• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.32-41
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• 2019

Background: Limitations in hip flexion caused by tight hamstrings lead to excessive lumbar flexion and low back pain. Accordingly, many studies have examined how to stretch the hamstring muscle. However, no study has focused on the effect of hamstring eccentric exercise for tight hamstrings on trunk forward bending. Objects: We compared the short-term effect of hamstring eccentric exercise (HEE) and hamstring static stretching (HSS) on trunk forward bending in individuals with tight hamstrings. Methods: Thirty individuals with tight hamstrings participated in the study. The subjects were randomly allocated to either a HEE or HSS group. To determine whether the hamstrings were tight, the active knee extension (AKE) test was performed, and the degree of hip flexion was measured. To assess trunk forward bending, subjects performed the fingertip to floor (FTF) and modified modified Schober tests, and the degree of trunk forward bending was measured using an inclinometer. We used paired t-tests to compare the values before and after exercise in each group and independent t-tests to compare the two groups on various measures Results: The FTF test results were improved significantly after the exercise in both groups, and AKE for both legs increased significantly in both groups. There was no significant difference in the hip angles, mmS test results, or degree of trunk forward bending between groups after the exercise. No test results differed significantly between the two groups at baseline or after the exercise. Both groups increased hamstring flexibility and trunk forward bending. Conclusion: HSS and the HEE groups increased hamstring flexibility and trunk forward bending. However, HEE has additional benefits, such as injury prevention and muscle strengthening.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.153-162
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study compared ankle joint exercise and thigh exercise on the isometric strength of the lower limb and balance ability. METHODS: Twenty-seven subjects were divided into ankle joint exercise (AEG, n=9), tight exercise (TEG, n=9), and control group (CON, n=9). AEG and TEG performed ankle joint and tight exercises three times a week for four weeks. The following were measured before and four weeks after each exercise: isometric strength at knee flexion and extension of the lower limb; isometric strength at ankle plantar flexion and dorsiflexion of the lower limb; static balance of trace length and C90 area; and the dynamic forward, backward, leftward, and rightward balance for each region. RESULTS: The results showed that the isometric strength of plantar flexion (p<.05) was increased significantly in AEG compared to those in TEG and CON. The dynamic leftward (p<.05) and rightward balance (p<.05) were increased significantly in both AEG and TEG compared to that in CON. On the other hand, the static balance of the trace length and C90 area, isometric strength of ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion and extension of the lower limb, and dynamic forward and backward balance did not show significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSION: Ankle joint exercise improves the isometric strength of plantar flexion compared to tight exercise.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1174-1185
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• 2012

This study develops tight-fitting upper clothing to measure electrocardiography (ECG) data. Taking into consideration the elasticity of the clothing, we made 4 experimental clothes by applying to each a weft reduction rate of 40%, 50%, 60%, and 70%. The 4 experimental clothes were used to measure resting ECG, exercise ECG, and post-exercise ECG for 4 men in their 20s. We compared clothing pressures using sensors on the human body and on a dressform. Subjective wear sensations of the 4 experimental clothes were evaluated using a subjective 7-point scale (with 7 being most excellent). We measured clothing pressures by using the air type pressure (AMI 3037-2) for upper and lower chest sensors in the developed tight-fitting upper clothing. The lower chest sensor showed that the clothing pressure on a human body and dressform changed consistently as the weft reduction rate decreased. The upper chest sensor showed inconsistent changes in clothing pressure as the weft reduction rate decreased. The wearing-test result for preliminary subjects showed that the lower chest sensor was more stable than the upper chest sensor; therefore, we inserted the sensor at the lower chest position before performing ECG. Except for Subject 4, the resting ECGs were stably measured for 3 subjects (Subject 1, Subject 2, and Subject 3) in all the developed clothes (A clothing, B clothing, C clothing, and D clothing). However, D clothing showed stable ECG values after exercise. The results of the experiment showed that we could measure ECG without difficulty using clothes with a weft reduction rate of 40% when the movement was not intense; however, tight-fitting upper clothing with a weft reduction rate of 70% was necessary to measure exercise ECG and post-exercise ECG values.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.58-68
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of treadmill exercise treadmill exercise (TE) and environmental enrichment (EE) interventions on cognitive function, muscle function, and the expression of tight junction proteins in an Alzheimer's disease (AD) animal model. To create the AD animal model, aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) was administered for 90 days (40mg/kg/day), while simultaneously exposing the animals to TE (10-12m/min, 40-60min/day) or EE. The results showed that cognitive impairment and muscle dysfunction induced by AlCl₃ administration were alleviated by TE and EE. Furthermore, TE and EE reduced the increased expression of β-amyloid(Aβ), alpha-synuclein, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) proteins observed in AD pathology. Additionally, TE and EE significantly increased the expression of decreased adhesive adjacent proteins (Occludin, Claudin-5, and ZO-1) induced by AlCl₃ administration. Lastly, correlation analysis between Aβ protein and tight junction proteins showed negative correlations (Occludin: r=-0.853, p=0.001; Claudin-5: r=-0.352, p=0.915; ZO-1: r=-0.424, p=0.0390). In conclusion, TE or EE interventions are considered effective exercise methods that partially alleviate pathological features of AD, improving cognitive and muscle function.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2019

Background: A tight iliotibial band (ITB) may lead to lateral patellar maltracking, compression, and tilt, and dominant vatus lateralis (VL) muscle activation relative to vastus medialis oblique (VMO) can laterally displace the patella, which leads to anterior knee pain. Therefore, an effective management technique is needed to stabilize the patella in individuals with tight ITB. Increased stability during the modified Thomas test has the potential to decrease compensatory motion and thus to selectively stretch the ITB. Objects: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of ITB stretching in the modified Thomas test position on ITB flexibility, patellar translation, and muscle activities of the VMO and VL during quadreceps-setting (QS) exercise in individuals with tight ITB. Methods: Twenty-one subjects with tight ITB were recruited. Digital inclinometer was used to measure the hip adduction angle during the modified Ober test. Universal goniometer was used to measure the hip abduction angle during the modified Thomas test. Ultrasonography was used to measure the patella-condylar distance. Electromyography was performed to collect data of muscle activities. Paired t-test was used to determine the statistical significance between pretest and posttest. Results: The range of hip adduction in modified Ober test increased (p=.04) and the range of hip abduction in the modified Thomas test decreased after ITB stretching (p<.01). There was no difference between lateral patellar translation (p=.18). VMO muscle activity significantly increased after ITB stretching during QS (p<.01). VL muscle activity had no difference after stretching. Conclusion: The ITB stretching in the modified Thomas test position can be suggested as a management method for improving ITB flexibility and VMO muscle activity in individuals with tight ITB.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2007

Today Human Personal Trainers are becoming very famous in this health conscious world. They teach user to achieve fitness goals in managed way. Due to their high fee and tight schedule they are unavailable to mass number of people. Another solution to this problem is to develop digital personal trainer portable instrument that may replace human personal trainers. We developed a portable digital exercise trainer device - BIOFIT that manages, monitors and records the user's physical status and workout during exercise session. It guides the user to exercise efficiently for specific fitness goal. It keeps the full exercise program i.e. exercises start date and time, duration, mode, control parameter, intensity in its memory which helps the user in managing his exercise. Exercise program can be downloaded from the internet. During exercise it continuously monitors the user's physiological parameters: heart rate, number of steps walked, and energy consumed. If these parameters do not range within prescribed target zone, the BIOFIT will alarm the user as a feedback to control exercise. The BIOFIT displays these parameters on graphic LCD. During exercise it continuously records the heart rate and number of steps walked every 10 seconds along with exercise date and time. This stored information can be used as treatment for the user by an exercise expert. Real-time ECG monitoring can be viewed wirelessly (RF Communication) on a remote PC.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1050-1057
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• 2012

This study helps develop a cool body armor that maintains a tight-fit configuration to the body surface and evaluates the performance of newly developed body armor in a wear test. Three types of body armor were used for evaluation. One was a tight fitting body armor that was constructed to improve the degree of fit and ease of movement for Korean soldier using 3D technology. Another was ventilating body armor with attached spacers on the shoulder to reduce the thermal stress on the soldier. The third was a prevailing body armor produced by a Korean body armor company. In order to evaluate the performance of the body armor, a human wear test, a thermal mannequin test, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were executed. Five subjects participated in the wear test. Subjective wear sensation, total amount of sweat and dynamic change of clothing microclimate were observed during and after exercise on a treadmill; subsequently, it was found that subjects rated tight fitting body armor and ventilating body armor lighter, drier, and easier to move than the conventional body armor (p<.05). Total amount of sweat was the least in the case of ventilating body armor. The thermal resistance and vapor resistance of the ventilating body armor were improved remarkably. In addition, the skin temperature of the ventilating body armor with spacers was lower than the tight fitting body armor by at least $1^{\circ}C$ in the CFD result. It is noted that thermal-wet comfort of the 3D body armor with ventilating feature is superior to the conventional body armor, especially when the ventilating channel is not closed due to a backpack.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.929-938
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• 2017

This research investigated the effects of cool touch fabrics on thermo-regulating physical properties and subjective evaluation using a 3D fitted women's T-shirts in wear test. Qmax, clothing microclimate, microclimate wettedness, thermogram and subjective vote were observed during rest-right after an exercise-rest protocol. As a result, there was no single determining physical variable to explain the reasons of cool sensations of T-shirts made of cool touch fabric across the entire protocol. Qmax could partly predict a wear sensation at the initial stage when only insensible perspiration was presented. Simultaneous observation of temperature/humidity gradient understand from the inside to the outside of the clothing layer or microclimate wettedness calculated using vapor pressure were helpful to figure out the performance of cool touch fabric, especially at the later stage of the protocol when sweating was excessive. It was especially difficult to connect thermo-regulating physical variables to the subjective evaluation during transient conditions such as 'right after exercise' stage. It is necessary to measure the amount of heat and moisture transferred from the skin to the outside of clothing along with the physical properties measured in this study to understand the detailed mechanisms of why a cool sensation is evoked from tight fitting T-shirts made of newly developed cool touch fabrics.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and physiological variables of chest pain induced by exercise test in angina suspected patients. The subjects of this study consisted of 28 inpatients and outpatients aged between 40 and 75 who underwent treadmill test at exercise testing laboratory of S-University from January 2000 to June 2000. Subjects were interviewed with questionnaire regarding sociodemography, the past health history and history related to chest pain before the exercise test. Subjects were interviewed with questionnaire concerning quality, intensity, duration of chest pain induced by walking on the treadmill(Marquette, U.S.A. 1992) according to Bruce protocol following exercise test. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured before, during and after the test, heart rate was determined by ECG. The results of this study were as follows ; 1) Quality of chest pain induced by exercise test were feeling stiffness 19(67.9%), heavy 10(36.0%), exploded 9(32.1%), crushing, suffocating, tight 8(28.6%), stuffy, prickly 7(25.0%), burning 6(21.4%), clasp 5(17.9%), cleaved, tensed, piercing 3(10.7%), perfectly fitting, sore 2(7.1%), tearing, tingling, ticklish, heartburn 1(3.6%). 2) Mean score of VAS(intensity of pain) following exercise test was $5.79{\pm}2.27$ and mean duration of chest pain after the test was $7.83{\pm}5.31$ minutes. 3) Sites of chest-pain induced by exercise test were middle site 11(39.3%), left-chest 10(35.6%), right-chest 6(21.5%). Radiation site of chest-pain was neck(18.0%), right flank site 1(3.6%), left shoulder & arm 2(7.1%) and back 1(3.6%). 4) Symptoms other than chest-pain induced by exercise test were dyspnea 21(75.6%), perspiration 14(50.4%), fatigue 12(43.2%), leg-pain 11(39.6%), dizziness 7(25.2%) anxiety toward chest-pain 3(10.8%), thirst 2(7.1%), and palpation, headache and tingling sensation of hand and leg 1(3.6%). 5) Mean MET(intensity of exercise) during the exercise test was $7.64{\pm}2.57$ and mean RPE(rating of perceived exertion) was $15.89{\pm}2.36$. Mean duration of exercise was $6.79{\pm}2.88$. 6) correlation coefficients between RPE and VAS was 0.500(p=0.003), those between MET and VAS was 0.287(p=0.069) and those between either depression or elevation of ST segment and VAS was 0.236(p=0.114). 7) There was a significant difference in mean systolic pressure between before and after the test as $146.29{\pm}28.18mmHg$ and $177.96{\pm}28.82mmHg$(t=-5.640, p=0.000), a significant difference in mean diastolic blood pressure between before and after the test as $84.85{\pm}15.07mmHg$ and $88.89{\pm}13.72mmHg$(t=-2.082, p=0.047), and there was a significant difference in mean heart-rate between before and after the test as $81.89{\pm}12.22/min$ and $160.68{\pm}21.77/min$(t=-21.255, p=0.000).

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.123-143
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• 2020

This study examines the interplay between the reactions of YouTube users and North Korean propaganda. Interesting enough, the study has noticed changes in the strict media environment under young leader Kim. Messages delivered by the communist regime to the outside world appeared to resemble those of 'normal' countries. Although North Korean YouTube was led mainly by the account operator, visitors from different nations do comment on the channel, which suggests the possibility of building international communities for propaganda purposes. Overall, the study observed a sparsely connected social network among ordinary commenters. However, the operator did not exercise tight control over peer-to-peer communication but merely answered questions and tried to facilitate mass participation. In contrast to the many news clips, the documentary content on North Korea's YouTube channel did not explicitly advocate for North Korea's current political positions.