overall reading patterns and word frequency ef ects were compared with two groups of older adults and younger adults (20-28 yrs). Furthermore, through the results of the eye movement tracking experiment of older adults with rich reading exposure and older adults with poor reading exposure, we tried to find out whether reading performance af ects not only changes in age but also reading exposure. As a result of the experiment, the older adults with poor reading exposure group generally had a longer fixation time and a shorter saccade than the younger adults group, and the older adults with rich reading exposure group showed the same reading patterns as the younger adults group. The word frequency ef ect was confirmed in all groups, and the fixation time was short in the order of older adults with rich reading exposure group and older adults with poor reading exposure group. In addition, an interaction ef ect was shown in the two elderly groups according to reading exposure, but no interaction could be confirmed in the dif erence between the younger adults group and the older adults with rich reading exposure group. This suggests the possibility that reading performance is not af ected by age itself, but by the reading experience of the elderly.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.325-332
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• 2023

Currently, the world's population has already entered a super-aging era, and the rate is expected to increase rapidly to about 40% by 2050. However, the rapid development of automation technology and the online service sector, the main technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, are still further isolating them in a world where many inconveniences and development technologies are applied. As such, alienation in daily life is widely expanded in various fields, but the financial service sector is one of the must-use areas regardless of age because of its strong nature in the public service sector, and is a very important factor in the period when branches are rapidly decreasing. However, the current utilization rate of mobile banking services is not around 5%, so users over 60 are rarely able to use them. The UX design of the most frequently used remittance service screen in mobile banking services was proposed, and the difficulty of trying to find the preferred bank among 56 or more banks was solved by analyzing the usage rate of each bank and dividing it into three stages by age group from 50 or older. In addition, it was designed to strengthen customized services by showing their recently used banks as the top priority. The design proposed in this study obtained an average of 4.8 points or more out of 5 points as a result of usability satisfaction through interviews with less than 50 senior groups. This study is believed to help each bank upgrade its different mobile banking designs in a unified manner.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.2D
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• pp.245-253
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• 2009

Road facility is the most fundamental infrastructure for traffic and various information for smooth traffic is included in road surfaces. Various information included in road surfaces should be often removed and reinstalled by partial damage and aging. In addition, the existing road surface information should be removed in order to mark new information as traffic information changes. The existing road surface removal method suing grinders and torches had problems such as dangerous working equipment and workers' direct exposure to cars. In addition, although water-jet system using super high-pressure water was used to remove road surface in order of improvement of traditional method, there are another problems such as limitations according to water-tanks and water frost on the road surfaces after work. Therefore, this study analyzes and suggests systems to develop prototype after analyzing dry ice blaster in order to improve the current road surface removal methods. In addition, the study analyzes the possibility of introduction of dry ice blaster through a test for proposing an automatized equipment for new road surface mark removal considering environment and work efficiency, and compare traditional method with introduced dry ice blaster for operating cost.

• 한국노년학
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.155-170
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• 2005

The purpose of study is to compare the level of participation of the elderly people in the activity of production between Korea and Canada and to identify the factors related to the participation of the elderly people in the activity of production between Korea and Canada. In order to conduct a comparative culture study two data sets were used; one was the 1999 Survey of Time Use collected by Korean Statistics Office and the other was 1998 Survey of Time Use collected by Canadian Statistics Office. Many countries have been collected a time use survey and used to study labor, welfare, and culture. Total number of 17,730 Korean and 2,729 Canadian between 55 and 84 were included to analyze the data. It is clear from the results that older people engage in various productive behaviors, particularly when the definition of activities is broadened to include unpaid work. It is also clear the overall productive contributions are higher among older Koreans than among older Canadians. While the focus in this study has been strictly on productive activities, the aging well literature suggests that the ability to remain independent in later life is enhanced through continued engagement in productive activities. It is thus critical that we better understand the nature of later-life activities and in particular the wide-ranging contributions made by older people. This is an important area of further exploration.