• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 2007

This paper sought to investigate pupil size variability, pupil size parameters in terms of time domain and frequency domain, the autonomic activity change induced by posture change, degree of sleepiness and cognitive task (math task). With a specially designed pupil image acquisition system in the dark room, these three kinds of experiments were performed to induce a dominant state of sympathetic or parasympathetic activation. Electrocardiogram and pupil size were measured in all the experiments. Based on three experiments, we calculated heart rate variability. In the pupil size analysis, we calculated the mean and standard deviation of pupil size (in time domain), and proposed several frequency bands that exhibit different autonomic activation between different sessions. The results indicate that in terms of heart rate variability, posture change exhibited significant differences but not between sleepiness level, or between cognitive task. Pupil sizes differed only during the postures. And we found some frequency bands that correlated with autonomic activation in each experiment. While heart rate variability reflects posture change that need cardiac control, pupil size variability reflects not only posture induced autonomic activation but sleepiness and cognitive load, which is processed in the brain, in time and frequency domain parameter.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the activity of trunk muscles according to width of the foot and posture of the arm during sit to stand (STS). METHODS: Thirty subjects were recruited and examined for variation in muscle activity of the erector spine, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and external oblique during different STS conditions; namely, the cross arm basic sit to stand (CBSTS), overhead basic sit to stand (OBSTS), cross arm wide sit to stand (CWSTS), and overhead wide sit to stand (OWSTS). Repeated measures ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used for analysis. RESULTS: Erector spinae muscle activity showed a significant increase in the OBSTS condition (p<.05) and external oblique muscle activity showed a significant increase in the OWSTS condition ((p<.05). There was no significant difference in the activity of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius under any conditions (p>.05). CONCLUSION: During evaluation of the performance of the STS, the CWSTS condition will be useful to decrease the muscle activity of the erector spinae and the OWSTS condition will be useful to increase the muscle activity of the external oblique. The results of this study can be used as an index to find a suitable exercise method for subjects who have back pain or to strengthen the abdomen.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.409-418
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• 2011

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the child-care teachers' job in relation to physical work. Background: Child-care teacher is directly related to the quality of child care. And their physical activity is higher than general education teachers because the proportion of day care is high. But analyzes of child-care teachers' job burdens and the work environment associated with physical activity is not well established. Method: To conduct this study, the child-care teachers' job was classified into 18 physical works. After classification, posture was evaluated by ergonomic posture evaluation schemes of OWAS, RULA, REBA and evaluated for each physical part. Next, musculoskeletal subjective symptoms were analyzed. Results: The results showed the following: The highest assessment on the posture evaluation was "helping children to ride a school bus", "feeding: meal/snack", "brushing children's teeth" and "arrangement of nap-stuff". The rank of high-risk assessment on the neck/trunk/leg part was arranged by: "feeding: meal/snack", "helping children to ride a school bus", "making nap", "arrangement nap-stuff" and "brushing children's teeth". The rank of high-risk assessment on the upper limbs part was arranged by: "helping children to ride a school bus", "the bust - group activity", "meal/snack time - preparing, feeding, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", "brushing children's teeth", and "using the toilet". According to the results of each musculoskeletal subjective symptom, teachers ordered the pain area as follows: waist, shoulder, leg/feet, and neck, and they showed more pain on trunk than the upper limbs. Conclusion: To sum up the results from ergonomic posture evaluation and a subjective symptom, the following are high working pressures: "feeding: meal/snack", "the bust - group activity", "making nap", "brushing children's teeth" with deep bending and waist twisting, "helping children to ride a school bus", "brushing children's teeth" with lifting shoulder; "meal/snack time - preparing, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", and "using the toilet" with moving or an up-down position in their job. Application: The results of this study might be information for improvement of the child-care teachers' job environment.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2012

Purpose : This study's purpose is consideration about change of the hand grip strength according to different posture and shoulder flexion angle. The shoulder joint permits the greatest mobility and carries out the important function of stabilization for hand use. Hand grip activity is important to evaluate while assessing loads of shoulder in hand mobilities. Methods : Thirty(15 male, 15 female) college students with unknown shoulder dysfunction participated subject in five different positions of elbow extension with sitting and standing posture, different positions is followed : (1) shoulder $0^{\circ}$ flexion (2) shoulder $45^{\circ}$ flexion (3) shoulder $90^{\circ}$ flexion (4) shoulder $135^{\circ}$ flexion (5) shoulder $180^{\circ}$ flexion. Results : On the average, in the hand grip strength, the standing posture is higher than sitting posture. Sitting posture showed a most high level at the man's $0^{\circ}$ and woman's $135^{\circ}$. And standing posture showed a most high level at the man's $135^{\circ}$ and woman's $90^{\circ}$. Conclusion : The paired t-test was used to determine the different in grip strength between sitting and standing posture by shoulder angle change. There was no significant difference between the five position by sitting and standing posture. In man, correlation analysis revealed significant connection for all five position by sitting and standing posture. And in woman, correlation analysis revealed connection for all five position by sitting and standing posture.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.213-220
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• 2023

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of each lower trapezius muscle exercise performed according to the abduction position (Y type - shoulder joint abduction 145 °, T type - shoulder joint abduction 90 °, and MPC type - shoulder joint 45 ° abduction) of the shoulder joint on the muscle activity of the round shoulder and lower trapezius muscle. Methods : This study was conducted on 31 adult men and women. Through random assignment, they were assigned to the Y group, T group, and MPC group. A 4-week intervention was performed for each group of 31 subjects who participated in the experiment, and shoulder height and lower trapezius muscle activity were measured before and after the intervention. Shoulder height measurement is a test to measure rounded shoulder posture. When the value is low, it means that rounded shoulder posture is improved. The muscle activity of the lower trapezius muscle was measured using the %MVIC method, and when the value is high, it means that the lower trapezius muscle is active. All measured data were verified using dependent t-tests for before and after comparisons and one-way analysis of variance for comparisons between groups. Results : The results of this study showed a significant decrease after intervention only in shoulder height. Muscle activity of the lower trapezius muscle decreased after intervention, but did not show a significant difference. Both variables showed no significant differences between groups. Conclusion : The results of this study show that three lower trapezius muscle exercises were performed on subjects in rounded shoulder posture. All three groups showed a significant decrease in the shoulder height value, a method of measuring rounded shoulder posture, and no significant differences between groups could be confirmed. Therefore, all three exercises can be considered effective in reducing shoulder posture.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.412-422
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• 2009

This study was conducted to assess exposure to musculoskeletal disorder(MSD) risk factors in hospital personnel who performed non-routinized work tasks. A tool ("PATH-KOSHA" version) was newly revised from PATH(Posture, Activity, Tools and Handling) method and uploaded into a personal digital assistant(PDA). The version was used, on a basis of direct-observation, to collect PATH data at the 2 hospital settings in different regions. Job analysis was performed to get various information (e.g., work and rest time, task type) as well. The data collected were visually checked for data cleaning and stored for future data analysis. A total of 1,992 PATH observations were made for 37 hospital workers. Exposure levels varied across 18 items of the MSD risk factors. The highest percent time spent on non-neutral postures was 53% for wrist deviation, followed by 47%(pinch grip), 35%(trunk posture), 23%(neck posture), and 20%(shoulder/arm posture). The highest percent time spent among hand activity level(HAL) variables was 55% for HAL-cat2 (HAL: 3.3 - <6.7). The percent time of items with respect to both loads with more than 5kg and contact stress was less than 4%. Vibration was not exposed in the study workers. Different aspects were discussed for findings. The study results showed that wrist deviation was highest in percent time spent on awkward posture while HAL-cat2 was highest in hand repetition. The study suggests that distal upper extremity posture and HAL should be primarily addressed and controlled in non-routinized work including the hospital settings.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.22 no.52
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• pp.211-219
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• 1999

Sleeping is important activity in bedroom and it takes one third of our lifetime. The body pressure distribution on bed has been considered as one of the most important factors affecting sleeping comfort. The measurement contact pressure has been applied to design seat, mattress, shoes, etc., for prevention of pressure sores and improvement of products. This paper discusses the recognizing rule of sleeping posture using contact pressure. Subjects' ages are ranged from twenties to fifties. They include 29 males and 35 females. Body pressure distribution is measured in the state of stable bed when subject lies on his/her back, on his/her side and on his/her face. We made recognizing rules of sleeping posture through statistical analysis; ANOVA and regression analysis, qualitative analysis.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.11-19
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the activity of the transverse abdominal muscle resulting from changed posture by measuring the thickness of the transverse abdominal muscle in a supine posture, a slouched sitting posture, and an erect sitting posture. The subjects of the study were 28 patients with cerebral palsy. All their transverse abdominal muscles at the end of inhalation were measured at supine, slouched sitting (S sitting) and erect sitting (E sitting) postures by using ultrasonography, and then their dynamic sitting balance was measured at S sitting and E sitting postures by using BioRescue. For the statistical analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to compare the differences among each the postures. The results were as follows. The thickness of the transverse abdominal muscle when comparing the supine posture and the S sitting posture showed no statistically significant difference. But the E sitting posture showed a statistically significant difference as compared with the others. In addition, the dynamic sitting balance in comparing the S sitting and E sitting postures showed a significant difference. In conclusion, the E sitting posture has a more positive effect on postural control and balance than generally taking the S sitting posture, for the sitting posture of a patient with cerebral palsy. It is suggested that patients with cerebral palsy mainly experiencing a sedentary life or being in a wheelchair should be seated in the E sitting posture during their daily life, and it may be necessary to continue to monitor and manage the proper E sitting posture.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.62-70
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• 2018

Background: Sitting posture influences movements of scapulothoracic and glenohumeral joints and changes the shoulder muscle activities. The development and maintenance of correct sitting posture is important for the fundamental treatment of shoulder pain during rehabilitation. Objects: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the sitting postures and the shoulder movements on shoulder muscle activities for both male and female. Methods: Twenty-eight subjects without shoulder-related diseases participated in this experiment. The subjects had randomly adopted three different sitting postures (upright posture, preferred posture, maximum slouched posture) and shoulder flexion angles in scapular plane ($30^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $120^{\circ}$). Surface electrodes were collected from upper trapezius (UT), anterior deltoid (AD), and posterior deltoid (PD) and the active shoulder range of motion was measured in each sitting posture and shoulder flexion angle. Results: The active range of motions of the shoulder external rotation and the flexion in the scapular plane decreased from the upright posture to the maximum slouched posture (p<.05, mixed-effect linear regression with random intercept, Tukey post-hoc analysis). All muscles showed the highest EMG activities at $120^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion with the maximum slouched posture and did not show the gender differences. Conclusion: Increased shoulder muscle activities may become the potential risk factor for the shoulder impairment and pain if people continuously maintain the maximum slouched posture. Therefore, an upright position is necessary during shoulder exercises, as well as in activities of daily living, including motions involving lifting the arms.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2024

Forward head posture (FHP) is a representative postural deformation problem in people today, causing various physical and mental problems, but the effect of FHP on discomfort or distraction during rest is not well known. Accordingly, this study aims to demonstrate the effect of FHP on these brain functions by analyzing brain wave signals at rest. Thirty-three heavy users of computers participated in this study, and all of them exhibited functional FHP when using computers. All participants performed using both normal posture and FHP, and their brain waves were measured at rest while maintaining each posture for five minutes without stimulation. Brain wave signals were acquired using EEG with 32 channels, and through frequency analysis, changes in delta and beta waves, known to be closely related to discomfort and attention, were compared and analyzed depending on the posture. As a result, FHP showed a significant decrease in delta waves in nine channels compared to the normal posture, and a significant increase in beta waves in 14 channels, showing that FHP does affect brain function at rest. These changes are consistent with those that occur under conditions of psychological discomfort and distraction, and they appear to be because the increased discomfort caused by musculoskeletal changes in the FHP also affects brain activity. These can provide important results showing that posture correction can help improve brain function and psychological state at rest.