Background: To improve muscle flexibility, static stretch is the most common type and is considered safe and effective for improving overall flexibility of muscles. During the stretch, the intensity is more likely to be determined by the degree of an athlete’s pain and practitioner’s skills rather than quantitative measures of stretch. It is necessary to determine the optimal intensity for the stretch. Objects: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between hand held dynamometer (HHD) and verbal rating scale (VRS) in comparison of the effects of continuance time on active (walking) and inactive (sitting) movement after static stretch. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample (n=62) recruited from a university. Participants were randomly assigned to 2 different groups (n=31 for each group) based on participants’ positions either remaining in sitting or freely walking around for a series of re-assessments. Data was collected at pre-warm up, pre-stretch, post-stretch, and additional assessments at the time of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 20 and 30 minutes after the stretch. Results: Relationship between VRS and HHD scores represents very weak correlation (Spearman’s p=-.16, p>.05). Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted following the logarithmic transformation of the two scores. Pearson’s correlation after the transformation still showed a very low relationship and a poor linear relationship between the two scores (Pearson’s r=-.18, p>.05). Conclusion: The optimal intensity for stretch cannot be solely determined by the subjective pain perception. The objective measurement such as HHD could be used in conjunction with the pain perception.

The GPS positioning method is widely used in the performance of forest tasks due to its convenient observation. But the result of GPS positioning without precise GPS measurements or DGPS method generally includes relatively large positioning errors. In case of mountainous regions, these positioning errors more increase because tree canopies or topographies interfere GPS satellite signals. Thus, observers have to consider how large positioning errors are included under the various observation condition in mountainous regions. In this study, we conducted a real-time GPS positioning experiment in the mountainous region with widely used three hand-held GPS measurements and a precise GPS measurement in Korea Forest Service. We observed the positioning data at various regions of topography and physiognomy. Finally, we analyzed the RMSE of each GPS positioning results under various mountain environments.

The purpose of this study was to assess the agreement of manual muscle testing (MMT) and test-retest reliability of a hand held dynamometer for the posterior gluteus medius muscle, with and without lumbar stabilization, using a pressure biofeedback unit for patients with low back pain. The pressure biofeedback unit was used to minimize the substitute motion of the lumbopelvic region during hip abduction in patients lying on their side. Fifteen patients with low back pain participated in this study. A tester determined the MMT grades of the posterior gluteus medius with and without the pressure biofeedback unit. Active hip abduction range of motion with an inclinometer and the strength of their posterior gluteus medius using a hand held dynamometer were measured with and without the pressure biofeedback unit in the MMT position. The agreement of the grade of muscle strength in the MMT, and intra-rater reliability of both the active hip abduction range of motion and the strength of posterior gluteus medius were analyzed using the weighted kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. The agreement of MMT with the pressure biofeedback unit (weighted kappa=.92) was higher than the MMT (weighted kappa=.34)(p<.05). The inclinometer with pressure biofeedback unit measurement of the active hip abduction range of motion had an excellent intra-rater reliability (ICC=.90). Also, the hand held dynamometer with pressure biofeedback unit measure of strength of the posterior gluteus medius had a good intra-rater reliability (ICC=.85). Therefore, the test for muscle strength with pressure biofeedback unit will be a reliable method for the determination of the MMT grades or amount of posterior gluteus medius muscle strength and the measurement of the range of motion for hip abduction in patients with low back pain.

Vibrotactile actuators for small consumer electronic products, such as mobile devices, have been widely used for conveying haptic sensation to users. One of the most important things in vibrotactile actuators is to be developed in the form of thin actuator which can be easily embedded into mobile devices and to provide vibrotactile signals with wide frequency band to users. Thus, this paper proposes a thin film type haptic actuator with an aim to convey vibrotactile information with high frequency bandwidth to users in mobile devices. To this end, a vibrotactile actuator which creates haptic sensation is designed and constructed based on cellulose acetate material. A cellulose acetate material charged with an electric potential can generate vibration under the AC voltage input. It is found that the motion of the actuator can have concave or convex shape by controlling a polarity of both charged membranes and the actuator performance can be modulated by increasing level of biased electric potential. The experiment clearly shows that the proposed actuator creates enough output force to stimulate human skin with a large frequency bandwidth and to simulate various vibrotactile sensations to users.

이 논문에서는 안전한 해양레저 행위를 지원하기 위한 두 가지 개인 휴대용 전자장치 개발 내용을 기술한다. 하나는 조난자를 신속히 민-관-군 동시 다발적으로 수색하기 위한 선박용 9GHz 대역의 일반 레이더 전파에 응답하는 레이더 응답장치이다. 다른 하나는 조난자의 위치를 추적하고 식별할 수 있는 900MHz 스펙트럼 확산 주파수 홉핑 방식의 송수신기와 GPS를 이용한 해상 무선식별장치 개념의 전자장치이다. 해양경찰 함정을 이용한 해상에서의 다양한 현장실험을 통하여 두 가지 장비의 성능을 확인하였다. 그리고 향후 상용화 방안에 대해서 검토하였다.