• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.52-61
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• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a combined functional intervention program on the pain-related questionnaire, the erector spinae contractile properties, and trunk extensor strength of prime-aged females with non-specific chronic low back pain. Method: 16 (female: 16) prime-aged subjects (age: 60.88 ± 6.09 years, height: 158.16 ± 5.58 cm, weight: 59.05 ± 9.44 kg) participated in this study. Results: Except for Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia all pain-related questionnaires revealed a significant decrease after the intervention program (p<.001). Tensiomyography of the erector spinae revealed a significant post-intervention program increase in the maximum radial displacement (p<.05) and velocity of contraction (p<.05), however, there wasn't a significant post-intervention program change in the contraction time. Additionally, Trunk extensor strength showed a significant increase post-intervention program (p<.001). Conclusion: Our results indicated that the combined functional intervention program positively changed pain-related questionnaires and reduced erector spinae muscle stiffness, increasing the velocity of erector spinae contraction. Additionally, improved the trunk extensor strength.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2023

Background: Although warm-ups before exercise are widely accepted, research on sex differences in improving hamstring flexibility is limited. Differences in the physical and physiological characteristics between males and females may result in different responses to warm-ups. Objects: This study aimed to examine sex differences in the effects of specific warm-up on hamstring flexibility. Methods: This study included 24 young adults with hamstring tightness. The participants performed five maximal knee extensions and flexions at 90° flexion of the hip, and the maximal knee extension angle was measured in real-time using a smartphone clinometer application. Results: The groups did not significantly affect the maximal knee extension angle but showed a significant effect for repetition (p = 0.002) and group-repetition interaction (p = 0.002). Males had no significant change in hamstring flexibility; however, females showed a significant increase in flexibility in the 5^th trial compared with the 1^st trial (p = 0.041). These results demonstrated sex-specific differences in flexibility improvement over time. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that specific warm-up can successfully improve hamstring flexibility in females. This may be due to various factors, such as muscle stiffness of the lower extremity, estrogen levels, and temperature sensitivity. In clinical settings, specific warm-up might be helpful for females who participate in sports or activities, such as running or jumping, which require a full range of motion in the hip and knee joints.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.116-121
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• 2024

We investigated the therapeutic potential of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium (BMSC-CM) on immortalized renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (RPTEC/TERT1) in a fibrotic environment. To replicate the increased stiffness characteristic of kidneys in chronic kidney disease, we utilized polyacrylamide gel platforms. A stiff matrix was shown to increase α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) levels, indicating fibrogenic activation in RPTEC/TERT1 cells. Interestingly, treatment with BMSC-CM resulted in significant reductions in the levels of fibrotic markers (α-SMA and vimentin) and increases in the levels of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and aquaporin 7, particularly under stiff conditions. Furthermore, BMSC-CM modified microRNA (miRNA) expression and reduced oxidative stress levels in these cells. Our findings suggest that BMSC-CM can modulate cellular morphology, miRNA expression, and oxidative stress in RPTEC/TERT1 cells, highlighting its therapeutic potential in fibrotic kidney disease.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.197-210
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• 1999

Muscle stiffness, pain and discomfort in dally activities are cardinal symtoms on arthritis. To reduce these symtoms, a nonequivalent one-group pre & posttest experiment was carried out at a rural community health post area in Chonbuk province during eight weeks (from 25th of January to 20th of March, 1999). The subjects were sixteen rural old women(65-89yrs) with osteoarthritis. And to reduce the level of pain, discomfort in daily living and to increase that of life satisfaction, 30 minutes of flexibility exercise followed by $15{\sim}20\;minutes$ of local heat therapy were done three times a week. Pain scale from Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales developed by Meenan(1980) for pain, Jette's Daily Activity Discomfort Scales revised by Lee(1988) for discomfort and Life Satisfaction Scales developed by Youn(1982) for life satisfaction were used as research instruments. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews with Investigator and the experiments were done under demonstration and supervision of investigator in community health post. The data were analyzed in percentage and Wilcoxon sign rank sum test by SPSS/PC+ program. The result could be summarized as follows ; 1. The scores of experiment group who were applied hot bag followed by flexibility exercise were tended to be significant lower in the level of pain statistically(Z=4.949, P=0.0001). 2. The scores of experiment group who was applied hot bag followed by flexibility exercise were tended to be significant lower in the level of discomfort in daily living statistically(Z=2.7226, P=0.0279). 3. The scores of experiment group who was applied hot bag followed by flexibility exercise were tended to be higher in the level of life satisfaction, but there was no significant statistical difference(Z=-1.2087, P=0.2171). In conclusion, flexibility exercise with local heat therapy could be identified as an effective therapy to reduce pain and discomfort in daily living of the rural elderly with osteoarthritis. And as a community health practitioner, the investigator concluded that this exercise with local heat therapy could be developed as a health promotion program for the rural aged people.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.48-60
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• 1997

This study was undertaken to identify the musculotendinous problems and contributing factors to those problems In students majoring in musical instruments in Korea. The data were collected from March 2, 1996 to March 31, 1996 from 261 music students in various geographical areas. The data were analyzed for descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square using SPSS $PC^+$ program. The results of this study were as follows : 1. In a questionnaire survey of 261 music students, one hundred twenty five(47.9%) reported having had various musculotendinous symptoms. Twenty seven students among the those who had previous symptoms(21.9%) reported the present symptoms. 2. The experience rates of musculotendinous problems in keyboard players, string players and woodwind players were 50.3%, 48.2%, 33.3% respectively. 3. Most of the students practiced most intensively during their high school years and the musculotendinous symptoms began at the same period. 4. Pain, tenderness and stiffness were the most common symptoms, while paresthesia and motor dysfunction were rare. This indicates that most players had muscle tendinous overuse, while small number had nerve entrapment and motor dysfunction. 5. In past and present symptoms, string players experienced musculotendinous symptoms mainly in both sides of shoulders, lumbar area, left finger, and left wrist, while keyboard players experienced more symptoms in the right wrist, shoulder, fingers than left side. 6. The major contributing factors to the symptoms were weight of instrument, types of instruments, types of daily activities, duration of practice, and playing technique. 7 The most frequent treatment modalities for the symptoms were acupuncture or moxibustion, other alternative therapy such as heat compress and massage. Through this study it was found that the musculotendinous problems might be increased along with their career, due to lack of knowledge about preventive measures and patterns of health behavior seeking alternative modalities rather than professional consultation. Therefore, preventive measures that focus on playing habits such as duration of practice, frequency of rest and position while playing should be developed and taught to the students, their parents, and music educators. Doctors who are interested in this area should attempt to correct the position and posture while playing of the posture. And measures for reduction of loading of instrument weight should also be developed.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.203-211
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• 2010

Purpose: We aimed to test the validity of the EQ-5D (Euro-Quality of Life-5 Dimension), a brief and simple instrument, in measuring health related quality of life in the patients with osteoarthritis. Methods: 183 participants attending the education programs for osteoarthritis patients at the Health Centers located in Seoul and Gyunggi province area during the periods of June to December in 2009 were interviewed with the EQ-5D and KWOMAC (Korean version of Western Ontario and McMaster Scale). The data were analysed with Spearman correlation coefficents and t-test by using of SPSS/WIN 12.0 version. Results: There was a negative correlation between knee pain, stiffness and difficulty in usual activity of sub category items of KWOMAC and EQ-5Dindex, while there was no correlation between these categories and EQ-VAS. Moreover, as a result of comparing the score of physical function measured by KWOMAC according to the severity degree of the EQ-5Dindex, the group of advanced stage having moderate and severe symptoms reported significantly higher scores of physical function than those of groups having no health problems. Conclusion: The EQ-5D is an acceptable and valid instrument for measuring health-related quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.243-250
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• 2016

The body composition and arterial compliance with advanced age increase the risks of cardiovascular diseases, but the elderly can perform rhythm exercise easily, which may positively influence their body composition and arterial compliance. Therefore, this study examined the effects of rhythm exercise training on the body composition and arterial compliance in elderly females. The subjects (n=20) were assigned randomly to either an exercise group (n=10, EX) or non-exercise control group (n=10, CON). The rhythm exercise training for 12 weeks consisted of 3 sessions per week with 60 minutes per session. In addition, the intensity was set to 11-14 of the Borg scale (6-20). The body composition and arterial compliance (pulse wave velocity (PWV)) were measured before and after training. The skeletal muscle mass in the EX was increased significantly (p=0.04) and the right (p=0.002) and left side (p=0.02) of the PWV in the EX were decreased significantly, but the skeletal muscle and both sides of the PWV in the CON were not changed. Elderly females could easily perform rhythm exercise training, which resulted in improvements of the skeletal muscle mass and arterial compliance. Therefore, rhythm exercise training may prevent or delay sarcopenia and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Neurocognitive Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.27-34
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of task training for cognitive activation of upper extremity on upper limb function and activities of daily living and to suggest intervention in rehabilitation treatment. From January to February of 2018, nine stroke patients were arbitrated 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for four weeks. For the experimental group, the therapist has induced the group using the linguistic guidance to patients, so they utilize the cognition strategy. The control group conducted active exercises in a range of motion using the instruments and passive exercises in a range of motion to reduce the stiffness of joints and upper limbs. As muscle strengthening exercises, the patients were assigned to work on the biceps muscle of arm, triceps muscle of arm, and deltoid according to the individual patient's muscular strength level. For the experimental group, the MBI was improved by ten points at maximum, and K-AMPS motor skills showed the improvements of 1.0 logit at maximum, and processing skills showed improvements of 0.6 logits at maximum. In MFT, the maximum improvement was by two points. For the control group, MBI was improved by five points at maximum, and 0.2 maximum improvements were shown in K-AMPS' motor skills and 0.3 maximum improvements in processing skills. MFT showed no change. The conclusion is that the challenges to enable training for stroke patients give a positive impact on upper limb function and activities of daily living.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2000

Ge-Fu(歌賦) means prose and poetry individually, and they both have a meaning of all the rhythmical poetrical compositions making it ease for people to remember the content. All the Ge-Fus used in oriental medicine are made in Yuan(元), Mine(明)and Qing(靑)dynasty, and they have been largely used in most of all the fields of medicine such as Ben-Cao(本草), Tang-Ye(湯液), Zhen-Jiu(鍼灸), Zhen-Duan(診斷). Zhen-Jiu-Ge-Fu(鍼灸歌賦) has about 90 poetries and 10 proses and they contain the names of meridian; courses of meridian streams; accurate positions of acupuncture points; functions; effects; meanings of the name of acupuncture points; usages and effects of special points; manipulations of reinforcing and reducing method; contraindications of acupuncturing; principles of selections and orders of acupuncture points in therapy; and eight diadgoses. Zhen-Jiu-Ge-Fu is subdivided into Jing-Xue(經穴歌), Zhi-Jiu-Ge(刺灸歌), Shu-Xue-Ge(輸穴歌), Zhi-Liao-Ge(治療歌). And In Zhi-Liao-Ge, the most brief and essential Ge-Fu-Si-Zong-Sue-Ge- contains theraputic designs using far apart acpuncture points from the right painful areas in the body. In this study, the author opinionated the Si-Zong-Sue-Ge can be the prototype of the distant needling; the research on this can open the importance of Ge-Fus. On conclusion, 1. "Upper and lower Abdomen - Zu-San-Li($S_{36}$) (肚腹三里留)" means when there are problems and disorders in upper and lower abdomen, distinctively, such as gastric pain, maldigestion, flatulence, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, menstrual disorer, knee pain and tonic functioning, 족삼리 can be a right choice for distant needling point for treating. 2. "Face and Eye-He-Gu($Li_4$) (面目合谷收)" means when there are problems and disorders in facial, eye, ear, nose, throat, mouth regions, distinctively, such as facial edema, toothache, headache, sore throat, rhinorrhea, frontal headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, He-Gu can be a right choice for distant needling point for treating. 3. "Upper and lower back - Wei-Zhong($B_{40}$) (腰背委中求)" means when there are problems and disorders in upper and lower back, distinctively, such as upper back pain, lumbargo, hamstring muscle pain, popliteal region pain, lower extremity compartment syndrom, Inguinal region pain, muscle twitch, vomiting and diarrhea, hemorrhoidal bleeding, skin rash, Wei-Zhong can be a right choice for distant needling point for treating. 4. "Head and neck - Lie-Que($L_7$) (頭項審列缺)" means when there are problems and disorders in capital and nuchal area, distinctively, such as migraine, frontal headache, rhinorrhea, asthmatic dyspnea, aphasia, coughing, neck stiffness, occipital headache, upper extremity pain, Lie-Que can be a right choice for distant needling point for treating.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.311-327
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of diaphragmatic breathing on activation of trunk muscles of patients with low back pain. Diaphragmatic breathing may affect activation of trunk muscles. The assumptions are as follows: the crural diaphragm attatches to the lumbar vertebrae from L1 to L3, the voluntary downward pressurization of the diaphragm increases intra-abdominal pressure, and this increases the stiffness of the spine. Diaphragmatic breathing increases intra-abdominal pressure and the increased intra-abdominal pressure may contribute to the lumbar stability. Sixty patients with low back pain were randomly divided into two groups. Experimental group performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise with six breathing positions and control group performed only the breathing positions for five times per week during six weeks. % maximal voluntary contraction(% MVC) of trunk muscles on six breathing positions of experimental and control group was measured according to testing period of pre test, three weeks, and six weeks. The repeated measures of one-way ANOVA were used to analyze % MVC on trunk muscles of experimental and control group according to testing period. The results of this study were as follows: First, % MVC of right and left erector spinae in the right leg extension position indicated the statistically significant difference in experimental group which performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise rather than control group (p<0.05). Second, % MVC of right and left erector spinae in all-four positions indicated the statistically significant difference in experimental group which performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise rather than control group (p<0.05). Third, % MVC of right and left erector spinae, external oblique in the sitting position indicated the statistically significant difference in experimental group which performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise rather than control group (p<0.05). Fourth, % MVC of right and left erector spinae, external oblique in the standing position indicated the statistically significant difference in experimental group which performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise rather than control group (p<0.05). Fifth, % MVC of right and left erector spinae, external oblique in the supine position indicated the statistically significant difference in experimental group which performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise rather than control group (p<0.05). Sixth, % MVC of right and left erector spinae, external oblique in the lying on prone position indicated the statistically significant difference in experimental group which performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise rather than control group (p<0.05). In conclusion, as experimental group performed diaphragmatic breathing exercise according to the period of pre-test, post three weeks, and post six weeks, experimental group showed the greater significant effect on the activation of right, left erector spinae, and external oblique muscle. Diaphragmatic breathing exercise which resulted in activation of trunk muscles can be effective for managing the patients with back pain and should be utilized as the new therapeutic intervention.