• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.728-733
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• 2011

U.S. apparel brands are being imported to Korea more than any other country's apparel brands. Against this backdrop, this study intends to verify the fitness of U.S. apparels for Korean people in terms of size. To this end, the authors selected 25 American and 25 Korean women in their twenties and studied the differences of these two groups with regard to the size of their lower body parts. In addition, the authors analyzed how the size of each part of the lower body changes according to different postures. All the study subjects were required to be able to wear medium-sized pants of the U.S. apparel. The results of the present study are shown below. The American women were bigger than the Korean counterparts in leg length, hip circumference, thigh circumference, and all height-related sizes. However, the Koreans were bigger than their peers in lengths from waist to crotch; crotch length, body rise and the length from front waist point to hip line. Standing posture was used as a yardstick, when the changes in size according to the different postures were examined. The results indicate that hip and knee circumferences increased in the sitting posture. In particular, hip circumference significantly increased in the American women group. Regarding length-related sizes, increases and decreases in sizes for different lower body parts differed according to the posture. For a walking posture with ordinary strides, the front crotch length decreased while the back crotch length increased. This tendency was more notably observed for Korean women. The American woman clearly showed a decrease in outside leg length for all postures. The Korean women obviously presented an increase in the front center leg length for the sitting posture and for the posture where the knees were bent at $120^{\circ}$. The length from the front waist point to the hip line significantly declined in the Korean woman for the sitting posture and for the walking posture with ordinary strides.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.69-85
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to clarify the traits of differences supposed as secular differences in physical growth between samples of children and youth in 1999 and 2005, and to identify the need of children and youth for health promotion. Methods: Two samples of different cohort were selected. The first one was consisted of 231 boys and 346 girls in 1999. And the other was consisted of 171 boys and 400 girls in 2005. Then the longitudinal growth distance data were collected from their cumulative health examination records. Results: The 2005 were larger in growth distances of stature, body weight, sitting height, and chest girth a at all ages from 6 to 16 in both boys and girls, so it could be concluded that a certain positive shift in growth process appeared in such a short duration. The 2005 were larger in growth velocity before peak age and also after peak age in body weight, but only in the term after peak age significant secular differences were found in stature for both sexes. As far as the growth distance concerned, the 2005 boys were ahead of the 1999 boys from 0.28-1.02 years and the 2005 girls from 0.32 to 0.81 years. In growth distance. Only in peak velocity, significant secular change was recognized in both sexes, any positive evidences of appearance of secular change were not found in peal age. In such derived physical indices as BMI, body weight index, sitting height index, and chest girth index, obvious evidences of secular change appearance were found.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.73-83
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• 2023

Objective: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients make up 40% of all scoliosis patients, and it is likely to increase even more because of the increase in sitting times due to the pandemic. Method: The subject of this study was a 16-year-old female student. The Cobb's Angle at initial value was 42° at the thoracic and 33° at the lumbar. The subject's height was 161.6 cm, and the type of scoliosis was 3CL. The brace was built with fabric materials with the size information from the X-ray information and actual measurements. The brace was made for the adolescents to wear for a longer time by making them put pressure on the same pressure points of the existing braces. The subjects were required to wear the device for 16 hours every day for three months. Additional features to check the pressure and time were synchronized through an app for easier communication and management with the responsible investigator. Results: After wearing the 3D Fabric brace, Cobb's angle changed from 42° to 33° at the thoracic and 33° to 23° at the lumbar. The ATR changed from 9° to 8° at the thoracic and 11° to 6° at the lumbar. As a result, the changes in the ATR angle do relate to the decrease of Cobb's angle, which made the angle of scoliosis that is bent in a three-dimensional way improve, making the height of the subject increase from 161.6 cm to 163.5 cm. Conclusion: Through this study, developing a brace that is made in the form of the 3CL to align the strap direction and putting pressure on the proper pressure points makes Cobb's angle and the ATR smaller. This means that there is a positive effect on the changes in height. A brace made of light fabric material is a good brace to help treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. There was an opinion that it is more comfortable to wear than existing braces, but it seems necessary to conduct a quantitative study about the before and after of wearing the brace and a survey for Korean specific cases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.152-161
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• 2014

The total boarding and alighting time models have been developed by applying the multiple regression analysis with three variables; numbers of boarding or alighting passengers, non-sitting passengers, and the step-height from the ground. Such variables have influenced to the total boarding time model with the most influential in the numbers of boarding or alighting passengers and the least in the step-height. On the total alighting time model, the numbers of alighting passengers are the most strongest while the step-heights the least. The total boarding and alighting time models can be used in practices for the prediction of current and future bus stops' capacities in TOD-based towns.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2014

This study compared the recommended levels of illumination for housing. KS Recommended Levels of Illumination (KS A 3011) in Korea, Recommended Levels of Illumination (GB 50034-2004) in China and Recommended Levels of Illumination (JIS Z 9110) in Japan are compared. The results are as below. First, recommended levels of illumination used in Korea China Japan are suggested by different locations and activities. However, classification for application scope is set differently. There are 10 areas for classification used in Korea, 5 areas in China, and 13 areas in China. When medium levels for classification are included as classification level, total of 15 areas are used for classification in China. Second, when considering there are 15 areas of application scope in China for recommended levels of illumination, there are 7 areas that are commonly used in Korea China Japan. 7 areas include stadium, factories, hospitals, office, shopping center, houses and hospitals. Third, working surface is considered as the height for recommended levels of illumination in Korea China Japan. Korea and Japan consider all working positions, standing and sitting position, when deciding the height. However, China only considers the standing position. Fourth, application scope for recommended levels of illumination for housing are classified in 16 areas in Korea, 5 in China and 18 in Japan. Thus, the application scope for recommended levels of illumination in housing in Korea is similar to Japan. However, there are only 5 areas used in China such as living room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen and sanitary room. Fifth, recommended levels of illumination is classified in 3 levels such as Lowest-Moderate-Highest while China and Japan only have standard recommended levels of illumination. Sixth, when observing recommended levels of illumination by type of activities, Japan classified the activities in greatest detail followed by Korea and then China. Seventh, Recommended levels of illumination differs by each country.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.54-61
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• 2018

Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the accessibility and usability of the disabled person while using the everyday facility. Background: The national laws regulated accommodation of persons with disabilities, but our knowledge on the practical usefulness of the laws and acceptance by the users is still far from complete. Method: Compliance with laws was checked throughout the actual measurement of 87 engineering designs in the facilities of a national university, and the practical usability of the facilities was investigated by in-depth interviews with eight disabled persons. New design solutions were developed by the anthropometric methodology for better accommodation. The target-specific anthropometry database such as sitting knee height with wheelchair was employed. Results: First, the statistic showed that 28.7% of facility designs comply with the law, 29.9% of facility designs doesn't comply with the law, and 41.4% of facility designs doesn't have related law or regulation. Second, the law of table height(71cm in current) can accommodate only 49.3% of wheelchaired population. The following test for 95% accommodation revealed that the table with 80cm high is required. Third, the current law in the door width(90cm) can only accommodate 82.6% of disabled persons, so the new design solution was calculated and suggested that 100cm in the door width is necessary for 99% accommodation of disabled persons. Conclusion: Even with the laws and regulations for the disabilities it was clear that the accessibility and usability of the disabled persons in everyday facilities was still limited. An investigation for the new solutions about a wide range of facilities is necessary for better practical accessibility and usability of the handicapped persons. Application: The results of current study can be a basement of developing a new guideline or regulation of the facility design for the disabled persons.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.275-282
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the optimal positions of safety grab bars for effective sit-to-stand (STS) movement by comparing the results of the STS movement while using a safety grab bar installed under two different conditions: the height of the grab bar installation was determined by (1) the Building Act and (2) the principle of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). Methods: A total of 50 undergraduate students participated in this study, and they were required to perform an STS movement twice under each condition. A baropodometric platform for sitting and a Biorescue (RM Ingenierie, France) were used to collect and analyze changes in the center of pressure (COP) on the left and right sides before and after performing the STS movement. The average completion time for the STS movement was also measured for analysis. Moreover, the participants were asked to express their individual subjective preferences regarding the two positions of the grab bars. Results: The COP changes were significantly smaller when performing the STS movement with the grab bar installed at the height determined by the PNF principle than the Building Act (p<0.01), and the difference in the completion time of the STS movement was not statistically significant between the two conditions. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the principle of PNF can be useful for planning therapeutic exercise as well as for proposing the optimal grab bar position for older adults and those with health-related issues when performing the STS movement. In addition, this may serve as a basic rehabilitation technique for maintaining remaining functions and providing functional efficiency.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.279-282
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• 2020

In this study, body pressure was quantitatively detected using built-in optical sensors, inside an air cushion seat. The proposed system visualizes the effect of the body pressure distribution on the air cushion seat. The built-in sensor is based on the time-of-flight (ToF) optical method, instead of the conventional electrical sensor. A ToF optical sensors is attached to the bottom surface of the air-filled cells in the air cushion. Therefore, ToF sensors are durable, as they do not come in physical contact with the body even after repeated use. A ToF sensor indirectly expresses the body pressure by measuring the change in the height of the air-filled cell, after being subjected to the weight of the body. An array of such sensors can measure the body pressure distribution when the user sits on the air cushion seat. We implemented a prototype of the air cushion seat equipped with 7 ToF optical sensors and investigated its characteristics. In this experiment, the ToF optical pressure sensor successfully identified the pressure distribution corresponding to a sitting position. The data were accessed through a mobile device.

• IE interfaces
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.82-88
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• 2002

A study was conducted to develop user-centered kitchen furniture and workspace to reduce fatigue and to prevent housewives's disorders such as low back pain and musculoskeletal disorders from housekeeping activities. A questionnaire survey and interview were performed on 150 households those live in 32Pyung-type($105m^2$) apartment in Seoul vicinity. Also actual housekeeping activities for 24 hours were video-taped for further motion analysis. Results of the study revealed that housewives complained the inconvenience and small size of storage space, and worksurface height as the most important problems to be considered for redesign. And they responded, if feasible, sitting is preferred over standing while they are working. After adapting a sit/stand chair in the kitchen, a physiological experiment measuring heart rate(HR) and oxygen consumption($VO_2$) as response variables was conducted to examine the effects of sit/stand chair in reducing physiological demand during housekeeping activities. The results showed that working on sit/stand chair reduced energy expenditures by maximum of 30% and 31.0% in terms of HR and $VO_2$, respectively. Also rearrangement of kitchen structure based on motion analysis showed that walking distance during daily housekeeping activities can be reduced by 5.5% on the average. Hence, it is concluded that adapting a sit/stand chair in the kitchen could reduce fatigue and occupational disorders of housewives from extended housekeeping activities.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.167-177
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• 2015

Objective: The objective of this research is to develop evaluation checklist for personal office furniture and apparatus to shape comfortable and efficient worksite for workers' welfare improvement, productivity enhancement and labor force preservation, and to identify office work environment by applying the checklist. Background: Because most office workers work using computers in a sitting posture, the ratio of office workers among total musculoskeletal disorders patients is forecast to increase. In this regard, an effort to prevent and manage such musculoskeletal disorders is required. Method: This research developed evaluation checklist for personal office furniture and apparatus by examining 25 domestic and international ergonomic literature and anthropometric data. This research carried out a fact-finding survey targeting the A Office and B Office of one public agency using the checklist. Results: Although, the checklist items on desks, chairs, computers and other goods conformed to the checklist standards, the following items did not conformed: desk height adjustment, seat board depth adjustment, lumbar support depth, foot rest, wrist rest, mouse tray, headset, speaker phone and Bluetooth. Conclusion: The evaluation checklist for personal office furniture and apparatus and fact-finding survey results are considered to be used as basic data for office work environment and workers' welfare improvement. Application: The information drawn from this research can be helpful to manufacturers' design and manufacture of ergonomic furniture and apparatus.