• Clinical Pain
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.70-75
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of infrared thermography in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome by comparing with electrodiagnostic and ultrasonographic findings. Method: From January 2014 to October 2017, electrodiagnosis, ultrasound, and digital infrared thermal image (DITI) of unilateral carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosed in a single hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The subjects with bilateral symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, fibromyalgia, rheumatic disease, systemic infection, inflammation, malignant tumor, and other musculoskeletal disorders such as finger osteoarthritis, peripheral neuropathy, cervical radiculopathy, and the previous history of surgery were excluded. Results: Of 53 patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, 11 were male and 42 were female. The visual analogue scale was 4.9 ± 1.9, and the duration of symptom was 11.8 ± 12.5 months. There was no statistically significant difference in the body surface temperature between the unaffected and affected sides. The severity of symptoms, electrodiagnostic findings, and cross-sectional area of the median nerve significantly correlates to each other. The temperature difference between the second fingers of the affected and unaffected sides showed a weak correlation with the amplitude of sensory nerve action potential and onset latency of compound muscle action potential, when there was no significant correlation with the other parameters. Conclusion: The difference in temperature on the surface of the body, which can be confirmed by DITI, is little diagnostic value when DITI is performed in unilateral carpal tunnel syndrome patients, especially when compared with ultrasonography.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.317-324
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• 2023

Background: COVID-19 pandemic represented a unique stressful event that affected the physical health and psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals and communities. Monitoring PWB is essential not only to clarify the burden on mental health effects but also to define targeted psychological-supporting measures. This cross-sectional study evaluated the PWB of Italian firefighters during the pandemic. Methods: Firefighters recruited during the pandemic period filled out a self-administered questionnaire, the Psychological General Well-Being Index, during the health surveillance medical examination. This tool is usually used to assess the global PWB and explores six subdomains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. The influencing roles of age, gender, working activities, COVID-19, and pandemic restrictive measures were also explored. Results: A total of 742 firefighters completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in the 'no distress"" range (94.3 ± 10.3), which was higher than that observed in studies conducted using the same tool in the Italian general population during the same pandemic period. Similar findings were observed in the specific subdomains, thus suggesting that the investigated population was in good PWB condition. Interestingly, significantly better outcomes were detected in the younger firefighters. Conclusion: Our data showed a satisfactory PWB situation in firefighters that could be related to different professional factors such as work organization and mental and physical training. In particular, our results would suggest the hypothesis that in firefighters, maintaining a minimum/moderate level of physical activity (consisting of even just going to work) might have a profoundly positive impact on psychological health and well-being.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.325-331
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• 2023

Background: Heat stress is a harmful physical hazard in many occupational settings. However, consequences of occupational heat exposure among workers in a sugarcane factory in Ethiopia are not well characterized. This study aimed to assess the level of occupational heat exposure-related symptoms and contributing factors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, five workstations were selected for temperature measurement. Heat stress levels were measured using a wet-bulb globe temperature index meter. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 1,524 participants. Heat-related symptoms were assessed using validated questionnaires. Results: The level of occupational heat exposure was 72.4% (95% CI: 70.2%-74.8%), while 71.6% (95% CI: 69.3%-74.9%) of participants experienced at least one symptom related to heat stress. The most common heat-related symptoms were swelling of hands and feet (78%), severe thirst (77.8%) and dry mouth (77.4%). The identified risk factors were a lack of reflective shields (AOR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.53, 3.17), not-enclosed extreme heat sources (AOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.23, 2.51), a lack of access to shade (AOR: 9.62, 95% CI: 6.20, 14.92), and inappropriate protective clothing provision (AOR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.27, 2.71). Conclusions: The burden of occupational heat exposure and heat-induced symptoms was high. Lack of reflective shields, the absence of enclosed extreme heat sources, a lack of access to shade, and inappropriate protective clothing provision were considerable attributes of heat stress. Therefore, the use of mechanical solutions to stop heat emissions at their sources and the key factors identified were areas for future intervention.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.332-339
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• 2023

Background: The aim of the study was to test the validity and reliability of the Perceived Future Decent Work Securement Scale for Turkish nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional, methodological study design was used. The study was carried out at three nursing undergraduate programs in Turkey during the academic year of 2020-2021 with 336 senior nursing students. Language validity and content validity analyses were performed for the scale adaptation, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for construct validity. The reliability of the scale was determined using the test-retest and Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient. Results: The scale-content validity index score was 0.988. In CFA, all goodness-of-fit indices verified the acceptable fit of the model; its root mean square error of approximation was 0.076; the normed fit index was 0.909; the standardized mean square residual was 0.097; the relative fit index was 0.881; the goodness-of-fit index was 0.915; the adjusted goodness-of-fit index was 0.872 and χ²/df = 2.932. The overall reliability was α = 0.86. The item-total correlations of the scale were above the acceptable level, and the test-retest analysis had a high correlation. The access to healthcare (14.68, SD 3.53) obtained the highest average score, and the adequate compensation (8.52, SD 3.76) was the lowest rated by the senior nursing students. Conclusion: The Perceived Future Decent Work Securement Scale is a valid and reliable scale to assess nursing students' future decent work securement.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.214-221
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• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of using the LED light electromyographyfeedback system (EMG-light) during Pilates exercises in women to maintain consistent muscle contraction in the abdominal external oblique muscles and reduce muscle contraction in the upper trapezius muscles. This study compared Pilates training using the EMG-light with Pilates training only in healthy women for 4 weeks. Design: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 17 healthy women were divided into an experimental group (n=9) and a control group (n=8). Both groups performed Pilates exercises as assigned, twice per week for four weeks, with each session lasting fifty minutes. The experimental group were used the EMG-light feedback system during pilates exercise while the control group did not use EMG-light. We used cervical vertebral angle (CVA), shoulder tilt angle to evaluate neck posture and standing balance with closed eye for 30s before and after exercise. Results: The control group exhibited a significant change in CVA (p<0.05). Both groups showed significant changes in shoulder tilt, center of pressure (COP) path-length, and COP velocity during eyes-closed conditions (p<0.05). However, there were significant differences between the experimental and control groups in terms of CVA, shoulder tilt, COP path-length, and COP velocity. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that Pilates exercises had positive effects on shoulder posture and balance. The use of EMG-light provided real-time visual feedback on muscle contraction during Pilates exercise. However, the experimental group did not show significant improvements compared to the control group, which performed Pilates exercises without feedback.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 2023

Objective: Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging is a safe and noninvasive technique for evaluating muscle thickness. A dual probe-fixing frame (DPF) can provide visual feedback during exercises targeting specific muscles. The purpose of this research was to verify the reliability and validity of the DPF for dual-probe ultrasound (DPU)-based visual feedback exercises, allowing users to use both hands freely. Design: This cross-sectional study used repeated measures to compare muscle thickness measurements obtained using the handheld device and DPF with DPU. Methods: Twenty healthy adults participated in the study. Measurements were taken over two sessions, with a two-day interval between the sessions. The thicknesses of the rectus abdominis (RA) and transverse abdominis (TrA) muscles were measured using DPU. The DPF with DPU developed by the research team, was used along with a laptop-based muscle viewer. Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) calculations were used in statistical analyses to evaluate agreement and reliability, respectively. Results: The results of the Bland-Altman analysis showed small average differences between the handheld and DPF methods for both RA and TrA muscle thicknesses. Inter-rater reliability analysis showed high ICC values for DPF measurements of both RA (0.908-0.912) and TrA (0.892-741) muscle thicknesses. Intra-rater reliability analysis also showed good ICC values for measurements taken by a single examiner over two days. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that the DPF provides reliable and valid measurements of muscle thickness during visual feedback exercises using the DPU.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.81.1-81.12
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• 2023

Background: The incidence of colic and the outcomes of colic surgery have not been surveyed in racetracks in Korea. Objectives: This study examined the incidence, mortality, and case fatality of colic and investigated the effects of age and sex after an exploratory celiotomy on the long-term survival rate (return to racing), subsequent racing performance, and career longevity. Methods: The incidence, mortality, and case fatalities of colic were examined over an 11-year period. The records of 40 horses that had undergone a celiotomy, after participating in at least one race and 75 race-matched control horses were analyzed. The racing performance and career length of the horses that returned to racing post-surgery were compared with a control group. Results: The annual incidence, fatality rate of colic, and annual mortality rate at Seoul Racecourse were 6.5, 2.8 per 100 horse-years, and 0.2 deaths cases per 100 horse-years, respectively. Of the 40 horses that underwent colic surgery, 26 (65%) returned to racing. The likelihood of returning to racing decreased with increasing age of the horses, and geldings had a lower probability of returning. While the performance in the five preoperative races between the two groups was not significantly different, a significant decrease in racing performance was observed after the surgery date (p < 0.01). Horses that underwent colic surgery did not show a significant decrease in career length. Conclusions: Surgical treatment for colic at the age of three and four years had a negative impact on the racing performance. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in career longevity between the two groups.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.476-483
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• 2023

The present study concerns modelling the structural behaviour for concrete structure into the crack initiation at corrosion of steels. The degradation source included the axial load and steel corrosion. A development of the rust formed on the steel surface was considered with the interfacial gap between steel and concrete. As a result, the tensile damage could occur on the surface of concrete into the cracking with no steel corrosion, which could be further developed by the increasing rust formation, while the cracking at the steel-concrete interface was mainly attributed to the compressive deformation, being restricted within the interfacial zone.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.296-311
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to identify factors related to the workload of intensive care unit nurses through a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to provide basic data to explore the direction of development of nursing staffing standards. Methods: This study involved quantitative studies about nurses working in intensive care units related to nursing workload published in English or Korean since 2000. Search terms included 'intensive care unit', 'nursing workload', and their variations. Databases such as RISS, DBpia, MEDLINE(PubMed), CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science were utilized. Quality assessment was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies. JAMOVI software facilitated the analysis of effect sizes, employing a meta-analysis approach for 7 studies with correlational or regression data. Results: From 16 studies on the workload of intensive care unit nurses, a total of 20 patient and nurse-related factors were identified. Patient-related factors included severity of illness, length of stay, and age. Meta-analysis was conducted for three patient-related factors: age, severity of illness measured by SAPS 3, and length of stay. Only severity of illness measured by SAPS 3 was significantly associated with nurse workload (Zr=0.16, p<.001, 95% CI=0.09-0.24). Conclusion: In previous studies, the characteristics of intensive care units and patients varied across studies, and a variety of scales for measuring workload and severity of illness were also used. Sustained research reflecting domestic intensive care unit work environments and assessing the workload of intensive care unit nurses should be imperative.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.29-43
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• 2023

Background: In the rehabilitation of stroke patients, regular physical activity is very important not only as a treatment for maximal functional recovery but also as a strategy to prevent the recurrence of stroke. The purpose of this study was to objectively measure the amount of physical activity in people with stroke, and to examine the differences in motor and cognitive function according to a level of physical activity. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: Physical activity (GENEActiv), motor function (Fugl-Meyer Assessment), cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Korean version), and the Korean version of Modified Barthel Index were evaluated in adult stroke patients with hemiplegia. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the level of physical activity according to the motor and cognitive function. There was no statistically significant difference in motor and cognitive function according to the level of physical activity, but there was a statistically significant difference in the MBI (p<.01). Conclusion: As a result of the difference in the MBI according to the level of physical activity, it was found that the more moderate to vigorous physical activities are performed, the higher the independence in daily living. These results can be interpreted as that the more often you participate in physical activities such as physical therapy (gait training), the better your independence in ADL. Since regular physical activity participation of adult stroke patients can improve daily living performance, it is considered necessary to participate in physical activities such as continuous physical therapy.