• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.81-92
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• 2008

Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) problems have been increasingly reported in hospital sector but the problems were not addressed with respect to holistic aspects of the target population in Korea. Often, it is required to understand how MSD symptoms are associated with factors such as personal, work environmental and psychosocial stressors. To examine features of association between sets of MSD symptoms and the factors, a questionnaire survey was conducted in a university hospital. A 140-item questionnaire was developed and used for collecting information including factors (e.g., job/occupation, task/activity, job stress) and MSD symptoms. A total of 1,091 workers (male 23.7% and female 76.3%) were finally determined for data analyses. Prevalence rate for the whole body was 72% and, among body parts, the highest was 48.7% for the shoulder, followed by 34.6%(the low back), 32.7%(the leg/foot), 27.9%(the neck), 26.7%(the wrist) and 12%(the elbow). The symptoms were significantly different by job/occupational variable in each of all body parts except the neck. The symptoms were very significantly different by task/activity variables in each of all body parts while those symptoms were significantly different by psychosocial variables, depending on body part and gender. In the logistic regression analyses performed for MSD symptoms by body part and each of 3 factors, odds ratio values varied, ranging from 0.7 to 3.3. The controls for reducing the symptoms were discussed on the basis of the findings. The results show that the MSD symptoms can remarkably vary by the factors and, in particular, can be highly differential for the task/activity factor. This study suggests that MSD symptom features be examined by using various factors and then a higher differential factor be primarily utilized for controling MSD symptoms in general industry including hospital settings.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.6
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• pp.187-204
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• 2001

As a competition between a country and a company becomes fierce and the quality information, reliability and quality guarantee of a product are more emphasized, quality has become an important strategic task of a company. A company today has a strategic quality management system for quality improvement in order to perform such a strategic task. The content of this are as follows. Classify the types of quality strategy of our manufacturing companies when the necessity of a strategic quality management increases in order to adapt to a rapidly changing management environment and study the characteristics of a quality management activity factor of quality strategy. The content and meaning of this analysis are summarized as follows. Confirmed qualify management activity in which quality strategy could be used by analyzing the effects by tendency of a quality management activity factor by quality strategy. It was a product/service factor that a quality management activity factor contrasted most clearly by tendency of quality strategy. Also, it can be said that this study set the foundation of quality strategy of our manufacturing company in a methodological way because this can be used in developing the theory and model of quality management and in verifying them by confirming and embodying the main area for successful quality management through comparing and analyzing factors related with main areas of quality management.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.309-321
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• 2013

In current complex nature of management with task-structures, a method to reach the enterprise's informationalization success is not common. To satisfy these various requirement, improving the usability of information technology (IT) is a key factor which defining the level of organizational requirement first. Imposing an IT-solution which has excess service of the organization's previous task-environment, procedure and scope is not effective to SME-level unit, which unit could not have a formal organization structure and task structure. SME level informationalization will be success if each function realizes easier on the task-employee's viewpoint. Achieving this objective, a solution provider or department must reflect their work characteristics of nature which has least level of work performing resistance. It is most useful system for SME level unit, if a provider develops single programs which based on task activities, and each program can configure network-linking.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.161-169
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• 2022

Engagement is an important factor in the field of rehabilitation as it is a known factor that have a positive influence on functional gaining in people who receive rehabilitation therapy. Although a number of measurements for engagement have been recently developed, investigation of possible factors that may have influence on engagement is not well established. Currently available evidence suggests that engagement is affected by mood and it is hypothesized that a personal factor may contribute to engagement. Therefore, this study aims to test the hypothetical relationship between mood and engagement while performing a manual dexterity task through an experiment in healthy participants prior to investigation on people with medical condition who requires rehabilitation therapy. After inducing target mood (positive or negative mood) for study participants by asking them to recall autobiographical memories, change in muscle activity, which was operationalized as an indicator of engagement, was investigated. Electromyogram (EMG) was recorded from four muscle areas in non-dominant hand side to quantify muscle activity. The results show that the target moods were appropriately induced with the method. Although there were subtle differences in the level of engagement between different moods, certain variables derived from muscle activity were significantly different; mean amplitude for wrist extensor EMG showed significant difference between different moods (Z = -2.023, p < .05) indicating that muscle activities in the wrist extensor are greater for positive mood than negative mood region during manual dexterity task. Meanwhile, performance outcomes of Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT), such as mean completion time and number of errors, between moods showed no significant difference in two different moods, resulting in MMDT administration may not be useful task in distinguishing the level of rehabilitation engagement.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.83-88
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• 2023

Purpose: This study was to investigate the effect of forward head posture (FHP) and round shoulder posture (RSP) on changes in muscle activities according to shoulder flexion and abduction tasks. Methods: Twenty-two male subjects with no history of neurological, musculoskeletal surgery or injuries, or pain in the spine region within the previous 3-month periods were recruited for this study. Craniovertebral angle (CVA) and Scapula Index were measured before performing 90° abduction and flexion tasks holding a 3kg dumbbell. Muscle activities were measured during the tasks. All measurements except height of the acromion were carried out in a sitting position at the height of the subject's knee angle of 90 degrees, and two tasks were randomly performed with the arm that the subject mainly use to throw the ball. The abduction and flexion angles were checked by the examiner using a goniometer beside the subject. Results: Correlation coefficient analysis between Scapular Index and upper trapezius muscle activity during shoulder abduction task showed significant positive correlation. No significant correlation was observed between CVA, Scapular Index, and other muscle activities. Conclusion: FHP showed increased muscle activation, making it difficult to change muscle activity under lower loads, and RSP was correlated with UT activation in shoulder abduction. Therefore, in the RSP, the loaded shoulder abduction is considered a potential risk factor for increasing shoulder muscle tension. This paper proposes an approach to treating RSP before FHP.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.831-842
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• 1997

The purpose of the study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Task Self-Efficacy Scale for activities of dally living (ADL). The Task Self-Efficacy Scale was developed by Roberts(1996) for low-intensity exercise study with older people to predict their performance of ADL. The scale was translated and back translated by bilingual persons, and then was modified to resolve variations in the translations. The Korean version of Self-Efficacy Scale for ADL was then administered to 193 elderly people including 95 hospitalized patients and 98 outpatients or healthy people. Face to face interview was used to fill out the structured questionnaire, and each interview took approximately 30 minutes. The subjects for the study were 80 women and 112 men with an age range of 65 to 95 years(M=71 years) of whom 82.6% classified themselves as moderate or quite active Most subjects(80.2%) had an education level of elementary school or less. The Self-Efficacy Scale for ADL is measured on a 0 to 10 VAS, assessing three areas of ADL : self care activities, household tasks, and motor tasks. The higher the score is, the higher person's confidence in performing ADL. Psychometric testing revealed that the scale was found to be internally consistent, showing a Cronbach's alpha of .97 The scale was significantly correlated with subjects' level of activity and subjective assessment of their health status. Moderate correlation with health-related hardiness scale also supported the validity. Factor analysis was performed to confirm whether the scale represents the three sub-areas as suggested in the literature. The results of the factor analysis led to a three factor solution according to Kaiser's criterion, but the items were not strongly and cleanly loaded for the third factor. This can be explained in that, among the three sub-ADL areas of the self-efficacy scale, the areas of self care activities and household tasks seem to have similar levels of difficulty in performance with not enough differences for the self-efficacy scale to distinguish between the two areas. Therefore, one factor solution was suggested since ADL can be seen as a unit of activities at similar level of difficulty in performance. One factor solution explained 68.1% of variance of the 19-item scale and all items were correlated over .6 with the factor, showing that the selected factor solution fits the model. The results indicated that the Korean version of Task Self-Efficacy Scale for ADL was reliable and valid in producing useful information to evaluate the effects of various interventions toward promoting health and quality of life for elderly people.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.71-78
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• 2009

During a learning process, a human being is assumed to experience knowledge-based behaviors, rule-based behaviors, and skill-based behaviors sequentially if Rasmussen was right. If any psycho-physiological symptom to those different levels can be obtained, it can be useful as a measure whether a human being is fully trained and has gotten a skill in his work. Therefore, this study aimed to draw relationships between human performance measures and psycho-physiological measures while committing a computer-simulated pointing task by utilizing the power spectrum technique of EEG data, especially with the ratio of relative beta-to-alpha band power. The result showed that, during correct responses, the ratio came to stabilize as all the performance data went stable. However, response time was not a simple linear function of task difficulty level only, but a joint function of task characteristics as well as behavior levels. Comparing relative band power ratios from errors and correct responses, activated states of one's brain could be explained, and characteristics of the task could understood. To tell that of pointing task, correlations around C3, C4, P3, P4 and 01, 02 area were significant and high in correct response cases whereas most correlation coefficients went down in error cases standing for imbalance of psycho-motor functions. Though task difficulty was the only one factor that could influence on relative band power ratio with statistical significance, it should be comprehended to mean a different way of expression indicating task characteristics since at least error-some situation could be explained with the help of relative band power ratio that absolute band power failed.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
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• spring
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• pp.269-273
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• 1999

Combination of mental stress task with noise background is a traditional tool employed in psychophysiology. However, intensity of background noise is a factor affecting both performance on test and psychophysiological responses associated with stress evoked by mental load in noisy environment. In the current study on 7 subjects we analyzed the influence of white noise (WN) intensity (55, 70, and 85 dB[A] ) on psychophysiological responses during word recognition test performed on noise background. There were recorded following physiological variables: electrodermal activity (EDA) , namely, skin conductance level (SCL), skin conductance response (SCR) amplitude (SCR-A), rise time and total number of SCRs (N-SCR); cardiovascular activity, e.g., heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) index, pulse transit time (PTT), finger pulse volume (PV), skin temperature (SKT) and respiratory activity, such as respiration rate (RESP-R) and inspiration wane amplitude (RESP-A) during baseline resting state and 40 s long performance on 3 similar Korean word recognition tests with different WN intensity (55, 70, and 85 dB). Electrodermal responses (SCR-A, SCL, N-SCR) demonstrated gradual increment with increased intensity of noise, and this increase of response magnitude with higher intensity of noise was typical also for r skin temperature (phasic SKT decrease) and pulse volume (phasic and tonic PV decrease). However, some cardiovascular and respiratory responses did not exhibit same tendency of gradual increase of reactivity , namely HR, as well as RESP-R and RESP-A showed decrement of response magnitudes. Important finding in terms of cardiovascular reactivity was that 55 and 70dB evoked similar profiles, while 85dB WN resulted in significantly different profile of reactions, suggesting that there exists a threshold level after which intensive auditory stimulation elicits psychophyslological responses pattern of different quality. There are discussed potential autonomic mechanism involved in mediation of observed physiological responses.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.319-325
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• 2018

Background: Prolonged neck flexion during smartphone use is known as a factor of neck pain and alteration of neck muscle activity. Studies on the effects of shoulder taping on neck discomfort and neck muscle responses while texting on a smartphone are still lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of shoulder taping on neck discomfort using a numerical rating scale, and neck muscle activity and fatigue using a surface electromyography during a texting task on a touchscreen smartphone. Methods: Twenty-five healthy adolescents used the dominant hand to perform a 30-minute texting task using a touchscreen smartphone at two separate times under one of the following two conditions: taping across the upper trapezius muscle and no taping. Neck discomfort, normalized root mean square, and normalized median frequency slopes for upper trapezius, cervical erector spinae, and sternocleidomastoid muscles were recorded. Results: The results revealed that shoulder taping provided significantly lower neck discomfort than no taping (p < 0.001). However, shoulder taping did not significantly alter normalized root mean square and normalized median frequency slope values of all muscles when compared with no taping controls. Conclusion: Shoulder taping reduces neck discomfort but does not affect neck muscle activity and fatigue while texting on a touchscreen smartphone.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.367-372
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• 2006

Since 1990's, many enterprises have constructed Integration Information System. Especially, they want to become an advanced company use ERP package. Already, ERP system come to high level which is stabilized and support independent business process of many industry sectors. Therefore, important success factors for ERP project are change management and organization activation. Although most companies had previous good plans, but those are not satisfied. Because of failed to change management and discontinued next activity for promotion. This paper studied success factors of project team and plan for organization activation. Also, it proposed next study subject about investigate the role of the member of task force team as a factor that makes the ERP system a success. The results of this study can be used for a successful construction of the ERP system as a solution about internal problems of Project team.