• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.286-294
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• 2009

A high prevalence of protected horticulture farmer's work-related musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs) have been reported in precedent studies. One of the tasks required ergonomic intervention to reduce the musculo-skeletal risks is the task of product transporting. The purpose of this study is to evaluate quantitatively the spinal load of operator using manual vehicles to predict and prevent musculo-skeletal risks. Spinal load in operators using 4 kinds of manual vehicle were analyzed. Before evaluating spinal load on operator using the manual vehicles by bio-mechanical approach, it is needed to validate human model. In this study, ADAMS LifeMOD human model shows satisfactory results, comparing with already validated model's results or measured results. While Operators pushed the manual vehicles(wheelbarrow, Trolley, 2 wheel cart, and 4 wheel cart) contained loads that were 0 N and 800 N, their spinal loads(compression force, shear force) were evaluated. The compression force demonstrated under the NIOSH action limits - 3410N - for all 4 manual vehicle's operators(McGill 1997; Marras 2000). However, the lateral shear force demonstrated over the University of Waterloo - 500N - for all 3 manual vehicle's operators except 4Wheel cart (Yingline and McGill, 1999). Therefore, operators have risks in prevalence of the musculo-skeletal disorders due to shear force. The findings of this study suggest that it need to be determine the spinal load, especially lateral shear force in designing the manual vehicles in the future.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

The vowel /o/ in Seoul Korean has been undergoing a sound change by altering the acoustic weighting of F2 and F1. Studies documented that this on-going change redefined the nature of a /o/-/u/ contrast as F2 differences rather than as F1 differences. The current study examined two cognitive factors namely executive function capacity (EF) and autistic traits, in terms of their roles in explaining who in speech community would adapt new acoustic forms of the target vowels, and who would retain the old forms. The participants, 55 college students speaking Seoul Korean, produced /o/ and /u/ vowels in isolated words; and completed three EF tasks (Digit N-Back, Stroop, and Trail-Making Task), and an Autism screening questionnaire. The relationships between speakers' cognitive task scores and their utilizations of F1 and F2 were analyzed using a series of correlation tests. Results yielded a meaningful relationship in participants' EF scores interacting with gender. Among the females, speakers with higher EF scores were better at retaining F1, which is a less informative cue for females since they utilized F2 more than they did F1 in realizing /o/ and /u/. In contrast, better EF control among male speakers was associated with more use of the new cue (F2) where males still utilized F1 as much as F2 in the production of /o/ and /u/ vowels. Taken together, individual differences in acoustic realization can be explained by individuals' cognitive abilities, and their progress in the sound change further predicts that cognitive ability influences the utilization of acoustic information which is non-primary to the speaker.

• 한국자동차공학회논문집
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.62-69
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• 2013

Visual demands associated with in-vehicle display usage and text messaging distract a driver's visual attention from the roadway. To minimize eyes-off-the-road demands, voice interaction systems are widely introduced. Under cognitively distracted condition, however, awareness of the operating environment will be degraded although the driver remains oriented to the roadway. It is also know that the risk of inattentive driving varies with age, thus systematic analysis of driving risks is required for the older drivers. This paper aims to understand the age-related driving performance degradation and visual attention changes under auditory cognitive demand which consists of three graded levels of cognitive complexity. In this study, two groups, aged 25-35 and 60-69, engaged in a delayed auditory recall task, so called N-back task, while driving a simulated highway. Comparisons of younger and older drivers' driving performance including mean speed, speed variability and standard deviation of lane position, and gaze dispersion changes, which consist of x-axis and y-axis of visual attention, were conducted. As a result, it was observed that gaze dispersion decreased with each level of demand, demonstrating that these indices can correctly rank order cognitive workload. Moreover, gaze dispersion change patterns were quite consistent in younger and older age groups. Effects were also observed on driving performance measures, but they were subtle, nonlinear, and did not effectively differentiate the levels of cognitive workload.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.209-213
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• 1997

Manual lifting techniques are commonly defined in terms of the postures adopted at the start of the lift. Quantitative definition is problematic, however, because the absolute joint angles adopted to lift an object are influenced by task parameters, such as the initial height of the load. The main objective of this study is to investigate the grip strength of the both hands at the initial lifting points. The survey is conducted by measuring the compression force, anthropometric data and grip strength at the lifting postures for the subjects(n=50) who is assigned to their job as usual. The experiment is peformed at the four lifting postures which involving the combination of two horizontal factors(H1 : 35 cm, H2 : 55 cm) and two vertical factors(V1 : 20~80 cm, V2 : 47~102 cm). The analysis result of lifting posture indicated that each H1-V1, H2-V1 combinations are about 60$^{\circ}$ and each H1-V2, H2-V2 combinations are about $30^{\circ}$. There are significant differences on grip strength between $60^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ stooped posture. The results of this study can be provided a method defining lifting postures at the minimum grip strength. Also, it is eliminated a hazard of the injuries which are cumulative trauma disorders(CTDs) and back pain, increased a productivity and improved a welfare of workers.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.467-479
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• 2022

Working memory (WM), which plays a vital role in daily activities, is a memory system that temporarily stores and processes information when people are engaged in complex cognitive activities. The influence of music on WM has been widely studied. In this work, we conducted a series of n-back memory experiments with different task difficulties and multiple trials on 14 subjects under the condition of no music and Alpha wave leading music. The analysis of behavioral data show that the change of music condition has significant effect on the accuracy and time of memory reaction (p<0.01), both of which are improved after the stimulation of Alpha wave music. Behavioral results also suggest that short-term training has no significant impact on working memory. In the further analysis of electrophysiology (EEG) data recorded in the experiment, auto-regressive (AR) model is employed to extract features, after which an average classification accuracy of 82.9% is achieved with support vector machine (SVM) classifier in distinguishing between before and after WM enhancement. The above findings indicate that Alpha wave leading music can improve WM, and the combination of AR model and SVM classifier is effective in detecting the brain activity changes resulting from music stimulation.

• 한국의학물리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국의학물리학회 2002년도 Proceedings
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• pp.138-140
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• 2002

The spinal cord dose is the one of the limiting factor for the radiation treatment of the head & neck (H&N) or the thorax region. Due to the fact that the cord is the elongated shaped structure, it is not an easy task to maintain the cord dose within the clinically acceptable dose range. To overcome this problem, the spinal cord partial block technique (PBT) with the dynamic Multi-Leaf Collimator (dMLC) has been developed. Three dimension (3D) conformal beam directions, which minimize the coverage of the normal organs such as the lung and the parotid gland, were chosen. The PBT field shape for each field was designed to shield the spinal cord with the dMLC. The transmission factors were determined by the forward calculation method. The plan comparisons between the conventional 3D conformal therapy plan and the PTB plan were performed to evaluate the validity of this technique. The conformity index (CI) and the dose volume histogram (DVH) were used as the plan comparison indices. A series of quality assurance (QA) was performed to guarantee the reliable treatment. The QA consisted of the film dosimetry for the verification of the dose distribution and the point measurements. The PBT plan always generated better results than the conventional 3D conformal plan. The PBT was proved to be useful for the H&N and thorax region.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.203-209
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• 2018

Background: Night shift work is associated with many problems such as sleep deprivation, sleepiness, decreased cognitive performance, increased human errors, and fatigue. This study set out to measure cognitive performance, melatonin rhythms, and sleep after different consecutive night shifts (7 vs. 4) among control room operators (CORs). Methods: The participants included 60 CORs with a mean age of 30.2 years (standard deviation, 2.0) from a petrochemical complex located in Southern Iran. Cognitive performance was assessed using the n-back task and continuous performance test. To evaluate melatonin, saliva was collected and tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To assess sleep and sleepiness, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale were used, respectively. Results: Individuals who worked 7 consecutive night shifts had a significantly better cognitive performance and sleep quality than those who worked 4 consecutive night shifts. However, salivary melatonin profile and sleepiness trend were not affected by shift type. Conclusion: The main duty of CORs working night shifts at the studied industry included managing safety-critical processes through complex displays; a responsibility that demands good cognitive performance and alertness. It is suggested that an appropriate number of consecutive night shifts in a rotating shift system should be planned with the ultimate aim of improving CROs performance/alertness and enhancing safety.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.151-160
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• 2008

국내 원전에서는 과거에 불균일 방사선장이 형성되는 고피폭 방사선작업에 2개의 복수선량계(TLD)를 머리와 기슴에 패용하였으며, 이들 선량계 판독값 중에서 최대값을 유효선량으로 평가함으로써 일정 부분이 과대평가되고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 이러한 문제점을 개선하고자 국제적인 기관에서 제시된 복수선량계 알고리즘을 대상으로 적절한 알고리즘을 선정하기 위한 현장적용 시험을 실시하였다. 여기에는 캐나다 원전사업자(OPG), 미국표준기술협회(ANSI HPS N13.41), NCRP(55/50), NCRP(70/30), EPRI (NRC), Lakshmanan, Kim(Texas A&M University) 알고리즘 등을 대상으로 하였고, 국내 원전의 계획예방정비기간동안 고피폭이 예상되는 방사선작업을 대상으로 작업종사자에게 3개의 복수선량계를 가슴, 머리, 등에 동시에 패용하였고 판독하였다. 이 시험 결과에 따르면 Lakshmanan 알고리즘을 제외하고 유효선량 평가에서 모든 복수선량계 알고리즘이 거의 유사한 경향을 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 한편 현장적용시험 결과와 이들 알고리즘의 기술적 배경과 방사선작업과정에서의 편의성 등을 종합적으로 고려하여 NCRP(55/50) 알고리즘을 최종적으로 선정하였다. 또한 복수선량계 지급조건은 INPO와 ANSI의 지침을 검토하여 빙사선량율이 1 mSv/hr 이상이면서 인체 특정부위 간의 선량율이 30% 이상차이가 나고 단일 작업에서 2mSv 이상피폭을 받을 것으로 예상될 때 지급하는 것으로 결정하였다.

• 감성과학
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.15-30
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• 2019

자율주행차는 운전자의 부주의로 인한 사고를 줄일 수 있는 반면, 기계에 어느 정도의 자율성을 허용해야 할 것인지의 문제를 제기한다. 특히 돌발상황의 발생시에 운전자와 보행자 중에서 누구를 선택해야 할 것인지에 대한 의사결정은 모두가 합당하다고 생각하는 도덕적 원칙을 기반으로 일관적으로 실시되어야 한다. 본 연구(N = 103)에서는 한국 사회에서 자율주행차의 윤리적 의사결정을 프로그래밍한다고 가정했을 때, 의사결정과정에 영향을 끼칠 수 있는 개인적/상황적 변인을 검증하였다. 이에 따라 개인적 변인으로서 참가자의 자율주행차의 자동화 기술에 대한 수용도를 측정한 후, 상황적 변인으로 문장완성과제를 통해 참가자에게 성취 또는 배려의 가치를 활성화시켰다. 이후 자율주행차의 사고상황에서 공리주의 의사결정의 비율 및 자율주행차 구매의향이 어떻게 달라지는지를 설문지를 통해 비교하였다. 그 결과 연구참가자에게 성취의 가치를 활성화시켰을 때, 자신이 차 안의 운전자로 가정된 상황에서 다수의 보행자를 배려하는 공리주의 의사결정의 비율이 가장 낮게 나타났다. 또한 연구참가자가 자율자동차 기술을 긍정적으로 생각할수록 공리주의 원칙으로 설계된 자율주행차의 구매의향이 전반적으로 높았지만, 성취-운전자 조건에서 참가자의 구매의향이 다른 조건보다 유의하게 낮게 나타났다. 이 결과는 자율주행차의 사고상황에서 의사결정의 과정이 개인적 변인뿐만 아니라 특정 상황에서 활성화된 가치 및 관점의 차이에 따라 영향을 받을 가능성을 시사한다. 논의에서는 연구결과의 제한점 및 후속 연구방향에 관해 논의하였다.