This study examined the effects of group exercise program on health conditions and quality of life in cerebral palsy. Adults with cerebral palsy in their 20’s who participated in the evaluation of measurement tools prior to and following the experiment. The control group was engaged in manual exercise for the range of joint movement and extension exercise for arms, legs and trunk, and experimental group performed group exercise program including boccia exercise. The health condition and quality of life of the experimental group were significantly increased after intervention (.05<). There was a slight increase in the control group, however it was not statistically significant. As a result of comparing the health condition and quality of life of the two groups, the value of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The results of this study suggest that exercise programs for patients with cerebral palsy in the twenties are considered as beneficial interventions to improve health conditions and quality of life.

Earthworms have been employed in traditional oriental medicine for the treatment of neurological disorders, as anticonvulsants, analgesics, and sedatives. In fact, earthworms are currently used as a medicinal agent in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and North Korea. However, both the species and the genus of the earthworms registered in the pharmacopoeia of each country are different. Neural injury is induced by oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. The role of various synthetic chemicals of earthworms as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents have been studied and earthworm extract and its components have been shown to protect nerve cells and restore nerve function in various preclinical neuronal damage models. We employed earthworm extracts to provide prevention and treatment strategies for many neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease, mild cognitive impairment, cerebral infarction, and peripheral nerve damage. In this study, we investigated the effects of earthworm extracts and its components to explore their prophylactic and therapeutic effects in various neuropathic models. We used earthworm resources to provide prevention and treatment strategies for many neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease, mild cognitive impairment, cerebral infarction, and peripheral nerve damage. We summarized the protective effects of both earthworms and their extracts on neuropathies. The current study identified some earthworm components to be used in treatment and prevention strategies for nerve disorders and could be helpful for the development of new therapies for intractable diseases.

The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effect of neck stabilization exercise and Swiss ball exercise on the recovery from the fatigue of neck muscles induced. The turtleneck posture was set artificially by using Smartphone with healthy adults. Repetitively measured ANOVA was executed to examine the changes in the muscle fatigue of sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezius, and splenius capitis among three-time intervals (at the time of general resting, work and after intervention) in the three intervention groups (neck stabilization exercise group, Swiss ball exercise group, and ordinary rest group). There were no significant differences in the changes of fatigue of sternocleidomastoid muscle among all three intervention groups at the time of general resting, work and after intervention (p>.05). Although there was no significant difference in the changes in the fatigue of upper trapezius and splenius capitis muscles between the intervention groups at the time of general resting and work (p>.05), there was the significant difference between the three intervention groups at the time of work and after intervention (p>.05). This study suggest that Swiss ball exercise is more effective in reducing the muscular fatigue of the neck and shoulder at a turtleneck posture than neck stabilization exercise.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of the application of familycentered training over the 12-week period by the pediatric physiotherapist on functional balance and activities of daily living in children with cerebral palsy. Among the 26 children with cerebral palsy as the subjects were allocated to the experimental and control group. Both groups were subjected to neurodevelopmental treatment by the pediatric physiotherapist. The experimental group, participated in family-centered training program 3 times a week over a period of 12 weeks for the total of 36 sessions, functional balance and activities of daily living were verified through intergroup comparison. There was no significant difference between the outcomes prior to training and after 6 weeks of training, (p>.05) Pediatric Berg's Balance Scale(PBS) and Functional Independence Measure for children(Wee-FIM) increased significantly from those measures after 6 weeks to those after 12 weeks of training (p<.05). Therefore, these results suggest that on family-centered training on children with cerebral palsy has beneficial effects on functional movements and physical activities.

The main focus of this study was to investigate effects of lumbar central posteroanterior (PA) mobilization on isometric knee extension (IKE) ability and patellar tendon reflex amplitude (PTRA) in healthy university students. University students aged 19-26 (male; 10, female; 10) without any neurological disorders participated voluntarily and excluded the subjects with abnormal reflexes. The participation had an average body mass of 64.25±13.52 kg, an average height of 1.66±0.08m, and an average Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23.07±3.21. Every student was randomly assigned to be received squatting exercise and PA mobilization sequentially with 5 days of wash out period. IKE and PTRA were not significantly different between the two groups after the intervention. All the outcome measures were arranged into two data groups; PA mobilization and squatting exercise data group. In the PA mobilization data group, IKE and PTRA significantly increased after the intervention, however, these aspects were decreased in the squatting exercise group. These findings suggest that IKE and PTRA increase immediately after PA mobilization, therefore PA mobilization could be a valuable topic for controlled clinical trials.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of heel off stairway walking exercise on the increase of muscle activity and balance activity of the ankle joint muscles in university students with functional ankle instability. The conservative treatment for the control group consisted of stairway walking (n=10) and the experimental group consisted of heel off stairway walking (n=11). The therapeutic intervention of the control and experimental groups was performed a total of 12 exercise sessions, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. To compare the two groups, the level of ankle disability was assessed by using the EMG, BT4 and Pedoscan in pre-treatment and post-treatment. Muscle activity increased in both the experimental groups and control groups in each group, however there was no significant difference between the groups. Balance ability did not show any significant difference. This study demonstrates that heel-off stairway walking is effective in significantly increasing muscle activity, however did not significantly improve balance ability.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of fatigue and stress in seafarers. Ninety healthy adults were recruited and cumulative fatigue, stress index and stress resistance of seafarers were measured using autonomic nervous system analysis device (SA-6000; Medicoa Co. Ltd. Korea). The stress index had a significant correlation with the degree of resistance (p<.01). Cumulative fatigue and the stress index had a strong positive correlation (r=.781) with the stress resistance, cumulative fatigue had a strong negative correlation (r=.782) (p<0.01). Furthermore, the stress index had a strong negative correlation with the degree of resistance (r=.924) (p<.01). The present study indicate that there are significant correlation between the cumulative fatigue and stress index, cumulative fatigue and stress resistance, as well as stress index and stress resistance in the seafarers (p<.01).