Background: Weakness of the abdominal and mid thoracic muscles the lead to thoracic kyphosis of stroke patients. The trunk muscles activity of stroke patients is significantly related to upper extremity. Objectives: To investigate the effect of seated exercise of thoracic and abdominal muscles on upper extremity function and trunk muscles activity in stroke patients. Design: One-group pretest-posttest design. Methods: A total of 27 stroke patients were recruited. All stroke patient were given seated abdominal exercise (posterior pelvic tilt exercises) and thoracic exercise (postural-correction exercise). All exercises were conducted for 30 minutes, three times a week for four weeks. The manual function test (MFT) and electromyography (EMG) were measured, and EMG electrodes were attached to thoracic paraspinal muscles and lower rectus abdominal muscles. EMG signal is expressed as %RVC (reference voluntary contraction). Results: Experimental group showed significant increases in abdominal muscles, paraspinal muscles activity and MFT total score, items of arm motion (forward elevation of the upper extremity, lateral elevation of the upper extremity, touch the occiput with the palm) in MFT after four weeks. Conclusion: These results suggest that, in stroke patients, seated exercise of thoracic and abdominal muscles contribute to improve trunk muscles activity and upper extremity function in stroke patients.

Background: Recently, the kinesiology taping (KT) method was reported to be effective in improving walking ability in foot drop patients after stroke, but the clinical basis is still unclear. Objectives: The KT method was compared with ankle-foot orthotics (AFO) to investigate gait ability in foot drop patients after stroke. Design: Crossover study design. Methods: In this study, 11 stroke patients with foot drop participated. Walking ability of all subjects for both conditions (KT and AFO) was measured using the GAITRite system. The order of application of the two conditions was determined randomly by drawing lots. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare walking ability between the two conditions. The level of statistical significance was set at P<.05. Results: There were no significant differences between the KT and AFO methods in terms of velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length (P>.05, all). Conclusion: This study recommends KT as an alternative to the AFO, since KT provides evidence of preventing of foot drops and improving gait ability in stroke patient.

Background: Kinesiology taping (KT) is a method that helps immediately increase muscle activation, strength and joint stability by being attached to various skeletal muscles and structures of the body. Objectives: To investigate the effect of KT applied below the hyolaryngeal complex on the movement of the hyolaryngeal complex during swallowing in patients with dysphagia after stroke. Design: One-group, pre-post design. Methods: Twenty individuals with dysphagia after stroke participated in this study. KT was applied to the sternum and both clavicles from the hyolaryngeal complex. We analyzed the motion of the hyolaryngeal complex during swallowing with and placebo KT and KT using the Image-J software with videofluoroscopic swallowing study. In addition, a 0-to-10 numerical rating self-report scale was used to check the required effort and resistance felt during swallowing. Results: KT condition showed that the anterior and superior movement of the hyoid bone during swallowing was significantly lower than placebo KT (P<.05, all). Also, KT condition showed that the anterior and superior movement of the larynx during swallowing was significantly lower than placebo KT (P<.05, all). In result of statistical comparison between KT group and placebo KT group, the KT group showed significantly higher self-report scale score than the placebo KT group in terms of two category; the required effort and resistance felt (P<.05, all). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that KT applied below the hyolaryngeal complex inhibits the anterior and superior movement of hyoid bone and larynx during swallowing of patients with dysphagia after stroke.

Background: Many trials have been conducted the methods and types of intervention of form rollers, but no research has been done yet that mixes the methods and types of intervention. Objectives: To analyze the effects of myofascial release on the improvement of range of motion (ROM), flexibility, pain pressure threshold, and balance. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: All subjects measured ROM, flexibility, pressure pain threshold, and dynamic balance by pre-test. After pre-test, subjects were randomized that static-vibration foam rolling group (n=12), dynamic-vibration foam rolling group (n=12), general foam rolling group (n=12). For the intervention, 3 sets of 90 seconds were applied to each group, and rest time was set to 60 seconds between sets. In the post-test and follow-up test after 10 minutes, all three groups were measured the ROM, flexibility, pressure pain threshold, and dynamic balance. Results: The results of comparing ROM, flexibility, pressure pain thresholds, dynamic balance ability appeared higher significant difference in the prepost- 10 minutes follow up test in comparison between time in the intragroup (P<.001). As a result of comparing the change of pre-post-10 minutes follow up, static vibration foam rolling showed higher significant difference compared to control groups (P<.001). Conclusion: Through this study, when foam rolling is applied within the same intervention time, static foam rolling can be expected to have a better effect than the existing dynamic foam rolling as well as vibration foam roller can expect better effect than general foam rolling.

Background: Ankle sprain in the Lead Leg Side (ALLS) is common in fencing athletes, and studies comparing the ankle range of motion (ROM) and strength of both legs are insufficient. Objectvies: To compare the ankle ROM and hip strength between two legs in fencing athletes who has ankle instability in the lead leg side. Design: Cross-sectional design. Methods: Seven fencing athletes with ankle instability participated in this study, and they randomly assigned into ankle in the Lead Leg Side (ALLS) and ankle in the Rear Leg Side (ARLS). Instability was determined by the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT), and then joint ROM and hip muscle strength were measured. Results: There were significant differences in dorsiflexion ROM, hip strength (extension and abduction) between the ALLS with ankle instability and ARLS (P<.05). Conclusion: This study suggests that the ankle ROM and hip muscle strength of ARLS are greater than ALLS in fencing athletes with ankle instability.

Background: Weakness of the trunk muscles decreases the trunk control ability of stroke patients, which is significantly related to balance and gait. Objectives: To compare the impact of diagonal pattern self-exercise on an unstable surface and a stable surface for trunk rehabilitation on trunk control, balance, and gait ability in stroke patients. Design: Nonequivalent control group design. Methods: Twenty four participants were randomized into the experimental group (diagonal pattern self-exercise while sitting on an unstable surface, n=12) and the control group (diagonal pattern self-exercise while sitting on a stable surface, n=12). All interventions were conducted for 30 minutes, three times a week for four weeks, and the trunk impairment scale (TIS), berg balance scale (BBS), functional gait assessment (FGA), and G-walk were measured. Results: All groups indicated significant increases in all variables (TIS, BBS, FGA, cadence, speed, stride length) after four weeks. The TIS, BBS, FGA, cadence, gait speed, and stride length group-by-time were significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: We found that, in stroke patients, diagonal pattern self-exercise on an unstable surface is a more effective method for improving trunk control, balance, and gait ability than diagonal pattern self-exercise on a stable surface.

Background: Previous robot-mediated gait training has been proven several limitations such as pointless repeated motion training, decreased presence, etc. In this research, adult stroke patients were participated in robot-mediated gait training accompanied with or without virtual reality program. Objectives: Exploring whether the results indicated virtual reality system has contribution to muscle strength and balance ability. Design: A case series research, cross-over trial. Methods: Eleven participants (male 4, female 7) with adults diagnosed as stroke from medical doctor ware engaged. The participants received 2 treatment sessions of identical duration, robot-assisted gait training with virtual reality and robot-assisted gait training with screen-off randomly crossed over include 1-day for each person of wash-out period. The parameter was muscle activity, the researchers assessed sEMG (surface electromyography). Results: The result showed less muscle activities during training in robotassisted gait training with virtual reality circumstances, and these indicated muscles were gluteus medius muscle, vastus medialis muscle, vastus intermedius and vastus lateralis muscle, semimembranosus muscle, gastrocnemius- lateral head, and soleus muscle (P<.05). Conclusion: In this study, we analyzed the outcome of muscle activity for clinical inference of robot-assisted gait training with virtual reality (VR). Less muscle activity was measured in the treatment accompanied by VR, therefore, a more systematic, in-depth and well-founded level of follow-up research is needed.

The present study demonstrates the effect of magnetic pulse compaction and spark plasma sintering on the microstructure and mechanical property of a sintered W body. The relative density of green specimens prepared by magnetic pulse compaction increases with increase in applied pressure, but when the applied pressure is 3.4 GPa or more, some cracks in the specimen are observed. The pressureless-sintered W shows neck growth between W particles, but there are still many pores. The sintered body fabricated by spark plasma sintering exhibits a relative density of above 90 %, and the specimen sintered at 1,600 oC after magnetic pulse compaction shows the highest density, with a relative density of 93.6 %. Compared to the specimen for which the W powder is directly sintered, the specimen sintered after magnetic pulse compaction shows a smaller crystal grain size, which is explained by the reduced W particle size and microstructure homogenization during the magnetic pulse compaction process. Sintering at 1,600 oC led to the largest Vickers hardness value, but the value is slightly lower than that of the conventional W sintered body, which is attributed mainly to the increased grain size and low sintering density.

This study deals with the yielding behavior and strain aging properties of three bake hardening steels with dualphase microstructure, fabricated by varying the annealing temperature. Bake hardening and aging tests are performed to examine the correlation of martensite volume fraction with yielding behavior and strain aging properties of the bake hardening steels with dual-phase microstructure. The volume fraction of martensite increases with increasing annealing temperature. Roomtemperature tensile test results show that the yielding behavior changes from discontinuous-type to continuous-type with increasing volume fraction of martensite due to higher mobile dislocation density. According to the bake hardening and aging tests, the specimen with the highest fraction of martensite exhibited high bake hardening with low aging index because solute carbon atoms in ferrite and martensite effectively diffuse to dislocations during the bake hardening test, while in the aging test they diffuse at only ferrite due to lower aging temperature.

A commercial AA1070 alloy for electrical wire is severely deformed by drawing process in which a rod with an initial diameter of 9mm into is reduced to a wire of 2mm diameter. The drawn AA1070 wire is then annealed at various temperatures from 200 to 450 oC for 2h. Changes in microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical properties of the specimens with annealing temperature are investigated in detail. The specimen begins partially to recrystallize at 250 oC; above 300 oC it is covered with equiaxed recrystallized grains over all regions. Fiber textures of {110}<111> and {112}<111> components are mainly developed, and {110}<001> texture is partially developed as well. The tensile strength tends to decrease with annealing temperature due to the occurrence of recovery or/and recrystallization. On the other hand, the elongation of the annealed wire increases with the annealing temperature, and reaches a maximum value of 33.3 % at 300 oC. Electric conductivity of the specimens increases with annealing temperature, and reaches a maximum value of 62.6%IACS after annealing at 450 oC. These results are discussed in comparison with those for the other aluminum alloy.

In this study, factors considered to be causes of promotion of densification of sintered pellets identified during phase change are reviewed. As a result, conclusions shown below are obtained for each factor. In order for MA powder to soften, a temperature of 1,000 K or higher is required. In order to confirm the temporary increase in density throughout the sintered pellet, the temperature rise due to heat during phase change was found not to have a significant effect. While examining the thermal expansion using the compressed powder, which stopped densification at a temperature below the MA powder itself, and the phase change temperature, no shrinkage phenomenon contributing to the promotion of densification is observed. The two types of powder made of Ti-silicide through heat treatment are densified only in the high temperature region of 1,000 K or more; it can be estimated that this is the effect of fine grain superplasticity. In the densification of the amorphous powder, the dependence of sintering pressure and the rate of temperature increase are shown. It is thought that the specific densification behavior identified during the phase change of the Ti-37.5 mol.%Si composition MA powder reviewed in this study is the result of the acceleration of the powder deformation by the phase change from non-equilibrium phase to equilibrium phase.

In this study, the effect of tempering on the stretch-flangeability is investigated in 980 MPa grade dual-phase steel consisting of ferrite and martensite phases. During tempering at 300 oC, the strength of ferrite increases due to the pinning of dislocations by carbon atoms released from martensite, while martensite is softened as a consequence of a reduction in its carbon super-saturation. This strength variation results in a considerable increase in yield strength of the steel, without loss of tensile strength. The hole expansion test shows that steel tempered for 20 min (T20 steel) exhibits a higher hole expansion ratio than that of steel without tempering (T0 steel). In T0 steel, severe plastic localization in ferrite causes easy pore formation at the ferrite-martensite interface and subsequent brittle crack propagation through the highly deformed ferrite area during hole expansion testing; this propagation is mainly attributed to the large difference in hardness between ferrite and martensite. When the difference in hardness is not so large (T20 steel), on the other hand, tempered martensite can be considerably deformed together with ferrite, thereby delaying pore formation and hindering crack propagation by crack blunting. Eventually, these different deformation and fracture behaviors contribute to the superior stretch-flangeability of T20 steel.

Recent advances in technology using ultra-thin noble metal film in oxide/metal/oxide structures have attracted attention because this material is a promising alternative to meet the needs of transparent conduction electrodes (TCE). AZO/ Ag/AZO multilayer films are prepared by magnetron sputtering for Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) of kesterite solar cells. It is shown that the electrical and optical properties of the AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films can be improved by the very low resistivity and surface plasmon effects due to the deposition of different thicknesses of Ag layer between oxide layers fixed at AZO 30 nm. The AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films of Ag 15 nm show high mobility of 26.4 cm2/Vs and low resistivity and sheet resistance of 3.58*10−5 Ωcm and 5.0 Ω/sq. Also, the AZO/Ag (15 nm)/AZO multilayer film shows relatively high transmittance of more than 65% in the visible region. Through this, we fabricated CZTSSe thin film solar cells with 7.51% efficiency by improving the short-circuit current density and fill factor to 27.7 mV/cm2 and 62 %, respectively.

In this work, a carbon-doped carbon nitride photocatalyst is successfully synthesized through a simple centrifugal spinning method after heat treatment. The morphology and properties of the prepared photo catalyst are characterized by Xray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis spectrophotometer (UV-vis), and specific surface area. The results show that the band gap of the prepared sample, g-CN-10 is 2.1 eV, is significantly lower than that of pure carbon nitride, 2.7 eV. As the amount of cotton candy increased, the absorption capacity of the prepared catalyst for visible light is significantly enhanced. In addition, the degradation efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) by sample g-CN-10 is 98.8 % over 2h, which is twice that value of pure carbon nitride. The enhancement of photocatalytic ability is attributed to the increase of specific surface area after the carbon doping modifies carbon nitride. A possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism of carbon-doped carbon nitride is also suggested.

This research is conducted to analyze the compatibility of used monomers and produce the high functional hydrogel ophthalmic polymer containing silane and nanoparticles. VTMS (vinyltrimethoxysilane), TAVS [Triacetoxy(vinyl)silane] and cobalt oxide nanoparticles are used as additives for the basic combination of SilM (silicone monomer), MMA (methyl methacrylate) and MA (methyl acrylate). Also, the materials are copolymerized with EGDMA (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) as cross-linking agent, AIBN (thermal polymerization initiator) as the initiator. It is judged that the lenses of all combinations are optically excellent and thus have good compatibility. Measurement of the optical and physical characteristics of the manufactured hydrophilic ophthalmic polymer are different in each case. Especially for TAVS, the addition of cobalt oxide nanoparticles increases the oxygen permeability. These materials are considered to create synergy, so they can be used in functional hydrogel ophthalmic lenses.

This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of a carrier media with natural minerals as packing material in a biofilter to remove odor-causing compounds. The carriers were prepared by mixing powdered zeolite, barley stone, and clay. They have a pellet type with a length of 5m m to 10 mm, 3.2 m2/g of a specific surface area, and 0.04 cm3/g of a pore volume. The adsorption capacity and the biodegradation by biomass formation on the media were experimented with toluene and ammonia as the test compounds. The carrier possessed the ability to adsorb toluene and ammonia. The adsorption capacity of toluene and ammonia at the inlet concentration of 100 ppmv was 58 g/g and 96 g/g, respectively. In the biofilter using the carrier as the packing material, the biofilter performances were different depending on the supply of moisture and liquid-nutrient. The critical loading was found to be 33.13 g/m3/hr for toluene removal and 6.5g /m3/hr for ammonia removal even when no nutrients were supplied. The proposed material has been confirmed to be capable of adsorbing inorganic and organic compounds, and can be effectively applied as packing materials for the biofiltration.

Odor emitted from the degradation process of food waste is a common cause of public complaints, and appropriate odor treatment methods need to be implemented. In this study, a hybrid plasma catalyst system was applied to treat individual odorous compounds including acetaldehyde and hydrogen sulfide, which are known to be major odor compounds produced from food waste. MnOx catalysts were prepared by varying Mn/support loading ratios, and surface analyses showed that the Mn_5% catalyst achieved the highest performance because dominant manganese oxide species on the surface of the catalyst was found to be Mn2O3, Using the catalyst, the removal rate of hydrogen sulfide steadily increased as the space velocity in the MnOx catalyst reactor decreased. Meanwhile, the removal rate of acetaldehyde did not increase significantly when decreasing the space velocity more than 24,000 hr-1. Following the catalyst experiments using the individual odorous compounds, the hybrid system was applied for testing odor treatment of actual food waste. The actual food waste study showed that both hydrogen sulfide and acetaldehyde were steadily removed; hydrogen sulfide was removed almost completely during the initial 30-minute period, while the acetaldehyde removal was started after the decrease of hydrogen sulfide. In addition, it was confirmed that the dilution-to-threshold for odor reduced from 2,080 D/T to 300 D/T during the initial period. In conclusion, the plasma and Mn2O3 catalyst system can be applied in food waste collection containers to effectively control odor problems.

Statistical analysis for the 703 air purifiers certified by Korea Air Cleaning Association from 2003 to 2019 was performed. Sixty-one percent of the products had an area coverage of 15 m2~30 m2 and the median value of the total products was 37.6 m2. The number of certified products by the top five manufacturers was 325, which corresponds to 46.2% of the total products. The median value of the clean air delivery rate (CADR) of the 703 products was 4.8 m3/min but the number of air purifiers over the value increased to 62.5%~66.3% since 2018. The odor removal ratio showed a median of 86.0% which was higher than the certification criteria but had large differences in efficacy in the five test compounds. Removal efficiencies of each compound in terms of the median and ratio to the average value showed acetate > formaldehyde > toluene > ammonia > acetaldehyde in descending order with large variances. The median noise level average value from five positions of air purifiers was 47.7 dB(A). However the medians of the top position and the front, where purified air was vented out, were relatively higher in 49.8 dB(A) and 48.2 dB(A), respectively. Noise level ratio to noise criteria had a median value of 96.4%, which showed that most of the noise levels were distributed near the criteria limit. The probability of the noise level at 100% of the criteria was calculated ton 0.232, which indicated excess noise levels.

This study was conducted to separate microorganisms with excellent odor component decomposition ability from nature. Microorganisms growing sulfur and ammonia compounds as substrates were isolated and identified in the tidal flat of Suncheon Bay. The strain YUN4 cultured on ammonia and sulfur compound substrates was found to have 100% genetic homology to Streptomyces fulvissimus. The optimum growth temperature of YUN4 was 20oC to 40oC, and the optimum pH was investigated in the range of pH 5 to pH 9. In addition, in order to evaluate the ability to reduce odor, after mixing the culture strain with each concentration of 1%, 5%, and 10% in the malodor generating sample, the efficiency of malodor reduction was evaluated after 30 minutes. As a result, the ammonia decomposition efficiency was 82.4%~93.9%, and hydrogen sulfide was 88.7%~94.9%.

In this study, we evaluated the filtering effect of the fine dust mask. Our objective research has secured credibility in the private sector. The performance of domestic fine dust masks is evaluated by three dust collection efficiencies, inspiratory resistance, and leakage rate according to KF grade in the health mask standard guidelines issued by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Based on this, eight types of fine dust masks were evaluated for dust collection efficiency and face intake resistance. All masks showed good performance as the collection efficiency was 90%. The higher the KF grade, the higher the collection efficiency, but the inspiratory resistance had no correlation with the grade. According to the manufacturer's operation method, masks below the standard value may be distributed. Masks that are currently on the market have shown results that can be trusted. However, we hope that the system will be improved to validate whether the masks that meet the threshold are still being distributed.