• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.22 no.2 s.80
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• pp.59-66
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• 2007

As the need of handling heavy materials increases, various cranes are used in industries. However, the effectiveness of crane also entails industrial accidents such as falling, constriction etc. In fact, the number of fatal accidents caused by crane is still high in Korea. To find out the causes of the accidents in terms of human error, we developed a man-machine system model that consists of two axes; human information processing and crane life cycle. In the human information processing dimension, we simplified it as five functions; sensing and perception, decision making and memory, response etc. In the crane life cycle dimension, we divided it into nine phases; design, production, operation etc. For the 152 fatal accident records during 1999-2006 years, we classified them into 45 cells made by two axes. Then we identified the preceding causes of the classified crane accident based on performance shaping factors. As the results of statistical analysis, the overall trend of crane fatal accidents was described. For the cause analysis, wrong decision making in work plan phase shows the highest frequency. Next, the poor information input in crane operation followed in accident frequency. In ergonomics view, the problems of interface design in displays and controls made 11.8% of fatal accidents. Following the analysis, several ergonomic design guidelines to prevent crane accidents were suggested.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.460-471
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• 2009

This study is the research on sensitivity in the web. The main purposes of the study are to present the objective criteria on sensitivity of web users and to help embodiment of successful design. The study has overall two main subjects, which are the contents and results. They are as follows. First, the study is going to develop sensibility factors and the sensitivity structure model. Second, based on the study above, the further stage focuses on the correlation between sensibility and figurative factors in the web design. By understanding of the correlation between sensitivity and figurative factors, the study assist designer in the embodiment of successful sensitivity design. And it shows one of the various approaches to sensitivity. In the end, it can be considered as a process to make an objective criteria on sensitivity design at the same time expected to play a role providing designers with rational guideline on work and evaluation and helping the presentation of successful sensitivity design.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2016

Purpose: Physical therapists are likely to be exposed to work-related musculoskeletal pain due to excessive repetitive tasks. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life of physical therapists. Methods: A self-reported questionnaires was sent to 200 physical therapists at in Seoul and Kyoungido. The questionnaires was returned by 170 physical therapists. The questionnaire had included 4 items that coveringed demographic information, areas of musculoskeletal problems, pain rating scale, and WHOQOL-BREF. The analysis was completed using descriptive statistics, and differences between pain and demographic variables were identified using the chi-square test. The relationship between work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life was analyzed by t-test and Pearson's correlation. Results: The overall prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain was 76.8%. The most affected pain sites included the low back (48.8%), shoulder (45.,2%), hand and wrist (43.5%), and neck (33.3%). Pain ratings of subjects with pain was were moderate. There was a A significant difference for the subdomains of quality of life was observed between the subjects with musculoskeletal pain and those without pain. Weak negative correlations (r=-0.28) were observed between pain rating scale and QOL. Conclusion: These findings show that physical therapists appear to be at a higher risk for work-related musculoskeletal pain and physical domain of QOL. Therefore, Ffurther research is needed to investigate examine the effect of risk factors and ergonomics as physical load, general health status on prevalence of musculoskeletal pain.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2020

Specialists have developed pillows that take into account sleep science and ergonomics, such as comfort for lying on your side. This pillow is made of natural latex material, and improved resilience after a certain period of time. A new idea was added to the pillow, which was naturally used for sleep, but could it add additional features for health care. Here, health care targets sleep apnea, which is known to be associated with serious illness. The purpose of this paper is to design a comprehensive service that uses a pressure sensor and a voice sensor to obtain information and to identify abnormal symptoms related to diseases from this information and to refer them to a specialist. It also covers the basic design and implementation to confirm the success of this system. Based on this design, the information obtained will be converted into a DB, and a server system for consultation with a specialist will be completed to upgrade the role of assistive health devices for sleep apnea.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.293-305
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• 2016

Objective: This study aims to measure cognitive load levels by analyzing the EEG of Koreans and foreigners, when they read a Korean text with care selected by level from the grammar and vocabulary aspects, and compare the cognitive load levels through quantitative values. The study results can be utilized as basic data for more scientific approach, when Korean texts or books are developed, and an evaluation method is built, when the foreigners encounter them for learning or an assignment. Background: Based on 2014, the number of the foreign students studying in Korea was 84,801, and they increase annually. Most of them are from Asian region, and they come to Korea to enter a university or a graduate school in Korea. Because those foreign students aim to learn within Universities in Korea, they receive Korean education from their preparation for study in Korea. To enter a university in Korea, they must acquire grade 4 or higher level in the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), or they need to complete a certain educational program at each university's affiliated language institution. In such a program, the learners of the Korean language receive Korean education based on texts, except speaking domain, and the comprehension of texts can determine their academic achievements in studying after they enter their desired schools (Jeon, 2004). However, many foreigners, who finish a language course for the short-term, and need to start university study, cannot properly catch up with university classes requiring expertise with the vocabulary and grammar levels learned during the language course. Therefore, reading education, centered on a strategy to understand university textbooks regarded as top level reading texts to the foreigners, is necessary (Kim and Shin, 2015). This study carried out an experiment from a perspective that quantitative data on the readers of the main player of reading education and teaching materials need to be secured to back up the need for reading education for university study learners, and scientifically approach educational design. Namely, this study grasped the difficulty level of reading through the measurement of cognitive loads indicated in the reading activity of each text by dividing the difficulty of a teaching material (book) into eight levels, and the main player of reading into Koreans and foreigners. Method: To identify cognitive loads indicated upon reading Korean texts with care by Koreans and foreigners, this study recruited 16 participants (eight Koreans and eight foreigners). The foreigners were limited to the language course students studying the intermediate level Korean course at university-affiliated language institutions within Seoul Metropolitan Area. To identify cognitive load, as they read a text by level selected from the Korean books (difficulty: eight levels) published by King Sejong Institute (Sejonghakdang.org), the EEG sensor was attached to the frontal love (Fz) and occipital lobe (Oz). After the experiment, this study carried out a questionnaire survey to measure subjective evaluation, and identified the comprehension and difficulty on grammar and words. To find out the effects on schema that may affect text comprehension, this study controlled the Korean texts, and measured EEG and subjective satisfaction. Results: To identify brain's cognitive load, beta band was extracted. As a result, interactions (Fz: p =0.48; Oz: p =0.00) were revealed according to Koreans and foreigners, and difficulty of the text. The cognitive loads of Koreans, the readers whose mother tongue is Korean, were lower in reading Korean texts than those of the foreigners, and the foreigners' cognitive loads became higher gradually according to the difficulty of the texts. From the text four, which is intermediate level in difficulty, remarkable differences started to appear in comparison of the Koreans and foreigners in the beginner's level text. In the subjective evaluation, interactions were revealed according to the Koreans and foreigners and text difficulty (p =0.00), and satisfaction was lower, as the difficulty of the text became higher. Conclusion: When there was background knowledge in reading, namely schema was formed, the comprehension and satisfaction of the texts were higher, although higher levels of vocabulary and grammar were included in the texts than those of the readers. In the case of a text in which the difficulty of grammar was felt high in the subjective evaluation, foreigners' cognitive loads were also high, which shows the result of the loads' going up higher in proportion to the increase of difficulty. This means that the grammar factor functions as a stress factor to the foreigners' reading comprehension. Application: This study quantitatively evaluated the cognitive loads of Koreans and foreigners through EEG, based on readers and the text difficulty, when they read Korean texts. The results of this study can be used for making Korean teaching materials or Korean education content and topic selection for foreigners. If research scope is expanded to reading process using an eye-tracker, the reading education program and evaluation method for foreigners can be developed on the basis of quantitative values.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.266-277
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• 2003

In order to investigate the working conditions related to cumulative trauma disorder(CTD) and symptoms of CTD, a survey was conducted covering 305 employees who were working in three furniture manufacturing companies in Kyungin area. Data were collected by using questionnaire of the Personal Ergonomics Profiles. The results were as follows : 1. The mean score of working conditions related to CTD was 0.95. The mean score of working conditions for labor workers were significantly higher than that of clerical workers. Among 4 factors of working conditions, the higher score were shown in the working and environment factors with 1.22 and 1.18, respectively. 2. Symptom prevalence rate of CTD for workers was $81.0\%\;{;}\;82.9\%$ for labor workers and $77.0\%$ for clerical workers. As for symptom of CTD in body part, higher rate were shown in lower back with $50.2\%$, shoulder and neck with $38.4\%\;and\;36.4\%$ respectively. 3. The score of symptom severity of CTD were 3.45. Significant difference was shown in symptom severity of forearm and wrist/hand part between labor and clerical workers. As for symptom severity of CTD in body part the higher score were shown in shoulder, ankle/foot, forearm. lower leg and elbow. and the highest score for labor workers were shoulder and ankle/foot and for clerical workers was lower back. 4. As a whole, symptom of CTD for workers positively correlated to working conditions. 5. Symptom of CTD for workers seemed to be significantly influenced by working factor, sex, working duration and working area factor.

• Archives of design research
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• v.20 no.1 s.69
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• pp.133-142
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• 2007

Unlike face-to-face communication, text-based communication by digital media has limitations that non-verbal elements are eliminated and social presence decrease. To overcome this problem, people try to find solutions which visualize emotion and situation by using emoticons, icons, computer language and so on. As most SMS users experience the failure of using emotions on the mobile phone, they need to make up for this point. In this study, we conducted research on the recent mobile fonts situations and surveyed users' perception on SMS fonts as to suggest solutions of expressing and visualizing emotions on the mobile phone, a representative media of personal communication. As a solution of reducing the failure, we conducted a survey on users' perception about fonts and the capability of the expressing emotions by fonts. The survey found that mobile fonts can be used as a method to express human emotion. As a finding, the shape of the font can be used as a method to visualize the emotion through text messaging. In future studies, such a method can be applied to variety of different personal media with the communication method based on text. Those studies can propose different usage for fonts in communication.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2023

Background: In modern society, the use of computers accounts for a large proportion of our daily lives. Although substantial research is being actively conducted on musculoskeletal diseases resulting from computer use, there has been a recent surge in interest in improving the working environment for prevention. Objects: This study aimed to examine the effects of posture correction feedback (PCF) on changes in neck posture and muscle activation during computer typing. Methods: The participants performed a computer typing task in two sessions, each lasting 16 minutes. The participant's dominant side was photographed and analyzed using ImageJ software to verify neck posture. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to confirm the participant's cervical erector spinae (CES) and upper trapezius muscle activities. The EMG signal was analyzed using the percentage of reference voluntary contraction and amplitude probability distribution function (APDF). In the second session, visual and auditory feedback for posture correction was provided if the neck was flexed by more than 15° in the initial position during computer typing. A 20-minute rest period was provided between the two sessions. Results: The neck angle (p = 0.014), CES muscle activity (p = 0.008), and APDF (p = 0.015) showed significant differences depending on the presence of the PCF. Furthermore, significant differences were observed regarding the CES muscle activity (p = 0.001) and APDF (p = 0.002) over time. Conclusion: Our study showed that the feedback system can correct poor posture and reduces unnecessary muscle activation during computer work. The improved neck posture and reduced CES muscle activity observed in this study suggest that neck pain can be prevented. Based on these results, we suggest that the PCF system can be used to prevent neck pain.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.764-770
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• 2009

This study was conducted to analyze the wearing condition on gloves for pilots and to suggest the developments for pilot gloves design. This survey was performed with 99 pilots and the questionnaires included items about discomfort, materials and problems when wearing pilot gloves. The respondents felt uncomfortable on the finger tip, the hollow area of the hand and the end of thumb when they move their hands with the gloves. They replied that the finger length, palm length, and circumference of the fingers did not match well. Also they complained there was severe abrasion in the tip of the thumb, finger tips and the middle of the palm of the gloves. The result of these analyses supports the following suggestions. It is necessary to improve durability by applying the additional materials to the severely worn parts. Punching on the glove materials could improve sweat rate and ventilation, and careful washing should be accompanied to prevent the occurrence of linters and transformation after laundering. And it is needed to prepare an accurate and more diversified size system and to design the gloves fitted to the individual hands. With these in mind, it is required to propose solutions for pilot gloves with reference to the survey results in order to design appropriate pilot gloves in terms of movement, size and material. It was concluded that an analysis of the wearing condition and developments are useful for ergonomics pilot gloves design.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.307-314
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• 2013

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms relating to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and investigate the risk factors among researchers at university laboratories. Methods: 209 researchers were included in this study, drawn from 27 laboratories at three universities in Korea. Checklists for MSD symptoms and risk factor assessment were utilized. Results: The symptoms checklist showed reliable results with Cohen's Kappa 0.33-0.56, percent agreement 81.0-96.8%, and correlation coefficient 0.41-0.63. The overall prevalence of MSD symptoms was 68.9%, while the prevalence in specific parts of body were as follows: shoulders (47.6%), lower back (46.9%), neck (46.9%), knees (25.4%), wrists (20.1%), elbows (13.6%). The symptom prevalence among women was higher than among men (OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.37-5.18). Daily exposure time was observed to be a significant risk factor for developing MSD symptoms (OR 2.14-6.07). Conclusions: This study suggested that repetitive pipetting and static work posture are the most significant risk factors for MSD symptoms among laboratory researchers.