• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.699-709
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• 2019

Various health and social issues related to the elderly are emerging in line with the rapid aging of the population. In particular, dementia currently has a prevalence of about 10 percent of the elderly population in South Korea, which increases financial and social burdens to not only individual patients but also their caring family. To assess the effects of participating in the forest therapy programs for dementia prevention, this study recruited participants aged 50 and above and tested their depression (Korean form of Geriatric Depression Scale; KGDS) and stress response (Modified form of Stress Response Inventory; SRI-MF), which are emotional aspects of dementia. As a result, KGDS showed a significant decrease of 3.2 points from 8.4 to 5.2 points, and SRI-MF showed a significant decrease of 7.2 points from 40 to 32.8 points, indicating a statistically significant improvement in both. In addition, participants with minor depression and high level of stress in the pretest showed statistically significant improvements in the SRI-MF for men, and the KGDS and SRI-MF for women. Furthermore, there were statistically significant improvements in KGDS for participants in their 60s and in SRI-MF for those in their 70s in terms of age, and in both KGDS and SRI-MF for participants with chronic diseases and in KGDS for participants without chronic diseases. This study confirmed the effects of forest therapy on the prevention of the emotional aspects of dementia and laid the groundwork for increasing the applicability of forest therapy by obtaining a place for dementia prevention as a field of forest therapy.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.52-59
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• 2015

In this paper, the vibration control effect of the isotropic damping devices (so-called Kagome dampers) was investigated by applying the Kagome dampers to a 20-story frame structure apartment. A new Kagome Damper System (KGDS) composed of the dampers and supporting column was proposed and numerical analyses were performed to investigate the effects of stiffness ratio between controlled structure and supporting column, the damper size and the number of the dampers. The numerical analysis results of a structure with KGDS up to the third story showed that the stiffness ratio should be higher than 6.4 and the damper size be at least $700{\times}700mm$ to effectively reduce the base shear and the maximum drift of the uppermost story. When the KGDS was installed up to the fifth story, the stiffness ratio should be higher than 7.0 and damper size needs to be at least $500{\times}500mm$ for obtaining the target performance.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2014

Objectives More than half of the elders suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. Moreover, sleep disturbances are more prevalent in patients with depressive disorder than in community dwelling elderly. In this study, we aim to estimate the risk factors of poor sleep quality and its effect on quality of life in patients with late life depression. Methods This study included 159 depressive patients aged 65 years or older who completed Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A global PSQI score of 5 or greater indicates a poor sleeper. Structural diagnostic interviews were performed using the Korean version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Depression was evaluated by the Korean form of Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS). Global cognition was assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination in the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease assessment packet. Quality of life was evaluated by the Korean version of Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36). Results The frequencies of poor sleepers were 90.5% in major depressive disorder, 71.8% in minor depressive disorder, 47.1% in subsyndromal depressive disorder, and 73.0% in all types of depressive disorders. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that female [odds ratio (OR) = 2.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.20-6.67] and higher KGDS score (OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.05-1.21) were risk factors of poor sleep quality in patients with late life depression. In the analysis of ANCOVA adjusted for age, gender, education and KGDS score, the mean scores of vitality mental health and mental component summary of SF-36 were lower in poor sleepers than in good sleepers. Conclusions Poor sleepers among patients with late life depression are very common and are associated with female and higher KGDS scores. Poor sleep quality causes a significant negative effect on mental health quality. So researchers and clinicians should be more vigilant in the evaluation and treatment of sleep disturbances in patients with late life depression.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of Yangseng (Traditional Health Behavior), depression, anxiety, cognitive function between the elderly women living alone and the aged in the living with family. Methods: The subjects of this study were 137 elderly women aged between 65 and 80. They were evaluated with the Tool in Measuring Yangseng (TMY), Korean Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS), State-Trait Anxiety Inntory (STAI) and Korean of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMES-K). Depending on whether or not they lived alone, they were divided into two groups; group living alone (L.A.) and group living with family (L.F.). Results: In TMY score, there were statistically significant differences in characteristics of Mind, Diet, Sleep and total score between L.A. (63 persons) and L.F. (74 persons). Group living alone (L.A.) had significantly higher score in KGDS and STAI compared with other group (L.F.). The values of KGDS and STAI comparing to the values of Mind, Diet, Sleep, Exercise and total score in this study resulted in negative correlations which showed statistically significant. Conclusions: Above results suggest that between L.A. and L.F, there are significant difference in physical and mental health. TMY is enough to estimate health of the aged. These results can be used for Yangseng health promoting program based on Korean traditional medicine.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.46-56
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• 2020

Purpose: This study proposes a concert oriented music therapy (COMT) program which takes into account the personal and social factors of depression, and its clinical effects were validated on elderly persons with visual impairments who were susceptible to depression. The experiment was conducted on 34 elderly persons with visual impairments, randomly allocated to either the experimental group (n = 15) or the control group (n = 19). The COMT program was applied 20 times in total to the experimental group for 110 minutes every other week, for a duration of 10 months. The depression level was evaluated using the Korean form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS). The experimental results showed that the average KGDS score in the experimental group decreased by 4.1 points (19.4%), from 21.0 to 16.9, whereas it increased by 1.16 points (5.8%), from 19.95 to 21.11, in the control group. The reduction in the depression level was significant for the following 4 depression factors : decreased social interest (40%), negative thinking and the unhappiness feeling (20%), emotional discomfort (16.3%), and cognitive dysfunction (7.6%), whereas it was negligible in the factors of physical weakening and decreased vitality. The COMT program reduced the KGDS scores of the experimental group regardless of their experience in musical performance. In conclusion, the proposed COMT program proved to be efficacious in alleviating depression in elderly persons with visual impairments. In particular, it proved highly effective in helping with decreased social interest, namely, the social factor of depression which is not properly considered in existing music therapy methods.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to compare the Depression levels of the poor and elderly as well as the elderly who were residents in a community. The author studied the Depression levels of 117 poor and elderly individuals and 183 elderly individuals all 65 years or older living in Suwon City. This study has been done using a direct-interview structured Questionnaire and Korean Form of Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS) from May to July in 1999. The results can be summarized as following: 1. With Case and Control group there was no significant difference with respect to gender, age, education level, or religion. But was significantly different regarding marriage state, if subjects were living together, type of residency, province, and place of toilet(P<0.05). 2. Smoking and Hwa-pyung was a large number of case group more than control group. and alcohol was more control group than case group(P<0.05). 3. There was a similiar taking medicine and kind of body symtom of case and control group. 4. The mean score of perceived KGDS of the poor elderlys was 17.87+/-5.97 out of 30. and that of the elderlys was 13.35+/-6.00 out of 30(P<0.001). 5. In a simple correlation analysis of elderlys. education, marital status. residency, son and daughter, position of toilet, elderly center, alcohol, Wha-byung, disease. 6. In a multiple regression analysis, Hwa-byung, elderly center, education, smoking, disease, son and daughter.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.153-163
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• 2011

This study was to investigate the effects of percussion program on depression and self-esteem for the elderly lived in residential care. 12 older adults participated in the 40-min. percussion program for 4 weeks(10 sessions). The percussion program consisted of three steps; 1) introduction for creating rapport and relationship, 2) process for mood induction and increasing interaction, and ending for increasing self-achievement and confirming the changed mood. Korean Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS) and Self-Esteem Scale (SES) were administered before the first session and after the completion of the program. Results showed statistical significance (p<.05) in KGDS (p=.020) and SES (p=.025). Findings imply that percussion program can induce positive changes in depression and self-esteem for elderly in the residential care, and more depressed elderly group may have better outcome in percussion playing. Future studies should consider various levels of depression among elderly, and design the program to be more sensitive to the level of functioning.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

Purpose: The main causes of chronic neck pain (CNP) are wrong postures and degenerative changes. This study investigated the effects of specific exercise on elderly women with CNP. Methods: 29 elderly women who complain of CNP were classified into experimental group (14) and control group (15). The experimental group was treated with specific exercise and minimal conventional therapy, whereas the control group was treated only with conventional therapy. Then the effects on the visual analogue scale (VAS), neck disability index (NDI), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), Korean form of geriatric depression scale (KGDS), and range of motion (ROM) were compared between the two groups. Results: The experimental group showed significantly improved results in VAS, NDI, SAS, KGDS, and ROM after intervention (p<0.05), as did the control group (p<0.05). The comparison of changes in the experimental group before and after intervention showed superior results in the SAS, NDI, and ROM (flexion, rotation, lat. flexion) results when compared with the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Specific exercise is effective in the improvement of SAS, NDI, and ROM for elderly women with CNP.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.904-913
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• 2011

Three-dimensional (3D) memories using through-silicon vias (TSVs) as vertical buses across memory layers will likely be the first commercial application of 3D integrated circuit technology. The memory dies to stack together in a 3D memory are selected by a die-selection method. The conventional die-selection methods do not result in a high-enough yields of 3D memories because 3D memories are typically composed of known-good-dies (KGDs), which are repaired using self-contained redundancies. In 3D memory, redundancy sharing between neighboring vertical memory dies using TSVs is an effective strategy for yield enhancement. With the redundancy sharing strategy, a known-bad-die (KBD) possibly becomes a KGD after bonding. In this paper, we propose a novel die-selection method using KBDs as well as KGDs for yield enhancement in 3D memory. The proposed die-selection method uses three search-space conditions, which can reduce the search space for selecting memory dies to manufacture 3D memories. Simulation results show that the proposed die-selection method can significantly improve the yield of 3D memories in various fault distributions.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.85-90
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of individual board game program (IBGP) on cognitive function and depression level in 7 elderly people with mild cognitive impairment(MCI). We used the mini-mental state examination korean version (MMSE-K), montreal cognitive assessment korean version (MoCA-K), and korean form of geriatric depression scale(KGDS). The results showed significant differences in MMSE-K before, after, and follow-up(p<0.05), and there were differences of orientation for time, place, and object and attention in before, after, and follow-up(p<0.05). MoCA-K showed differences in before, after, and follow-up assessments(p<0.01), and showed differences in visual construction skill, orientation, and short-term memory(p<0.05). Finally, there was a difference in depression level before, after, and follow-up of KGDS(p<0.01). Therefore, IBGP for the elderly can help improve the cognitive function, and based on this, it is expected that an advanced IBGP will be applied to improve orientation for time and place in the elderly.