In-shoe measurement systems allow the clinician and researcher to examine the pressure parameters within the shoe. The purpose of this study was to investigate the test-retest reliability of plantar pressures using the Parotec system over speeds and plantar regions. Seventeen healthy subjects were recruited for the study. Sampling rate was 100 Hz, and data of six variables (pressure on medial heel, lateral heel, 1st metatarsal head, 5th metatarsal head, and great toe and total impulse) were collected in four different gait speed (1.0 m/sec, 1.5 m/sec, 2.0 m/sec, and comfortable walking speed) in each day. The result indicates fair to excellent reliability between the two day test. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranged from .693 to .979, and range of reliability was similar depending on the speed and plantar region. In most cases, data recorded by the Parotec systems provide good evidence for the reliability.

Tape measurement for evaluating edema is frequently used by clinicians. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the intertester and intratester reliability of tape measurement carried out by two physical therapists on lower extremities. The intertester and intratester reliability of six anatomical landmarks measurements were determined in six healthy subjects. The measurements were taken in five sessions by each tester. The intraclass correlation coefficients (2,1) were between .87 and .99 for intertester reliability. Intratester reliability was .93 and .99 for A tester and .82 and .99 for B tester. The average range of variation was .13 to .54 in six landmarks. The reliability of six volume measurements was very high. These results support the use tape measurement as a reliable tool for measuring limb girth.

In general, sitting balance is decreased in subjects with spinal cord injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inter- and intra-rater reliability of the Functional Reach Test (FRT) which is used to measure sitting balance. The subjects of this study were 26 persons with spinal cord injury, and they were divided into three groups according to their injury level. Group I, II and III consisted of the following quadriplegics, , and paraplegics, respectively. Subjects sat on a mat table that was set at an 80 degree inclination. During three sessions, the length subjects could reach in the FRT test was measured by three physical therapists, and compared to each other. The results showed that intraclass correlation coefficients (2,1) were above 0.97 and inter-rater difference was not statistically significant. The one-way ANOVA demonstrated that reach differed between groups with lower thoracic lesion and the other test groups. In conclusion, we think modified FRT is useful and reliable method to measure the sitting balance in subjects with spinal cord injury.

This study is concerned with developing a hybrid heuristic algorithm for solving the redundancy optimization problem which is very important in system safety, This study develops a HH(Hybrid Heuristic) method combined with two strategies to alleviate the risks of being trapped at a local optimum. One of them is to construct the populations of the initial solutions randomly. The other is the additional search with SA(Simulated Annealing) method in final step. Computational results indicate that HH performs consistently better than the KY method proposed in Kim[8]. Therefore, the proposed HH is believed to an attractive to other heuristic methods.

This study was performed to determine the inter-rater reliability of the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment translated in Korean. This measures the physical impairments and disabilities that impact on the lives of individuals with stroke. The purposes of this measure were 1) to stage motor recovery to classify individuals in terms of clinical characteristics, 2) to predict rehabilitation outcomes, and 3) to measure clinically important change in physical function. Twenty-two subjects from physical therapy unit were assessed by two physical therapists. The ratings were compared by Spearman's rank correlation The correlation between two raters ranged from 0.85 to 0.98. Inter-rater reliability coefficient for total scores ranged from 0.95 to 0.97. This study confirms that the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment yields reliable results.

본 연구에서는 경계부 및 연결부를 지닌 기계 구조물의 유한요소모델 수립시 상대적으로 불확실성이 많은 경계부 및 연결부를 정확히 모델링하여 전체 구조계에 대한 해석적 모델의 신뢰도를 제고하는데 그 목적을 두고, 현장에서 간단히 측정할 수 있는 측정 데이터와 축약된 형태의 유한요소모델을 이용하는 S.I.기법을 제시하였다. 제시된 방법은 연결부를 제외한 연속체를 유한요소법으로 모델링하고 연결부의 동적 계수를 변수 상태로 하여 시간 영역에서의 비선형 상태 방정식을 구성하였으며 계수 규명 문제를 비선형 상태 방정식의 상태 추정 문제로 변환하여 해결하였다. 두 가지 예제에 대한 수치 해석을 통하여 제시된 기법의 타당성을 검증하였다.

Manual dextrity is frequently evaluated in rehabilitation to estimate hand function. The Box and Block Test(BBT) mearsures gross manual dextrity. The first goal of this study was to verify the test-retest reliability of the BBT for 4, 5 years old children. The second goal of this reserch was to develop normative data from 35 convenient sample of normal children. The results showed the test-retest reliability was high (Pearson product moment correlation coefficients of 0.71 to 0.82).

The purpose of this study was to assess the concurrent validity and reliability of goniometric measurement of joint motion. Subjects were 40 healthy university students. Measurements were performed by 4 inexperienced physical therapy students. Four different instruments were used and three readings were taken with each instrument in random order making a total of 12 readings for flexion of the right elbow of each subject. Goniometers used were 1. universal 2. fluid-based goniometer/inclinometer 3. digital LCD goniometer 4. electronic goniometer/torsiometer. The results were as follows: Concurrent validity was highest (r= .94) with the universal and digital LCD tools. Interrater reliability (Pearson Product Moment Correlation) was good for each tool. Interrater reliability calculated by ICC(2,1) was highest (.96) with the tensiometer and lowest (.78) with the digital LCD goniometer. Intrarater reliability calculated by ICC was excellent () for all instruments. These results show that concurrent validity, intrarater and interrater reliability are very good in the used of all four types of goniometers/inclinometer/tensiometer, even with inexperienced raters. These results confirm the almost universal reliance on hand held goniometers for joint measurement by physical therapists as being a reliable practice. Further research should be done clinically with actual patients.

This study is concerned with developing a heuristic algorithm for solving a class of ninlinear integer programs(NLIP). Exact algrithm for solving a NLIP either may not exist, or may take an unrealistically large amount of computing time. This study develops a new heuristic, the Excursion Algorithm(EA), for solving a class of NLIP's. It turns out that excursions over a bounded feasible and/or infeasible region is effective in alleviation the risks of being trapped at a lical optimum. The developed EA is applied to the redundancy optimization problems for improving the system safety, and is compared with other existing heuristic methods. We also include simulated annealing(SA) method in the comparision experiment due to ist populatrity for solving complex combinatorial problems. Computational results indicate that the proposed EA performs consistently better than the other in terms of solution quality, with moderate increase in computing time. Therefore, the proposed EA is believed to be an attractive alternative to other heuristic methods.

The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-rater reliability of the Korean translation of the GMFM(Gross Motor Function Measure). Three licensed physical therapists with varying amounts(2 - 6 years) of clinical experience served as raters. Thirty patients with cerebral palsy were subjects for this study. Subjects were 22 boys and 8 girls, aged 1 to 8 years. Reliability of each dimension and each total score of the GMGM were analyzed using ICCs(intraclass correlation coefficients). The reliability of each dimension score ranged from .76 to .98, with the walking, running, and jumping dimension having higher reliability values. The reliability of the total dimension score was .94. We conclude that the GMFM has inter-rater reliability for assessing gross motor function in patients with cerebral palsy.

This study was performed to determine the inter-rater reliability of manual tests of elbow, knee flexor, and ankle dorsiflexor muscle spasticity graded on the Modified Ashworth Scale. Two raters each independently graded the spasticity of 32 patients with intracranial lesions after moving the paretic limb passively through the available range of motion. The patients were asked to simultaneously squeeze therapeutic putty with their non-paretic hand for reinforcement. The ratings were compared by the Wilcoxon matched pairs signed-rank test and by the Kendall's coefficient of rank(tau) correlation. There was singificant correlation between two raters for spasticity at the elbow, knee flexor, and ankle dorsiflexor. The correlations of the two raters ranged from .6746 to .9308. The highest correlation was for the elbow with reinforcement and the lowest was for the knee without reinforcement. Poorer correlation was evident in the knee joint. The positive results of this study encourage the continued use of manual tests of muscle spasticity, using the Modified Ashworth Scale.