• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.637-644
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• 2011

Objective & Background: When applying various evaluation tools that analyze work posture risk through observation, accurate measurement of body flexion angle is very important. Method: This study investigated differences and appropriateness of 5 different existing reference points commonly used in the analysis of the work posture. Twenty five ergonomist and trained professionals were participated in this study. A Same flexion angle was utilized for the evaluation of risk assessment of musculoskeletal disorders using five different reference points to investigate the degree of difference between them. To investigate how different the observers' preferred flexion angle measuring methods were compared to the ISO 11226 Reference Posture, a virtual body model was constructed using the Poser 6.0 program. Six types of body flexion postures were constructed, and since neck flexion differs according to body angle, five types of neck flexion postures were constructed with the trunk bending $20^{\circ}$ forward, making up a total of 30 virtual flexion postures. Results: Results showed that the observers used personally preferred reference points instead of reference points recommend in the evaluation tools. Also the results revealed the their seems to be 6 types of flexion angle for the trunk and 11 types of measurement methods for the neck flexion angle in the form of personally preferred reference points. The results showed that a mean difference of $14^{\circ}$($4{\sim}23^{\circ}$) occurred in the trunk, and a mean difference of $20^{\circ}$($-8{\sim}51^{\circ}$) occurred in the neck. To increase accuracy when using the 5 evaluation tools in combination, the ISO 11226 standards, observers' preferred flexion posture standards, and common flexion posture standards of the evaluation tools were compared with the reference points of the 5 evaluation tools. Results showed considerable variance in angle difference for each evaluation tool. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, considering the angle difference between the flexion angle reference points of the evaluation tool and the reference points selected by the observers, it is concluded that instead of personally preferred reference points, the standardized reference points to enhance the accuracy and the objectivity. Application: The result of this study can be used as reference guide to develop the standardized reference point in the future.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.143-153
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• 2014

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of trunk-forearm supported sitting on trunk flexion angle, trunk extensor fatigue and seat contact pressure. Background: The relationship between sitting posture and musculoskeletal disorders of the trunk extensor fatigue and seat contact pressure has been documented. The trunk-forearm support type ergonomic chair was devised from the fact that trunk-forearm support has been reported to reduce trunk extensor activity and discomfort. Method: Using three different sitting postures, upright ($P_1$), trunk-forearm supported ($P_2$) and normal sitting ($P_3$), six healthy subjects participated in the study. Motion capture system was used to collect head and trunk flexion angle, and surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to collect myoelectric signal of upper trapezius, lower trapezius, erector spinae, multifidus, and pressure mat system was used to measure seat contact pressure. Results: When trunk and forearm were supported by the ergonomic chair, higher head flexion angle showed upright > trunk-forearm supported > normal in order, and muscle fatigue showed less than upright and normal sitting. Mean seat contact pressure decreased 19% than upright sitting. But muscle fatigue was not affected by each condition. Conclusion: Trunk-forearm supported sitting of the ergonomic chair showed positive effect in respect of trunk and head flexion angle, trunk extensor fatigue, seat contact pressure. To acquire comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of the ergonomic chair, further studies such as anatomical effects from measurement of external applied loading effect to the body from interface pressure analysis are required. Application: The results of the publishing trend analysis might help physiological effects of trunk-forearm support type chair.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.69-75
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• 2009

It is well-known that lifting capacity of a worker is influenced by body posture during the task. When a task analyst make use of RULA and REBA Trunk and upper arm angles are recorded in a separate item. It means that the interaction between the angles of two body segments may be ignored in a final score. The NLE(NIOSH Lifting Equation) has been used to supplement this problem. However, there is no study to validate the result of RWL (Recommended Workload Limit) under the existence of interactions between trunk and upper arm angles. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of the interaction between trunk and upper arm angles. Three responses, including NMVC(normalized maximum voluntary contraction), RWL(Recommended Weight Limit) and subjective judgment in psychophysical method (Borg's scale), were recorded according to the combinations of three trunk angles and nine upper arm angles. The results showed that lifting capacity is highly influenced by interaction of two body segments(trunk and upper arm). It means that the task workload has to be analyzed along with the interaction of trunk angles and upper arm angles when the task analyst assesses potential risk factors on the postures. This study may be able to be a fundamental study to develop an assessment method for lifting task analyses according to body postures.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.93-99
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• 2015

Economic burden of work-related musculoskeletal disorder(WMDs) is increasing. Known causes of WMDs include improper posture, repetition, load, and temperature of workplace. Among them, improper postures play an important role. A smart sensor called SensorTag is employed to estimate the trunk postures including flexion-extension, lateral bend, and the trunk rotational speeds. Measuring gravitational acceleration vector in the smart sensor along the tri-orthogonal axes offers an orientation of the object with the smart sensor attached to. The smart sensor is light in weight and has small form factor, making it an ideal wearable sensor for body posture measurement. Measured data from the smart senor is wirelessly transferred for analysis to a smartphone which has enough computing power, data storage and internet-connectivity, removing need for additional hardware for data post-processing. Based on the estimated body postures, WMDs risks can be conviently gauged by using existing WMDs risk assesment methods such as OWAS, RULA, REBA, etc.

• PNF and Movement
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.49-54
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• 2010

Pupose : This study aimed to examine the Influence of stregthening for Transverse abdominis and resistive breathing exercise to use PNF on fulmonary functions and static sitting posture in adult stroke patient. Methods : Left hemi-plegic patient was masured pulmonary function test and analyzed sitting posture of alignment at pre intervention and post-intervention in 4weeks. Results : The pulmonary functions was increased and changed good alignment of trunk on sitting position after treatments. Conclusion : We were found that stregthening for Transverse abdominis and resistive breathing exercise to use PNF could improve pulmonary functions and sitting posture for stroke patient.

• 국제물리치료학회지
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.1797-1802
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• 2019

Background: Breathing is the essential step of Pilates exercise and can be used to activate core muscles. Although the effects of breathing exercise on pain, breathing muscles, and cervical posture have been extensively studied, little is known about the impact of Pilates breathing on spinal posture and alignment. Purpose: To determine the effect of 3D-Pilates breathing exercise on spinal curvature and alignment of healthy adults during corrected to normal alignment. Design: One group pre-post test design Methods: Eighteen participants were given a 3D-pilates breathing exercise twice a week (20 minutes per session) for three weeks and warmed up for 10 minutes before each exercise session. To examine spinal curvature and alignment of each subject, this study used radiation free rasterstereography (Formetric III, Germany). Paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were performed to determine the difference between pre and post exercise. Results: There were statistically significant differences in height (p<.001), kyphosis angle (p<.05), trunk imbalance (p<.05), kyphotic apex (p<.01), cervical fleche (p<.05), pelvic tilt (p<.01), and lateral deviation (p<.05) between before and after 3D Pilates breathing exercise. However, there was no significant difference in lordosis angle. Conclusions: The study results indicated that three week 3D-pilates breathing exercise program could be presented as an effective rehabilitation method for improving spinal curvature and alignment.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.409-418
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• 2011

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the child-care teachers' job in relation to physical work. Background: Child-care teacher is directly related to the quality of child care. And their physical activity is higher than general education teachers because the proportion of day care is high. But analyzes of child-care teachers' job burdens and the work environment associated with physical activity is not well established. Method: To conduct this study, the child-care teachers' job was classified into 18 physical works. After classification, posture was evaluated by ergonomic posture evaluation schemes of OWAS, RULA, REBA and evaluated for each physical part. Next, musculoskeletal subjective symptoms were analyzed. Results: The results showed the following: The highest assessment on the posture evaluation was "helping children to ride a school bus", "feeding: meal/snack", "brushing children's teeth" and "arrangement of nap-stuff". The rank of high-risk assessment on the neck/trunk/leg part was arranged by: "feeding: meal/snack", "helping children to ride a school bus", "making nap", "arrangement nap-stuff" and "brushing children's teeth". The rank of high-risk assessment on the upper limbs part was arranged by: "helping children to ride a school bus", "the bust - group activity", "meal/snack time - preparing, feeding, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", "brushing children's teeth", and "using the toilet". According to the results of each musculoskeletal subjective symptom, teachers ordered the pain area as follows: waist, shoulder, leg/feet, and neck, and they showed more pain on trunk than the upper limbs. Conclusion: To sum up the results from ergonomic posture evaluation and a subjective symptom, the following are high working pressures: "feeding: meal/snack", "the bust - group activity", "making nap", "brushing children's teeth" with deep bending and waist twisting, "helping children to ride a school bus", "brushing children's teeth" with lifting shoulder; "meal/snack time - preparing, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", and "using the toilet" with moving or an up-down position in their job. Application: The results of this study might be information for improvement of the child-care teachers' job environment.

• 대한물리의학회지
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.73-81
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• 2021

PURPOSE: This study examined effects of the untact trunk stabilization exercise program on muscle thickness, trunk strength, maximal expiratory flow, and static balance. METHODS: The subjects were 20 normal adults divided into 10 in the contact exercise group and 10 in the untact exercise group. The trunk stabilization exercise program was conducted for four weeks. The muscle thickness was measured using ultrasound. The maximal expiratory flow was measured using Personal Best Full Range Peak Flow Meter. The static balance was measured through Bio-rescue; and the trunk muscle strength was measured by bending the upper body forward and measuring the time for maintaining the posture. RESULTS: Both contact and untact exercise groups showed significant differences in muscle thickness, muscle strength, maximal expiratory flow, and static balance (p < .05). A significant difference in muscle thickness on ultrasound was observed between the contact and untact exercise groups (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Activation of the transverse abdominal muscle requires accurate instructions of the contact exercise, but despite environmental constraints, the untact exercise program is as effective as the contact exercise for improving muscle strength, maximum expiratory flow, and static balance.

• PNF and Movement
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.89-93
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to verify the effect of integrated patterns (IPs) of PNF on individuals with malalignment using upper extremity and lower extremity patterns simultaneously. This information was then compared to the effect of bowling exercises on malalignment. The study population included individuals in their twenties with malalignment in their posture. Methods: Individuals with malalignment (40 participants in total) were divided into 2 groups based on trunk inclination and side deviation. In one group, IPs of PNF were used as interventions, while the other group used bowling exercises. This process was completed over the course of four weeks. The IP group used two patterns simultaneously: flexion-adduction-external rotation and extension-abduction-internal rotation. These patterns were used in the upper and lower extremities and were crossed diagonally. Results: The trunk inclination decreased in the IP and the bowling group. In the IP group, the degree of inclination decreased from 0.94 to 0.33. The side deviation also decreased to 1.53 (p < 0.05). In the bowling group, the two measured values decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Compared to the bowling exercises used in the bowling group, the results of this study indicate that the use of IPs had a significant effect on trunk inclination and side deviation for malalignment posture patients. Individuals can easily improve malalignment using IPs of PNF (for example, at home or at their office), which suggests that they are not required to seek assistance from a fitness or bowling center, which may save them time.

• 한국운동역학회지
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.131-140
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• 2015

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to analyze the coordination of the trunk tilting angle and bilateral lower limbs according to the stirrups length during trot in equestrian. Methods : Participants selected as subject were consisted of adult male(n=7, mean age: $45.00{\pm}3.78yrs$, mean height: $172.50{\pm}2.44cm$, mean body mass: $76.95{\pm}4.40kg$, mean, mean leg length: $97.30{\pm}2.60cm$). They were divided into 3-types of stirrups lengths(67 cm, 72 cm, 77 cm) during trot. The variables analyzed were consisted of the trunk front-rear angle, lower limb joint(Right Left hip, knee, ankle), overall movement index(OMI) of the lower limbs(thigh, shank, foot) and asymmetry index(AI%) during trot. Results : The average angle in hip and knee joint showed more extended posture according to the increase of stirrups lengths and ankle angle showed more plantarflexion posture according to increase of stirrups length during 1 stride in trot. Also, average angle showed more extended posture in right hip and ankle joint than that of left. The angle of knee joint didn't show significant difference statistically between right and left. Also asymmetric index in average angle of hip, knee and ankle joint didn't show significant difference statistically in between lower limbs, but hip joint showed higher asymmetric index in stirrup length of 77 cm and ankle joint showed higher asymmetric index in stirrup length of 67 cm than that of the others respectively. The FR angle in trunk of horse-rider showed relative backward leaning motions at stirrup length of 67 cm and 77 cm than that of stirrup length of 72 cm during stance and swing phase. OMI in thigh, shank, and foot limbs didn't show significant difference statistically according to the stirrups length of right and left lower limbs, but left lower limbs showed higher index than that of right lower limb. Stirrup length of 72 cm in shank and foot limbs showed higher index than that of stirrup length of 67 cm and 77 cm. But stirrup length of 72 cm showed higher asymmetric index than that of stirrups length of 67 cm and 77 cm. Conclusions : When considering the above, 72 cm(ratio of lower limb 74.04%) stirrup lengths could be useful in posture correction and stabilization than 67cm(ratio of lower limb 68.69%) and 77 cm(ratio of lower limb 79.18%) stirrup lengths during trot in horse back riding.