Background: Based on the understanding of the muscle activation relationship between the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles to according to the angle of motion during external rotation on glenohumeral joint, effective shoulder joint strengthening exercise for the prevention and rehabilitation of shoulder injury due to muscle strength imbalance can be performed by achieving the ideal muscle activity ratio during exercise. Objectives: To compare and analyze the muscle activation changes and activity ratio of the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles according to the glenohumeral external rotation angle. Design: Quasi-randomized trial. Methods: The study included 48 healthy male and female adults who provided informed consent for participation in the study. All the subjects performed isometric glenohumeral external rotation by setting the angle of motion to 30°, 45°, and 60° using a 5 kg resistance weight pulley. On surface electromyography, the differences in muscle activation and activity ratio between the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles were investigated. Results: A significant difference in muscle activation was found in the comparison between the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles according to the glenohumeral external rotation angle (P<.05). The muscle activation levels of the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles were highest at the external rotation angles of 30° and 60°, respectively. The muscle activity ratio between the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles also showed a significant difference (P<.05) and was highest at the shoulder external rotation angle of 30°. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that muscle activity is the highest at the shoulder external rotation angle of 30° in healthy individuals.

Background: Walking is a complex activity. The main components of walking include balance, coordination, and symmetrical posture. The characteristics of walking patterns of stroke patients include slow walking, measured by gait cycle and walking speed. This is an important factor that reflects post-stroke quality of life and walking ability. Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of deep lumbar muscle stabilization exercise on the spatiotemporal walking ability of stroke patients. Design: Quasi-experial study Methods: The experiment was conducted 5 times per week for 4 weeks, with 30 minutes per session, on 10 subjects in the experimental group who performed the deep lumbar muscle stabilization exercise and 10 subjects in the control group who performed a regular exercise. Variables that represent the spatiotemporal walking ability (step length, stride length, step rate, and walking speed) were measured using GAITRrite before and after the experiment and were analyzed. Results: There was a significant difference in the pre- and post-exercise spatiotemporal walking ability between the two groups (p<.05). Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the step rate and walking speed between the two groups (p<.05). Conclusions: Deep lumbar muscle stabilization exercise is effective in improving the walking ability of stroke patients. Therefore, its application will help improve the spatiotemporal walking ability of stroke patients.

A Tenebrio molitor larva that is called mealworm is widely used as feed for raising a pet. Also, it is the insect that would be produced as the edible food for human. For these reasons, many researchers are revealing about physiologic characteristic of Tenebrio molitor to make good use of it. However, morphological characteristic of different larval stage is not specifically indicated and researchers have different opinions about the average number of Tenebrio molitor’s instar until now. This study, therefore, was carried out to examine the physiological and morphological characteristics of Tenebrio molitor larva in different larval stages, and the average number of Tenebrio molitor’s instar. As a result, all of the Tenebrio molitor larvae had 7~8 days during their incubation period and 3~4 days during the 1st instar period. After the 1st instar, there were comparatively large differences in the number of days in each instar. Before emergence, most of the larvae comparatively showed 15th~17th instars, particularly, the largest rate of pupae (28.83%) was observed in the 17th instar. In terms of the body length of each Tenebrio molitor larval stage, the body length was gradually increased by the 17th instar. Beyond the 17th instar, however, the body length was smaller than 17th instar. In the 1st instar, the larva had white color, and the color gradually changed into brown from the 2nd instar. Through this study, we could identify the accurate incubation period, 1st instar period, the average number of instar, body length and the color change in different larval stages. These results would be used as a fundamental data for further study about the physiological and morphological characteristic of each instar period.

The effect of an artificial diet on the developmental rate, a life history parameter, was examined for the swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus. Artificial insect diets are an essential component of many insect rearing systems that produce insects for research purposes. Complex agar-gelled diets are generally prepared in large batches and used shortly after preparation because the degradation of perishable diet ingredients, such as vitamins and fatty acids, can adversely affect insect quality (Brewer F D 1984). However, the timing of diet preparation may be inconvenient and large batches wasteful if the unused, excess diet is discarded. This study showed that if the artificial diet was fed during the larval stage, the larval and pupal developmental periods, the percentage of pupation, and the pupal weight generally did not differ significantly among the five artificial diets evaluated. The percentage of pupation varied considerably, with no significant differences among diets except for diet C. A maximum pupation percentage of 83% was observed on diet C. Pellet-type diets were investigated with the aim of developing a more easily prepared diet. The extrusion of the artificial diet under high temperature and pressure may induce desirable chemical and physical changes in the extruded product. The purpose of the present study was to develop an artificial diet for rearing P. xuthus.