This work is based on a partial data from the first author's master thesis. Objectives: Conversational skills play an important role in social aspects such as the peer relationships and academic achievement of school-aged children. The purpose of this study was to investigate developmental differences according to grade for primary school students in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade. Methods: The participants were a total of 30 children, 10 children per grade. Conversation samples were collected individually by the examiner according to procedure of Hallym Conversation & Pragmatic Assessment Protocol. In terms of engagement indicator, the frequency of turn-taking, frequency of utterances per turn. Additionally, in terms of topic indicator, the total number of topics, frequency of turn per topic, rates of maintenance and rates of change were measured. Results: The results were as follows: in engagement indicator, significant difference was observed in the frequency of utterances per turn. In topic indicator, there were significant differences in the total number of topics, frequency of turn per topic, rates of maintenance, and rates of change. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that as school-aged children's grade increased they were able to converse over a given topic with more consistency. These results help elucidate the development of conversation in elementary school-children and can be used as materials for the assessment and intervention of children with disabilities.

ABSTRACT:We examine changes in El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO)/Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) relationship under the global warming using coupled climate models participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). The temporal structure for the ENSO-PDO relationship is changed remarkably. The relationship between ENSO and PDO during the boreal winter (December, January and February) becomes stronger so that there would be more frequent in phase occurrence of ENSO and PDO (i.e. El Niño -a positive phase of PDO or La Niña -a negative phase of PDO). As PDO could constructively interfere with the ENSO-related climate when ENSO and PDO are in phase, in the future one may expect stronger climate signal because of ENSO in the midlatitude. The IPCC AR4 model also shows that the Pacific North America-like pattern is slightly shifted eastward and much stronger. We also discuss the possible reason for these changes.

Objectives:This study aimed to examine developmental differences in conversational skills from childhood to adolescents. Methods: A total of 45 students were participated in the study. Fifteen students were in the higher grade of elementary school, 15 were in middle school and 15 were high school students. Conversation samples were collected by the examiner through the Hallym Conversation & Pragmatic Assessment Protocol. The number of turn-taking, frequency of utterances per turn, the total number of topics, frequency of turns per topic, rates of initiation, maintenance, and change were measured. Results: The results revealed a significant difference in the total number of topics, frequency of turns per topic the rates of initiation, maintenance, and change excluding utterance per turn. Conclusion: The results of the study show that conversational skills develop continuously during late childhood and adolescents. These help us further understanding of conversational skills in adolescent periods.

Objectives: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty with social interaction and communication. The present study investigated the characteristics of conversational turn-taking and topic manipulation skills in school-aged children with high-functioning ASD (HFA). Methods: The participants were a total of 36 children: 12 children aged 7-12 years old with HFA, 12 normal children matched for the chronological age, and 12 normal children matched for the language age with the HFA group. Conversational samples were collected individually by the examiner. The performances of turn-taking (total frequency, rates of initiation, maintenance, overlap, and breakdown) and topic manipulation (total rates of initiation, maintenance, and change of topic, and appropriate/inappropriate rates of initiation, maintenance, and change of topic) were measured. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the conversational characteristics of three groups. Results: The results of the present study were as follows: 1) in turn-taking, significant difference was observed in the rates of initiation 2) in topic manipulation, there were significant differences in the appropriate rates of initiation, total rates of maintenance, appropriate rates of maintenance, total rates of change, and appropriate/inappropriate rates of change among three groups. Conclusion:The results of this study showed that school-aged children with HFA have difficulty with turn-taking and topic manipulation in a conversation. These results help understand the characteristics of conversation with children with HFA, and suggest the importance of assessment and intervention of HFA.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and influencing factors of falls in the institutionalized elderly. Method: A descriptive survey design was used with a convenience sampling of 430 institutionalized elderly. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Results: The falls rate after admission in institution was 8.4%. Types of injury after falls were mostly contusion and fracture. Interventions for fall prevention were environmental management and regular evaluation of risk factors for falls. Fall experience was significantly different according to admission periods. Type of falls was significantly different according to state of ADL. Predictors for falls were longer admission periods and dependent state in ADL. Conclusion: Falls is important health related problem in the institutionalized elderly, so effective fall prevention program is needed for their health promotion.