• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.40-48
• /
• 2014

Differential item functioning (DIF) based on Rasch model can be used to examine whether the items function similarly across different groups and identify items that appear to be too easy or difficult after controlling for the ability levels of the compared groups. The Oswestry low back pain disability (Oswestry) has traditionally been proved as an effective instrument measuring disability resulting from low back pain (LBP). In this study, DIF method was used to explore whether items on the Oswestry perform similarly across two different groups (participants with LBP and no LBP). A series of Rasch analyses on the 10 items of the Oswestry were performed using Winsteps$^{(R)}$ software. Forty-two participants with back pain were recruited from 3 rehabilitation hospitals in Gainesville, Florida. Another 42 participants with no LBP were recruited from several public places in the rehabilitation hospitals. Based on the DIF analysis across the two groups, several items were found to have an uniform DIF. Participants with no LBP had more difficulty on lifting and personal care items and participants with LBP had more difficulty on sleeping and social life items. For non-LBP group, a high ceiling effects (83% of participants with non-LBP) was detected, which was not be able to be effectively measured with the Oswestry items. Although 4 items of the Oswestry function differently across the two groups, all items of the Oswestry were well targeted the LBP group.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.60-68
• /
• 2009

Psychsocial factors appear to play an important role in the maintenance and development of chronic disability from low back pain. Fear of pain may be more disabling than the pain itself in patients with nonacute low back pain. The purpose of this study was to identify the contribution of gender, age, depression and pain-related fear to pain intensity and disability in nonacute low back pain patients. This was a cross-sectional survey study of eighty four patients who had low back pain for at least 4 weeks. More than moderate correlations were found between pain intensity, disability, fear-avoidance beliefs and depression. Regression analyses revealed that disability ratings and fear-avoidance beliefs for work activities significantly contributed to the prediction of pain intensity, even when controlling for age, gender and pain duration. Also, fear-avoidance beliefs for physical activity, pain intensity, age and depression, significantly contributed to the prediction of disability, even when controlling for gender and pain duration. These findings suggest that disability scores and fear-avoidance beliefs for work activities are important determinants of pain intensity. They also suggest that fear-avoidance beliefs for physical activity, pain intensity, age and depression are important determinants of disability.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.37-66
• /
• 2019

In cold-formed steel structures, such as trusses, wall frames and portal frames, the use of back-to-back built-up cold-formed stainless-steel lipped channels as compression members are becoming increasingly popular. The advantages of using stainless-steel as structural members are corrosion resistance and durability, compared with carbon steel. The AISI/ASCE Standard, SEI/ASCE-8-02 and AS/NZS do not include the design of stainless-steel built-up channels and very few experimental tests or finite element analyses have been reported in the literature for such back-to back cold-formed stainless-steel channels. Current guidance by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Australian and New Zealand (gAS/NZS) standards for built-up carbon steel sections only describe a modified slenderness approach, to consider the spacing of the intermediate fasteners. Thus, this paper presents a numerical investigation on the behavior of back-to-back cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels. Three different grades of stainless steel i.e., duplex EN1.4462, ferritic EN1.4003 and austenitic EN1.4404 have been considered. Effect of screw spacing on the axial strength of such built-up channels was investigated. As expected, most of the short and intermediate columns failed by either local-global or local-distortional buckling interactions, whereas the long columns, failed by global buckling. All three grades of stainless-steel stub columns failed by local buckling. A comprehensive parametric study was then carried out covering a wide range of slenderness and different cross-sectional geometries to assess the performance of the current design guidelines by AISI and AS/NZS. In total, 647 finite element models were analyzed. From the results of the parametric study, it was found that the AISI & AS/NZS are conservative by around 10 to 20% for cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels failed through overall buckling, irrespective of the stainless-steel grades. However, the AISI and AS/NZS can be un-conservative by around 6% for all three grades of stainless-steel built-up channels, which failed by local buckling.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.343-355
• /
• 2017

In this study, an Assembled Earth Retaining Wall (AER wall) is newly proposed. The AER wall combined stabilizing piles names as Back Supporting Beam is developed to improve stability and economics of existing retaining walls. For the verification of the AER wall, the field model tests and 3D numerical analyses were performed. As a result of the field tests, it can be confirmed that the earth pressure is considerably reduced compared with the L-shaped retaining wall. Also, the 3D numerical analyses show that AER wall is at least 29.85% more effective at lateral displacement than general L-shaped retaining wall. In other words, AER wall is expected to raise economical efficiency because of excellent mechanical stability of Back Supporting Beam.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.47-55
• /
• 2011

Variations in ambient atmospheric carbon monoxide(CO) observed at an inland mining site in the Indo-Gangetic plains, Jaduguda ($22^{\circ}38'N$, $86^{\circ}21'E$, 122m MSL, ~75 km away from the coast of the Bay of Bengal) during the Tsunami of 26 December 2004 were monitored. CO mixing ratio over this site was measured using a non-dispersive infrared analyzer (Monitor Europe Model 9830 B). Back trajectory analysis data obtained using NOAA Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) Model was also used for this study. Variations in CO mixing ratio at a coastal site, Thiruvananthapuram ($8^{\circ}29'N$, $76^{\circ}57'E$, located ~2 km from the Arabian Sea coast) have also been investigated using CO data retrieved from the Measurement Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument. Ground-based measurements indicated abnormal variations in CO mixing ratio at Jaduguda from 25 December 2004 evening (previous day of the Tsunami). MOPITT CO data showed an enhancement in CO mixing ratio over Thiruvananthapuram on the Tsunami day. Back trajectory analyses over Thiruvananthapuram and Jaduguda for a period of 10 days from $21^{st}$ to $30^{th}$ December 2004 depicted that there were unusual vertical movements of air from high altitudes from 25 December 2004 evening. CO as well as the back trajectory analyses data showed that the variations in the wind regimes and consequently wind driven transport are the most probable reasons for the enhancement in CO observed at Jaduguda and Thiruvananthapuram during the Tsunami.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 1999

Procedures are investigated by which nonlinear finite element shell analysis algorithms can be simplified to provide more cost effective approximate analyses of orthogonally-reinforced concrete flat plate structures. Two alternative effective stiffness formulations, and an unbalanced force formulation, are described. These are then implemented into a nonlinear shell analysis algorithm. Nonlinear geometry, three-dimensional layered stress analyses, and other general formulations are bypassed to reduce the computational burden. In application to standard patch test problems, these simplified approximate analysis procedures are shown to provide reasonable accuracy while significantly reducing the computational effort. Corroboration studies using various simple and complex test specimens provide an indication of the relative accuracy of the constitutive models utilized. The studies also point to the limitations of the approximate formulations, and identify situations where one should revert back to full nonlinear shell analyses.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.755-762
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this research which, surveyed target hospitals, was to evaluate job operations by surveying the influences of Quality Improvement (QI) activities in various divisions related to a decrease in their back-up orders. Statistical data analyses were completed using the SPSS 11.0 program. The results can be summarized as follows Before QI there were 147 cases of back-up orders ; after QI there were 83 cases, decrease of 64 cases. This was 44%, less than the projected goal of 50%. For each item, there was a decrease of 40 nurse cases, 9 patients and patron cases,9 test surgery deliverly cases and 5 doctor cases after QI. The registering of midnight meals was not shown after QI, due to the Order Communication System (OCS) settlement. After performing QI, the average manual operation per month was reduced from 840 minutes to 498 minutes, of which the difference was 342 minutes, and the average of 342 minutes per month could be used for the peculiar operation of each division. This QI activity provided a good opportunity for establishing cooperation among divisions in providing meals to patients through interactions among divisions. It was recognized that these interactions were effective only when medical services were achieved through organized cooperation among divisions. Among the 7 items included on the patient satisfaction questionnaire, “satisfaction with offered menus” (p<0.01) showed significantly higher scores before QI. However “satisfaction with meal times” (p<0.01) showed significantly lower scores before QI.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.367-371
• /
• 2017

In 2015, symptoms of die-back on Rosa hybrida were observed in Taean, Korea. The aims of this study were to determine the cause of die-back on Rosa hybrida and characterize the pathogen. The fungal isolates were obtained and used for pathogenicity test, morphological and molecular analyses. The pathogenicity test on healthy branches of Rosa hybrida produced die-back, as the original symptoms. For the morphological study, the isolates were inoculated onto potato dextrose agar and incubated for 7 days at $25^{\circ}C$. The colonies grew up quickly and turned white to gray in color. Conidia were observed under an optical microscope. The features of conidia were ellipsoidal, grayish brown in color, $20-31{\times}11-17{\mu}m$ in size and had one septum. Molecular analyses of the ITS region, TEF and TUB genes were conducted to confirm the identity of the pathogen. The phylogenetic tree of the multi-gene sequences indicated that the causal agent was Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae. This study is the first report of die-back caused by Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae on Rose (Rosa hybrida).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.80-85
• /
• 2000

The hydroforming process is rapidly gaining popularity in the sheet metal forming industry. In this study, hydroforming process is applied to the seat back frame. The load-deformation characteristics of seat frame are simulated according to the test requirements by FMVSS. Structural analyses were performed with an analysis package program named I-DEAS for the conventional and the hydroforming seat back frame. The seat back frame made by hydroforming is not only about 23 percent lightweight, but also about 20 percent high strength compared with conventional that.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.18-35
• /
• 1997

The purpose of this study were to determine causes of low back pain in bus drivers who usually work in prolonged sitting position and to find the relationship of back pain with general characteristics and work environmental characteristics, stress symptoms, to com맹re lordosis angle of habitual driving posture and resting posture in low back pain group and non-low back pain group, and to use this result as a basis for improvement of work environment and comprehensive rehabilitative management of low back pain. Ninety-eight bus drivers were selected from the membership of an urban transit union in Seoul. These informations were collected from May 1, 1997 to May 25, 1997 by means of structured questionnaires and X-ray findings. These data were analyzed by $x^2$ test, t-test, logistic regression using SAS. The major results were as follows: 1. Of the respondents, 66.3% of bus drivers were found to be experiencing back pain. 2. Of the respondents of low back pain groups, 78.5% reported that major cause of low back pain was due to prolonged sitting. 3. The group with experiences of frequent or continuous vibration had more low back pain (p<0.05). There were no significant differences among other work environmental factors. 4. Average stress score was significantly higher in the group with low back pain than in the group without low back pain (p<0.05). 5. The results of the logistic regression analyses were statistically significant vibration from seat and stress score among the risk factors (p<0.05). 6. Averaged lordosis angle of habitual driving posture was $7.6{\pm}14.9$ degrees in low back pain group, $16.5{\pm}8.7$ degrees in non-low back pain and averaged lordosis angle of resting sitting posture was $10.8{\pm}13.7$ degrees in low back pain, $18.9{\pm}9.6$ degrees in non-low back pain group but the difference in mean lordosis angles of two groups was not statistically significant. The results of this study indicate that professional drivers developed chronicity of low back pain due to unfit seat, poor habitual posture and stress from vibration or other risk factors. Therefore, there is need to improve work environment, i.e. enough resting, to set a seat to support lumbar spine properly and to provide comprehensive rehabilitation program including early diagnosis, proper treatment and education for self help management.