• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.553-559
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to develop a gait assistive device to enhance the gait stability and training efficiency of stroke patients. The configuration of this device is mainly composed of a motored wheel and a single cane whose lower end is attached to a motored wheel frame. A patient can feel haptic information from continuous ground contact from the wheel while walking through the grip handle. In addition, the wheeled cane can avoid using excessive use of the patient's upper limb for weight support and motivate the patient to use a paralyzed lower limb more actively. Moreover, the proposed device can provide intuitive and safe user interaction by integrating a force sensor and a tilt sensor equipped to the cane frame, and a switch sensor at the cane's handle. The admittance control has been implemented for the patient to change the walking speed intuitively by using the interaction forces at the handle. A hemi-paretic stroke patient participated in the walking assistive experiments as a pilot study to verify the effectiveness of the proposed haptic cane system. The results showed that the patient could improve walking speed and muscle activations during walking with a constant speed mode of the haptic cane. Moreover, the patient could maintain the preferred walking speeds and gait stability regardless of the magnitude of resistance forces with the admittance control mode of the haptic cane. The proposed robotic gait assistive device with a simple and intuitive mechanism can provide efficient gait training modes to stroke patients with high possibilities of widespread utilizations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.122-132
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to present the basic materials of a developmental counterplan by assessing prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and characteristics of work-related ergonomic risk factors. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms of 64 vineyard workers was investigated by using a self-reported questionnaire. And the vineyard workers' tasks were also collected and analyzed during 9-month period by observing and videotaping methods to identify the ergonomic risk factors. The prevalence rate of musculoskeletal symptoms of female(84.4%) was much higher than that of male(62.5%) and a total prevalence rate was 73.4%. There was no different prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms between age over 60 years and under 60 years. The prevalence rates of musculoskeletal complaints for each body part were 48.4%, 42.2%, and 35.9% for the wrist, legs/knee, and shoulder, respectively. In postural risk analysis, 7 works(REBA score) represented the high risk tasks such as delivering harvest boxed(12), picking cluster(11) and so on. The main works(exposure score) were orderly ranked as picking cluster(1590), pruning branch(388), and cluster thinning(327). The risk factors of vineyard work were identified as follows: shoulder flexion(${\geq}45^{\circ}$), wrist Flex./Ext.(${\geq}15^{\circ}$), hand force(power/pinch-grip), and prolonged standing(${\geq}4hr$). The engineering solutions including an improvement of hand tools, working process, and working environment should be applied to the high risky tasks in order to resolve the ergonomic problems. The administrative solutions such as improving a distribution of resting time, an exercise cure, an early recognition of symptoms and rehabilitation might be another solution for reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in vineyard workers.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.185-196
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• 2005

Recently among several tennis techniques forehand stroke has been greatly changed in the aspect of spin, grip and stance. The most fundamental factor among the three factors is the stance which consists of open, square and closed stance and it is very important to know the patterns of plantar pressure distribution for the better understanding of forehand stroke. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the change of plantar pressure distribution according to close, square and open stance patterns during forehand stroke in tennis. Three high school tennis players were recruited for the study and required to perform forehand stroke five consecutive trials in the condition of open, square and close stance. The forehand strokes were filmed with two digital video cameras and measured with pedar system for plantar pressure. The plantar regions under the foot were divided into 3 regions, which were forefoot, midfoot, and rear foot.. In conclusion, the first hypothesis, "The plantar pressure of close stance during forehand stroke would be distributed more largely to the left foot.", was rejected and the result showed that The plantar pressure of close stance during forehand stroke was distributed transferring from right foot to left foot similar to square stance. The second hypothesis, "The plantar pressure of square stance during forehand stroke would be distributed transferring from right foot to left foot." was accepted. The third hypothesis, "The plantar pressure of open stance during forehand stroke would be distributed more largely to the right foot.", was accepted.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.173-181
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study examined the necessity of a musculoskeletal injury-prevention program for automobile parts manufacturing workers by assessing the body composition, muscle strength, and posture according to sex and age. METHODS: Two hundred eighty-two workers (men, 218; women, 64; mean age, 38.97 years; and mean work tenure, 10.29 years) participated in this study. They completed a questionnaire on their general characteristics, excluding personal identification codes. The participants were evaluated for body composition, muscle strength, and posture using InBody, a hand dynamometer, and the Image J program through photography, respectively. An independent t-test and one-way analysis of the variance were used for the comparisons according to sex and age, respectively. RESULTS: Significant sex-related differences in muscle strength and grip force were observed (p<.05). In addition, the left-side pelvic inclination was significantly higher in the female participants than in the male participants (p<.05). Significant age-related differences in the skeletal muscle mass and muscle strength were observed around 40 years (p<.05). Significant correlations were observed among the body composition (skeletal muscle and body fat masses), muscle strength, and posture (pelvic inclination; p<.01). CONCLUSION: Significant differences in pelvic inclination by sex and muscle strength by age were found, even in healthy workers. Additional posture and muscle strength measurements will be needed for workers who participate in the musculoskeletal injury prevention program because they are exposed to an incorrect posture for many hours or in many repetitive tasks.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2014

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common work-related peripheral neuropathy. In addition to grip force and repetitive hand exertions, wrist posture (hyperextension and hyperflexion) may be a risk factor for CTS among workers. However, findings of studies evaluating the relationship between wrist posture and CTS are inconsistent. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a meta-analysis of existing studies to evaluate the evidence of the relationship between wrist posture at work and risk of CTS. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant studies published between 1980 and 2012. The following search terms were used: "work related", "carpal tunnel syndrome", "wrist posture", and "epidemiology". The studies defined wrist posture as the deviation of the wrist in extension or flexion from a neutral wrist posture. Relative risk (RR) of individual studies for postural risk was pooled to evaluate the overall risk of wrist posture on CTS. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. All were cross-sectional or case-control designs and relied on self-report or observer's estimates for wrist posture assessment. The pooled RR of work-related CTS increased with increasing hours of exposure to wrist deviation or extension/flexion [RR = 2.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.646-2.43; p < 0.01: Shore-adjusted 95% CI: 1.32-2.97]. Conclusion: We found evidence that prolonged exposure to non-neutral wrist postures is associated with a twofold increased risk for CTS compared with low hours of exposure to non-neutral wrist postures. Workplace interventions to prevent CTS should incorporate training and engineering interventions that reduce sustained non-neutral wrist postures.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.106 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 2017

This study was carried to develop the chip-harvester and to analysis the operation productivity and cost for effective collection and forwarding of forest biomass. Main target specification of chip-harvester is speed of 8km/h, maximum climbing capacity of $30^{\circ}$ and maximum load capability of 2000 kg. Body structure is articulate type to reduce turning radius. Driving equipment is six-wheel drive, and a rear wheel is tandem bogie type to increase grip force. As a result of the driving test about developed chip-harvester, driving speed was 6.9 km/hr and 8.1 km/hr in ${\pm}10%$ slope with loaded and 7.3 km/hr and 7.9 km/hr in ${\pm}10%$ slope without load. As a result of the operation productivity and cost, operation productivity of grinding and forwarding was approximately $10m^3$ per day, and operation cost was 393,126 won per day.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.49
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• pp.137-160
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• 2012

This paper focuses on analyzing Eom Heun's grip on reality and attitudes through his literary works. He realized his time as a corrupted world that lack of morality. This actually was a criticism for the existing political force at that time, and he embodied it by using the image of wind, frost, mole cricket, ant, and so on. During that time, he tried to stick to his opinion on integrity. For that, he criticized men of the day who had an apathetic attitude. On the other hand, he praised pine and grass as an image of faith and fidelity. We may verify his world view by reading his literary works.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2022

There has always been a demand for orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic treatment allows tooth to be arranged by flexible arch wire fixed with tooth-attached brackets. Arch wire generate constant pressure to tooth brackets which moves the teeth to proper place. When the bracket transmits force, the braced wing of the bracket may deform. Deformed tie wing will lead to lost tension of elastic ligature. Then, lacking grip between tie wing and ligature might delay the tooth movement. Furthermore, tooth brackets used for orthodontic treatment make contact with in direct oral surface and this cause feeling of irritation that comes from height of tooth braces. This study suggests an optimal teethe bracket design to make up for inconvenience by shorten the height of bracket and complement the shape of bracket to reduce strain rate using finite element analysis. As a result, new optimal design of teethe bracket indicates lower strain rate of the bracket wing and takes good effects of shorten body height in terms of convenience.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.208-215
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• 2020

This study investigated the relationship among gait variables and physical fitness variables for Korean elderly people. Two hundred elderly people aged 65 to 85, (100 men and 100 women) participated in this study. They performed senior fitness test consisting of 6 tests, 3 additional physical tests (vertical jump, one leg stand, and grip force), body composition measures, and gait test. The gait test used shoes having an inertia measurement device in the outer-soles. The results indicated that the stride length, 6-min walking, lean body mass, and dumbbell curls were significantly affected by age (the above 75 group vs. the below 75 group). Among 33 measured parameters, the principal component analysis (PCA) revealed five PCs such as gait characteristics, physical features, gait variability, and fitness levels. In addition, the correlation analysis showed that the preferred walking speed was significantly, positively associated with stride length and single support time, whereas it was negatively associated with double support time and gait variability.(Ed note: please confirm my modification) In conclusion, sarcopenia should be avoided in elderly people, and resistance exercise is highly recommended to help elderly people maintain their gait ability.