• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.31
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• pp.19.1-19.7
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• 2016

A large portion of the Korean population has been exposed to toxic humidifier disinfectants (HDs), and considering that the majority of the victims are infants, the magnitude of the damage is expected to be considerably larger than what has currently been revealed. The current victims are voicing problems caused by various diseases, including but not limited to lung, upper respiratory tract, cardiovascular, kidney, musculoskeletal, eye, and skin diseases, etc. However, there has been difficulty in gaining validation for these health problems and identifying causal relationships due to lack of evidence proving that toxic HD is the specific causes of extrapulmonary diseases such as allergic rhinitis. Furthermore, the victims and bereaved families of the HD case have not received any support for psychological distress such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, feelings of injustice, and anger caused by the trauma. In addition, because the underlying mechanisms of the toxic materials within the HDs such as polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate, poly(oxyalkylene guanidine) hydrochloride, chloromethylisothiazolinone /methylisothiazolinone have yet to be determined, the demand for information regarding the HD issue is growing. The victims of the HD cases require support that goes beyond financial aid for medical costs and living expenses. There is a desperate need for government-led integrated support centers that provide individualized support through health screenings; in other words, we need an integrated facility that provides the appropriate social support to allow the victims to recover their physical and mental health, so as to well prepare them to return to a normal life. The implementation of such a plan requires not only the close cooperation between those departments already directly involved such as the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but also active support on a national scale from pan-governmental consultative bodies.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.5
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• pp.649-656
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• 2020

Objective : Unclear mental state is one of the major factors contributing to diagnostic failure of occult skeletal trauma in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the overlooked co-occurring skeletal trauma through whole body bone scan (WBBS) in TBI. Methods : A retrospective study of 547 TBI patients admitted between 2015 and 2017 was performed to investigate their cooccurring skeletal injuries detected by WBBS. The patients were divided into three groups based on the timing of suspecting skeletal trauma confirmed : 1) before WBBS (pre-WBBS); 2) after the routine WBBS (post-WBBS) with good mental state and no initial musculoskeletal complaints; and 3) after the routine WBBS with poor mental state (poor MS). The skeletal trauma detected by WBBS was classified into six skeletal categories : spine, upper and lower extremities, pelvis, chest wall, and clavicles. The skeletal injuries identified by WBBS were confirmed to be simple contusion or fractures by other imaging modalities such as X-ray or computed tomography (CT) scans. Of the six categorizations of skeletal trauma detected as hot uptake lesions in WBBS, the lesions of spine, upper and lower extremities were further statistically analyzed to calculate the incidence rates of actual fractures (AF) and actual surgery (AS) cases over the total number of hot uptake lesions in WBBS. Results : Of 547 patients with TBI, 112 patients (20.4 %) were presented with TBI alone. Four hundred and thirty-five patients with TBI had co-occurring skeletal injuries confirmed by WBBS. The incidences were as follows : chest wall (27.4%), spine (22.9%), lower extremities (20.2%), upper extremities (13.5%), pelvis (9.4%), and clavicles (6.3%). It is notable that relatively larger number of positive hot uptakes were observed in the groups of post-WBBS and poor MS. The percentage of post-WBBS group over the total hot uptake lesions in upper and lower extremities, and spines were 51.0%, 43.8%, and 41.7%, respectively, while their percentages of AS were 2.73%, 1.1%, and 0%, respectively. The percentages of poor MS group in the upper and lower extremities, and spines were 10.4%, 17.4%, and 7.8%, respectively, while their percentages of AS were 26.7%, 14.2%, and 11.1%, respectively. There was a statistical difference in the percentage of AS between the groups of post-WBBS and poor MS (p=0.000). Conclusion : WBBS is a potential diagnostic tool in understanding the skeletal conditions of patients with head injuries which may be undetected during the initial assessment.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.314-320
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• 2010

As the nature of triathlons is competition in three successive sports, triathletes experience elevated levels of stress on the body that are absent in single-sport athletic events, and consequently there are more potential medical problems to prepare for. Triathletes can also experience problems such as hypothermia, heat illness, excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, musculoskeletal injuries and trauma, immunosuppression, and haemolysis. Depending on the potentiality of such above-listed problems occurring in any given race, race organizers will prepare preventative measures and treatments accordingly. Olympic distance is not the only triathlon racing distance. Sprints, which are normally around half the Olympic distance, are common distances, as well as Long (2 km swim, 80 km bike, 20 km run), Ironman (3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42 km run), and ultra-distance events varying in length. Races of longer duration normally result in a higher percentage of athletes experiencing the above-mentioned medical problems, as well as inducing additional health risks such as hyponatraemia. Minimizing the occurrences of serious health issues is possible through the following means: carefully preparing for the probable race-day weather conditions; proper management and organization of the race; preparing an extensive water-safety and ground-course safety plan; distributing necessary nutrition along the course; and stressing the importance for athletes to have proper knowledge concerning race nutrition, biomechanical technique, physical preparation, and utilization of safe equipment. While risks of competing in triathlon are many, the instances of such medical problems are not excessive, and the triathlon has a reputation of being a reasonably safe sport as long as athletes with high risk take added precautions.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.85-93
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• 2013

Modern fire fighting jobs have been expanded to include areas of rescue, emergency medical service as well as conventional fire suppression, so that load for fire fighting jobs has been increased. Specifically, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as low back injury have been considered as one of major industrial hazards in heavy manual material handling during fire fighting jobs. This study tried to evaluate risk levels and to prepare background for reducing risk levels associated with heavy manual material handling during fire fighting jobs. This study applied two major tools in evaluating heavy manual material handling jobs which were NLE (NIOSH Lifting Equation) and 3DSSPP (3D Static Strength Prediction Program). A risk index in terms of heavy manual material handling during fire fighting jobs was identified. This index consisted of seven risk levels ranged from nine points (the first level) to three points (the seventh level). There was no job associated with the first level (the highest risk level) of index. There was only one job (life saving job) belonging to the second level (the second highest risk level) of index. The third level had jobs such as usage of destruction equipment and lifting patient. A total of basic eighteen jobs was categorized into six different levels (2nd-7th levels) of index. The outcome of the study could provide a good basis for conducting job intervention, preparing good equipment and developing good education program in order to prevent and reduce MSDs including low back injury of fire fighting jobs.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.389-401
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• 2021

This study was performed to generate basic data to establish a health promotion plan for residents of Chungcheongbuk-do by identifying characteristics of discharged patients residing in the Chungcheongbuk-do area from an In-Depth Post-Discharge Injury Survey reported by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDCP). The Report provided data on demographic characteristics, medical institution use characteristics, medical use characteristics, and disease characteristics of patients discharged from medical institutions with 100 or more beds from 2013 to 2017. The total number of Chungcheongbuk-do residents who were admitted and discharged from 2013 to 2017 was estimated to be 1,656,590, and the discharge rate was 21,089, which was higher than the national average of 13,882 in 2016. The regions where the discharge rate increased during this period include Goesan, Yeongdong, Boeun, Okcheon, Jeungpyeong, and Eumseong-gun, which are mainly rural areas. Among the patients hospitalized and discharged from hospitals outside the Chungcheongbuk-do area, the discharge rate of patients who used hospitals in Incheon/Gyeonggi areas and Daejeon/Chungnam areas increased slightly. Among the malignant tumor patients, the number of lung cancer(included trachea & bronchial cancer) patients was the highest. In addition, the discharge rate was highest for patients with respiratory diseases. This study suggests that efforts need to be made to lower the discharge rate for infection, circulatory disease, genitourinary disease, and musculoskeletal disorder patients

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.110-117
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• 2023

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find out kinematic and kinetic differences the lower extremity joint according to the landing type during vertical jump movement after jump landing, and to present an efficient landing method to reduce the incidence of injury in youth players. Method: Total of 24 Youth players under Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, who used either heel contact landing (HCG) or toe contact landing (TCG) participated in this study (HCG (12): CG height: 168.7 ± 9.7 cm, weight: 60.9 ± 11.6 kg, age: 14.1 ± 0.9 yrs., career: 4.3 ± 2.9 yrs., TCG height: 174.8 ± 4.9 cm, weight: 66.9 ± 9.9 kg, age 13.9 ± 0.8 yrs., career: 4.7 ± 2.0 yrs.). Participants were asked to perform jump landing consecutively followed by vertical jump. A 3-dimensional motion analysis with 19 infrared cameras and 2 force plates was performed in this study. To find out the significance between two landing styles independent t-test was performed and significance level was set at .05. Results: HCG showed a significantly higher dorsi flexion, extension and flexion angle at ankle, knee and hip joints, respectively compared with those of TCG (p<.05). Also, HCG revealed reduced RoM at ankle joint while it showed increased RoM at knee joint compared to TCG (p<.05). In addition, HGC showed greater peak force, a loading rate, and impulse than those of TCG (p<.05). Finally, greater planta flexion moment was revealed in TCG compared to HCG at ankle joint. For the knee joint HCG showed extension and flexion moment in E1 and E2, respectively, while TCG showed opposite results. Conclusion: Compared to toe contact landing, the heel contact landing is not expected to have an advantage in terms of absorbing and dispersing the impact of contact with the ground to the joint. If these movements continuously used, performance may deteriorate, including injuries, so it is believed that education on safe landing methods is needed for young athletes whose musculoskeletal growth is not fully mature.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.287-294
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• 2018

Purpose: The neurodynamic test used to implicate symptoms arising from the nerve is proposed to selectively increase the strain of the nerve without increasing the strain of adjacent tissue, although this has not yet been established in the time of nerve tension application. This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of nerve stretching time on nerve excitability using compound nerve action potential (CNAP) analysis. Methods: Thirty healthy young adults (mean age=23.10 years) with no medical history of neurological or musculoskeletal disorder voluntarily participated in this study. Nerve excitability was assessed using the median nerve conduction velocity test. The amplitude of the CNAP was measured under three conditions: resting phase (supra-maximal stimulus, without nerve stretching), baseline phase (two-thirds of the supra-maximal stimulus, without nerve stretching), and stretch phase (two-thirds of the supra-maximal stimulus, with 1-5 minutes nerve stretching). One-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to compare the latency and amplitude of CNAP. A post-hoc test was analyzed using the contrast test. Results: The latency was significantly delayed after 1 min. of nerve stretching in comparison with the baseline test. However, no significant difference was found during the nerve stretching (1-5 min.). The amplitude was significantly increased by nerve stretching. Conclusion: Nerve stretching can induce nerve excitability without any nerve injury. Based on the results, more than 1 min. of nerve stretching as a neurodynamic test can be a useful method in the clinical setting.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2020

Background: The gastrocnemius (GCM) is one of the lower extremity muscles that tend to tighten easily. GCM tightness results in limited ankle dorsi-flexion (DF), especially when the knee joint is fully extended. Joint flexibility is determined by the morphological and physiological characteristics of joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Impaired joint flexibility can be attributed to increased susceptibility to muscle injury. High-frequency diathermy is clinically used to reduce pain and muscle tightness and to improve limited range of motion. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of high-frequency therapy in subjects with GCM tightness. Methods: The study was designed as a one-group before-after trial. The subjects included 28 volunteers with GCM tightness (an active ankle DF angle of less than 12°) without any known neurological and musculoskeletal pathologies in the ankle and calf areas. WINBACK Transfer Electrode Capacitive and Resistive Therapy equipment was used to apply high-frequency therapy to the subjects' GCMs for 10-15 minutes. The pennation angle and the fascicle length of the GCM were measured using ultrasonography. The flexibility of the ankle joint, peak torque to the passive ankle DF (Biodex), and soft tissue stiffness (MyotonPRO) were also measured. Results: The pennation angle was significantly decreased following the treatment; however, no significant difference in the fascicle length was found (p < 0.05). The flexibility was significantly increased and both the passive peak torque to passive ankle DF and the soft tissue stiffness significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Conclusion: High-frequency therapy is immediately effective for improving the muscle's architectural properties and functional factors in subjects with GCM tightness. Further longitudinal clinical studies are required to investigate the long-term effects of high-frequency therapy on subjects with GCM tightness from various causes.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.239-245
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the electromyography signal's power spectrum mean and median tendencies appearing in the lower extremity during walking while wearing roller shoes. 9 male subjects volunteered who have no experience riding inline-skate or roller-skate, and have no record of musculoskeletal disorder. Subjects walked on treadmill twice for an hour (Once a week, one trial with the roller on and the other without roller, Walking velocity = 1.39 m/s). Electromyography was measured every 15 minute (0, 15, 30, 45, 60 minutes). Surface electrode sticked muscle at rectus femoris(R.F.), vastus lateralis(V.L.), vastus medialis(V.M.), biceps femoris(B.F.), tibialis anterior(T.A.), gastrocnemius lateralis(G.L.), gastrocnemius medialis(G.M.). At Rectus femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus medialis, and Biceps femoris showed no statistically significant decrease of median frequency or mean edge frequency as time passes. Also, between two treatments (wearing the roller shoes vs not wearing the roller shoes), no statistically significant difference. After 60 minutes, mean edge frequency showed statistically significant decrease at tibalis anterior and after 45 minutes, mean edge frequency showed statistically significant decrease compared to wearing roller shoes without the wheels at gastrocnemius lateralis. At gastrocnemius medialis after 30 minutes, median frequency showed statistically significant decrease, and showed statistically significant difference compared to the control group. Wearing the roller shoes with wheels for a long time resulted in statistically significant decrease of mean edge frequency and median frequency in lower extremity, especially in shank muscles. Increase of wearing time of roller shoes and walking on a bumpy road wearing roller shoes with wheels result fatigue and thus, danger of injury.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2015

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of short-term treadmill walking with high-heeled shoes on electromyography activities of the medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior in healthy young females. Methods: Fifteen healthy females were recruited for this study. To measure muscle activation, the subjects were asked in random order to walk on a treadmill using either high-heeled shoes or barefoot conditions. The shoe heel height for high-heeled walking was 7 cm. The walking speed on the treadmill was 4 km/h, and the inclination rate of the treadmill was 10%. The subjects performed treadmill walking in the barefoot and high-heeled walking conditions for 5 minutes. Electromyography data were collected from the tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius, and soleus on both firm and foam surfaces and during eyes-open and-closed conditions while standing. Results: Tibialis anterior activity was significantly different before and after the walking task while standing on a foam surface with eyes closed (p<.05). Conclusion: This finding suggests that the activity of the tibialis anterior may be lowered after high-heeled walking. Therefore, high-heeled shoes contribute to harmful effects at the ankle joints, increasing the risks of falling and musculoskeletal injury.