• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.727-734
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to evaluate the resting postures of the fingers and wrist based on the biomechanical model in term of hand posture (neutral, pronation, and supination) and gender (male and female). The finger and wrist joint angles were measured with VICON motion system. The EMG system was used to examine the muscle activity in the resting condition. The participants consisted of twenty male and twenty female students. The angles of the fingers and wrist were analyzed by means of the coordinate system associated with the International Society of Biomechanics. Hand posture was significant for all the joints. The finger and wrist joint flexed in supination more than in neutral and pronation. The hand posture and gender were not significant for the results of muscle activity, but it had larger muscle activities in supination more than in neutral and pronation.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1910-1914
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• 2015

Human posture recognition is an attractive and challenging topic in computer vision due to its promising applications in the areas of personal health care, environmental awareness, human-computer-interaction and surveillance systems. Human posture recognition in video sequences consists of two stages: the first stage is training and evaluation and the second is deployment. In the first stage, the system is trained and evaluated using datasets of human postures to ‘teach’ the system to classify human postures for any future inputs. When the training and evaluation process is deemed satisfactory as measured by recognition rates, the trained system is then deployed to recognize human postures in any input video sequence. Different classifiers were used in the training such as Multilayer Perceptron Feedforward Neural networks, Self-Organizing Maps, Fuzzy C Means and K Means. Results show that supervised learning classifiers tend to perform better than unsupervised classifiers for the case of human posture recognition.

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.32-35
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• 2011

Lifting capacity and difficulty of task are influenced by body posture. In RULA and REBA, the body was divided into segments which formed two groups, A and B. Group A includes the upper and lower arm and wrist while group B includes the neck, trunk and legs. This ensures that whole body posture is recorded so that any awkward or constrained posture of the legs, trunk or neck which might influence the posture of the upper limb. This study aimed to measure MVC (maximum voluntary contraction) and subjective judgment in psychophysical method (Borg's scale) according to trunk and upper arm angle and to analyze results statistically. The results of this study were that lifting capacity was more influenced by interaction of body posture rather than angles of each part, and MVC variation according to trunk and upper arms angles should different patterns. This means that we consider the interaction of trunk angles and upper arm angles when we access risk factors of the postures. This survey would be also the basic data to evaluate difficulty of lifting tasks according to body postures ergonomically.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1498-1507
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effect of neck stabilization exercise and Swiss ball exercise on the recovery from the fatigue of neck muscles induced. The turtleneck posture was set artificially by using Smartphone with healthy adults. Repetitively measured ANOVA was executed to examine the changes in the muscle fatigue of sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezius, and splenius capitis among three-time intervals (at the time of general resting, work and after intervention) in the three intervention groups (neck stabilization exercise group, Swiss ball exercise group, and ordinary rest group). There were no significant differences in the changes of fatigue of sternocleidomastoid muscle among all three intervention groups at the time of general resting, work and after intervention (p>.05). Although there was no significant difference in the changes in the fatigue of upper trapezius and splenius capitis muscles between the intervention groups at the time of general resting and work (p>.05), there was the significant difference between the three intervention groups at the time of work and after intervention (p>.05). This study suggest that Swiss ball exercise is more effective in reducing the muscular fatigue of the neck and shoulder at a turtleneck posture than neck stabilization exercise.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1663-1668
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• 2018

This study was conducted to examine the effects of Evjenth-Hamberg stretching of the sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezius, and pectoralis major on the lung function of adults with forward neck posture. The subjects were 20 adult students in P university located in Pohang, Korea, whose degree of head forward displacement measured according to NEW YORK state posture test was mild. The subjects were randomly and equally assigned to the Evjenth-Hamberg Stretching group (EHSG, n=10) and the control group (CG, n=10). Their forced vital capacity (FVC), slow vital capacity (SVC), and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) were measured before and after the experiment. In within-group comparison, only the EHSG experienced statistically significant improvement in FVC, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), and peak expiratory flow (PEE) after the experiment, compared to before the experiment (.05

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.1840-1848
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• 2019

Background : There is lack of studies on the effects of the bag-carrying style on the shoulder muscles and body alignment in adults with rounded shoulder posture (RSP). Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of various bag-carrying styles on muscle tone, muscle stiffness and spinal alignment in 20 adults with RSP as they were walking on a treadmill. Design : Crossover Study Design. Methods: A subject performed treadmill walking for 15 minutes at a speed of 4 ㎞/ｈ while carrying three different types of bags: a backpack, a cross bag, and a shoulder bag. Results : The results showed that the main effect of timing was observed in the muscle tone for all the variables and in muscle stiffness only for the upper and lower trapezius muscles. As for the main effect of timing, the muscle tone of the upper trapezius and the pectoralis major significantly increased in all conditions, while the muscle tone of the lower trapezius significantly decreased in all conditions. The muscle stiffness of the upper trapezius significantly increased in all conditions, while the muscle stiffness of the lower trapezius significantly decreased in all conditions. As for the spinal alignment, the dimple distance data values significantly decreased for the cross-bag style. Conclusions : This study demonstrated that walking with a heavy bag, regardless of the bag-carrying style, increased muscle stiffness around the shoulders in adults with rounded shoulder posture, and walking with a cross-bag also induced changes in spinal alignment.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.2178-2183
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• 2020

Background: Trunk flexor-extensor muscles' co-activation and upright posture are important for spinal stability. Abdominal bracing and maximal expiration are being used as exercises to excel torso co-contraction. However, no study has on comparison of the effect of this exercise on multifidus in the upright sitting posture. Objectives: This study aims to verify the effectiveness of abdominal bracing and expiration maneuvers in lumbo-pelvic upright sitting. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Eighteen healthy women were recruited for this study. The multifidus muscle thickness of all subjects was measured in three sitting conditions (lumbo-pelvic upright sitting, lumbo-pelvic upright sitting with abdominal bracing, and lumbo-pelvic upright sitting with maximum expiration) using ultrasound. One-way repeated measure analysis of variance was used for the evaluation. Results: Compared to lumbo-pelvic upright sitting, lumbo-pelvic upright sitting with abdominal bracing and lumbo-pelvic upright sitting with maximum expiration were associated with significantly increment of muscle thickness. There was no significant difference in muscle thickness between lumbo-pelvic upright sitting with abdominal bracing and lumbo-pelvic upright sitting with maximum expiration. Conclusion: Abdominal bracing and maximum expiration could be beneficial to increasing lumbar multifidus thickness in lumbo-pelvic upright sitting.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1960-1968
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• 2020

Background: The alignment of the neck and shoulder is important in people with forward head posture. However, previous studies have mainly conducted fragmentary studies on the neck and shoulders, and studies on the combined movement of the neck and shoulders are incomplete. Objective: To investigate the effects of 6 week dynamic exercise program using Thera-band on craniovertebral angle (CVA) in adults with forward head posture. Design: Quasi-experimental study. Methods: The study was conducted on 24 adults with forward head posture and experimented with neck and shoulder exercises and divided them into groups of neck exercises, shoulder exercises, and neck and shoulder exercises to measure CVA values before and after the experiment. The neck exercise program included flexion and extension muscles of the neck and shoulder exercises included dynamic exercise of the upper extremities such as the trapezius muscles and serratus anterior muscle. The CVA results were measured using PA200. Results: Following the interventions, neck exercise group showed significant improvement in CVA (P<.05), but shoulder exercise group and combined exercise group did not show any significant results (P>.05). However, both groups showed some positive results. Significant differences were seen in the comparisons between the three groups (P<.05), and the results of the post-hoc test showed significant differences in neck exercise group and shoulder exercise, neck exercise and combine exercise group. Conclusion: This study suggested that the Thera-band neck exercise is beneficial for foward head posture patients and is expected to be used in clinical trials.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.956-964
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of continuous muscle strengthening applied to the antagonist of the sternocleidomatoid, upper trapezius, and pectoralis major, which are the shortened muscles of forward head posture(FHP) subjects, and Evjenth-Hamberg stretching(EHS) applied to the shortened muscles on changes in pressure pain threshold(PPT). Twenty subjects were divided into the continuous antagonist strengthening(CAS) group(n=10) and the EHS group(n=10), and each group performed its respective exercise three times a week for a six week period. The results were as follows: The comparison of changes in PPT within each group before and after the treatment showed a statistically significant difference(p<.05) according to the treatment period and a statistically significant difference according to the treatment period and method(p<.05). While the comparison of the tests of between subjects effects between the groups did not show a statistically significant difference, the CAS group exhibited better effects. The above results suggest that the combined application of CAS and EHS generates better effects on changes in PPT than the single application of EHS. Given that stretching and muscle strengthening exercises even for the short research period of six weeks could change the PPT, continuous exercises and a correct postural habit for a longer period of time are likely to help prevent chronic pain and correct FHP.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.10-16
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• 2005

Because patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have depressed vagal modulation and the mortality risk from acute myocardial infarction is lower in patients with higher vagal modulation, methods that can increase vagal modulation are desirable in patients with CAD. We intended to inspect the effect of recumbent posture on vagal modulation. By using angiography, 33 patients with abnormal (CAD group) and 33 patients with normal coronary arteries (control group) were studied. The nonlinear as well as the linear characteristics of heart rate variability (HRV) were analyzed on these patients in three recumbent postures: namely, the supine, right lateral decubitus, and left lateral decubitus postures. The lower the normalized high-frequency power (nHF) in the supine or left lateral decubitus posture, the higher the increase in the nHF when the posture was changed from supine or left lateral decubitus to right lateral decubitus in both groups of patients. Right lateral decubitus posture can lead to the highest vagal modulation and the lowest sympathetic modulation among the three recumbent postures in both normal and patients with CAD. Therefore, the right lateral decubitus posture can be used as an effective physiologic vagal enhancer in patients with CAD.