• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2018

Background: It is very difficult for hemiplegic patients to effectively perform the sit-to-stand (STS) movements independently because of several factors. Moreover, the analysis of STS motion in hemiplegic patients has been thus far confined to only muscle strength evaluation with little information available on structural and environmental factors of varying chair height and foot conditions. Objects: This study aimed to analyze the change in biomechanical factors (ground reaction force, center of mass displacement, and the angle and moment of joints) of the joints in the lower extremities with varying chair height and foot conditions in hemiplegic patients while they performed the STS movements. Methods: Nine hemiplegic patients voluntarily participated in this study. Their STS movements was analyzed in a total of nine sessions (one set of three consecutive sessions) with varying chair height and foot conditions. The biomechanical factors of the joints in the lower extremities were measured during the movements. Ground reaction force was measured using a force plate; and the other abovementioned parameters were measured using an infra-red camera. Two-way repeated analysis of variance was performed to determine the changes in biomechanical factors in the lower extremities with varying chair height and foot conditions. Results: No interaction was found between chair height and foot conditions (p>.05). All measured variables with varying chair height showed a significant difference (p<.05). Maximum joint flexion angle, maximum joint moment, and the displacement of the center of mass in foot conditions showed a significant difference (p<.05); however the maximum ground reaction force did not show a significant difference (p>.05). Conclusion: The findings suggest that hemiplegic patients can more stably and efficiently perform the STS movement with increased chair height and while they are bare-foot.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.277-288
• /
• 2017

A probabilistic risk analysis of levee system estimates the overall level of flood risk associated with the levee system, according to a series of possible flood scenarios. It requires the uncertainty analysis of all the risk components, including hydrological, hydraulic and geotechnical parts computed by employing MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo), MCS (Monte Carlo Simulation) and FOSM (First-Order Second Moment), presents a joint probability combined each probability. The methodology was applied to a 12.5 km reach from upstream to downstream of the Gangjeong-Goryeong weir, including 6 levee reaches, in Nakdong river. Overtopping risks were estimated by computing flood stage corresponding to 100/200 year high quantile (97.5%) design flood causing levee overflow. Geotechnical risks were evaluated by considering seepage, slope stability, and rapid drawdown along the levee reach without overflow. A probability-based compound risk will contribute to rising effect of safety and economic aspects for levee design, then expect to use the index for riverside structure design in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2006

Purpose: This study compared the effects of non-cold and cold conditions on the viscoelastic properties of tendon structures in vivo. Methods: Seven male subjects perfomed plantar flesion exercise with maximal isokinetic voluntary contraction, which consisted of muscle contraction for 6 see and relaxation for 60 secs, 10 times for 1 set, Totally 10 sets were repeated. Before and after each task, the elongation of the tendon and aponeurosis of the medial gastrocnemius muscle (MG) was directly measured by ultrasonography. (The relationship between the estimated tendon force and tendon elongation.) Tendon cross-sectional area and ankle joint moment arm were obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The tendon force was calculated from the joint moments and the tendon moment arm and stress was obtained by dividing force by cross-sectional areas (CSA). The strain was measured from the displacements normalized to tendon length. Results: After cooling, the tendon force was larger in cold than non-cold. The value of the tendon stiffness of MVC were significantly higher under the cold condition than under the non-cold condition. The maximal strain and stress of $7.4{\pm}0.7%$ and $36.4{\pm}1.8$ MPa in non-cold and $7.8{\pm}8.5%,\;31.8{\pm}1.1$ MPa in cold (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study shows for the first time that the muscle endurance in cooling increases the stiffness and Young's modulus of human tendons. The improvement in muscle endurance with cooling was directly related to muscle and tendon.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.263-275
• /
• 2014

In this study, connection of steel reinforced concrete(SRC) column and composite beam which consists of H-section and U-section members were tested under cyclic loading. An essential point of the composite beam is the structural performance of welded joint between the H-section and the U-section members. To improve the structural performance of joint of two beam members, vertical stiffeners, trapezoidal stiffeners, and top bars were used. Five full-scaled specimens were designed to study the effect of a number of parameters on cyclic performance of connections such as H-section beam size($H-500{\times}200{\times}10{\times}16$, $H-600{\times}200{\times}11{\times}17$), the presence of stiffeners and top bars, and the presence of no weld access hole(WAH) method. Based on the test results, deformation capacity of the specimens with H-500 series beam and H-600 series beam were 4% and 3% rotation angle, which is the requirement for the Special Moment Frame and Intermediate Moment Frame(IMF), respectively. Test result showed that deformation capacity of connection with stiffeners and top bars is greater than that of connection without stiffeners and top bars. Finally, energy dissipation capacity and strain profile of specimens were summarized.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.21-30
• /
• 2016

Weibull distribution with two parameters, shape (k) and scale (s) parameters are used to model the fatigue failure analysis due to periodic vortex shedding of the synovial fluid in knee joints. In order to determine the later parameter, a suitable statistical model is required for velocity distribution of synovial fluid flow. Hence, wide applicability of Weibull distribution in life testing and reliability analysis can be applied to describe the probability distribution of synovial fluid flow velocity. In this work, comparisons of three most widely used methods for estimating Weibull parameters are carried out; i.e. the least square estimation method (LSEM), maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and the method of moment (MOM), to study fatigue failure of bone joint due to periodic vortex shedding of synovial fluid. The performances of these methods are compared through the analysis of computer generated synovial fluidflow velocity distribution in the physiological range. Significant values for the (k) and (s) parameters are obtained by comparing these methods. The criterions such as root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient of determination ($R^2$), maximum error between the cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) or Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) and the chi square tests are used for the comparison of the suitability of these methods. The results show that maximum likelihood method performs well for most of the cases studied and hence recommended.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.161-166
• /
• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the knee and ankle joint kinematics and kinetics by comparing downhill walking with valley-shape combined slope walking. Method: Eighteen healthy men participated in this study. A three-dimensional motion capture system equipped with eight infrared cameras and a synchronized force plate, which was embedded in the sloped walkway, was used. Obtained kinematic and kinetic parameters were compared using paired two-tailed Student's t-tests at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The knee flexion angle after the mid-stance phase, the mean peak knee flexion angle in the early swing phase, and the ankle mean peak dorsiflexion angle were greater during downhill walking compared with valley-shape combined slope walking (p < 0.001). Both the mean peak vertical ground reaction force (GRF) in the early stance phase and late stance phase during downhill walking were smaller than those values during valley-shape combined slope walking. (p = 0.007 and p < 0.001, respectively). The mean peak anterior GRF, appearing right after toe-off during downhill walking, was also smaller than that of valley-shape combined slope walking (p = 0.002). The mean peak knee extension moment and ankle plantar flexion moment in late stance phase during downhill walking were significantly smaller than those of valley-shape combined slope walking (p = 0.002 and p = 0.015, respectively). Conclusion: These results suggest that gait strategy was modified during valley-shape combined slope walking when compared with continuous downhill walking in order to gain the propulsion for lifting the body up the incline for foot clearance.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.37 no.9
• /
• pp.794-800
• /
• 2004

Deer Antler has been known for its traditional oriental medicinal properties and has been widely used to promote growth, boost immune function, treat blood loss and chronic joint pain. Recent study showed imported (New Zealand) Deer Antler was beneficial in reducing the side effects of cancer treatments. However, there was no intervention study conducted on the effect of Korean Deer Antler on reducing the oxidative stress to patients with diabetes. One of the sensitive ways to measure endogenous oxidative stress is by measuring cellular DNA damage using single cell gel electrophoresis (COMET assay). This study was conducted to investigate the possible beneficial effect of commercial Deer Antler drink (provided by Chung-yang Deer Farm) on lymphocyte DNA damage and blood glucose of diabetic patients. Ten patients (4 men, 6 women) participated in the study and consumed 2 pouches of Deer Antler drink every day for 20 days. Blood was collected on the morning before and after the intervention for lymphocyte isolation and blood glucose analysis. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a tendency to decrease but did not reach statistical significance after the trial. Blood glucose level was not affected by the supplementation. After the intervention, over 50% reduction were noted in the cellular DNA damage, expressed as tail length (TL) and tail moment (TM: tail length ${\times}$ percent tail DNA) . Although we did not obtain beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels in the patients, this results suggest that Deer Antler may initially act in protecting endogenous DNA damage in short-term experiment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.663-670
• /
• 2007

Column-tree beam-to-column joints are widely used in moment-resisting frames in Korea. In this study, we proposed four different arrangements for weak-axis moment-resisting beam-to-column connections, which are more economical than the conventional connection, while developing similar structural performance. We investigated the proposed connections whose connection details were different from the conventional one. The experiment was also conducted on a total of five beam-to-column joint specimensto verify the structural performance of the proposed connections. All four connections proposed in this study were found to be more economical that the conventional connection. Three out of four specimens with proposed details were able to developa structural performance similar to that of the specimen with the conventional detail.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.33-41
• /
• 1999

This paper presents a new algorithm about motion adjustment for dynamic balance. It adjusts an unbalanced motion to an balanced motion while preserving the nuance of original motion. We solve dynamic balancing problem using the zero moment point (ZMP) which is often used for controlling the balance of biped robot. Our algorithm is consists of four steps. First, it fits joint angle data to spline curves for reducing noise. Second, the algorithm analyzes the ZMP trajectory so that it can detects the dynamically-unbalanced duration. Third, the algorithm project the ZMP trajectory into the supporting area if the trajectory deviates from the area. Finally, the algorithm produces the balanced motion that satisfies the new ZMP trajectory. In this step, the constrained optimization method is used so that the new motion keeps the original motion characteristics as much as possible. We make several experiments in order to prove that our algorithm is useful to add physical realism to a kinematically edited motion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.5 s.122
• /
• pp.415-426
• /
• 2007

In a link motion punch press, numerous links are interconnected and each link executes a constrained motion at high speed. As a consequence, dynamic unbalance force and moment are transmitted to the main frame of the press, which results in unwanted vibration. This degrades productivity and precise stamping work of the press. This paper presents an effective method for reducing dynamic unbalance in a link motion punch press based upon kinematic and dynamic analyses. Firstly, the kinematic analysis is carried out in order to understand the fundamental characteristics of the link motion mechanism. Then design variable approach is presented in order to automate the model setup for the mechanism whenever design changes are necessary. To obtain the inertia properties of the links such as mass, mass moment of inertia, and the center of mass, 3-dimensional CAD software was utilized. Dynamic simulations were carried out for various combinations of design changes on some links having significant influences on kinematic and dynamic behavior of the mechanism.