• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the content of N,N-dimethylformamide(DMF) in polyurethane coated gloves(PU-gloves) and to assess the dermal exposure generated by wearing them. Methods: We analyzed the concentrations of DMF in 12 gloves by EN16778 standard. The samples cut into pieces of about 10 by 10 mm and extracted with methanol in flask in an ultrasonic bath at 70℃. An aliquot of the extract is analyzed with GC-MS. The dose of dermal exposure was calculated by ECETOC TRA consumer 3.1 and compared with derived no effect level(DNEL) for systemic effects due to long term exposure by workers. The extracted amount of DMF by saline solution was compared with that by EN16778 standard. Results: The mean concentration of DMF in PU-gloves was 1,377 mg/kg(range 13~3,948 mg/kg). The concentration of DMF showed significantly differences by packing type, manufacturer, and price(p<0.05). The dose of dermal exposure was 0.0007~0.572 mg/kg body weight/day when the DMF content was 10~4,000 mg/kg. The DMF extracted by saline solution was around 11% for 8 hours. Conclusions: The risk of dermal exposure due to the residual DMF in the PU-gloves was not signifiant. But, the limit of 1,000 mg/kg in PU-gloves can be recommended for international standard and trading systems.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.25-36
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• 2021

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effect of modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT) and resistive exercise using elastic band with pressure belt on improving upper extremity function in stroke patients. Methods: Sixteen patients with stroke were randomly assigned to a control group that received mCIMT and resistive exercise using elastic band (n=8) and an experimental group that received mCIMT and resistive exercise using elastic band with pressure belt (n=8). Over the course of four weeks, mCIMT were conducted 60 minute three times per week and resistive exercise using elastic band (with pressure belt) were conducted twice daily, three times per week. The function of the upper extremities were evaluated before, after 2 weeks and 4 weeks using the grip strength test (GST), the box and block test (BBT), and motor activity log (MAL). Results: The values for the GST, the BBT, and MAL increased in both groups as the treatment period progressed. The values for the GST (p<.01), the BBT (p<.001), and MAL (p<.001) were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group at 4 weeks after initiating the treatment. Conclusion: We found that mCIMT and wearing a pressure belt during resistive exercise was very useful in improving the function of the upper extremities in patients with stroke.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.233-246
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• 2022

Purpose : The study aims to determine the effects of virtual and non-virtual realities in a normal person's mirror walk on gait characteristics. Methods : Twenty male adults (Age: 27.8 ± 5.8 years) participated in the study. Reflection markers were attached to the subjects for motion analysis, and they walked in virtual reality environments with mirrors by wearing goggles that showed them the virtual environments. After walking in virtual environments, the subjects walked in non-virtual environments with mirrors a certain distance away after taking a 5 min break. To prevent the order effect caused by the experiential difference of gait order, the subjects were randomly classified into groups of 10 and the order was differentiated. During each walk, an infrared camera was used to detect motion and the marker positions were saved in real time. Results : Comparison between the virtual and non-virtual reality mirror walks showed that the movable range of the leg joints (ankle, knee, and hip joints), body joints (sacroiliac and atlantoaxial joints), and arm joints (shoulder and wrist joints) significantly differed. Temporal characteristics showed that compared to non-virtual gaits, the virtual gaits were slower and the cycle time and double limb support time of virtual gaits were longer. Furthermore, spacial characteristics showed that compared to non-virtual gaits, virtual gaits had shorter steps and stride lengths and longer stride width and horizontally longer center of movement. Conclusion : The reduction in the joint movement in virtual reality compared to that in non-virtual reality is due to adverse effects on balance and efficiency during walking. Moreover, the spatiotemporal characteristics change based on the gait mechanisms for balance, exhibiting that virtual walks are more demanding than non-virtual walks. However, note that the subject group is a normal group with no abnormalities in gait and balance and it is unclear whether the decrease in performance is due to the environment or fear. Therefore, the effects of the subject group's improvement and fear on the results need to be analyzed in future studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2023

PURPOSE: This study examined the effect of using a smartphone according to the direction of wearing a bag on muscle characteristics and balance ability in adults in their 20s with chronic ankle instability. METHODS: Twelve people with chronic ankle instability were examined for three weeks. The types of carrying a bag were classified into three conditions: to the right, to the left, and on both sides. The muscle characteristics and balance ability were measured and analyzed. The one-way ANOVA was used to obtain a difference between conditions. RESULTS: A significant difference in the muscle tone of medial gastrocnemius was observed between the dominant group and the non-dominant group. The muscle tone and stiffness of the peroneus longus decreased significantly after walking with a smartphone and carrying a bag. The maximum slope of the forward and reverse directions increased and decreased significantly, respectively, after walking with a smartphone and carrying a bag on both sides. CONCLUSION: In this study, muscle fatigue causes a decrease in muscle tone and stiffness with chronic ankle instability when carrying a heavy back while walking, and there were asymmetric changes in the balance ability. Therefore, adults with chronic ankle instability should carefully avoid carrying a heavy bag for extended times, irrespective of the style or type of the bag.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

Within the metaverse platform, users engage in communication with others through 'avatars' reflecting their own identities. Users experience various virtual fashion items through avatars, and the fashion industry anticipates avatars wearing virtual fashion items as an emerging business opportunity. Many fashion brands are currently releasing virtual fashion items specifically designed for avatars. In this study, we examined the impact of user identification with their avatar on their perception of the attributes of virtual fashion items (investment attractiveness, scarcity, playfulness, and aesthetics) and its influence on behavioral intentions. The research involved a survey of 250 females with prior knowledge of the metaverse. Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to examine research hypotheses and validate the model. The results confirmed that as users within the metaverse perceive greater identification with their avatar, they also perceive the attributes of virtual fashion items more favorably. This finding affirms the self-reference effect, where users positively evaluate objects associated with themselves. Additionally, perceiving the attributes of virtual fashion items was found to be positively linked to purchase intentions for virtual products and actual interest in the brand. Lastly, a higher intention to purchase virtual fashion items was associated with forming a more favorable attitude toward the respective brand. Consequently, this study provides academic and practical implications for marketing strategies within the metaverse, emphasizing the active utilization of avatars and elements that facilitate user-avatar identification for effective engagement.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.13-20
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• 2008

Although digital hearing aid algorithms have been developed to compensate hearing loss and to help hearing impaired people to communicate with others, digital hearing aid user still complain about difficulty of hearing the speech. The reason could be the quality of speech through digital hearing aid is insufficient to understand the speech caused by feedback, residual noise and etc. And another thing is masking effect among formants that makes sound quality low. In this study, we measured the masking characteristics of normal listeners and hearing impaired listeners having presbyacusis to confirm masking effect in speech itself. The experiment is composed of 5 tests; pure tone test, speech reception threshold (SRT) test, word recognition score (WRS) test, puretone masking test and speech masking test. In speech masking test, there are 25 speeches in each speech set. And log likelihood ratio (LLR) is introduced to evaluate the distortion of each speech objectively. As a result, the speech perception became lower by increasing the quantity of formant enhancement. And each enhanced speech in a speech set has statistically similar LLR, however speech perception is not. It means that acoustic masking effect rather than distortion influences speech perception. In actuality, according to the result of frequency analysis of the speech that people can not answer correctly, level difference between first formant and second formant is about 35dB, and it is similar to result of pure tone masking test(normal hearing subject:36.36dB, hearing impaired subject:32.86dB). Characteristics of masking effect is not similar between normal listeners and hearing impaired listeners. So it is required to check the characteristics of masking effect before wearing a hearing aid and to apply this characteristics to fitting.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.990-1001
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of perceiver's gender, clothing, and hairstyle on the visual evaluation of men's professionalism and preference. A quasi-experimental method by questionnaire was used. The experimental design was a $2\times8\times2$ (perceiver's gender $\times$ clothing $\times$ hairstyle) factorial design by 3 independent variables. The stimuli were 16 photographs of a man in his twenties. The upper clothing of the man included tailored collar jackets in beige and dark blue colors, and jumpers and sweaters in beige, dark blue, and red colors. The lower clothing of the men included jean pants. Two types of the hairstyles included short hair and medium length hair. The subjects were 208 men and 223 women in Seoul, Korea. Wearing a beige sweater with jean pants was evaluated high in intellectual image, a red jumper was perceived low in intellectual image, and a beige tailored collar jacket was evaluated low in potent image. Men's short hairstyle was evaluated to be more professional than the medium length hair. Male perceivers liked short hair more than medium length hair, but female perceivers evaluated both hairstyles similarly. In the case of women, the preferences of tailored collared jacket and soutien collared jumper were similar, but jumper was preferred to jacket in the case of men. Male perceivers showed more positive feedback towards jean pants with soutien collared jumper than jeans with tailored collared jacket, which indicated that men showed more conservative attitude towards the outfit than women. The man who was wearing a jumper with short hair was evaluated positively and the man who was wearing a jacket with medium length hair was evaluated negatively when the attires were coordinated with jean pants. In conclusion, medium length hairstyle with a beige jacket and short hairstyle with a red sweater were evaluated as professional image; and the results indicated that clothing and hairstyle interact with each other and influence the evaluation of professionalism.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

Purpose: The study was aimed to suggest the most effective color of the tinted lenses by evaluating the effect of the prescription with tinted lenses on the visual quality of the elderly at the age of the sixty or more. Methods: The visual acuity of fifty subjects at the age of sixty or more (17 males, 33 females with the averaged age of $71.0{\pm}6.3$) were corrected to have the visual acuity at a far distance of 0.5 or more using a trial lens frame, and non-tinted, brown-tinted, and gray-tinted lenses were randomly applied on the trial frame. The minimum legibility and minimum separability were measured at a far distance in the aspect of the visual acuity and calculated as LogMAR and then, the visual acuity was compared. The stereopsis and contrast sensitivity were also estimated at a near distance in the aspect of the visual function. The participants' preference for tinted lenses and their subjective symptoms of the visual perception and the movement were further surveyed. Results: The best minimum legibility and minimum separability was shown when wearing non-tinted lenses, and brown-tinted and gray-tinted lenses were in the next. The stereopsis and the contrast sensitivity at a near distance and the visual perception was the best when wearing brown-tinted lenses. It was surveyed that the subjective discomfort was the biggest when wearing gray-tinted lenses, and brown-tinted lenses were the best in the aspect of the subjective preference. Conclusions: As the result of this study, it was revealed that the visual acuity and visual function could be improved by the use of tinted ophthalmic lenses however, its change of visual acuity and visual function was not completely correlated with the subjective satisfaction. Therefore, the appropriate color of ophthalmic lenses should be selected in accordance with the individual visual perception and the main vision lifestyle in the elderly generation. From the present study, the use of non- or brown-tinted lens and brown- or gray-tinted lens can be recommended for distance work and near work, respectively, in the elderly generation under the illumination of about 1,000 lux.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.205-213
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• 2002

Objective : Whether exposure to chronic noise induces an increase in blood pressure, or the development of hypertension, has not been established. A cohort study was performed to identify the effects of chronic noise exposure on blood pressure. Methods : 530 males working at a metal manufacturing factory in Busan, Korea were enrolled for the study. They were monitored for 9 consecutive years, from 1991 to 1999, with an annual health check-up. The subjects were divided into 4 groups, which were determines by noise level categories(NLC) according to noise intensity ; NLC-I: office workers, exposed to noise a level below 60dB(A) ; NLC-II: field technical supporters or supervisors, frequently exposed to workplace noise, wearing no hearing protection device; NLC-III: workers, exposed to workplace noise below 85dB(A), wearing ear plugs or muffs; NLC-IV: workers, exposed to workplace noise over 85 dB(A), wearing both ear plugs and muffs. Results : After controlling possible confoundens, such as baseline age, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, family history of hypertension, systolic(SBP) of diastolic blood pressure(DBP) and changes in BMI (body mass index), the pooled mean for the systolic blood pressures, over the duration of the study period, were 3.8mmHg, 2.0mmHg and 1.7mmHg higher in NLC-IV, NLC-III NLC-II groups, respectively, than in the NLC-I group. There were no significant differences in the diastolic blood pressures between the groups. Conclusion : This study suggests that chronic noise exposure increases systolic blood pressure independently, among male workers.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.305-316
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• 2008

The mandibular advancement device(MAD) has been used to help manage snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. The aims of this study were to specify the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients receiving long-term treatment with MAD and to quantify the compliance with and side effects of the use of the device. Of 103 patients who were treated with MAD for at least one full year after delivery date, 49 were able to be contacted with telephone and complete follow-up questionnaires were obtainable. They were telephoned to determine whether they were still using the device. If not, they were asked when and why they stopped using it. Patients were also asked how much effectiveness of the MAD in decreasing snoring and how much they and their bed-partners were satisfied with the MAD therapy. The initial respiratory disturbance indices and pre-treatment snoring frequency and intensity were obtained from the medical records of initial visit. All the data were compared between users and nonusers. The results were as follows: 1. Of 49 patients 25 are still using the device, but 24 stopped using it. Among nonusers nobody stopped wearing the device within first 1 month, but 37.5% of nonusers stopped wearing it in the following 6 months, and another 4.2% before the end of the first year. 2. The one-year compliance of the MAD therapy was 79.59%. 3. There were no significant differences in mean age, mean body mass index, and gender distribution between users group and nonusers group. 4. There was no significant difference in mean respiratory disturbance index at initial visit between users group and nonusers group. 5. There was no significant difference in pre-treatment snoring frequency and intensity between users group and nonusers group. 6. The degree of decrease in snoring with use of MAD was significantly higher in the users when compared to nonusers. 7. Patient's overall satisfaction with treatment outcome was significantly higher in the users when compared to nonusers. 8. Bed partner's satisfaction with treatment outcome tended to be higher in the users when compared to nonusers. 9. The most frequent reasons why patients discontinued wearing the MAD were: jaw pain(25%), dental pain(20.83%), broken appliance(20.83%), hassle using(16.67%), lost weight(8.3%), dental work(8.3%), no or little effect(4.17%), sleep disturbance(4.27).