Background: Individuals with scapular winging have a weak serratus anterior (SA) muscle, and to compensate, the pectoralis major (PM) and upper trapezius (UT) muscles excessively activate, which can cause upper extremity dysfunction. This study aimed to compare the effects of isometric horizontal abduction (IHA) on SA, PM, and UT muscle activity, as well as the SA/PM and SA/UT muscle activity ratios during knee push-up plus (KPP) at 90° and 120° of shoulder flexion. Objects: This study aimed to compare the effects of IHA on SA, PM, and UT muscle activity, as well as the SA/PM and SA/UT muscle activity ratios during KPP at 90° and 120° of shoulder flexion. Methods: This study, conducted at a university research laboratory, included 20 individuals with scapular winging. Participants performed KPP with and without IHA at 90° (KPP90) and 120° (KPP120) of shoulder flexion. SA, PM, and UT muscle activity were measured using surface electromyography. Results: PM activity in KPP90 with IHA was significantly lower than KPP90 and in KPP120 was significantly lower than KPP90. UT activity was significantly greater with IHA than without IHA and at 120° than 90° of shoulder flexion. SA/PM muscle activity ratio was significantly higher in KPP90 with IHA than without IHA and in KPP120 than in KPP90. SA/UT muscle activity ratio was significantly lower with IHA than without IHA. Conclusion: KPP90 with IHA and KPP120 are effective exercises to reduce PM activity and increase SA/PM muscle activity ratio. However, applying IHA in KPP90 also reduces SA/UT muscle activity ratio, implying that it would be preferable to apply KPP120 in individuals overusing their UT muscles.

I have just read two of the greatest writers of the 20th century, W. B. Yeats and Jose Saramago. As there is almost no source of Saramago for reference or for study, the only and best way to study them was to read him closely. As a matter of fact, it seems to me the best to measure up the depth and width of Saramago as novelist by going deep into his novel, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis. The workmanship of Saramago, as in the case of Yeats, is extremely delicate and precise. Every image, every syllable of every word, each counts while in the process of the story as well as toward the end of the story. Saramago casts away the quotation marks when he has a dialog; as a result, when reading a dialog, you can’t tell who is who. But no problem arises, for once you read it, you enjoy being forced to go along the dialog, understanding and appreciating every syllable of the words in the sentences, as if you are part of the dialog. This is one secret attraction to Saramago. That is, he is a great, inventive stylist. Another characteristic is that Saramago makes no distinction between the visible and the invisible world. Just as Yeats did, before him, Saramago treats the invisible as if it is alive and lives with you. Compared with Saramago, Yeats is read through one of his best stories, “The Crucifixion of the Outcast.” Yet, as Yeats had been studied for quite a long time, both in English-speaking world and in other countries, like Korea, I could have more than enough materials with me. So, I decided to use his Letters exclusively. As in other stories of The Secret Rose, Yeats’s use of punctuation is traditional, as in his poetry; yet, if you look closer, you will see Yeats is different from other traditional writers. He has gone much farther than his contemporaries. Yeats as novelist should be reevaluated. His workmanship as short storyteller compares well with his French counterparts. Yeats could be a great novelist, if he had worked on it further, as Robert Bridges had once advised him to do. But as he is, Yeats as novelist should be thought of highly, as the finest novelists of the 20th century, like Saramago (who might have been influenced by Yeats’s stories) must been inspired by the fire Yeats has just bought from heaven.

Effects of Oplopanax elatus have known to various pharmaceutical therapies. However, chemical prosperities in the plant are rarely investigated. In order to detect biological activity, we evaluated the antioxidant activity of five fractions from methanolic extracts in each part of O. elatus. Also, contents of polyphenols and polysaccharides were measured. Five fractions were of sub-fractions using n-hexane, ethyl-acetate, n-butanol, and water from methanolic extracts. Ethylacetate and n-butanol fractions from stem and root exhibited strong antioxidant activity and high total phenolics content. On the HPLC analysis, ten free phenolics, including p-hydroxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, p-cou maric acid, ferulic acid, naringin, hesperidin, quercetin and trans-cinnamic acid, were identified from the fractions and were shown to different quantitative proportions. Furthermore, ethylacetate and n-butanol fraction had the highest amount of chlorogenic acids, one of the cinnamic acid derivatives possessing pharmacological properties. These results indicated that the fractions of O. elatus, as well as methanolic extracts, could be used as natural antioxidative ingredients.