• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.86-95
• /
• 2022

Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of ultra-thin microcurrent patch application on pain, tenderness, trunk flexion, and trunk extension in patients with back pain. Design: pretest-posttest design: single blind. Methods: Thirty men and women diagnosed with chronic back pain were classified into 15 microcurrent application groups and 15 placebo groups. Changes in pain were observed on a visual analog scale, tenderness was observed with a digital tenderness meter, and changes in trunk flexion and trunk extension angles were evaluated with a posture analyzer. The paired t-test was used to see the changes within each group before and one week after the experiment, and the independent t-test was used to see the change in the difference between the groups, and the significance level was 0.05. Results: In both the experimental group and the control group, there was a significant difference in pain within and between groups(p<0.05). In the experimental group, there were significant differences in the intra- and inter-group changes in the erector spinae muscle tenderness and low back pain disorder index(p<0.05). In the experimental group, there was a significant difference in the change in trunk flexion and extension within the group(p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, it was confirmed that the application of ultra-thin microcurrent was effective for pain, tenderness, and movement of back extension in patients with low back pain. It is expected that it will be used as a basic data for microcurrent therapy and as a treatment method for improving the function of patients with back pain in the future.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.41-51
• /
• 2023

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of underwater and ground proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation lower extremity pattern exercise on trunk control and lower extremity muscle activity of chronic stroke patients. Design: Pretest-posttest design: single blind. Methods: The subjects were 28 patients (experimental group, n=14 or control group, n=14) diagnosed with chronic stroke. The experimental group performed underwater proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation lower extremity pattern exercise. The control group performed ground proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation lower extremity pattern exercise. Training was conducted once a day for 30 minutes, five days per week for six. Trunk control was measured using the Trunk Impairment Scale. Lower extremity muscle activity was measured using surface electromyography. Results: As a result of comparison within groups, the experimental and control group showed significant difference for trunk control after the experiment (p<0.05). In comparison between two groups, the experimental group showed more significant difference in trunk control than the control group (p<0.05). In comparison within groups, the experimental group showed significant difference for lower extremity muscle activity after the experiment (p<0.05). In comparison between two groups, the experimental group showed more significant difference in lower extremity muscle activity than the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Based on these results, underwater proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation lower extremity pattern exercise effectively improved the trunk control and lower extremity muscle activity of chronic stroke patients.

• PNF and Movement
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.203-212
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to confirm the effects of stretching and meditation intervention on mental health-related anxiety, depression, and quality of life in college students in their 20s with sequelae of COVID-19. Methods: 30 men and women were randomly assigned to the stretching and meditation intervention group (10 people), the stretching intervention group (10 people), and the meditation group (10 people), and the experiment was conducted for 4 weeks. As for the analysis method, a paired t-test was performed for intra-group changes after 4 weeks, and one-way analysis of variance was performed for between-group changes. In addition, the significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Within-group changes in anxiety and depression were significantly different in all groups after 4 weeks (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference between SMG and SG and between SMG and MG in the change between groups after 4 weeks (p < 0.05). In the change in quality of life, there was a significant difference in all groups after 4 weeks (p < 0.05). There was also a significant difference between SMG and MG in the change between groups after 4 weeks. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the combined method of meditation and stretching intervention had a positive effect on the mental health of adults in their 20s and suggests the possibility of using it to improve mental health after recovering from COVID-19.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.35-46
• /
• 2017

This study analyzed the role of innovation intermediaries on the performance of technology-based firms in Korea. Technology-based firms are important to the economy because they contribute to regional economic development and national competitiveness. In Korea, various types of intermediaries, such as Techno-parks and incubators have been established to foster technology-based firms. Researchers analyzed various factors influencing the performance of technology-based firms. On the other hand, there have been few studies on the relationship between the innovation intermediaries and the performance of technology-based firms in Korea. This study identified the firms' capabilities, institutional and environmental factors in the light of the literature. A total of 2,313 technology-based firms in Techno-parks, business incubator of public institutes and universities were surveyed. Of these, 110 respondents were used for empirical analysis. OLS techniques were applied to analyze the data. The empirical results showed that the marketing competence, R&D capacity, which is a firms' innovation capacity, have a positive effect on the performance. The support of intermediaries positively affects the performance of technology-based firms. The economic aspects of regional innovation infrastructure, and cooperation with the customer has a positive effect on the performance of technology-based firms.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 2014

In this study, we developed a high frequency watermelon regeneration system using three breeding lines ('B02', 'B05' and 'D04') of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai) which are differed in their fruits in shape, color of pericarp and flesh. The highest frequency of explants with callus was observed by using explants that consist of cotyledon proximal part end in all breeding lines, and the highest rate of callus induction was obtained on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/L BAP + 0.5 mg/L IAA for 'B02' (94%), 3.0 mg/L BAP for 'B05' (95%), 3.0 mg/L BAP + 0.1 mg/L IAA for 'D04' (90%). The highest shoot regeneration rates from derived callus were obtained on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/L BAP + 0.5 mg/L IAA for 'B05' (94%), and then a 'B02' (81%) with a same culture conditions, and the lowest regeneration was obtained on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/L BAP for 'D04' (56%). Regenerated plants showed the best rates of root formation on MS containing 0.1 mg/L IBA for 'B02' (67%), 0.1 mg/L NAA for 'B05' (87%), 0.5 mg/L IAA for 'D04' (88%). The regenerated plants showed a 100% survival rate in soil condition. The tissue culture and regeneration conditions obtained from this study will be useful for regenerating plants in breeding applications, and will be a useful tool for further genetic transformation studies on watermelons.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.497-512
• /
• 2012

Purpose: Most major countries have their own set of qualifications called national quality awards to measure the quality of companies and organizations. This study analyzes 3 different national quality awards and compare with the result from Korean quality awards conducted by Ministry of knowledge and Economy and Korea institute for advancement of technology. Methods: We tested 17 technoparks out of 18 technoparks in Korea and see how different the results can be depends on the value weights. We closely looked at each qualifications and tables of different countries' awards and compared with one used in Korea. Finally we proposed some suggestions to use not only domestic model but also international ones to be objective and add efficiency to organizations. Results: Depend on similarity of qualifications and weights, there were countries with different results and these caused score and ranking changes. Nevertheless, there was a comparison that did not make any changes on both score and ranking. Conclusion: We recognized the limitation that a standardized quality variation cannot be enough sources to test and analyze technoparks with different size and criteria. Integrating global standards and flow would be the first step to help grow technoparks and organizations placed in Korea in days to come.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.179-187
• /
• 2020

Electrodialysis has been applied for treatment of industrial wastewater including metal electroplating. The wastewater from metal plating industries contains high concentrations of inorganics such as copper, nickel, and sodium. The ions in the feed were separated due to the electrical forces in the electrodialysis. The concentrate compartment is exposed to the elevated concentrations of the ions and yielded inorganic precipitations on the cation exchange membranes. The presence of organic matter in the metal plating wastewater affects complex interfacial reactions, which determines characteristics of inorganic scale fouling. The wastewater from a metal plating industry in practice was collected and the inorganic and organic compositions of the wastewater were analyzed. The performance of electrodialysis of the raw wastewater was evaluated and the effects of adjusting pH of the raw water were also measured. The integrated processes with neutralization and electrodialysis showed great removal of heavy metals sufficient to discharge to aquatic ecosystem. The organic matter in the raw water was also reduced by the neutralization, which might enhance removal performance and alleviate organic fouling in the integrated system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.5-12
• /
• 2014

Weatherstrip coatings of urethane and silicon type which are fit to EPDM and thermoplastic materials are used in sealing systems for automotive applications for noise reduction and high slip characteristics for external applications, respectively. Polyurethane binder was successfully synthesized from poly(butyladiphate)diol (PBAD), poly(tetramethylene)glycol (PTMG) and isocyanate as starting materials. Then, polyurethane coating agents were prepared by using various additives. To investigate effects of segment types on the abrasion resistance of polyurethane coating agents, thin films based on polyurethane coating materials were fabricated. With increasing the amount of hard segment in the coating agent, abrasion resistance, modulus and tensile strength of the coating films were improved, but the elongation of the coating films was decreased.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.113-126
• /
• 2015

Salinity gradient power (SGP) systems have strong potential to generate sustainable clean electricity for 24 hours. Here, we introduce a solid-salt pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) system using crystal salt powders rather than seawater. Solid salts have advantages such as a small storage volume, controllable solubility, high Gibbs dissolution energy, and a single type of water intake, low pretreatment costs. The power densities with 3 M draw solutions were $11W/m^2$ with exothermic energy and $8.9W/m^2$ without at 35 bar using a HTI FO membrane (water permeability $A=0.375L\;m^{-2}h^{-1}bar^{-1}$). These empirical power densities are ~13% of the theoretical value.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.79-98
• /
• 2014

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on the evaluation of a thermal response test using a precast high-strength concrete (PHC) energy pile and a closed vertical system with W-type ground heat exchangers (GHEs). Field thermal response tests (TRTs) were conducted on a PHC energy pile and on a general vertical GHE installed in a multiple layered soil ground. The equivalent ground thermal conductivity was determined by using the results from TRTs. A simple analytical solution is suggested in this research to derive an equivalent ground thermal conductivity of the multilayered soils for vertically buried GHEs. The PHC energy pile and general vertical system were numerically modeled using a three dimensional finite element method to compare the results with TRTs'. Borehole thermal resistance values were also obtained from the numerical results, and they were compared with various analytical solutions. Additionally, the effect of ground thermal conductivity on the borehole thermal resistance was analyzed.