• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.53-57
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the changes in the muscle activation of the quadriceps muscle (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis) during the stand-to-sit (StandTS) movement according to the plantar flexion angle of the ankle joint. Methods: A total of 22 healthy young females participated in this study. During the StandTS under the three conditions (plantarflexion angle 0°, 20°, and 45° of the ankle), electromyography (EMG) data (% maximum voluntary iso¬metric contraction) of the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis were recorded using a wireless surface EMG system. Results: There was a significant difference in the muscle activation of rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis according to the plantar flexion angle (0°, 20°, and 45°) of the ankle. The muscle activation of the quadriceps was the highest at a 45° angle of plantarflexion and the lowest at 0°. One-way repeated ANOVA was used to analyze the muscle activation data of the lower extremity muscles according to the angle of the ankle joint. Conclusion: Based on the results of our study, it was confirmed that the muscle activity of the quadriceps can be increased even in the StandTS movement, which involves the eccentric contraction of the quadriceps muscle. This suggests that maintaining a plantar flexion posture for a long time, say by wearing high-heeled shoes, can quickly cause muscle fatigue in the lower-limb muscles, which can cause a decrease in balance ability leading to falls.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.266-273
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• 1999

The maximum work capacity at various shoulder angles was estimated in terms of joint moment through maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) measurement, and the result was compared to workload computed from 3-D static lifting model (3DSSPP) based upon national institute of safety and health (NIOSH) lifting guideline (1991). The electromyography (EMG) of anterior/posterior deltoid and trapezius muscle was also recorded to study the function of individual muscle during asymmetric shoulder lifting. Psychophysical workload was measured to observe the difference from MVC or biomechanical estimation. An apparatus was constructed for the study and twenty five trials including five flexion angles and five add/abduction angles were performed isometrically. Results indicated that MVC at 30 degree of flexion was the strongest whereas MVC at 120 degree was the weakest. In case of add/abduction, MVC decreased to 77 to 89 % during add/abduction compared to the MVC at neutral position. Regarding the normalized EMG value, a substantial increase was observed at 30 and 60 degree abduction. More importantly, the shoulder moment computed from maximum permissible limit (MPL) was greater than the moment at MVC condition during 30 degree adduction. Current result can be used as a reference information for a safe workplace design to prevent the shoulder from an excessive work load in industry.

• 대한관절경학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.117-118
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• 2009

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.9-15
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine contraction of abdominal muscles on surface electromyographic (EMG) activity of superficial cervical flexors, rib cage elevation and angle of craniocervical flexion during deep cervical flexion exercise in supine position. Fifteen healthy subjects were participated for this study. All subjects performed deer cervical flexion exercise with two methods. The positions of two methods were no volitional contraction of abdominal muscles in hook-lying position with 45 degree hip flexion (method 1) and 90 degrees hip and knee flexion with feet off floor for inducing abdominal muscle contraction (method 2). Surface EMG activities were recorded from five muscles (sternocleidmastoid, anterior scaleneus, recuts abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique). And distance of rib cage elevation and angle of craniocervical flexion were measured using a three dimensional motion analysis system. The EMG activity of each muscle was normalized to the value of reference voluntary contraction (%RVC). The EMG activities, distance of rib cage elevation. and angle of craniocervical were compared using a paired t-test between two methods. The results showed that the EMG activities of sternocleidmastoid and anterior scaleneus during deep cervical flexion exercise in method 2 were significantly decreased compared to method 1 (p<.05). Distance of rib cage elevation and angle of craniocervical flexion were significantly decreased in method 2 (p<.05). The findings of this study indicated that deep cervical flexion exercise with contraction of abdominal muscles could be an effective method to prevent substitute motion for rib cage elevation and contraction of superficial neck flexor muscles.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.637-644
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• 2011

Objective & Background: When applying various evaluation tools that analyze work posture risk through observation, accurate measurement of body flexion angle is very important. Method: This study investigated differences and appropriateness of 5 different existing reference points commonly used in the analysis of the work posture. Twenty five ergonomist and trained professionals were participated in this study. A Same flexion angle was utilized for the evaluation of risk assessment of musculoskeletal disorders using five different reference points to investigate the degree of difference between them. To investigate how different the observers' preferred flexion angle measuring methods were compared to the ISO 11226 Reference Posture, a virtual body model was constructed using the Poser 6.0 program. Six types of body flexion postures were constructed, and since neck flexion differs according to body angle, five types of neck flexion postures were constructed with the trunk bending $20^{\circ}$ forward, making up a total of 30 virtual flexion postures. Results: Results showed that the observers used personally preferred reference points instead of reference points recommend in the evaluation tools. Also the results revealed the their seems to be 6 types of flexion angle for the trunk and 11 types of measurement methods for the neck flexion angle in the form of personally preferred reference points. The results showed that a mean difference of $14^{\circ}$($4{\sim}23^{\circ}$) occurred in the trunk, and a mean difference of $20^{\circ}$($-8{\sim}51^{\circ}$) occurred in the neck. To increase accuracy when using the 5 evaluation tools in combination, the ISO 11226 standards, observers' preferred flexion posture standards, and common flexion posture standards of the evaluation tools were compared with the reference points of the 5 evaluation tools. Results showed considerable variance in angle difference for each evaluation tool. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, considering the angle difference between the flexion angle reference points of the evaluation tool and the reference points selected by the observers, it is concluded that instead of personally preferred reference points, the standardized reference points to enhance the accuracy and the objectivity. Application: The result of this study can be used as reference guide to develop the standardized reference point in the future.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.311-325
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• 2003

A relation between the movement range of arms and arising moment has been studied to find out efficient movement range to minimize impact concerning arm landing in sports aerobics. Four male athletes who won top three in national-level sports aerobics competition were chosen for the experiment. They were allowed to jump in between two force platform so that the right hand and the right leg could land onto the front and rear force platform, respectively. The sampling frequency was 200 Hz. The main conclusions based on the analysis of the angle and joint moment parameters of wrist, elbow, and shoulder are as follows: 1. The wrist moment was small when its angle was small, indicating that the dorsi-flexion of the wrist joint offered a positive influence to reduce wrist moment. 2. The elbow angle increased as wrist angle decreased and vice versa. This means that the movement range of the wrist joint affects that of the elbow joint. The darsi-flexion of the wrist is the position to absorb the impact of the elbow effectively rather than to absorb the impact of the wrist itself. The impact is absorbed by the flexion of wrist joint rather than the wrist. 3. The degree of moment transfer of the shoulder joint, having absorbed the impact from the elbow and elbow joint, became dependent on the efficiency of the fore-joints impact absorption.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.86-92
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of performing squats and kneeling squats on trunk and lower extremity muscle activity in persons with stroke. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Ten persons with stroke (3 male and 7 female) were recruited. The subjects were instructed to randomly perform the 4 different squat conditions: squat with 30 degrees of knee flexion, squat with 60 degrees of knee flexion, squat with 90 degree of knee flexion, and the kneeling squat. During the squat performance, surface electromyograms (sEMG) was used to assess muscle activity of the erector spinae (ES), gluteus maximus (Gmax), gluteus medius (Gmed), and biceps femoris (BF) muscles. Results: Muscle activation of the ES and BF were significantly increased with the kneeling squats compared to the general squats with 30 degrees and 60 degrees of knee flexion (p<0.05), and muscle activation of the Gmax and Gmed were significantly increased with the kneeling squats compared to all other squat conditions (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results suggest that the kneeling squat is an effective exercise to strengthen the proximal muscles of the lower extremities. Rather than applying a difficult general squat to the stroke population, the kneeling squat may be applied as a safer method for training the proximal muscles.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.4 s.247
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• pp.457-464
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• 2006

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is liable to a major injury that often results in a functional impairment requiring surgical reconstruction. The success of reconstruction depends on such factors as attachment positions, initial tension of ligament and surgical methods of fixation. The purpose of this study is to find isometric positions of the substitute during flexion/extension. The distance between selected attachments on the femur and tibia was computed from a set of measurements using a 6 degree-of-freedom magnetic sensor system. A three-dimensional knee model was constructed from CT images and was used to simulate length change during knee flexion/extension. This model was scaled for each subject. Twenty seven points on the tibia model and forty two points on the femur model were selected to calculate length change. This study determined the maximum and minimum distances to the tibial attachment during flexion/extension. The results showed that minimum length changes were $1.9{\sim}5.8mm$ (average $3.6{\pm}1.4mm$). The most isometric region was both the posterosuperior and anterior-diagonal areas from the over-the-top. The proposed method can be utilized and applied to an optimal reconstruction of ACL deficient knees.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.617-625
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• 2009

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the hamstring-to-quadriceps strength(H/Q) ratios in collegiate soccer players and normal age-matched healthy students, and the secondary purpose was to investigate the changes in the H/Q ratio according to the degree of knee flexion. Twenty-five subjects volunteered to participate in this study. The study group comprised 12 healthy male collegiate soccer players, and the control group, 13 healthy age-matched male collegiate students. The modified N-K table was used for isometric strength measurement(unit: N). Mann-Whitney tests were performed to determine the differences in the H/Q ratios of soccer players and age-matched students at different knee flexion angles of the dominant leg. The strength of the hamstring muscle in the study group was significantly lower than that observed in the control group at knee flexion angles of $60^{\circ}$ (p<.001), $90^{\circ}$ (p<.01), and $120^{\circ}$ (p<05). The strength of the quadriceps muscle in the study group was significantly higher than that observed in the control group at flexion angles of $30^{\circ}$ (p<.001) and $60^{\circ}$ (p<.05). The H/Q ratios in the study and control groups differed significantly at all angles ($60^{\circ}$, p<.001, $90^{\circ}$, p<.001 and $120^{\circ}$, p<.001).