• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.277-288
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• 2015

Objectives: There are many hazardous agents at livestock farms. In particular, gases can be detrimental to both workers and animals. This study evaluated ammonia and hydrogen sulfide concentrations in broiler hen barns and beef cattle barns according to sampling location and height. Methods: Three broiler hen barns and three beef cattle barns were selected for gas monitoring in this study. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide concentrations were measured using a direct-reading instrument which could measure the target gases simultaneously. Gas monitoring was conducted at human breathing height and animal breathing height at three points in each livestock farm. Results: Ammonia concentrations at the broiler hen barns ranged from 3.3 to 12.5 ppm by sampling location and height, but hydrogen sulfide was not detected. In the beef cattle barns, ammonia ranged from 3.1 to 16.3 ppm and low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide were detected at some animal breathing heights. The gas concentrations detected at each livestock farm were significantly higher in the animal breathing zones than in human breathing zones (p<0.0001). Conclusions: We found a difference in gas concentrations between human breathing zones and animal breathing zones. Gas monitoring should be conducted to improve the related environment considering both workers' and animals' health and safety.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.647-659
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• 2015

This study analyzes current technologies in personal protective equipment (PPE) and mechanisms that can be used in the agricultural field to provide data for research and development on PPE for farmers. There is growing awareness of the importance of PPE as part of efforts to reduce agricultural accidents, but data remain rare for developing PPE tailored to the farm work environment. In this regard, patent data on PPE can provide useful insights for facilitating relevant technologies and research. This study examines patents and utility models classified under the IPC code in Korea and other countries to analyze patented technologies and recent trends for the period from January 2003 to October 2014. Here Korea, the U.S., Japan, and Europe were considered. The results show that the number of patent applications for PPE remained steady without any sharp fluctuations. KIPO applications accounted for 43.5% of all cases, reflecting the highest proportion among the countries considered. Domestic applicants accounted for 94% of all cases. In Korea, patent applications were concentrated in safety gear for the face and eyes, indicating a high level of technology. The highest level of competition was observed for safety goggles in all countries. Some PPE technologies were dominated by a particular manufacturer. The analysis results for farming-related technologies show the current state of technologies and areas lacking technological development. This study analyzes patented technologies for PPE in Korea and other countries and recent research trends as part of the effort to develop PPE for workers in the farming and livestock industry. This study represents an early-stage effort to develop PPE for workers in the farming and livestock industry, and the results are expected to be useful for tailoring PPE to Korea's farming and livestock environment.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.290-305
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• 2015

To improve the practicality of 'Early warning service about agrometeorological weather hazards' and operation efficiency to deliver site-specific about a lot of land unit possibility of weather hazard occurrence with the suitable counterplan to farmer, site-specific early warning service system that was built at the National Academy of Agricultural Science in Korea passed some of the error supplementation and service's stabilization stage during operation period for trial services from October 2014 to March 2015. Field service system covered about 470 volunteered farmer and 950 lots in Seomjin river downstream areas (part of Gwangyang-si, Hadong-gun, Gurye-gun). This system (Two track system) consists of early warning system (a lot of land unit) to inform farmer by individual text message and dispersal prior alert system that can see the jurisdiction's situation of local government. Individual text message about Seomjin river downstream that is our first study area was launched since $2^{nd}$ March 2015, and online site (http://www.agmet.kr) started business since April 2015. Service offers currently information of farm weather, farm weather hazard, nationwide weather risk and special weather alert, also our system will consistently expand the service target area and contents and improve the service quality until 2017 when our study finished. To prevent crops damage that was caused by crisis situation like farm weather and weather damage offer prior alert about agrometeorological weather harzard to volunteered farmer, thereby our study expects to help the reduction of farm's damage caused by weather derivatives.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.314-318
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• 1984

China has made rapid strides in agricultural production during the past few years. Although the absence of any serious climatic disturbances is a contributing factor, implementation of the responsibility system to reward peasant families for their initiatives has been by far the most significant. This has resulted in increased specialization, a greater requirement for technical adivsory services, and a much higher demand for farm equipment and production inputs. The revamped system has brought with it some problems such as differences in income between the most progressive producers and their less successful neighbours and urban workers, a shortage of storage, transport and processing facilities, and a strain on the national treasury to continue to subsidize farm prices. Demand for fertilizers has been increasing at a fast rate, especially for nitrogen. This has led to a serious imbalance in nutrient use which must be corrected if the current momentum in improving crop yields is to be maintained. Following a decade of total stagnation during the Cultural Revolution, agricultural research and education facilities are being strengthened. Younger scientists, many with overseas training, are being placed in key positions. China is still a developing country, and much remains to be done; however, progress in the last decade, and especially in the past five years, has been remarkable.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.509-515
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• 2011

Objective: The study was performed to suggest factors to consider when making or selecting protective clothing to enhance farmers' health. The purpose of this study was to review and summarize the agricultural safety technology on clothing including hat, gloves, and shoes. Background: The farmers' work clothing has to meet a multitude of requirement. Risk factors in farm-work were identified by previous researches. Agricultural safety clothing needs to be introduced. Method: We reviewed previous papers regarding the agricultural workers' health, safety clothing to protect body from excessive heat and humid environment, ultraviolet(UV) protection, and hazardous body working postures. Also the UV cut effect, pesticideproof clothing, and preventable farm work related musculoskeletal disorders were discussed. Results: The agricultural safety clothing needs to be developed to provide comfort and to be resistant against heat. The UV protection function on skin and eyes has not been fully researched in safety clothing studies yet. Conclusions and Application: The farmers' work-related body posture needs to be studied in order to make and design agricultural safety clothing. The safety issues on agricultural work shoes are also needed to be included in future studies.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.285-289
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• 2012

In this paper, the farm information system was designed by ubiquitous computing. The irrigation system was set up for growing forest products. Also, the integrated sensing system with the radar sensors would be constructed for sensing the temperature, the humidity and the direction of the wind, ect. And the monitoring programs for workers in the fields were provided for the control and the monitoring the growing conditions of the forest products. Finally the database was constructed for the total monitoring and management system, so the data from sensor system was stored in the database sever for analysing growing environment.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.16-23
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• 2024

Pigs express their reactions to their environment and health status through a variety of sounds, such as grunting, coughing, and screaming. Given the significance of pig vocalizations, their study has recently become a vital source of data for livestock industry workers. To facilitate this, we propose a lightweight deep learning model based on MobileNet that analyzes pig vocal patterns to distinguish pig voices from farm noise and differentiate between vocal sounds and coughing. This model was able to accurately identify pig vocalizations amidst a variety of background noises and cough sounds within the pigsty. Test results demonstrated that this model achieved a high accuracy of 98.2%. Based on these results, future research is expected to address issues such as analyzing pig emotions and identifying stress levels.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.543-552
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• 2013

Physiological and subjective responses of the farmers and thermal environment during chili harvest in the open field were investigated to evaluate the thermal environments and farmers's workload. Eight career female farmers in their sixties participated as subjects both in morning work(MW, AM 9:00~10:30) and in afternoon work(AW, PM 15:00~16:30) with each lasting about 90 minutes. The results were as follows. 1) Air temperature, air humidity, globe temperature and WBGT of MW were mean $25.54^{\circ}C$, 81.82%RH, $37.72^{\circ}C$, $26.27^{\circ}C$ and AW were mean $30.63^{\circ}C$ 82.50%RH, $40.11^{\circ}C$, $30.02^{\circ}C$, respectively. By the WBGT, we evaluated that the thermal environment in the afternoon in the open field gave a thermal burden to farmers. 2) Mean skin temperature of AW($34.8{\pm}0.8^{\circ}C$) was higher than MW($33.5{\pm}1.2^{\circ}C$)(p<0.05). Clothing microclimate temperature on the chest of each work time were $31.3^{\circ}C$(MW) and $32.7^{\circ}C$(AW). Clothing microclimate humidity on the chest of each work time were over 80%RH. Heart rate were 88.5bpm(MW) and 91.7bpm(AW) respectively. 3) Farmers working in the afternoon felt uncomfortable after 45~60 min. of work and in the morning they felt uncomfortable after 90 min. of work. We evaluated that the harvesting of chilies in the open field was 'moderate work' by the physiological responses but the level of thermal burden increased over time especially in the afternoon work. It is suggested that farm workers should drink fluids between work to stay in homeostasis by sweating and to take frequent rests. Active clothing ventilation and wearing functional garments would help farm workers excrete sweat effectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.29 no.8 s.145
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• pp.1176-1187
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of cooling vests developed for farm workers harvesting red pepper in summer. The study was performed using the following two steps: 1) Climatic chamber test, 2) Field test. For the chamber test, a work environment was simulated as $33^{\circ}C$ and $65\%$RH, and the thermo-physiological and subjective responses were measured with and without cooling vests. Twelve young males participated as subjects. For the field test, three farmers participated while harvesting red pepper on the form, in summer. The measurements used were same as in the chamber test. Subjects were tested without any cooling vests, as a control. They were tested wearing vests with 2 frozen gel packs (CV2: Cooling area, $308cm^2$), and vests with 4 frozen gel packs (CV4: Sooting area, $616cm^2$). As a result of the chamber test, rectal temperature($T_{re}$) and mean skin temperature( $T_{sk}$) were lower in both CVs than in Control, and this tendency was statistically significant in CV4 (p<.05). Clothing microclimate temperature ($T_{clo}$) and total sweat rate (TSR) were significantly lower when wearing cooling vests (p<.05) Heart rate (HR) was also lower in wearing cooling vests than in Control, and the speed of recovery to the comfort level was faster when the subjects wore cooling vests. In addition, subjects felt 'less hot, less humid, and less uncomfortable' in both CVs than in Control. Field tests showed a similar tendency with the chamber tests. In particular, wearing the cooling vest was effective in restraining the raise of $T_{clo}$ on the back. It can be concluded that the cooling vest was effective in alleviating heat strain and discomfort in both the chamber test and the field test, despite the cooling area of the cooling vest being just $3.4\%$ of the body surface area ($616cm^2$).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1584-1594
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• 2008

This study was to research the characteristics of the body shape of Korean woman farmers by the major crops. Four hundred ninety-five Korean woman farmers from 9 different area such as Kumi, Damyang, Iksan, Injae, Chungju, Choongju, Haman, Whasung, and Whasoon volunteered for this study. Their major crops were the rice, the pepper, the water melon, the strawberry, the wild rocambole, the sweet persimmon, the grapes, the mushroom, and the chrysanthemums. Twelve body angles were measured from archived the somatotype photographs of the front, the side, and the back. Questionnaires of SF-36 and the farmer's symptom, and the farm-work related movements were surveyed. The results were as follows; 1. Farmers had lower health levels in physical role limit, pain, vitality, and physical function than other occupational workers. 2. Most farmers acted the high-risk ergonomics motions when they worked in the farm. 3. There were significantly different on the both shoulder angles, the hip tangential line slope, the hip breadth angel, in frontal ankle-knee angle, the bending back angle, the dropping breast slope, the abdominis media angle, under the abdominis media angle, the glutea angle, under the glutea angle, and the sideward knee angle(p<.05). 4. Farmers cultivating the low plants such as the water melon, the strawberry, and the wild rocambole showed more banded vertebralis and side knee angles. Farmers cultivating the red pepper showed the dropping the left shoulder and O shape legs. Farmers cultivating the fruit trees such as the sweet persimmon and the grapes showed the less banded side knee angles than other farmer groups. 5. On comparing the same age, farmers showed the older's body shape in earlier and much more than the old living in the city.