This study proposes an evaluation index for fall experiences of healthy elderly people, produced by applying a working memory concept, in which the gait parameter of a dual task walk and sub-task score are correlated. Eleven healthy elderly subjects participated in a dual task walk test during which a word-finding task, such as the names of Japanese prefectures, was performed when subject was doing level-ground walking. The relation between the task difficulty level (defined as the reciprocal of the number of problems answered per second) and gait parameters measured using a toe-mounted inertial sensor (e.g., stride length and walk rate) was assessed. Based on the working memory concept, a share rate model was developed to include walking control capability and effort at giving answers. An attention factor for walking was introduced to correlate the gait parameter variation with the task difficulty. Results obtained using the model show that the share rate for the walking control capability and the attention factor for subjects with no fall experience were significantly larger than for subjects with fall experience. Moreover results indicate that the attention factor reveals the fall experience of healthy elderly people.

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Given the individual differences in driving behavior, it would be ideal to provide the drivers with a self-customizing driver-support system that adapts itself to different driving styles. Toward this goal, the present paper proposes the idea of RF_ind (Risk Feeling of Individuals), which attunes itself to individual drivers, by extending the notion of risk feeling (RF), the idea we proposed in the previous studies to estimate, on average, the drivers' risk feeling when they are closing on the lead car. The proposal is followed by the description of an experimental test we conducted to compare the performance of RF_ind and RF.
To obtain RF_ind from RF, we normalized the two terms of the latter, namely, 1/THW (=the velocity of the host vehicle / the distance between the host and lead vehicles) and 1/TTC (=the relative velocity of the two vehicles / the distance between the two vehicles), respectively, by individual characteristics, where they were defined to be the averages of 1/THW and 1/TTC for individual drivers at the brake onset when closing on the lead car.
To put the idea on a test, we compared the extent to which the timing of “gas off” and “brake on” can be separated in terms of RF_ind and RF, using a driving simulator experiment data when closing on the lead vehicle. The results showed that the true positive rate of the brake on was 98.6% and the false positive rate of the gas off was 0.9% when RF_ind was used for the estimation, demonstrating remarkable improvements in order of 12.9% and 89.2%, respectively, when the estimation is based on the RF.

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Discussion concerning the career development of mid-career nurses is considered crucial for individual nurses, as well as for the staff structure of hospitals. Accordingly, an examination of educational programs that effectively consider potential career paths is necessary. However, in existing educational programs for such nurses, the objectives are generally not clear. To develop effective programs, it is first necessary to elucidate the skills and competencies necessary for potential career paths. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on nursing administrators concerning important skills, and capabilities fundamental to such skills, related to the following three career paths: a managerial position; a certified nurse (CN) or certified nurse specialist (CNS) ; and a generalist. A total of 743 responses were received. The results indicated that the important skills, and in particular, the key capabilities (the core competencies), for these three career paths are as follows: for managerial positions: listening, cooperation, and coordination/negotiation; for CNs or CNSs: analysis, conceptualization, and observation; and for generalists: cooperation, expertise, and judgment.

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