• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.135-142
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• 2015

Human-powered self-generating devices have been attractive with its operation characteristic independent from outer environment such as weather condition and wind speed. However, conventional self-generators have low electric power output due to their weakly-coupled electromagnetic structure. More importantly, rotary crank motion which is usually adopted by conventional self-generator to generate electricity requires specific skeletal muscles to maintain large torque circular motion and consequently, causes fatigue on those muscles before it can generate enough amount of electricity for any practical application. Without improvement in electric power output and usability, the human-powered self-generator could not be used in everyday life. This study aims to develop a human-powered self-generator which realized a strong electromagnetic coupling in a closed-loop tubular structure (hula-hoop shape) for easy and steady long-term driving as well as larger electric output. The performance and usability of the developed human-powered generator is verified through experimental comparison with a commercial one. Additionally, human workload which is a key element of a human-powered generator but not often considered elsewhere, is estimated based on metabolic energy expenditure measured respiratory gas analyzer. Further study will focus on output and portability enhancement, which can contribute to the continuous power supply of mobile equipments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1324-1330
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• 2015

The present study was performed to analyze and review the physical and immune responses to overtraining syndrome in humans. Overreaching refers to the initial phage of overtraining syndrome and has been known as a physical fatigue which is mainly from metabolic imbalance. It has been known that overtraining also results in a loss of adaptability which may lead to an attenuation of exercise performance, sleeping disorder, central fatigue, neurohormonal changes, difficulty recovery to physical stress, and immunological changes. Additionally, overtraining syndrome is characterized by persistent fatigue, poor performance in sport due to the prolonged and strenuous physical training. Also, previous studies reported that endurance athletes experienced a high incidence of URTI during intense training and the post training. And also, high-performance athletes reported that suppression of cell mediated and anti-body mediated immune function. NK cell numbers were also reduced in the period of overtraining syndrome. Major components of prevention and treatment for the overtraining syndrome are screening, education, and detraining. Furthermore, the combination of these prevention and treatment strategies will be much helpful. Therefore, the current review will be helpful for athletes and individuals who are at the risk of overtraining syndrome.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.224-231
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• 2000

$Nokyangbotang^{TM}$ (NYBT) is a kind of powerful food for health and have been drunk at a oral dose of 80 ml (99.5 mg) three times per day: It has not been well studied about the anti-fatigue and hepatoprotective activity. In this experiments, we evaluated pathophysiologically the effect of NYBT on swimming time in mouse and hepatoprotective activity in rats intoxicated with carbon-tetrachloride. NYBT was nontoxic in orally acute toxicity test ($LD_{50}$, 320 ml/60 kg): a nontoxic food in more four times of one-shoot dosage (80 ml) to human. Weight-loaded forced swimming test was carried out to measure the swimming time of mice with a 4% load of body weight in plastic cylinder (diameter $10{\;}cm{\;}{\times}{\;}height{\;}20{\;}cm$) on water bath at $25^{\circ}C$, and the anti-fatigue activity represented the ratio of swimming time of experimental group to that of control group. NYBT had dose-dependent anti-fatigue activity Mice administered NYBT at a dose of 320 ml/60 kg once daily for 5 days could swim about two times more than control. Hepatoprotective activities of NYBT were examined by the determination of malonedialdehyde (MDA) and pathological survey in liver and liver function test of rat intoxicated with $CCl_4$ at i.m. dose of 2 ml/kg once daily for 7days. NYBT decreased dose-dependently thiobarbituric acid reactive substance: Oral administration of NYBT at a dose of 20 ml/60 kg was $38.51{\;}{\pm}{\;}3.02$ nmol MDA/g of tissue, that of 80 ml/60 kg was $33.76{\;}{\pm}{\;} 1.84$ nmol MDA/g of tissue, and that of 320 ml/60 kg was $32.87{\;}{\pm}{\;}1.90$ nmol MDA/g of tissue as compared with control group ($43.61{\;}{\pm}{\;}2.85$ nmol MDA/g of tissue). All rats administered NYBT at a dose of 320 ml/60 kg were survival as compared with 40% survival of control animals, and GPT activity of rats administered NYBT at a dose of 80 ml/60 kg was decreased as compared with control. In histopathological survey, NYBT improved slightly the fatty changes of hepatocytes around centrilobular area. These results suggest that NYBT has anti-fatigue and hepatoprotective activity in rats and mice.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was to investigate how induced microcurrent shoes affect relief of feet pain, which often occurs to persons who are more than fifty years old and how they prevent fatigue of feet generated during everyday life. The subjects of this study were comprised af five males and five females, who agreed with this research and ate more than fifty years old. And they all have plantar faciitis and pain in their feet. Methods: Subjects ware the induced microcurrent shoes far more than 4 hours everyday during the test. When they wore those shoes, they also wore the specially produced shacks made of silver-mixed thread and they were asked to avoid serious exercise. Prior to starting test and after the test, assessments were carried out two times. In the examination before the test, general shoes were used and in examination after the test, induced microcurrent shoes used. Muscle fatigue was measured by electromyography(MP150, Biopac, USA). When the walking rate of subjects on a treadmill was increased from 2.Km/h to 3Km/h for 10 minutes, muscle activities of a lower leg were measured during the whale walking process by MP150 remote monitoring system(TEL 100C). And pain was measured by VAS. Results: The results are as follows. 1. Comparisons of VAS before and after experimentation showed that degree of pain was significantly decreased(p < .05). 2. Degree of fatigue of Tibialis anterior was significantly decreased after 6 weeks of treatment(p < .05). 3. Degree of fatigue of Soleus was slightly decreased after 6 weeks of treatment, but did not show significant difference (p > .05). Conclusion: The above results suggest that induced microcurrent shoes is helpful decreasing fatigue of feet and relief of feet pain.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.245-254
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• 1995

The density of ATP-sensitive potassium($K_{APT}$) channels, that open as intracellular ATP concentration falls below a critical level, is very high in skeletal muscle surface membrane and those high density may imply that $K_{ATP}$ channels have very important physiological roles. To elucidate a role of $K_{ATP}$ in relation to fatigue, the modulating effects of potassium channel openers and blockers on the fatigue velocity(FV) of mouse extensor hallucis longus muscle(EHL) were investigated in vitro. Twitch contraction was induced by an electrical field stimulation (EFS: 24-48V, 20ms, 0.2-4Hz) and resulting contraction force was isometrically recorded. The twitch forces were gradually decreased to 25% of initial contraction force(ICF) in $37.52{\pm}1.55sec$($mean{\pm}s.e.m.$, n=135), indicating the fatigue phenomena. The mean velocity for development of the fatigue was measured during the period that twitch force decreased to half($FV_{0/0.5}$) and during the period from half to 25%($FV_{0.5/0.25}$) of ICF. The fatigue was induced once every one hour and the tissue response was stable for up to 4 hours. In control condition, ICF was $5.8{\pm}0.12g$ (n=144) and decreased to 50% of ICF with the mean fatigue velocity of $0.182{\pm}0.006g/sec$($FV_{0/0.5}$, n=135) and from 50% to 25% of ICF with $0.084{\pm}0.004g/sec$($FV_{0.5/0.25}$, n=135). Cromakalim($50{\mu}M$) significantly increased $FV_{0.5/0.25}$(n=4). Glibenclamide($IC_{50}>50{\mu}M$), $Ba^{2+}$($IC_{50}=10{\mu}M$), 4-aminopyridine($FV_{0/0.5}$, $IC_{50}=0.5mM$; $FV_{0.5/0.25}$, $IC_{50}=2mM$) decreased both $FV_{0/0.5}$ and $FV_{0.5/0.25}$ concentration-dependently up to 75%. $TEA^+$(30mM), E-4031($10{\mu}M$), tolbutamide(1mM) decreased $FV_{0.5/0.25}$, but apamin(300nM) and $TEA^+$(10mM) showed no significant effects. Our results suggest that activation of the $K_{ATP}$ channels may be major cause of $K^+$ outflux during development of the fatigue and the isolated EHL muscle could be an useful experimental preparation in studying the fatigue phenomena in skeletal muscle. In addition, the possibility of activation of delayed rectifier during the fatigue development remains to be studied further.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2009

In the working population, muscle fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort are common, which, in the case of insufficient recovery may lead to musculoskeletal pain. Workers suffering from musculoskeletal pains need to be rehabilitated for recovery. Isokinetic testing has been used in physical strengthening, rehabilitation and post-operative orthopedic surgery. Frequency analysis of electromyography (EMG) signals using the mean frequency (MNF) has been widely used to characterize muscle fatigue. During isokinetic contractions, EMG signals present strong nonstationarities. Hilbert-Haung transform (HHT) and autoregressive (AR) model have been known more suitable than Fourier or wavelet transform for nonstationary signals. Moreover, several analyses have been performed within each active phase during isokinetic contractions. Thus, the aims of this study were i) to determine which one was better suitable for the analysis of MNF between HHT and AR model during repetitive maximum isokinetic extensions and ii) to investigate whether the analysis could be repeated for sequential fixed epoch lengths. Seven healthy volunteers (five males and two females) performed isokinetic knee extensions at $60^{\circ}/s$ and $240^{\circ}/s$ until 50% of the maximum peak torque was reached. Surface EMG signals were recorded from the rectus femoris of the right thigh. An algorithm detecting the onset and offset of EMG signals was applied to extract each active phase of the muscle. Following the results, slopes from the least-square error linear regression of MNF values showed that muscle fatigue of all subjects occurred. The AR model is better suited than HHT for estimating MNF from nonstationary EMG signals during isokinetic knee extensions. Moreover, the linear regression can be extracted from MNF values calculated by sequential fixed epoch lengths (p> 0.0I).

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.271-280
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• 2018

Background: Astragalus membranaceus is a well known oriental medicinal herb. The polysaccharides of the aboveground parts (AMA) and the radix (AMR) of A. membranaceus are the most important functional constituents. Methods and Results: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of AMA and AMR on the oxidative damage induced in the skeletal muscle of rats subjected to exhaustive exercise. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into exercise and non-exercise groups; in the groups receiving the test compounds, AMA and AMR were administered orally for 30 days. Skeletal muscle samples were collected from each rat after running to exhaustion on a treadmill to determine the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase (CAT) and the concentation of malondialdehyde (MDA). The antioxidant enzyme activities of SOD and GSH-Px of skeletal muscle of AMA- and AMR-treated groups were significantly higher than those of the control and commercial sports drink (SPD)-treated groups in exhaustive exercise rats. In addition, MDA concentrations in the skeletal muscle of the AMA- and AMR-treated groups were significantly lower than those of the control and SPD-treated groups. In the present study, the effects of AMA and AMR on exercise endurance capacity were also evaluated in mice subjected to a swimming exercise test. AMA and AMR supplementation prolonged the swimming time of mice and enhanced exercise endurance capacity. AMA and AMR possess the ability to retard and lower the production of blood lactate, and prevent the decrease of serum blood glucose. Conclusions: These results showed that, AMR and AMA exerted beneficial effect in mice, increasing the activity of the antioxidant systems and inhibiting oxidative stress induced by exhaustive exercise. The compounds improved exercise performance and showed anti-fatigue effects against exhaustive exercise.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this research was to develop the magnetic acupuncture system which used solenoid coil for magnetizing acupuncture needle. The system could generate the meridian electric potential (MEP) similar to the potential by manual acupuncture. Thus, we tried to confirm the therapeutic effect that is caused by the MEP generation. Methods : To confirm the MEP, we stimulated the magnetic acupuncture with at 2Hz, $92.7{\pm}2mT$, PEMFs (Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Fields) at ST37 and measured the evoked potential between ST36 and ST41. Also, we conducted a fatigue recovery test using isokinetic exercise in order to identify the therapeutic effect on musculoskeletal disorders. We chose LR9 as a stimulation point. To observe the state of fatigue, we measured the EMG and analyzed median frequency and peak torque for 20minutes. Results : We observed that MEP which incurred from magnetic acupuncture was higher than he reported MEP induced by manual acupuncture. Moreover, its modes were divided into two types by the direction of magnetic flux. When generating magnetic flux in the direction of acupoint, the positive peak voltage of the MEP was generated. In contrast, negative peak voltage of the MEP was generated whenever meganetic flux generated in the outward direction. As a result of fatigue recovery, the median frequency (MF) of the magnetic acupuncture group were recovered faster than that of the non-stimulation group. However, the peak torques of both groups were not restored until after 20 minutes. Conclusions : We confirmed that the magnetic acupuncture system can lead to the MEP similar to manual acupuncture. Moreover, the MEP had a therapeutic effect on the musculoskeletal disorders.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2020

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by the core symptom of chronic widespread pain, along with fatigue, sleep disturbances, mood changes, and cognitive difficulties. The etiology of fibromyalgia involves a combination of biological factors, such as genetic vulnerability, alterations in pain processing and stress response system ; psychological factors, such as anxiety, depression, anger, and perceived stress ; environmental factors, such as infections, febrile diseases, and trauma. Central sensitization, which is amplified in the process of sensory stimulation, has been emphasized as a key etiological factor, as supported by enhanced wind-up, delayed aftersensation, decreased nociceptive flexion reflex threshold and functional imaging studies. Several guidelines recommend that a multimodal approach be used to treat fibromyalgia, including both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, tailored to each individual, and that clinicians should provide an intellectual framework through sufficient education and emphasis on the importance of self-management. The prevalence of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and other psychiatric problems is 7-9 times higher in patients with fibromyalgia than in the general population ; moreover, the association between fibromyalgia and certain psychopathologies or sleep problems has also been suggested. Since psychiatric problems, with shared vulnerabilities and risk factors, interact with fibromyalgia bidirectionally and also affect the disease course, an integrated management approach is needed to determine the risk of comorbidities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.121-131
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• 2023

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of ice and hot packs on proprioception, balance, and muscle strength in knee extensor muscle fatigue. METHODS: A total of 31 male and female students in their twenties from a university in A, Chungnam, Korea, were selected as participants. Three experiments were conducted to assess static balance, dynamic balance, proprioception, and muscle strength before and after induction of muscle fatigue, and following intervention. RESULTS: In the case of stability typical (ST), a significant difference was observed in pillow with eye open (PO) when a Hot pack was applied (p < .05). The weight distribution index (WDI), showed significant differences in normal eye open (NO) and Normal eye closed (NC) tests when ice packs and hot packs were applied (p < .05). In the dynamic balance assessment using Y-balance, significant differences were observed in all values except for pre- and post-intervention in the medial and lateral directions (p < .05). The recovery of proprioceptive sensation showed a significant difference when ice packs were applied (p < .05). In muscle strength, significant differences were observed in all comparisons between measurement time points (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Rest was most effective for static balance, and cold and warm compresses were most effective in recovering dynamic balance. For proprioception, cold compresses were most effective. Muscle strength had a positive effect on recovery in all three intervention methods. These results show that cold and warm compresses can be useful in the recovery of various functions related to muscle fatigue.