Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Emerald  

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate a human rights-informed dementia prevention program promoting better health and social care among older adults. In this study, the authors examined whether a dual-task training would improve cognition in healthy older adults.

Design/methodology/approach

Individuals attending the systematic health education program for older adults based in Japan were recruited for study inclusion, and divided into a dual-task training group (TG) and a control group (CG). The TG underwent 90 min of a weekly dual-task training for 12 weeks. Severity of dementia was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test. Brain function was assessed using a go/no-go task paradigm, during which cerebral blood flow was additionally measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to quantify oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb).

Findings

MMSE total score, number of errors in the go/no-go tasks and oxy-Hb values showed significant improvements in the TG.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to the small number of participants allocated to the CG, the results must be interpreted with caution. Replication and further validation based on large-scale, randomized-controlled trials is warranted.

Practical implications

This study highlights potential benefits of incorporating an early prevention training for dementia into a human rights-friendly health education program.

Social implications

This study suggests a potential means to reduce costs of social security and health care by introducing a human rights-informed dementia prevention program.

Originality/value

The results suggest that dual-task training may improve cognitive function in healthy older adults, thereby contributing to better health and improvement of social health care, based on a human rights-informed health education program for the prevention of dementia.

DOI： 10.1108/IJHRH-12-2021-0206

Other Link： https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJHRH-12-2021-0206/full/html

Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Asian Agricultural and Biological Engineering Association  

DOI： 10.37221/eaef.15.1_13

Authorship：Corresponding author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Understanding the growth status of fruits can enable precise growth management and improve the product quality. Previous studies have rarely used deep learning to observe changes over time, and manual annotation is required to detect hidden regions of fruit. Thus, additional research is required for automatic annotation and tracking fruit changes over time. We propose a system to record the growth characteristics of individual apples in real time using Mask R-CNN. To accurately detect fruit regions hidden behind leaves and other fruits, we developed a region detection model by automatically generating 3000 composite orchard images using cropped images of leaves and fruits. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified on a total of 1417 orchard images obtained from the monitoring system, tracking the size of fruits in the images. The mean absolute percentage error between the true value manually annotated from the images and detection value provided by the proposed method was less than 0.079, suggesting that the proposed method could extract fruit sizes in real time with high accuracy. Moreover, each prediction could capture a relative growth curve that closely matched the actual curve after approximately 150 elapsed days, even if a target fruit was partially hidden.

DOI： 10.3390/s22176473

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.11357/jsamfe.82.4_370

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Other Link： https://agriknowledge.affrc.go.jp/RN/2010933042

Authorship：Lead author   Publishing type：Doctoral thesis  

Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Other Link： https://agriknowledge.affrc.go.jp/RN/2010931299

Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and Food Engineers  

The grain loss, a standard for determining the operating performance of for multi-crops, is 2 % for paddy, 1 % for wheat, and as high as 4 % for buckwheat. In this study, to reduce the grain loss and improve the cleaning performance, the aerodynamic characteristics of buckwheat were investigated, and the coefficient of drag and lift necessary for predicting the scattering range of buckwheat were modeled. Owing to attitude changes, the buckwheat was found to have greater coefficient variations than paddy, wheat, and soybean. Thus, the overlap of scattering range between the buckwheat and trash increased, suggesting that the amount of buckwheat discharged outside the machine increases when trying to improve the quality at the clean grain outlet.

DOI： 10.11357/jsamfe.81.4_243

Other Link： https://agriknowledge.affrc.go.jp/RN/2010928112

Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and Food Engineers  

For the purpose of safety, it is important to prevent tractor accidents, which are the most common fatal agricultural machine accidents. In this study, the probability of a tractor accident and the severity of injury were quantified from the results of a tractor accident survey. The risk of each accident cases and the factors involved were quantified based on the probability and the severity of injury. The results show that the risk of death and serious injury can be reduced by approximately 57 % and 61 %, respectively. Furthermore, the risk of an accident is expected to be lower than the threshold of death and serious injury by addressing three factors: unsafe and poor machine operability, road inclination, and narrow roads.

DOI： 10.11357/jsamfe.81.2_93

Other Link： https://agriknowledge.affrc.go.jp/RN/2010926864

Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and Food Engineers  

Elucidating rice transplanter’s behavior is important for the safety. In this study, a model of a rice transplanter with four degrees of freedom and installed with a fixed front axle was considered. Vibrations from the planting mechanism were also considered. The parameters of the model were identified based on experiments. The rice transplanter’s behavior on accident site was simulated, and the influences of the speed and mass center position on an anteroposterior fall were considered. The results showed that when the running speed is 0.09 m/s or lower, the influence of speed on the anteroposterior fall is small and the optimum location of mass center position is at a distance of 46 %-48 % of the wheelbase from the rear axle.

DOI： 10.11357/jsamfe.80.3_185

Other Link： https://agriknowledge.affrc.go.jp/RN/2010925563

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and Food Engineers  

Combine harvesters experience the risk of falling accidents owing to the rapidly changing pitching posture during loading and unloading of trucks and when entering and leaving the field. In this study, a dynamic model of traveling behavior for a combine harvester with four degrees of freedom (vertical, pitching, rolling, and anteroposterior direction) was developed. In addition, the model was simulated for travel on various rigid slopes. It was found that the combine harvester runs the risk of falling accidents in the forward descend mode when entering the field, and the backward ascend mode when leaving slope. To prevent falling, it is necessary to travel at a maximum slope angle and traveling speed of 23° and 0.25 m/s, respectively.

DOI： 10.11357/jsamfe.80.2_107

Other Link： https://agriknowledge.affrc.go.jp/RN/2010925556

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Society of Eco-Engineering  

Many accidents due to mowing work in mesomountainous regions are reported each year. If the labor of mowing work on slopes is reduced, it would reduce the risk of accidents due to touching of blades and slipping on slopes, thereby making mowing work safer. <br>
    This study assessed the muscle activity integrated the electromyogram (EMG) of the crus and heart rate to estimate the labor of each part. Several different angled slopes assumed using a brush cutter and a mower were considered; the effect of these factors on walking labor was determined.<br>
    In the experiment, three subjects were employed for mowing walk on a flat surface (on berms: 0°) and on slopes angled at 15°, 24°, 36°, and 42° to obtain the EMG during mowing walk. The EMG was amplified by a biological amplifier and data was recorded using a data logger. An analysis of the results showed that the muscle activity of mowing walk for slopes ≥36° is greater than that for other slopes; the greatest muscle activity occurred at 42°. The heart rates of subjects were also obtained and were found to correlate well with the muscle activity results; the subjects’ heart rates increased to over 120 beats per minute for the steepest slope.<br>
    Based on these results, it is recommended that slopes be constructed at angles of 24° or less to improve the safety and ease of mowing work. Slopes ≥36° are strongly recommended to be made with berms.

DOI： 10.11450/seitaikogaku.28.99

Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Event date： 2024.9

Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

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Event date： 2022.9

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Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

Event date： 2018.9

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Event date： 2018.9

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Event date： 2015.9

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Event date： 2015.8

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Event date： 2014.8

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