• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.450-457
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• 2022

The construction industry is demanding, dynamic, and complex making it difficult for workers to recognize hazards. The nature of construction tasks exposes workers to several critical risk factors, such as a high rate of exertion and fatigue. Recent studies suggest that fatigue may impact hazard recognition in the construction industry. However, most studies rely on subjective measures when assessing the relationship between physical fatigue and hazard recognition, limiting such studies' efficacy. Thus, this study examined the relationship between physical fatigue and hazard recognition using a controlled experiment. Worker fatigue levels were captured using physiological data and a subjective exertion scale. The findings confirmed that physical exertion plays a significant role in hazard recognition skills (p < 0.05). This research contributes to theory and practice by providing a process for objectively assessing the influence of physical fatigue on worker safety and providing construction professionals with some critical insight needed to improve workplace safety.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of art therapy to control fatigue in cancer patients during course of radiotherapy and its impact on quality of life (QoL). Materials and Methods: Fifty cancer patients receiving radiotherapy received weekly art therapy sessions using famous painting appreciation. Fatigue and QoL were assessed using the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) Scale and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) at baseline before starting radiotherapy, every week for 4 weeks during radiotherapy, and at the end of radiotherapy. Mean changes of scores over time were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. Results: Of the 50 patients, 34 (68%) participated in 4 sessions of art therapy. Generalized linear mixed models testing for the effect of time on mean score changes showed no significant changes in scores from baseline for the BFI and FACIT-F. The mean BFI score and FACIT-F total score changed from 3.1 to 2.7 and from 110.7 to 109.2, respectively. Art therapy based on the appreciation of famous paintings led to increases in self-esteem by increasing self-realization and forming social relationships. Conclusion: Fatigue and QoL in cancer patients with art therapy do not deteriorate during a period of radiotherapy. Despite the single-arm small number of participants and pilot design, this study provides a strong initial demonstration that art therapy of appreciation for famous painting is worthy of further study for fatigue and QoL improvement. Further, it can play an important role in routine practice in cancer patients during radiotherapy.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.257-264
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• 2020

Objective: To investigate test-retest reliability and responsiveness of Equivital Lifemonitor and photoplethysmography based wristwatch tools in assessing physiological parameters during a simulated fatigue task. Methods: Ten university students (Mean age, 30.6 ± 1.7 years) participated in this pilot study. Participants were asked to perform a 30-minute of a simulated fatigue task in an experimental setup in a lab. The physiological parameters (e.g., heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, electrodermal activity, and skin temperature) were measured at baseline and immediately after the fatigue task. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) was used to evaluate the test-retest reliability of each tool in assessing physiological measures. In addition, the responsiveness of each tool to measure changes from baseline to posttest was calculated using a standardized response mean. Results: The Equivital Lifemonitor has shown good to excellent test-retest reliability for the assessment of heart rate (ICC, 0.97), heart rate variability (ICC, 0.86), respiratory rate (ICC, 0.77), and local skin temperature (ICC, 0.76). However, photoplethysmography based wristwatch showed moderate to good test-retest reliability for the assessment of heart rate (ICC, 0.71), heart rate variability (ICC, 0.73), electrodermal activity (ICC, 0.80), and skin temperature (ICC, 0.72). A large standardized response mean (>0.8) indicates that both tools can capture the changes in heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and electrodermal activity after a 30-minute of fatigue task. Conclusions: The Equivital Lifemonitor and photoplethysmography based wristwatch devices are reliable in measuring physiological parameters after the fatigue task. Additionally, both devices can capture the fatigue response after a simulated construction task. Future field studies with a larger sample should investigate the sensitivity and validity of these tools in measuring physiological parameters for fatigue assessment at construction sites.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2019

There are no published data on Gyeongokgo (GOK) safety or efficacy despite being commonly use. The Gyeongokgo (GOK) is commonly used in traditional Korean medicine to promote a health qi and blood, but their objective data was not sufficient in clinical field. To investigate the safety and efficacy of GOK with hematologic and serologic testing and the change of the quality of life in healthy individuals. Randomized, subject-assessor-blind, placebo-controlled, single-center pilot study Participants and Interventions 29 healthy volunteer subjects were randomly placed into the GOK group (n = 20) or placebo control group (n = 9) and instructed to take one treatment packet (GOK or placebo) twice daily for 4 weeks. Subjects were assessed using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and underwent hematologic and serologic tests and body composition analysis. The FSS total score (p = 0.093) and SF-36 general health index (p = 0.002) were improved following treatment in the GOK group. Post-treatment thyroid-stimulating hormone levels were increased in the GOK group compared with pre-treatment levels (p = 0.0042). C-reactive protein levels decreased (p = 0.0256) in the GOK group compared with that the placebo group. In time-series tests, GOK did not affect post-prandial serum triglycerides, glucose, insulin, or C-peptide levels. Notably, elevations in serum fasting triglycerides at 2- (p = 0.0333) and 4-hours (p = 0.0414) post-prandial were lower than those in the placebo group. GOK reduced fatigue levels and did not significantly affect laboratory test results performed to measure safety, serum glucose, and lipid profiles. Post-meal triglyceride levels were effectively reduced with treatment.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.1401-1410
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• 1996

This paper present a method to predict fatigue life of a construction equipment performing static stress analysis and dynamic stress analysis using the computer simulation for proto and pilot type model. The parameter of design variable is used for finite elemt modeling of a excavator. Desinger can design reliable product and shorten lead time by using "Simulation System for Front Attachment of Excavator" develped in this study.his study.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.57-70
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• 2002

Back pain is painful for people at a lower lumber(L4/L5 or L5/S1). It is experienced as a most frequent disaster 70％ of workers have suffered from back-pain. Especially, the occurrence rate of back pain for nurses is very high. Therefore, this study investigates female nurses who worked as a part of a medical cost management team, which mainly deal with the medical insurance in a general hospital at Seoul area. These nurses had different job tasks, which used computers for 50％ of their time, so it can be treated as VDT workers. As a first step of this project, a muscle fatigue was measured for these special VDT workers. First, survey for nurses was conducted to figure out what is a real problem of them. Second, to evaluate an experimental data, a medical cost management team was chosen for subjects. Areas of measurement were 3 places that were the trapezius (TR), the medial deltoid (MD), and the erector spine muscle (ES: L4/L5). These areas are most frequently used, so they were chosen for this study. Measurements were taken before work and after work. From these measurements, it was revealed that a fatigue really comes from their main VDT task excluding natural fatigue after work, so their work environment need to be corrected.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2021

Objective: Insomnia is a very common symptom of cancer and has a substantial effect on the patients' quality of life. This study aimed to identify the effects of foot reflexology on insomnia in cancer patients. Methods: The study employed a before-after test design on a single group of 13 cancer patients with insomnia, selected by convenience sampling in Daegu. The foot reflexology treatment comprised 30-min sessions twice a week over four weeks. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were measured at the baseline, at 2 and 4 weeks, and after 4 weeks post treatment completion. Brief Fatigue Inventory-Korean (BFI-K), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G), and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) were measured at baseline, post-treatment, and 4 weeks after completing treatments. Results: Thirteen patients (mean age 44.77 ± 6.70 years), with thyroid, breast or cervical cancer, were included in the study. Post-treatment, PSQI (from 12.33 ± 3.17 to 8.54 ± 3.43, p<0.001), ISI (from 20.33 ± 3.88 to 13.38 ± 4.23, p<0.001), FACT-G (from 49.6 ± 13.27 to 61.35 ± 14.45, p<0.001), and BFI (from 6.46 ± 0.91 to 5.00 ± 2.02, p<0.001) scores improved significantly over those at the baseline. Conclusion: Foot reflexology can be a good alternative treatment to improve insomnia, fatigue, and quality of life in cancer patients

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.293-305
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a questionnaire for the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) designed based on the systematic exertion intolerance disorder (SEID) criteria, and to validate the reliability of the questionnaire. Methods: A literature search on questionnaires for CFS diagnosis was conducted to develop a SEID questionnaire (SEID-Q27), followed by a pilot survey to identify the reliability of the questionnaire. Adults (Daejeon university personnel) with a Chalder fatigue scale (CFQ) score ≥15 were invited for the survey. We commenced the survey in November 2019 with a two weeks of interval for the test and retest method. The reliability of the questionnaire was investigated in three angles: 1. Cronbach's α, 2. correlations (r) of the questions, numerical rating scale (NRS), and visual analog scale (VAS), and 3. kappa (k) analysis. Results: Among the total 275 adults registered, 55 (20%) participants with a CFQ score ≥15 were invited, and 31 (11%) [15 male, 16 female] completed the questionnaire. The total Cronbach's α was 0.944 for the test and 0.949 for the retest. The reliability (r) of questions by CFQ score (≥15, ≥18, ≥20) ranged from 0.533-0.928 (p <0.05), and the r score of the NRS and VAS were the highest in CFQ scores ≥20, at 0.933 (p<0.001). The agreement rate of the SEID-Q27 between the test and retest was 87% (kappa k=0.743). Conclusions: The SEID-Q27 seems to be reliable. Further studies are needed to measure the validity of the tool and the cutoff point.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.535-543
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• 2017

Objective: This study was designed to identify factors affecting pilots' +Gz tolerance recovery from +Gz induced exhaustion. Background: +Gz tolerance of pilots has been considered as a crucial factor to fly the modern high performance fighter aircrafts. However, the factors affecting pilots' G-tolerance recovery from +Gz induced exhaustion have not been examined in the acceleration research community. Method: A centrifuge profile consisting of a high +Gz run for pilot's exhaustion and a low +Gz run for pilot's recovery and another high +Gz runs for pilot's second exhaustion was designed. The subjects' +Gz tolerance recovery ratio was measured by ratio of second high +Gz run time to the first high +Gz run time. The subjects' +Gz tolerance recovery rate was measured by dividing the subjects' +Gz tolerance recovery ratio by the low +Gz run time. The subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate was analyzed with respect to the subjects' personal factors including subjects' anthropometric and physiologic characteristics, flight time, flying aircraft type and so on. Results: The subjects' previous three-month flight hours (r=-0.336, p=0.039), six-month flight hours (r=-0.403, p=0.012) and one-year flight hours (r=-0.329, p= 0.044) correlated with the subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate. Conclusion: The subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate is clearly related to the subjects' previous flight hours. However, the subjects' anthropometric and physiologic characteristics do not show any statistically significant correlation with the subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate. Application: This research provides a safety critical insight to aviation community by identifying the factors to affect the gravity-induced loss of consciousness (GLOC) of pilots.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.9-18
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• 2012

PURPOSES : This study evaluated the field applicability and laboratory performance of warm-mix asphalt (WMA) as an alternative technology in asphalt pavement. METHODS : The pilot road using two different types of WMA mixture and one HMA mixture was constructed in Waegwan-Seokjeok road construction site and the mixtures were sampled at the asphalt plant for laboratory testings. The field applicability was assessed in environmental aspects, such as $CO_2$ emission, and in aspects of constructibility using the existing equipment and procedure, i.e., thickness and density measurement. The laboratory testings included the moisture susceptibility test by AASHTO T283, dynamic modulus test, triaxial repeated load permanent deformation test, and the fatigue test. RESULTS : The temperatures for production and compaction of WMA were $20{\sim}30^{\circ}C$ lower than those for HMA and therefore, the noxious gas emission were significantly reduced. The field density of WMA pavements was similar or better than that of HMA pavement. From the laboratory testings, it was found that WMA mixtures exhibit comparable performance to HMA mixture in moisture susceptibility, permanent deformation, and fatigue performance. CONCLUSIONS : With these results, it would be concluded that WMA could replace the existing HMA technology without any significant issue. To support this conclusion, it is necessary to track the long-term performance of WMA in pilot road.