• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.3 s.58
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• pp.540-554
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• 1997

The effects of cigarette smoking on the psychosocial distress, the absenteeism, the occupational injuries, and on the prevalence for the accidents were assessed in 795 male workers who had been employed since March 1994. The results show that the prevalence of current smokers were higher in young men, lower educational level, lower income, single men(unmarried or divorced), alcohol drinkers, and blue collar workers. In the bivariate analyses, the workers with the high job demand and low work control were more likely to smoke, although the relationship was not strong. Those who reported lower satisfaction on his job tended to smoke more. Mean scores of psychosocial well-being index(PWI) were higher in current smokers than nonsmokers. For the hierarchical multiple regression analyses, interaction terms between cigarette smoking and job stressors(job demand and work control) were not significant. For smokers, the odds ratios for the occupational injuries, and the accidents were 1.40(95% confidence interval 0.77-2.57) and 1.96 (95% confidence interval 0.75-5.09), respectively. The mean absent day were 4.13 for smokers, 3.65 for nonsmokers, although the differences were not statistically significant. It seems that cigarette smoking had not caused any crucial effects on the psychosocial well-being status and the occupational risks. Some considerations for the further research on the relationship of cigarette smoking on the mental health status and the occupational risks were also discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2847-2852
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• 2016

Background: Although the breast cancer incidence rate in Japan is lower than in western countries, the age-specific rates have markedly increased in recent years, along with the problems of declining birth rate and an aging population. Materials and Methods: We examined past trends of age-specific breast cancer incidence using data from the Osaka Cancer Registry from 1976 to 2010, and estimated future trends until 2025 based on the changes observed and population dynamics using a log linear regression model. Results: The age-specific breast cancer incidence rate has increased consistently from the 1970s, and the rates have caught up with those of Japanese-Americans in the US. Assuming the increasing tendency of age-specific breast cancer incidence to be constant, the average annual incidence of breast cancer will increase 1.7-fold from 2006-2010 to 2021-2025. Furthermore, the number of patients aged 80 years should increase 3.4-fold. Conclusions: The medical demand for breast cancer care in Japan may increase explosively in the future, particularly among the elderly. We need to prepare for such a future increase in demand for care, although careful monitoring is needed to confirm these results.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.108-118
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational stress factors on the level of stress and depression of entertainment program producers and entertainment program writers. Methods: This study was based on analysis of a survey collected by 65 respondents out of 224 questionnaires who are entertainment program PDs and entertainment program writers. The survey was conducted from December 20, 2017 to February 20, 2018. Results: In the logistic regression analysis conducted to investigate the factors affecting the stress level in the job-related characteristics of a) higher total career, b) shorter working period in the current firm, c) longer weekly working hours and d) more count of weekend work, the results found higher stress levels. In the sub-factors of job stress, the stress level encountered by respondents was significantly higher for those with a) higher job demand, b) lower insufficient job control and c) higher job instability. In the logistic regression analysis conducted to investigate the factors affecting depression, the depression level in entertainment PD was higher than the entertainment writer in the sociodemographic characteristics. In the sub-factors of job stress, the stress level was significantly higher for those with higher job demand, lower insufficient job control, and higher job instability. For job-related characteristics, depression was significantly higher for longer weekly working hours. Conclusions: Entertainment program producers and entertainment program writers suffer from psychosocial stress and depression which are caused by excessive job demands, lack of job autonomy and job instabilities. Those factors must be managed and also their workweek should be shortened.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.429-438
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the demand of K-nursing in Southeast Asian nursing colleges, and to promote international exchange convergence. In this study, we surveyed the professors and students who were living in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. For investigating the demands of the topics, two times of surveys were conducted using the google form In the first survey, the emergency care and infectious control showed the most frequent. In the second survey, the classification of emergency patients, showed the most, according the highest priority of emergency department. In infectious control department, management of new infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, showed the most, according to the highest priority. Based on the result, we make a suggestion to develop the contents, according to the highest priority, and to utilize them in international exchange programs.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.189-198
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the occupational performance of Korean workers with and without hearing loss and analyze the hearing-related difficulties in the working environment. Subjects and Methods: The Amsterdam checklist for hearing and work was used for the analyses and the occupational environments of the Korean workers were investigated. Out of 129 total participants, 86 workers experienced severe to profound hearing loss and 43 had the normal hearing ability. The hearing-impaired workers were recruited from two leading vocational centers and normal-hearing workers were their colleagues. Results: The hearing-impaired workers were found to take fewer sick leaves and exhibited higher rates of permanent job statuses compared to the normal-hearing workers. Workers with hearing loss rarely detected background sound; however, they could perceive reverberation more frequently. They felt more satisfied with their careers than the normal hearing workers as they received social support and needed to put their effort into hearing for most hearing activities. Furthermore, the effort in hearing increased with the increase in job demand, job control, social support, and career satisfaction. The working hours per week increased with the increase in age, education level, job demand, job control, and social support. Different trends were observed in 9 out of 12 variables while comparing the data from the present study with that obtained from the hearing-impaired workers of the Netherlands, indicating a large difference between countries. Conclusions: Although the hearing-impaired Korean workers operate diligently with good job positions, it is necessary to enhance their acoustic environment and provide them social support. Considering the cultural background of the hearing-impaired workers, the development of suitable vocational rehabilitation programs and specific questionnaires is strongly recommended worldwide.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.189-199
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the occupational performance of Korean workers with and without hearing loss and analyze the hearing-related difficulties in the working environment. Subjects and Methods: The Amsterdam checklist for hearing and work was used for the analyses and the occupational environments of the Korean workers were investigated. Out of 129 total participants, 86 workers experienced severe to profound hearing loss and 43 had the normal hearing ability. The hearing-impaired workers were recruited from two leading vocational centers and normal-hearing workers were their colleagues. Results: The hearing-impaired workers were found to take fewer sick leaves and exhibited higher rates of permanent job statuses compared to the normal-hearing workers. Workers with hearing loss rarely detected background sound; however, they could perceive reverberation more frequently. They felt more satisfied with their careers than the normal hearing workers as they received social support and needed to put their effort into hearing for most hearing activities. Furthermore, the effort in hearing increased with the increase in job demand, job control, social support, and career satisfaction. The working hours per week increased with the increase in age, education level, job demand, job control, and social support. Different trends were observed in 9 out of 12 variables while comparing the data from the present study with that obtained from the hearing-impaired workers of the Netherlands, indicating a large difference between countries. Conclusions: Although the hearing-impaired Korean workers operate diligently with good job positions, it is necessary to enhance their acoustic environment and provide them social support. Considering the cultural background of the hearing-impaired workers, the development of suitable vocational rehabilitation programs and specific questionnaires is strongly recommended worldwide.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2024

Background: Different job strain formulations based on the Job Demand-Control model have been developed. This study evaluated longitudinal associations between job strain and psychological distress and whether associations were influenced by six formulations of job strain, including quadrant (original and simplified), subtraction, quotient, logarithm quotient, and quartile based on quotient, in randomly selected Japanese workers. Methods: Data were from waves I and II of the Survey of Midlife in Japan (MIDJA), with a 4-year followup period. The study sample consisted of 412 participants working at baseline and had complete data on variables of interest. Associations between job strain at baseline and psychological distress at follow-up were assessed via multivariable linear regression, and results were expressed as β coefficients and 95% confidence intervals including R² and Akaike information criterion (AIC) evaluation. Results: Crude models revealed that job strain formulations explained 6.93-10.30% of variance. The AIC ranged from 1475.87 to 1489.12. After accounting for sociodemographic and behavioral factors and psychological distress at baseline, fully-adjusted models indicated significant associations between all job strain formulations at baseline and psychological distress at follow-up: original quadrant (β: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.12, 2.21), simplified quadrant (β: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.18, 1.85), subtraction (β: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.70), quotient (β: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.67), logarithm quotient (β: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.72), and quartile based on quotient (β: 1.22, 95% CI: 0.36, 2.08). Conclusion: Six job strain formulations showed robust predictive power regarding psychological distress over 4 years among Japanese workers.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.07b
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• pp.1388-1390
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• 2002

Hybrid power system has a power balanced controller to equilibrate generation power with a load demand and it is composed of DC bus-type power systems. And all of power generators in hybrid power system can be equivalent to current-source characteristics. So this paper discusses power balance control for photovoltaic/wind/diesel hybrid power system. And through the results of simulation, the proposed scheme was verified.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.1397-1404
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• 2011

Metro serves more than a basic function of transporting passengers between short distances but became a crucial part of civic culture due to the fact that citizens demand various facilities for better life style. Therefore, domestic metro cuts off train noise and air dust, provides pleasant platform surroundings by offering effective HVAC, and establishes PSD (Platform Screen Door) system to prevent falls into train tracks. To control and interlock EMU Door and PSD to avoid passenger complaint and revenue service obstructions, stability and reliability of on-board & wayside equipment are required foremost and each line needs to build optimum interface between on-board & wayside equipment. To control PSD, we would like to introduce examples of Busan Metro(BTC : Busan Transportation Corporation) which already utilizes interface between on-board & wayside equipment in various ways and consider optimum interface between on-board & wayside equipment in future PSD system.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.566-572
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• 2013

A microgrid is a small scale power system. The microgrid is operated in two operation modes, the grid-connected mode and the islanded mode. In the islanded mode, the frequency of a microgrid should be maintained constantly. For this, the balance between power supply and power demand during islanded mode should be met. In general, energy storage systems (ESSs) are used to solve power imbalance. In this paper, the frequency control effect of a Lithium-ion battery energy storage system (Li-ion BESS) has been tested on the hardware-in-the loop simulation (HILS) system environment.