Earticle

Objective To investigate variables for assessment of stroke-related sarcopenia that are alternative options to the current assessment for sarcopenia, which focuses on age-related sarcopenia and also has limitations in addressing sarcopenia due to weakness resulting from stroke. Methods Forty patients (17 men, 23 women; mean age, 66.9±15.4 years) with first-ever stroke who can walk independently were included. Muscle mass was determined by measuring ultrasonographic muscle thickness of vastus intermedius, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, and biceps brachii muscles in addition to using the skeletal muscle index (SMI) with bioelectrical impedance analysis. Muscle strength was assessed with the Medical Research Council (MRC) sum score as well as handgrip (HG) strength. Physical performance was measured by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) along with 4-meter gait speed (4MGS). Correlations between each assessment in the three categories were analyzed and adjusted by stroke severity, comorbidity, and nutritional status. Results For muscle mass, SMI showed the highest correlation with the tibialis anterior muscle (r=0.783, p<0.001) among the other muscles. Regarding muscle strength, the MRC sum score correlated with the HG (r=0.660, p<0.001). For physical performance, the BBS correlated with the 4MGS (r=0.834, p<0.001). The same result was obtained after adjusting for factors of stroke severity, comorbidity, and nutritional status. Conclusion These results suggest that ultrasonographic muscle thickness of the tibialis anterior, the MRC sum score, and BBS might be alternatives to SMI, HG, and usual gait speed for sarcopenia in stroke patients.

The survival rate of children admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after birth is on the increase; hence, proper evaluation and care of their neurodevelopment has become an important issue. Neurodevelopmental assessments of individual domains regarding motor, language, cognition, and sensory perception are crucial in planning prompt interventions for neonates requiring immediate support and rehabilitation treatment. These assessments are essential for identifying areas of weakness and designing targeted interventions to improve future functional outcomes and the quality of lives for both the infants and their families. However, initial stratification of risk to select those who are in danger of neurodevelopmental disorders is also important in terms of cost-effectiveness. Efficient and robust functional evaluations to recognize early signs of developmental disorders will help NICU graduates receive interventions and enhance functional capabilities if needed. Several age-dependent, domain-specific neurodevelopmental assessment tools are available; therefore, this review summarizes the characteristics of these tools and aims to develop multidimensional, standardized, and regular follow-up plans for NICU graduates in Korea.

Objective: To evaluate the association between outcomes, including affected extremity functions and activities of daily living (ADL), and fractional anisotropy (FA) derived from automated tractography incorporating age among patients after stroke.Methods: This study enrolled stroke patients, and diffusion-tensor imaging was conducted during the second week. Standardized automated tractography was utilized to compute FA values in the corticospinal tract (CST), the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Outcome evaluations were performed at discharge from our affiliated rehabilitation facility. Extremity functions were assessed using the total scores of the motor component of the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS-motor). Independence levels in ADL were appraised through the motor and cognition components of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). For each outcome measure, multivariate regression analysis incorporated the FA values of the CST, the IFOF, and the SLF, along with age.Results: Forty-two patients were enrolled in the final analytical database. Among the four explanatory variables, the CST emerged as the most influential factor for SIAS-motor scores. Conversely, age proved to be the primary determinant for both the motor and cognition components of FIM, surpassing the impact of FA metrics, including the CST and the IFOF.Conclusion: The key influencing factors exhibited significant variations based on the targeted outcome assessments. Clinicians should be aware of these differences when utilizing neuroimaging techniques to predict stroke outcomes.

Objective To evaluate the validity of the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) and general movements (GMs) assessment for predicting Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) score at 12 months in preterm infants. Methods A total of 44 preterm infants who underwent the GMs and TIMP at 1 month and 3 months of corrected age (CA) and whose motor performance was evaluated using AIMS at 12 months CA were included. GMs were judged as abnormal on basis of poor repertoire or cramped-synchronized movements at 1 month CA and abnormal or absent fidgety movement at 3 months CA. TIMP and AIMS scores were categorized as normal (average and low average and >5th percentile, respectively) or abnormal (below average and far below average or <5th percentile, respectively). Correlations between GMs and TIMP scores at 1 month and 3 months CA and the AIMS classification at 12 months CA were examined. Results The TIMP score at 3 months CA and GMs at 1 month and 3 months CA were significantly correlated with the motor performance at 12 months CA. However, the TIMP score at 1 month CA did not correlate with the AIMS classification at 12 months CA. For infants with normal GMs at 3 months CA, the TIMP score at 3 months CA correlated significantly with the AIMS classification at 12 months CA. Conclusion Our findings suggest that neuromotor assessment using GMs and TIMP could be useful to identify preterm infants who are likely to benefit from intervention.

Purpose: Nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly important in healthcare as they play a key role in leading advanced nursing practices. Assessing their professional competence is essential. The aim of this study was to evaluate NPs' professional competencies based on at a collaborative model around NP self and compare different methods of assessment. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, and a purposive sample of 211 participants in the teaching hospital was used. Methods used were self-assessment (nurse practitioners), peer assessment (physicians and nurses) and supervisor assessment (head nurses). Results: The competence of nurse practitioners was rated as moderate (mean score = 3.45 of a possible 5; SD = 0.59). However, each method resulted in differences in competence for total scores and dimensions. The highest competence was in direct patient care (mean = 3.55, SD = 0.53), and the lowest score was in monitoring the quality of patient care (mean = 3.30, SD = 0.82). post hoc analysis shown that supervisor assessment rated professional competence significantly lower than the method of selfassessment and peer assessment (F = 10.07, p < .001). Conclusion: NPs require an increased effort to continuous learning for enhancing professional competencies. Moreover, using multiple methods for assessment to obtain a more comprehensive and accurate evaluation of NPs’ professional competence.

본 연구는 현장체험학습 계획과 운영과정에서 한국과 영국에서 실시하고 있는 위험성평가를 비교분석하였다. 영국과 한국의 중등학교 1개교를 선정하여 심층 조사하고, 표적집단면접을 통해 유사점과 차이점을 식별하였다. 한국은 영국에 버금가는 제도적 장치를 갖추고 있으나, 제도의 정교함이나 운영의 내실에서 몇 가지 차이점이 발견되었다. 첫째, 한국은 교사와 학부모가 현장체험학습 시설의 안전도를 점검하여 위험성평가의 형식화 요인으로 작용하고 있으나, 영국은 외부전문 기관의 조언으로 교사의 위험성평가의 전문성을 높이고 있다. 둘째, 영국은 위험성평가 항목이 현장 교육활동에 중점을 둔 반면에 한국은 이용시설의 안전⋅위생 상태 점검에 치중하고 있다. 셋째, 한국은 위험성파악 수준에 그치는 반면에 영국은 위험성 정도를 계량적으로 추정하여 경중에 따라 위험성 통제방안을 마련한다. 넷째, 영국에서는 현장학습 실시기관의 안전 상태에 관한 정보를 공개토록 유도하고 위험 체험기관 인증제를 통해서 체험실시기관의 안정성을 용이하게 확인할 수 있다. 영국의 위험성평가 사례가 주는 시사점을 토대로 우리나라 현장학습 안전 점검 제도의 개선방안을 제안하였다.

This study compares risk assessments of school field trips between Korea and the UK. The safety management of Korean schools is comparable to that of UK schools, but several differences were discovered. First, Korean schools encourage parents’ participation as a formal element of risk assessment, while UK schools emphasize professional assistance from external institutions. Second, UK schools assess all on-site activities during school field trips, whereas Korean schools assess only the safety and hygiene of the facilities. Third, Korean assessors check whether the facilities follow safety regulations, but UK assessors control residual risks based on quantitative risk estimation. Fourth, the adventure activities licensing system in the UK requires all outdoor activity facilities to release their safety information to the public.

Background: FCTC10 container is designed to transport 60Co radioactive sources used in irradiation industry. It belongs to Type B(U) Category III (yellow) package when being loaded with a 60Co source of 1.8 × 105 Ci. Materials and Methods: The container is constituted of shielding container, basket, protective cover and bracket. Shielding ability is provided mainly by stainless steel shells, tungsten alloy and lead among steel shells. Radiation level around the container has been calculated with both Monte Carlo simulations and measurements. Results and Discussion: It is proven that the shielding performance of the container fulfills the requirements in GB11806-2004 (Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material, China Standard Press). Exposure doses to workers and to critical groups of public were calculated based on hypothetical exposure scene according to transport practice experience. Conclusion: The results show that doses to workers and public are less than the constraint dose considered in design, and the radiation level would be increased less than a factor of 2 under design basis accidents.

This study investigates the impact of different prompt design strategies on the performance of GPT-4 in assessing undergraduate reports within an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. As Large Language Models (LLMs) increasingly integrate into educational assessment, understanding how prompt engineering affects grading accuracy and alignment with human judgment is crucial. Three prompt design methods—TELeR Taxonomy, Six strategies framework, and Zero-shot prompting— were applied to evaluate 40 student business reports. The assessments were compared against human teacher scores using quantitative statistical analysis, specifically box-and-whisker plots and inter-rater agreement between teacher ratings and AI-generated scores using Cohen’s κ and quadratic weighted κ. Findings indicate that the choice of prompt design significantly influences the alignment between AI and human grading. The Six strategies method demonstrated strong alignment with teacher assessments, particularly in evaluating coherence and cohesion. The Zero-shot prompt demonstrated the strongest alignment with teacher ratings, yielding the most similar score distribution and the highest inter-rater agreement (quadratic weighted κ = 0.65). The results suggest that although this strategy most effectively approximates human scoring in AI-assisted assessment, human oversight remains essential for capturing the subjective and nuanced aspects of student writing.

This study investigated the validity of instructionally relevant classroom assessments embedded within a secondary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum. The study was conducted at a high school in Korea, including 148 12th graders learning EFL. For the validity analysis, two sets of achievement tests were chosen (i.e., multiple-choice listening tests for the midterm and final exams). The test items were qualitatively analyzed in relation to the national curriculum and instructional materials, and student test performance was also statistically analyzed. Results revealed that the two achievement tests were found to tap all curricular learning goals, albeit in an imbalanced manner due to the varied degree of coverage of the learning goals (cognitive validity). While the tests covered the target instructional contents, the degree of coverage and representativeness was again limited and inconsistent with the instructions (instructional validity). A statistical analysis of the test performance provided evidence of test validity but found a lack of consistency between the students’ listening ability and item difficulty levels (inferential validity). These findings suggest the types and forms of evidence required for

본 연구는 형성평가 (FA)와 총괄평가 (SA) 사이의 관계를 검사하여 대학 EFL 수업 평가 개선을 돕고자 수행되 었다. 이 연구의 참여자들은 중국의 4년제 대학에서 선택적으로 8주간의 대학 영어 과정을 수강했던 75명의 학부생들 이었다. FA 데이터는 온라인 교육 플랫폼인 Mosoteach를 사용하여 자기 보고식 설문 조사에 의해 코스 마지막 과정 에서 수집되었다. 연구 결과를 도출하고자, Pearson 상관관계 분석을 통해 FA와 SA(기말고사 및 수행활동 점수)간의 관련성을 SPSS로 분석하였다. 전반적으로 그 두 평가 점수 간 유의미한 긍정적 상관관계가 있다는 것으로 나타났다. 학생들의 단원 평가, 온라인 토론, 브레인스토밍, 신속한 답변, 그리고 과제 수행에서 교수자들의 엄지척 클릭수와도 깊은 상관관계를 보였다. Mosoteach 앱을 통해 관리되는 FA가 학생들의 수업의 학업 성과를 향상 시킬 수 있었다는 결과는 교육 평가 개선을 위한 경험적 기반을 제공할 수 있음을 시사하였다. 이러한 연구 결과에 따라 EFL 수업 평가에 대한 중요성이 설명되었다.

This study was intended to help improve assessment in college EFL classes by examining the relationship between formative assessment (FA) and summative assessment (SA). Participants for the study were 75 undergraduates, taking an eight-week optional college English course at a four-year college in China. FA data were collected in the final course of the course by a self-reporting survey using the online training platform Mosoteach. To achieve the finding, the relationship between FA scores and SA scores (final exam and performance scores) was analyzed in SPSS by means of Pearson correlation analyses. Significant positive correlations were found between FA and SA scores overall. In addition, students’ performance on chapter tests, online discussions, brainstorming, quick-responses, assignments and the number of thumbs-up clicks by teachers were significantly correlated with SA scores. The results suggested that FA administered through the Mosoteach app could improve students’ academic performance, thus providing an empirical basis for improving educational assessment. Based on these findings, implications for assessment in EFL classes were described.

Future generations are inheriting a world filled with complex, environmental decisions to make on a global scale. In response, curriculum focused on humanity’s relationship with the environment is one of the fastest trending areas within higher education. Uniquely within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) system, all four-year universities require students to enroll in a “People and the Environment” course that contains learning outcomes focused on contemporary environmental challenges as well as the interconnectedness between the natural environment and human society. The current research examined these courses across three MNSCU universities through administering a pre- and post-course instrument to students that measured growth in environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The results indicate statistically significant differences between participants’ pre- and post- environmental knowledge scores, especially when compared to a larger sample of Minnesotans. Additionally, a post-course instrument administered to the faculty regarding their instructional methods suggests that specific instructional methods—including team teaching—were correlated with significant gains in student learning outcomes. Overall, the study reveals specific approaches in evaluating learning outcomes as well as best practices for future coursework based on environmental education.

목적 : 본 연구는 편측 공간무시 환자의 평가도구 중 KF-NAP (Kessler Foundation – Neglect Assessment Process)과 지필검사 (직선이분검사, 글자소거검사, 알버트 검사) 사이의 상관관계와 편측 공간무시에 대한 민감도가 높은 평가도구를 알아보고자 한다. 연구방법 : 2014년 9월부터 2015년 9월까지 서울 소재의 병원 재활의학과에 입원한 32명의 뇌졸중 환자를 대상으로 하였다 (남성 19명, 여성 13명, 평균연령 61.8세). KF-NAP과 지필평가는 입원 7일 이내에 시행하였으며, 각 평가도구의 결과 값으로 편측 공간무시 정도를 비교하였다. 결과 : 편측 공간무시 정도는 KF-NAP 93.8%, 직선이분검사 53.1%, 글자지우기 53.1%, 알버트 검사 37.5%로 편측 공간무시에 대한 민감도가 가장 높은 평가도구는 KF-NAP이었다. KF-NAP은 직선이분검사(r=.430), 글자 지우기(r=.641), 알버트 검사(r=.398) 모두에서 유의한 상관관계가 있었다 (p<0.05). 결론 : KF-NAP은 환자의 일상생활 동안 편측 공간무시를 평가하는 도구로써 지필검사에 비해 편측 공간무시의 진단에 더 민감할 뿐 아니라 편측 공간무시의 중증도에 대한 평가가 가능하다. 따라서 편측 공간무시의 평가에 KF-NAP이 유용하게 사용되어져야 한다.

Objective : The aim of this study was to identify correlation between KF-NAP and Pencil-Paper test(Line bisection test, Letter cancellation, Albert’s test) and to determine the high sensitive assessment tool for spatial neglect. Method : Thirty-two stroke patients who admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation unit at the medical center in Seoul from September, 2014 to September, 2015 were included in our research. They all have spatial neglect (male=19, female=13, the average age 61.8). KF-NAP and Pencil-Paper test were performed within 7 days. The detection of spatial neglect was analyzed by total scores of each assessments. Results : The highest sensitivity assessments of spatial neglect was KF-NAP. The detection of spatial neglect through KF-NAP was 93.8% (Line bisection test 53.1, Letter cancellation 53.1%, Albert’s test 37.5%). Line bisection test (r=.430), Letter cancellation(r=.641), Albert’s test(r=.398) and KF-NAP scores had significant correlation(p<0.05). Conclusion : KF-NAP is higher sensitive in comparison with Pencil-Paper test for detection of spatial neglect as the assessment tool of spatial neglect during activities daily livings of patients and neglect severity could be assessed with KF-NAP. Therefore, KF-NAP is recommended for assessment of spatial neglect.

Objective: To assess and to compare the balance control between healthy old and young adults using clinical tests and tetra-ataxiametric posturography. Method: Eighteen healthy elderly adults over 60 years old and twenty one young individuals under 60 years old were recruited. All subjects had no neurological, cognitive and musculoskeletal problems, and were capable of standing and walking independently. The postural control capabilities of the subjects were assessed using the timed up and go test, Berg balance scale and a Tetraxⓡ tetra-ataxiametric posturography (Tetrax, Ramat Gan, and Sunlight Medical, Tel-Aviv, Israel), which utilized two paired force plates measuring vertical pressure fluctuations over both heels and forefeet. Stability index, weight distribution index, synchronization index, and Fourier index were measured at six different head positions and at two positions with standing on pillows, and analyzed by independent t-test. Results: The stability index was higher in the elderly subjects (p＜0.05) than in young subjects, which indicated that the ability of balance control in the elderly subjects was poor. The abnormality of peripheral vestibular system, central nervous system and musculoskeletal system all affected the balance control in the elderly subjects, when standing on pillows or turning head to the up, down, right and left sides. However, the weight distribution index and synchronization of both heels and forefeet were not significantly different between the elderly and young subjects. Conclusion: These findings suggest that elderly adults have more deficits in postural control than young subjects. Therefore changing environment around elderly adults and educating for prevention of falls were needed.