• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.476-481
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• 2019

Background: Mystery shopping is a method in which a company monitors quality of service and employee conduct and compliance with regulations using an evaluator posing as a customer. It is a typical tool of customer-centered bureaucratic control insofar as it provides overall and standardized evaluation of intangible elements of customer service as well as physical elements of service environments. The purpose of this study is to examine how mystery shopping is related to the health status of service workers in South Korea. Methods: Data from semistructured interviews with 15 workers were collected from January to April 2019 to obtain information on service worker experiences with mystery shopping. Data were analyzed using the constant comparison method. Results: Mystery shopping limits worker autonomy and stiffens the workplace environment by standardizing and monitoring labor processes for service workers. In addition, mystery shopping heightens work stress through increased labor intensity. Five mechanisms by which mystery shopping affects service worker health are identified and comprise (1) multifaceted and multilayered surveillance, (2) evaluator subjectivity and irrational requirements, (3) standardized rules combined with high pressure to achieve sales, (4) self-esteem degradation because of evaluator results, and (5) musculoskeletal disorders because of strict adherence to labor processes based on evaluator results. Conclusion: Mystery shopping as an evaluation method should be reconsidered not only in terms of health problems but also in terms of organizational efficiency and issues of human rights.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.17 no.7 s.94
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• pp.1700-1709
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• 1993

The stepped specimen which is subjected to step loading is modeled to study the initiation and growth of adiabatic shear band using explicit time integration finite element method. Three different clearance sizes are tested. The material model for the stepped specimen includes effects of strain hardening, strain rate hardening and thermal softening. It is found that the material inside the fully grown adiabatic shear band experiences three phase of deformation, (1) homogeneous deformation phase, (2) initiation/incubation phase, and (3) fast growth phase. The second phase of deformation is initiated after sudden shear stress drop which occurs at the same time regardless of the clearance size. The incubation time prior to fast growth phase increases, as the clearance size of the stepped specimen increases. Whereas, after incubation period, the growth rate of the adiabatic shear band decreases, as the clearance size decreases. It is also found that two adiabatic shear band may develop instead of one for the smaller clearance size.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.110-129
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• 2017

Quality of life today is being enhanced through technology and economic activities, but time for leisure has continued to shrink. In this modern society, a phenomenon is appearing in which people are trying to return to their pure and childlike worlds to relieve themselves from the pressures of stress, anxiety, and feelings of crisis in their repetitive and boring daily lives. Along with the struggle for existence that they feel, this shows how modern people hold on to nostalgic elements experienced in their childhood, and have a tendency to want to express those experiences through consumer activities. As positive opinions stating that such consumer activities not only relieve stress, but also help psychological stability are emerging, consumer trends for the development of fashion products which reflect 'Kidult' emotions are becoming increasingly popular. Not only that, with interior products, the need for the development of differentiated designs which are focused on consumers and which reflect consumer demands is being magnified as they are very important as living designs within the consumption environments of modern people. As such, the goal of this study is to develop textile pattern designs for kidult interior products for adults.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.621-628
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• 2007

Nowadays, Exhaust Gas Recirculation(EGR) Cooler is one of the most favorite systems for reducing the generation amount of $NO_x$ and other particle materials from vehicles burning diesel as fuel. Efficiency of the system is mainly dependent on its heat transfer efficiency and this ability is affected by net heat transferring area of the system. For that reason, several types of heat transfer tube such as dimple, wrinkle and spiral types that have large net area are used. However, it is difficult to manufacture the rectangular tube with dimpled type structure because it experiences too much strain around the rectangular tube surface during the forming process. For that reason, in this study, numerical simulation for forming process of non-symmetric dimple shape on a thin sheet metal was carried out. Furthermore, theoretical forming limit curves(forming limit diagram, forming limit stress diagram) were proposed as criteria of formability evaluation. From the results of finite element simulation in view of stress and strain distribution, it is found that the designed process has robustness and feasibility to safely manufacture the dimpled rectangular tube.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.219-232
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• 2006

The purpose of this research is to develop and validate an instrument that can be used to measure critical aspects of a parent's attitude and behavior that influence child development and adaptation. This instrument is named Parenting Style Inventory and self-reporting assessment of parent for preschoolers. We reported findings from 578 preschooler's care-givers. Five factors were extracted from 55 items developed for preschooler version and finally 29 items were selected. Subscales were empathy, respect, parental authority, coerciveness, perfectionism. Internal consistency of these subscales were .77, .86, .70, .74, .68 relatively. Empathy, respect and authoritative scales were regarded as the basic dimensions of parent's behavior. For clinical validation, we divided the preschooler care-giver sample into 8 groups according to scores of the basic dimensions and compared the 8 groups with parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy scores. The results indicated that three basic factors would have different effects on parental experiences and satisfaction. We suggested the clinical implication and limitation of this instrument.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.569-585
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• 2014

In this paper, a four-layer road structure consisting of an edge transverse crack is simulated using three-dimensional finite element method in order to capture the influence of a single-axle wheel load on the crack propagation through the asphalt concrete layer. Different positions of the vehicular load relative to the cracked area are considered in the analyses. Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is used for investigating the effect of the traffic load on the behavior of a crack propagating within the asphalt concrete. The results obtained show that the crack front experiences all three modes of deformation i.e., mode I, mode II and mode III, and the corresponding stress intensity factors are highly affected by the crack geometry and the vehicle position. The results also show that for many loading situations, the contribution of shear deformation (due to mode II and mode III loading) is considerable.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.420-428
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• 2008

The effect of loading path changes on the strain and mechanical properties of a commercial pure aluminum was studied using flat rolling and groove rolling. Material during flat rolling undergoes a continuous monotonic compressive loading, while one during groove rolling experiences a series of cross compressive loading. Four-pass flat rolling and groove rolling experiment are designed such that the aluminum undergoes the same amount of the strain at each pass. The rolling experiment was performed at room temperatures. Specimens for tensile test are fabricated from the plate and bar rolled. In addition, the strain distribution for the plate and bar cold rolled specimens is also calculated by finite element method. The results reveal that differences of loading path attributed by monotonic loading(flat rolling) and cross loading(groove rolling) significantly influence the mechanical properties such as yield stress, ultimate tensile stress, strain hardening and elongation. It is clear that the different loading path can give raise to change the deformation history, although it is deformed with same amount of strain for same material.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.68
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• pp.238-245
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• 2018

The skin experiences constant physical stimuli, such as stretching. Exposure to excessive physical stimuli stresses the skin and can accelerate aging. In this study, we applied a method that allowed human fibroblasts and keratinocytes to be perfused with media to form 3D skin equivalents that were then uniaxially 10%-stretched for 12 h per day (at either 0.01 or 0.05 Hz) for up to 7 days to form wrinkled skin-on-a-chip (WSOC). There was more wrinkling seen in skin equivalents under 0.01 Hz uniaxial stretching than there was for non-stretched skin equivalents. At 0.05 Hz, the stratum corneum almost disappeared from the skin equivalents, indicating that stretching was harmful for the epidermis. At both frequencies, the production of collagen and related proteins in the skin equivalents, such as fibronectin 10 and keratin, decreased more than those in the non-stretched equivalents, indicating that the dermis also suffered from the repeated tensile stress. These results suggest that WSOCs can be used to examine skin aging and as an in vitro tool to evaluate the efficacy of anti-wrinkle cosmetics and medicines.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.348-357
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to explore and understand the health promoting behaviors of low-income overweight and obese women in Korea. Methods: Data were collected from 10 low-income overweight and obese women working at a community self-sufficiency center through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Individual interviews were conducted and transcribed. Deductive content analysis was done, using the MAXQDA program. Results: The health promoting behaviors practiced by low-income overweight and obese women were affected by intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational/ community factors. Six categories were identified and two category clusters were derived that could best describe their health promoting experiences. As main category clusters, despite "feeling that the body and mind are not healthy" participants noted "difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle." Overall, the participants had poor nutritional status, lacked physical activity, experienced much stress in intrapersonal level, and faced intrapersonal-level barriers to health promoting behaviors. Moreover, participants had a lack of personal will, and lack of specific information to practice health promoting behaviors, a lack of time, and too many overall burdens to earn a living for their family while trying to maintain health promotion behaviors. Conclusion: Lifestyle interventions for nutrition management, encouragement of physical activity, and stress management are needed for overweight and obese low-income women. In addition, social support and policies are needed to improve their living environment.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.25-44
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• 2023

Receiving medical services abroad is an event that involves a high level of risk and stress for most people. This study proposes and empirically examines perceived control as a factor that has a potential to reduce the stress associated with overseas medical experience and enhance satisfaction with it. Based on the research findings in environmental psychology, one's perceived control was divided into cognitive control, behavior control, and decision control. A research model and a set of hypotheses were constructed to investigate the effect of each control on satisfaction and word-of-mouth communications among consumers who had overseas medical service experiences. The data collection was conducted through an online survey of 220 Chinese consumers who had visited Korea as plastic medicine tourists. Satisfaction with their service experience was significantly affected by both behavioral control and decisional control, but not by cognitive control. Thus, Chinese medical tourists prefer to maintain the belief that they are in charge of major decisions associated with the medical procedure, and that the results of the medical procedure will have personally desirable consequences. In addition, satisfaction experienced by Chinese consumers with overseas medical services had a significant impact on their word-of-mouth activities. Based on the research results, a set of academic and practical implications were derived.