• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.20-23
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• 2012

Objective : To compare radiographic analysis on the sagittal lumbar curve when standing, sitting on a chair, and sitting on the floor. Methods : Thirty asymptomatic volunteers without a history of spinal pathology were recruited. The study population comprised 11 women and 19 men with a mean age of 29.8 years. An independent observer assessed whole lumbar lordosis (WL) and segmental lordosis (SL) between L1 and S1 using the Cobb's angle on lateral radiographs of the lumbar spine obtained from normal individuals when standing, sitting on a chair, and sitting on the floor. WL and SL at each segment were compared for each position. Results : WL when sitting on the floor was reduced by 72.9% than the average of that in the standing position. Of the total decrease in WL, 78% occurred between L4 to S1. There were significant decreases in SL at all lumbar spinal levels, except L1-2, when sitting on the floor as compared to when standing and sitting on a chair. Changes in WL between the positions when sitting on a chair and when sitting on the floor were mostly contributed by the loss of SL at the L4-5 and L5-S1 levels. Conclusion : When sitting on the floor, WL is relatively low; this is mostly because of decreasing lordosis at the L4-5 and L5-S1 levels. In the case of lower lumbar fusion, hyperflexion is expected at the adjacent segment when sitting on the floor. To avoid this, sitting with a lordotic lumbar curve is important. Surgeons should remember to create sufficient lordosis when performing lower lumbar fusion surgery in patients with an oriental life style.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.189-196
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• 2015

As the number of children's libraries has increased in Korea, it has been discussed to improve the quality of design in the libraries. In a reading room of children's library, spatial consideration should be focused on the children under 10 years old since they are in important points to learn Hangul and to develop reading habits. This study is aimed to examine the characteristics of a floor-sitting reading room, where children can feel like a home, stay in clean and safe and play while reading. The seven case studies of floor-sitting reading rooms are analyzed from the viewpoint of each factor of physical environment, including structure, furniture, and decoration. The following is the summary of findings of this study. First, floor-sitting reading rooms tend to compose main reading areas around bookshelves. Reading areas create the characters by changing floor levels and arranging furniture associated with windows, columns, and wall-type bookshelves. In the reading areas, movable low-level tables are frequently placed for flexible space uses, and seats for reading tend to put together with fixed bookshelves. Second, the central areas of the reading rooms are often shaped in the forms of pods, storytelling areas, sculptures, and unique furniture. Especially storytelling areas and pods play the cores of the reading rooms with the varying steps of floors and pictorial graphics on walls. Third, decoration elements in the reading rooms are designed with graphics, visual displays, and sculptural decorations. In my case studies, spatial elements such as reading nooks, attics, tunnels, and shelters are not often found in the floor-sitting reading rooms even though children like to have them. Since it is the advantage of floor-sitting reading rooms where children can take off shoes and act freely, we should look for the design of such spatial elements in the floor-sitting reading rooms.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.83-98
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• 2012

The starting point of this study is the concerning of simple behavioral pattern that whoever enters the inner space with taking off his shoes should go out from the position where he laid his shoes. The using of Ondol (floor heating room) and Maru (lifted wood floor) had changed the architectural space from chair-sitting to floor-sitting space, and it also made the behavior of taking off the shoes at the entrance of building and stepping on the lifted floor. This simple behavior has possibility to make lots of changes to the culture of architectural design. With this noticeable point, this paper is talking about the cultural feature of Korean traditional architecture, especially about the influence of tanking off and putting on shoes. The matter of shoes has changed diverse aspects of building and layout planning. It maximized the difference between front and rear part of building and characterized the lateral extension of Korean traditional house. The ritual space also had evolved from chair-sitting to floor-sitting space according to the type of ritual behavioral pattern. The change on the single building level had influenced on the layout planning of architectural complex. For examples, the parallel layout of ChangDeok-gung palace and the long sequential process to the main pavilion of Buddhist temple are the result of the matter of shoes. And NuGak(樓閣), the double-storied pavilion, on the axis of entering sequence's node is one of the unique planning elements that makes possible to go through the building without taking off the shoes and also makes upper level space for staying. In short, Korean traditional architecture that has the chair-sitting spatial origin of the East Asian cultural sphere has pursued new architectural issues and planning methods according to evolution to the floor-sitting culture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.415-427
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• 1993

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermoregulatory responses to postures under different environmental conditions and to obtain the basal information for standard clothing weight, indoor climates, and working condition. Two adult female (22.5yrs, 46kg) were participated in this study. The experimental conditions were divided into three groups ; 1) comfort($27{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, $60{\pm}10%$), 2) hot($34{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, $60{\pm}10%$), and 3) cold($21{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, $50{\pm}10%$) condition. The postures performed were as follows; standing, sitting on the chair, sitting on the floor, and supine on the floor. At each condition, subjective sensations, 12 points skin temperature, rectal temperature, total and local sweat rate, pulse rates, blood pressure, skin blood flow rate were measured. The results were as follows : 1. Rectal temperature was high significant among groups in order of supine, sitting on the floor, sitting on the chair, standing posture(p<0.01). 2. Skin temperature was high in part of contact with the surface of the floor or wall and the effect of posture was greater in peripheral temperature than torso temperature. Sitting on the chair and sitting on the floor posture showed higher peripheral temperature than standing and supine posture. And peripheral temperature was lower in supine posture than any other postures. 3. Total and local sweat rate were decreased in order of standing, sitting on the chair, sitting on the floor, supine posture. 4. Pulse rate and disastolic blood pressure were higher in standing posture than supine posture, and there was significant difference between two postures(p<0.001). 5. Blood flow rate of thigh was high in sitting on the chair and sitting on the floor posture and low in standing posture. Blood flow rate of leg was low in standing posture significantly(p<0.01). 6. In comfort and hot condition, temperature sensation and comfort sensation were higher in standing posture and lower in supine posture than any other postures. In cold condition, temperature sensation was lower and comfort sensation was higher in standing and supine posture than any other postures. And supine posture was appeared positive in hot condition and negative in cold condition. From this study, we confirmed the effects of posture on human thermoregulatory responses. Results indicate that even under same conditions and clothing weight, the insulation of clothing will be different to postures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.307-317
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to form a calculation formula of the mean skin temperature on the human body in a heated room by the use of floor heating system. Korean traditional floor heating system is a long way from being defunct. The floor heating systems based on hot water have been coming into wide use mainly in the apartment house. However, it is considered that the design process and evaluation method for the floor heating systems in the standpoint of human being are not established so far. In the floor heating systems, air temperature as well as floor temperature should be considered as physical factors which affect the sensation of human body. Furthermore, extremely few studies have been performed on the sitting with legs crossed posture sedentary which is the typical dwelling life style of residents from the ancient times in Korea, while a large number of studies on the influence of the floor heating systems on the human body in standing and sitting on a chair sedentary have been carried out. Especially, it is essential to elucidate how mean skin temperature on the human body is affected by thermal conduction in the contact area between the sitting with legs crossed posture sedentary human body and floor including thermal radiation due to the combination of air temperature and floor temperature, but the studies dealt with such issues have hardly been performed. Based on the above statements, the influence of the environment condition due to the combination of air temperature and floor temperature is discussed in the present investigation through theoretical of mean skin temperature on the human body in the floor heating systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.35-39
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• 2016

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the neck flexion angle according to posture while using a smartphone and the duration of smartphone usage. METHODS: The subjects in this study were 16 healthy young students in their 20s. The subjects wore a cervical range of motion instrument. They were instructed to use a smartphone while standing, sitting on a chair, and sitting on the floor. In all postures, they could use the smartphone and use their arms freely while keeping their back connected to the wall or the back of the chair. When sitting on the floor, they assumed a cross-legged position. The neck flexion angle was measured at zero, three, six, and nine minutes for each posture. RESULTS: Neck flexion is affected by the posture while using a smartphone (p<.05). Neck flexion in the standing position is larger than that in the sitting on the floor position. Neck flexion was affected by smartphone usage duration (p<.05). In general, as usage time increases, the neck flexion angle increases as well. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that using smartphone in the standing position and for a short period of time is a method to reduce the neck flexion angle.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to provide the thermal comfort range according to the residential style and clothing level at radiant floor heating space, and compare the annual energy consumption and energy cost for each condition. Lower neutral point temperature has been stood for floor sitting style than chair sitting style, which appears that the thermal sensation was affected by local heat transfer between floor surface and the human body. The result of research indicates that neutral point temperature was in inverse proportion with the clothing level. It is interpreted that the increasing of clothing level results decrement of heat loss from human body, and is available to achieve same thermal comfort at lower room temperature. It was analyzed that the floor sitting style is more economical residential style than the chair sitting style, because the energy consumption of the floor sitting style is saved by 6.0% in average to compare with that of the chair sitting style. It is analyzed that energy consumption has been decreased by 13.5% with the clothing level of 1.2 Clo than with that of 1.0 Clo, and decreased by 18.0% than with that of 0.8 Clo, which explains that the energy saving can be achieved with the variation in life habit to increase the clothing level.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.85-92
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• 1992

A floor system have played a major part in the living in Korean house. It is an essential element in the residential houses. Uufortunately, a design method of the floor heating system for the human thereat comfort has not established in Korea system. This paper aims to review the previous researches to find the issue for the futher study of comfort floor heating design. The following results were obtained: 1) Nevins et at conducted experiments on the effect of the comfortable of floor and air temperatures on the psychological responses by a large number of subjects. Its objective was to find the combined condition to obtain thermal comfort for sedentary posture.7here has never been researches regarding a sitting Person on the heated floor. 2) Some investigation in Japan on the effect of floor heating system on a sitting person on the floor have been conducted for these years, but they are net based on the human heat balance but on only psychological responses. 3) Hirayama et al developed an indication method of the effect of heat conduction on the sedentary person.4) There are few researches on the human thermal comfort compared whth indoor environmental researches on mechanical controls in Korea. Thus, the further study on the followings in needed the estimaiing of heat conduction between tile hunman body and a floor, developing an index expressed the combined effect of convection, radiation and conduction and its associated experiments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.149-158
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of age on the human thermoregulatory responses and to obtain the basic information of the Korean thermophysiological characteristics under the traditional Korean floor heating system-Ondol. The participants consisted of 10 elderly women, 4 elderly men(over 65 years), 10 young women and 5 young men(in twenties). They were exposed to temperature-controlled Ondol room(20$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$, 50$\pm$5%R.H., floor surface temperature: 30$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$) for 60 minutes and wore the same experimental clothing. The postures were performed sitting and supine on the floor. In each pose, rectal temperature, skin.temperature of 10 areas, mean skin temperature, clothing microclimate, body fat were measured. The results were as follows; 1. The rectal temperature gradually decreased and mean skin temperature gradually increased in young and old groups in both supine and sitting pose on heated Ondol floor for 60 minutes. 2. Rectal temperature was different in each pose. The rectal temperature decreased 0.1$^{\circ}C$ in both groups under the condition of sitting and decreased 0.2'c in elderly group under the condition of supine. In supine pose, elderly group was more declined than young group. Mean skin temperature increased 0.5$^{\circ}C$ in both poses, both groups.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.314-320
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• 2019

Background: Sitting posture may be related to risk factors, including inadequate weight-bearing support, particularly when maintained for long periods. Considering that body weight is loaded in a closed support system composed of the seat, backrest, floor and working surface, the aims of the present study were to describe the development of an ergonomic sitting workstation to continuously record weight-bearing at the seat, chair, backrest, work surface, and floor and to test its measurement properties: reproducibility, criterion-related validity, and sensitivity. Methods: Rigid bodies (1 to 30 kg) and participant weights were recorded to evaluate the workstation measurement properties. Results: Rigid body tests showed variation values less than 0.050 kg on reproducibility test and errors below 5% of measured value on criterion validity tests. Participant tests showed no statistically significant differences between repeated measures ($p{\geq}0.40$), errors were less than 2% of participant weights an sensitivity presented statistically significant changes (p = 0.007). Conclusion: The sitting workstation proposed showed to be reliable, valid and sensitive for use in future ergonomic studies to evaluate the sitting posture.