• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2017

Occupational hazards of firefighting and rescue works include frequent exposure to emergencies and life-threatening situations. These stressful work conditions of being constantly under pressure and exposed to potentially traumatic events put them at higher risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), compared to the general population. PTSD is a potentially debilitating mental disorder, due to persistent intrusive thoughts, negative alterations of mood and cognition, hypervigilance, avoidance of similar situations and reminders, and re-experiences of the traumatic event. Previous studies have shown a relatively high prevalence of PTSD among firefighters, indicating the need for a systematic approach of early detection and prevention. Therefore, a critical review of the current literature on PTSD in firefighters would provide valuable insights into developing effective prevention and intervention programs. Literature indicated that there are risk factors of PTSD in firefighters, such as pre-existing depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, occupational stress, physical symptoms, and binge drinking, whereas social support and adequate rewards are protective factors. Although there are differences in the prevalence of PTSD across studies, partly due to various assessment tools utilized, different sample sizes, and sample characteristics, over one tenth of the firefighters were estimated to have PTSD. The current review warrants further investigations to precisely assess PTSD and co-morbid mental disorders, functional outcomes, and associated factors, and to develop evidence-based preventive and interventional programs to help firefighters with PTSD.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.216-223
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• 2018

Background: Many studies have reported negative psychological or physical effects of emotional labor. Relationship between work-related musculoskeletal disorder and psychosocial factors has been reported. To manage organizational and psychosocial factors of musculoskeletal disorder with work place intervention among emotional laborers, the factors contributing to musculoskeletal pain must be identified and clarified. Methods: Data from the fourth Korean Working Conditions Survey was analyzed. Based on the questionnaire, we selected emotional laborers and included 3,979 participants, excluding participants whose variables were of interest to the researcher. Weight variable was applied. The association with musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial factors, such as workload, monotonous work, job control, social support, and job satisfaction, was investigated. Results: Univariate analysis demonstrated that there was a statistically significant relationship between social support, job satisfaction, and musculoskeletal pain. In multivariate analysis, job satisfaction showed a strong correlation with musculoskeletal pain at all sites. Social support was significantly associated with backache. Monotonous work seemed to reduce the pain in the neck and/or upper limbs. Job control and work intensity were not significantly associated with musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: In this study, job satisfaction was significantly associated with musculoskeletal pain, and social support among the social psychological stressors could reduce musculoskeletal pain. However, unlike previously known, the presence of monotonous work resulted in reduced musculoskeletal pain. The results of this study will help to establish the direction of improvement of atmosphere in the workplace to prevent the musculoskeletal pain of emotional laborers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.151-155
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• 2015

The study was designed to identify any trends of injury type as it relates to the age and trade of construction workers. The participants for this study included any individual who, while working on a heavy and highway construction project in the Midwestern United States, sustained an injury during the specified time frame of when the data were collected. During this period, 143 injury reports were collected. The four trade/occupation groups with the highest injury rates were laborers, carpenters, iron workers, and operators. Data pertaining to injuries sustained by body part in each age group showed that younger workers generally suffered from finger/hand/wrist injuries due to cuts/lacerations and contusion, whereas older workers had increased sprains/strains injuries to the ankle/foot/toes, knees/lower legs, and multiple body parts caused by falls from a higher level or overexertion. Understanding these trade-related tasks can help present a more accurate depiction of the incident and identify trends and intervention methods to meet the needs of the aging workforce in the industry.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2018

Modern users are intensifying their use of online services every day. In addition, hackers are attempting to execute advanced attacks to steal personal information protected using existing authentication technologies. However, existing authentication methods require an explicit authentication procedure for the user, and do not conduct identity verification in the middle of the authentication session. In this paper, we introduce an implicit continuous authentication technology to overcome the limitations of existing authentication technology. Implicit continuous authentication is a technique for continuously authenticating users without explicit intervention by utilizing their behavioral and environmental information. This can improve the level of security by verifying the user's identity during the authentication session without the burden of an explicit authentication procedure. In addition, we briefly introduce the definition, key features, applicable algorithms, and recent research trends for various authentication technologies that can be used as an implicit continuous authentication technology.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.157-167
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• 2003

Falls are a leading cause of injury, disability and death among people older than 65. Even without injury, falls cause a loss of confidence that results in reduced physical activity, increased dependency and social withdrawal. Fall prevention in the eldery people is a multifaced task that includes both the identification of risk factors and their modification strategies. Fall risk factors have been identified as both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic factors are those related to the physical and cognitive function of the person. Extrinsic factors are those which are included in the environmental hazards of everyday life. Combinations of interventions aimed at modifying both intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors can result in significant fall prevention in the geriatric population. This article selectively reviews the literature reporting exercise intervention to improve strength, balance and mobility.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.767-779
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• 2017

Automated mission planning for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is difficult because of the propagation of several sources of error into the solution, as for any large scale autonomous system. To ensure reliable system performance, we quantify all sources of error and their propagation through a mission planner for operation of UAVs in an obstacle rich environment we developed in prior work. In this sequel to that work, we show that the mission planner developed before can be made robust to errors arising from the mapping, sensing, actuation, and environmental disturbances through creating systematic buffers around obstacles using the calculations of uncertainty propagation. This robustness makes the mission planner truly autonomous and scalable to many UAVs without human intervention. We illustrate with simulation results for trajectory generation of multiple UAVs in a surveillance problem in an urban environment while optimizing for either maximal flight time or minimal fuel consumption. Our solution methods are suitable for any well-mapped region, and the final collision free paths are obtained through offline sub-optimal solution of an mTSP (multiple traveling salesman problem).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.429-434
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• 1999

In this study the financial performance of small scale dairy farms participating in the government subsidy programme and the impact of this government intervention on the number of animals owned, production and consumption of milk and labour employment in the farm households have been examined. After receiving the subsidy, dairy farmers expanded their herd size. The major changes occurred in the ownership of calves, heifers and cows in all categories of farms. Significant increases in production and consumption of milk as well as in labour employment were observed. The rates of increase for all the parameters studied were much higher in farms adopting cross breeding compared to those in only local-breed farms. The analysis showed that dairying was a profitable business. However, profitability was greater with cross-bred than with local-bred animals.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.17-21
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to obtain qualitative data on Korean-American dry cleaners' concerns about work-related health and safety and their attitudes toward the use of PPE(Personal Protective Equipment). Two focus group discussions were conducted with convenient samples of Korean-American drycleaners in middle-eastern state. A total of 13 individuals participated in two focus groups. Participants had concerns as both owners and workers. As owners, they were concerned mostly about compliance of environmental regulation and economic depression. The participants knew very little about the hazards of chemical exposure and expressed vague concerns about chemical exposure and health. Majority of participants do not use PPE and had no intention of using it in the future because of their limited knowledge about the hazardous nature of chemical exposure. The findings from this study would guide the development of intervention to increase drycleaners knowledge of chemical exposure and use of PPE.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.365-369
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• 2000

Oral mucositis or stomatitis produced by stomatotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy are painful, restrict oral intake and, importantly, act as sites of secondary infection and potals of entry for the endogenous oral microflora often leading to bacteremias or sepsis. A number of clinical observations and studies of animal model suggests a pathophysiological complexity in the development of mucositis. The condition appears to represent a sequential interaction of the oral mucosal cells and tissues, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and local environmental factors in the mouth. This article discussed and reviewed biological process of the mucositis and, the role of cytokines as initiators and amplifiers of the process. The recognition that the pathophysiology of mucositis is a multifactorial process has presented opportunities for intervention based upon biological attenuation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.40-52
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• 2000

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevailing ergonomic conditions regarding low back injury in an assembly factory, In this study, analytic biomechanical model and NIOSH guidelines were applied to evaluate risk levels of low back injury for automobile assembly jobs. Total of 246 workers were analysed. There were 10 jobs with greater back compressive forces than 350kg at L5/S1. Also there were 44 jobs over Action Limit in terms of 1981 NIOSH guidelines. This could in part be explained by the ergonomic conditions of the companys analysed as not hazardous, with a relatively low duration of 'combined' extreme work posture. However, more ergonomic intervention could be done based on those results.