• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.38-44
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• 2010

We investigated the effects of trunk twist on postural stability during manually handling flat ties. Ten male subjects participated in this study. While handling 5kgf and 10kgf bundles of flat ties respectively, their centers of pressure (COPs) were measured under two levels of body position (twisted and fixed), two levels of direction (left and right), and three levels of object position ($30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, and $60^{\circ}$). Subjects' postural stability was quantified by calculating the sway length. Results showed that the effect of different object position was significant on postural sway length in subject's medio-lateral axis. Post-hoc multiple comparions revealed that, under the 5kgf load condition, the sway length was increased significantly as the object position increased to $45^{\circ}$. Under the 10kgf load condition, however, the sway length was increased significantly at the object position of $60^{\circ}$. Actual or potential applications of this research include guidelines for the design of working posture evaluation techniques.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.45-61
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• 2005

Stance is defined as any state in which the total mass of the body is supported by the feet. In order to maintain stance, the sum of gravito-inertial forces acting on the body must be registered by equal and opposite forces at the region of contact between the organism and the support surface. Balance is controlled by applying forces to the surface of support so as to maintain the body's center of mass vertically above the feet. for a muIti-segment organism, there can be a variety of ways in which balance can be controlled, since movements of different body segments can have similar effects on the control of balance. In general, the organism tends to have a body configuration that is aligned with gravito-inertial force when there are no external forces acting on it. If any segments of the body are not aligned with gravito-inertial force vector, a torque on that segment would tend to move the body's center of mass. The maintenance of postural stability is accomplished in humans by a complex neural control system. This requires organizing integrating and acting upon visual, vestibular, and somatosensory input, providing orientation information to the postural control system. The information necessary to control and coordinate movement is provided by the visual sense of eye position with respect to the surrounding surface layout, the vestibular sense of head orientation in the gravito-inertial space, and the somatic sense of body segment position relative to one another and to the support surface. In this study, perception and action capability was examined from various points of view. The underlying assumption of the study was that the change of postural configuration could be effected by organism, environment and task goal.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.119-127
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• 2014

This study tried to develop a basis for quantitative index of working postures associated with WMSDs (Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders) that could overcome realistic restriction during application of typical checklists for WMSDs evaluation. The baseline data(for a total of 603 jbs) for this study was obtained from automobile manufacturing company. Specifically, data for back posture was analyzed in this study to have a better and more objective method in terms of job relevance than typical methods such as OWAS, RULA, and REBA. Major statistical tools were clustering, logistic regression and so on. The main results in this study could be summarized as follows; 1) The relationship between working posture and WMSDs symptom at back was statistically significant based on the results from logistic regression, 2) Based on clustering analysis, three levels for WMSDs risk at back were produced for flexion as follows: low risk(< $18.5^{\circ}$), medium risk($18.5^{\circ}{\sim}36.0^{\circ}$), high risk(> $36.0^{\circ}$), 3) The sensitivities on risk levels of back flexion was 93.8% while the specificities on risk levels of back flexion was 99.1%. The results showed that the data associated with back postures in this study could provide a good basis for job evaluation of WMSDs at back. Specifically, this evaluation methodology was different from the methods usually used at WMSDs study since it tried to be based on direct job relevance from real working situation. Further evaluation for other body parts as well as back would provide more stability and reliability in WMSDs evaluation study.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of balance training on the Inbody and recovery of the balance capability in stroke patient with obesity. The exercise program was to conduct obesity group and normal weight group, 22 subjects were divided equally into experimental(obesity) and controlled group(normal weight), assigned to excercise using the balance training system for 30min a day and 5 days a week. Every pre and post-experimental data of both groups were gathered by Inbody and BSS(Biodex Medical Systems) for 8 weeks. As a result, Comparing the intra-group data measured by Inbody, obesity group showed significant difference in every parameter (p<.05). In the inter-group data, every parameter showed significant difference between both groups (p<.05). Comparing the intra-group data of LOS(Limits Of Stability), obesity group showed significant difference with all parameters, except with 'Backward' and 'Left' (p<.05). In the inter-group data, 'Forward' parameter showed significant difference. Comparing the intra-group data of PS(Postural Stability), obesity group showed significant difference with all parameters (p<.05). The inter-group PS(Postural Stability) results differed significantly only with 'Med/lat'(p=.000). The above results implicate about the following conclusions that the balance training had a big effect on the Inbody and recovery of the balance capability in stroke patient with obesity.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2013

Manual wheelchair is one of the most used assistant device in Korea and the size of the wheelchair is defined as KS P ISO 7176-5 which follows the ISO 7176-5 standard size. But the standard often doesn't fit to Korean people because the ISO was enacted by foreigners' body sizes. Actually the result of survey from the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards showd that the designated sizes of height, width, deep of seat except armrest and the height of backrest of a chair in the present KS P ISO 7176-5 are much bigger and the height of armrest is smaller than the sizes investigated by the survey. In case the disabled person has a long wheelchair use time everyday, the posture of user should be uncomfortable because the mismatched size should cause user's pelvis rotations, slouching pose and low stability. Also, inside of knee may touch the wheelchair seat and user can't keep a correct posture. In this paper, the body sizes of Korean disabled person were investigated and the correct wheelchair sizes for Korean people are provided.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.285-292
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• 2016

Objective: This study collected data on muscle fatigue and ground reaction force during walking to provide a basis for development of custom-fitted outdoor walking shoes. The study analyzed an upright body exercise program using spine stabilization technique to determine the effect on foot plantar pressure in archers, demonstrate the effectiveness of upright body exercise, and develop a new, effective, and efficient training program. Method: A 12-week upright body exercise program was evaluated for the effect on plantar pressure in archers. Ten prize-winning archers (3 men, 7 women) in B metropolitan city, each with ${\geq}10years$ of experience, were given an explanation of the content and purpose of the program, and provided informed consent. Upright body exercise was performed 3 times a week for 12 weeks. A resistive pressure sensor was used to measure foot plantar pressure distribution and analyze quantitative information on variation in postural stability and weight shifting in dynamic balance during shooting, as well as plantar pressure in static balance with the eyes open and closed. Results: There were no significant differences in foot plantar pressure before and after participation in the exercise program. There was no statistically significant difference in foot plantar pressure in static balance with the eyes open or closed, or in foot plantar pressure in dynamic balance during shooting. Conclusion: An upright body exercise program had positive effects on foot plantar pressure in static and dynamic balance in archers by reducing body sway and physical imbalance during shooting and with eyes closed. This program is expected to help archers improve their posture and psychological state, and thereby improve performance.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 2018

In this paper, a high performance underwater vehicle which can be manufactured at low cost is designed and fabricated, and its performance is verified through experiments. To improve efficiency, the Myring equation is used to design the appearance and the duct structure including the thruster is planned to increase the propulsion efficiency while reducing the drag force. Through various methods, it is secured stable waterproof performance, and also is devised to have high speed movement and turning performance. The developed underwater vehicle is equipped with a high output BLDC motor to achieve a linear speed of up to 2 m/s and can change direction rapidly with stability through four rudders. The rudders are driven by coupling a timing belt and a pulley by extending the axis of a servo motor, and are equipped at the end of the body to turn heading. In addition, for stable posture control, the roll keeps its internal center of gravity low and maintains its stability due to restoring force. By controlling the four rudders, pitch and yaw are handled by the PID controller and show stable performance. To investigate the horizontal turning performance, it is confirmed that the yaw rate controller is designed and stable yaw rate control is performed.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2006

Loss of postural balance can possibly lead to increased risk of slips and falls in work places. Present study was performed to investigate the effects of noisy environments on postural stability during standing. It is known that a sound is characterized by the frequency and pressure level of the sound. Therefore, effects of the frequency and pressure level on postural stability were of primary concern. Ten male subjects participated in the experiment. Subject's center of pressure(COP) position was collected on a force plate while they were exposed to different frequency and pressure levels of the sound. Measured COP was then converted into the length of postural sway path in both anterior-posterior(AP) and medio-lateral(ML) axis. Results showed that the length of sway path in AP axis was significantly affected by the frequency of sound. The length of sway path was lowest at frequency level of 2000Hz and increased below and above this frequency range. The sound pressure level, however, did not significantly affect the postural sway length in both AP and ML axis. The results imply that industrial workers in noisy environments should be aware that their abilities of postural balance can be disturbed significantly.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.47-54
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• 2012

In this study, numerical simulations were performed to evaluate the current loads acting on the multi-legged underwater robot "Crabster" with a variety of incident angles using the ANSYS-CFX package. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved to simulate the fluid flow around Crabster to calculate the forces and moments induced by incoming currents with various angles. First, to assess the posture stability of the body, the forces and moments were calculated with various incident angles when the current acted in the vertical and horizontal directions. Next, two forms of legs (box and foil types) were evaluated to determine the hydrodynamic force variation. Finally, the current forces and moments acting on the Crabster body with the legs attached were estimated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 2010

For stability analysis of the lumbar spine, the hypothesis presented is that the disc has stress sensors driving feedback mechanism, which could react to the imposed loads by adjusting the contraction of the muscles. Fusion in the motion segment of the lumbar spinal column is believed to alter the stability of the spinal column. To identify this effect finite element (FE) models combined with optimization technique was applied and quantify the role of each muscle and reaction forces in the spinal column with respect to the fusion level. The musculoskeletal FE model was consisted with detailed whole lumbar spine, pelvis, sacrum, coccyx and simplified trunk model. Vertebral body and pelvis were modeled as a rigid body and the rib cage was constructed with rigid truss element for the computational efficiency. Spinal fusion model was applied to L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 (single level) and L3-L5 (two levels) segments. Muscle architecture with 46 local muscles was used as acting directions. Minimization of the nucleus pressure deviation and annulus fiber average axial stress deviation was selected for cost function. As a result, spinal fusion produced reaction changes at each motion segment as well as contribution of each muscle. Longissimus thoracis and psoas major muscle showed dramatic changes for the cases of L5-S1 and L3-L5 level fusion. Muscle force change at each muscle also generated relatively high nucleus pressure not only at the adjacent level but at another level, which can explain disc degeneration pattern observed in clinical study.