Noriyuki Kida

Interference Effects between Saccadic and Key-Press Reaction Times of Volleyball Players and Nonathletes

To investigate the interference effect in volleyball players and nonathletes (ns=10) when they executed both saccadic and key-press reaction time (RT) tasks concurrently, the two groups responded to the onset of peripheral visual stimuli as quickly as possible in single and dual conditions. In the single condition, subjects responded with either saccadic eye or key-press movement. In the dual condition, they responded concurrently with both saccadic eye and key-press movements. In both groups, the key-press RT was longer in the dual condition than in the single condition. However, the amount of key-press RT delay was remarkably smaller for the volleyball players than for nonathletes. This suggests the motor command to initiate manual movement of volleyball players might be less interfered with by a concurrent oculomotor command to initiate saccadic eye movement when compared to that of nonathletes.

The Transfer of Expertise in Conducting a Participatory Music Therapy During a Combined Rehabilitation-Recreational Program in an Elderly Care Facility

As the population ages, the number of elderly people who require nursing care continuously increases. In Japan, as of October 2012, a total of 5.49 million qualification certificates were issued to those elderly requiring support, as well as those requiring long-term care in their daily life. Japan’s long-term care system is being promoted based on the philosophy of a society supporting individuals to preserve a dignified lifestyle. However, along with Japan’s rapid aging society, experts in nursing care among experts on different fields are also growing old, remarkably low birth rate poses another challenge in transfer of these expertise to young generations later. In this study we present an experiment that will analyze the attributes of every core skill we identified during our previous study which mapped the core skills of the expert that is needed in conducting an effective participatory music therapy in a nursing home facility. By identifying attributes, much deeper understanding of every core skill was gained, and a better and smoother skill transfer from an expert to a successor performer was attained.

Visual Behavior in a Japanese Drum Performance of Gion Festival Music

The purpose of this study was to focus on the gaze shift in a coordinated musical performance and experimentally clarify its role in the matched timing of the players. To summarize the results obtained in the present study, (1) the number of gaze shifts for the expert was less than that for the non-expert; (2) the expert’s gaze shifts decreased significantly at the moment of a beat; (3) the expert did not turn his gaze on the drum surface, but turned his gaze between his drum and the opposite person’s drum; and (4) the percentages of gaze location on the drum surface of the self and the drum surface of the opposite person were higher in the case of the non-expert.

Effect of standing postural deviations on trunk and hip muscle activity

[Purpose] It is very important to consider effects that postural deviations has on muscle activity when treating low back pain. Therefore, activities of trunk and hip joint muscles in healthy adults while they attempted three postural conditions of neutral, sway-back, and lordosis was compared and evaluated in this study. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects comprised 17 healthy adult male volunteers. The muscle activity and spinal curve were measured while the subjects attempted different postural conditions (neutral, sway-back, and lordosis) as defined in the text. [Results] Activity of trunk and hip inner muscles was decreased in sway-back posture, and only activity of the trunk back muscles was increased in lordosis. [Conclusion] This results were suggested that postural deviations affected muscle control in the lumbo-pelvic area.

Development of Learning Habit Scale and Situational Analysis of Japanese Junior High School Student Learning Habits

A scale to assess junior high school student learning habits was developed and the relationship between learning habits and academic achievement was evaluated using this scale. Junior high school students responded to a questionnaire consisting of 17 questions. Results of factor analysis using the maximum likelihood method and promax rotation identified two factors: learning habits at home and learning habits in class. Learning habits at home and learning habits in class had effects on academic achievement, Learning habits in class were more effective. These results suggest that differences in developing and maintaining learning habits at home and in class affect academic achievement.

Study on Method of Observing Maki-e Crafts Work in Urushi Craftspeople

Urushi crafts is a representative traditional crafts in Japan. Good Urushi crafts work had made in various periods in history in Japan, and it has been kept by the policymaker, shrine, temple and a person on the street. Urushi crafts work is damaged and Urushi comes off over a course of a long period of time. Urushi craftspeople need to identify the characteristics and conditions of the work when it is repaired because they can’t repair the work appropriately. When the craftspeople identify the characteristics and conditions of the work, they observe the work by the naked eye. This observation technique is called “Mitate”. This research aimed to know difference of a motion of the Urushi crafts work between the expert Urushi craftspeople and the non-expert Urushi craftspeople when they conduct the Mitate. The motion of the specimen and subject’s head were measured when the expert and non-expert Urushi craftspeople conducted the Mitate of the Maki-e specimen. As the results, it is found that the expert can identify the change in appearance of Maki-e surface by moving the specimen up and down a little. Furthermore, he can skip the up-and-down motion and shorten the observation time by comparing one specimen with the other specimen in the case of the different number of the gold powder.

Research of Work Climate at Nursing Home - From Job Separation and Management Capability Point

Nursing care insurance system, which was introduced 14 years ago in Japan, helps our life. However, there are some problems such as job separation rate and excess and deficiency of employees at nursing home. “Care Work Foundation (CWF)” investigates about state of care work under name of the investigation “Actual Condition of Care Work” every year. According to the investigation in 2013, Staff Turnover Rate for one year (October 1st, 2012 – September 30th, 2013) was 16.6 % in all. And 56.5 % of the nursing care staff felt that the employee’s number was insufficient. (Insufficient = “greatly insufficient” + “insufficient” + “somewhat insufficient”) In this research, the work climate at nursing home regarding Staff Turnover Rate and the management capability, which was not analyzed by “Actual Condition of Care Work”, was carried out on 44 nursing homes in my company. Specially, analyzed the employee satisfaction, and examined the correlation of the reason and the timing of leaving their job. In addition, there are 6 points as management capability of nursing home; “management principle” “performance capability” “nursing ability” “expressing gratitude to others” “employee satisfaction” “customer satisfaction”. Moreover the correlation of Staff Turnover Rate and the management capability on each nursing home was examined as well. These 6 points are based on the screening criterion of a management quality grand-prix. These 6 points are large categories, and there are 20 medium categories inside large category. “Management principle” has a medium category “empathy degree to management principle”. “Performance capability” has 5 categories; (1) operating ratio, (2) admission rate, (3) Staff Turnover Rate, (4) labor cost rate, (5) number of nonconformity to ISO. “Nursing ability” has 3 categories; (1) Achievement rate of short-term target, (2) Number of accidents during the care, (3) Number of incident reports. “Expressing gratitude to others”; (1) number of “Thanks” Card, (2) number of “Voice for Super Court Staff” Card. “Employee satisfaction” has 4 categories; (1) satisfaction and fairness to the personnel evaluation, (2) number of interview, (3) Independent and caring personality, (4) employee satisfaction. In the “customer satisfaction”, there are 5 categories; (1) service satisfaction, (2) meal satisfaction, (3) cleaning satisfaction in community area, (4) cleaning satisfaction in the room, (5) total customer satisfaction. The research showed the trend that the lower Staff Turnover Rate at each nursing home becomes, the higher the “operating ratio of nursing home”. And the higher Staff Turnover Rate at each nursing home, the higher the “accident frequency rate during nursing care”. However, there is no correlation between Staff Turnover Rate and “degree of empathy to management principle”, “employee satisfaction” and “total customer satisfaction”. The results shows that the nursing home with the maximum number of thanks cards in the 44 nursing home is the least in Staff Turnover Rate.

The Classification Tendency and Common Denomination of the Points Paid Attention in Ikebana Instruction

“Ikebana” is one of the representative aspects of Japanese Culture. However Ikebana arranging skill has been passed down as an oral tradition from master to disciple, rather than in a systematic educational system. This research examines the words used by a teacher with regard to ikebana arrangements created by a beginner and an experienced arranger, examines what parts of the arrangements are focused on and evaluated, and looks at the points ikebana teacher pay attention to in correcting arrangements. It is possible that clarifying the criteria for evaluation and correction of arrangements will contribute to establishing a logical and scientific method of teaching ikebana in the future.

Changes in Study Habits of Chinese Adolescents and Factors Supporting These Habits-Focusing on the Transition Period from Elementary School to Junior High School

Changes in study habits of Chinese adolescents and factors supporting these habits were investigated through a survey on study habits and through interview surveys focusing on the transition period from elementary school to junior high school. Participants were students attending public schools in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, and Zhenjiang). A questionnaire was conducted in the elementary school for 6th grade students and in the junior high schools for 1st through 3rd grade students. Moreover, in Beijing, results of exams (Chinese language, Math, English) were collected. The results indicated a high correlation between study habits and academic results. And, a decline in study habits of students from elementary to junior high school was not observed in this study. Furthermore, the results of the interview surveys indicated that high results of Chinese education were not achieved only through cramming, and that “learning ahead” is significant. In addition to the adequate support provided by teachers and parents, a correlation between school lessons and high academic results was also observed.

Evaluation of left-right difference of impulse in impact forces at stance phase: comparison of measurements on flat land and stairs

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the measurement method and parameters to simply evaluate the condition of the knee that are necessary for preventing locomotive syndrome as advocated by the Japan Orthopedic Association. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects installed acceleration sensors in lateral condyles of the tibia and measured acceleration and load under the conditions of walking on a flat ground and walking using stairs; the difference between the impulse of impact forces (acceleration × load) of the two knees was defined as a simple evaluation parameter. [Results] Simple evaluation parameters were not correlated with age during walking on a flat ground, but during walking using stairs, it was almost flat up to the age of 20–40 years, and after the age of 49 years, based on the quadratic curve approximation (R2=0.99), a correlation of simple evaluation parameters with age could be confirmed. [Conclusion] The simple evaluation parameter during walking using stairs was highly correlated with age, suggesting a contribution to preventing locomotive syndrome by improving reliability. In the future, we plan to improve reliability by increasing the data, and establish it as a simple evaluation parameter that can be used for preventing locomotive syndrome in elderly people and those with KL classification grades 0–1.