No abstract available.
Humans ; Posture*

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is a major problem for office workers. Individuals adopting poor postures during prolonged sitting have a considerably increased risk of experiencing LBP. This study aimed to investigate seat pressure distribution characteristics, i.e., average pressure, peak pressure ratio, frequency of postural shift, and body perceived discomfort (BPD), during 1 hour of sitting among office workers with and without chronic LBP. METHODS: Forty-six participants (chronic LBP = 23, control = 23) typed a standardized text passage at a computer work station for an hour. A seat pressure mat device was used to collect the seat pressure distribution data. Body discomfort was assessed using the Body Perceived Discomfort scale. RESULTS: Office workers with chronic LBP sat significantly more asymmetrically than their healthy counterparts. During 1-hour sitting, all workers appeared to assume slumped sitting postures after 20 minutes of sitting. Healthy workers had significantly more frequent postural shifts than chronic LBP workers during prolonged sitting. CONCLUSION: Different sitting characteristics between healthy and chronic LBP participants during 1 hour of sitting were found, including symmetry of sitting posture and frequency of postural shift. Further research should examine the roles of these sitting characteristics on the development of LBP.
Low Back Pain* ; Posture

As radiation is irradiated from various directions in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), longer treatment time than conventional treatment method is taken. In case of the patients who have problem to keep same posture for long time because of pain and injury, reducing treatment time through increased dose rate is a way for effective treatment. This study measured and found out the variation of dose and dose distribution in accordance with dose rate variation. IMRT treatment plan was set up to investigate from 5 directions - 0degrees, 72degrees, 144degrees, 216degrees, 288degrees - using ECLIPSE system (Varian, SomaVision 6.5, USA). To confirm dose and dose rate in accordance with dose rate variation, dose rate was set up as 100, 300, 500 MU/min, and dose and dose distribution were measured using ionization chamber (PTW, TN31014) and film dosimeter (EDR2, Kodak). At this time, film dosimeter was inserted into acrylic phantom, then installed to run parallel with beam's irradiating direction, 21EX-S (Varian, USA) was utilized as linear accelerator for irradiation. The measured film dosimeter was analyzed using VXR-16 (Vidar System Corporation) to confirm dose distribution.
Humans ; Particle Accelerators ; Posture

Dyspnea ; etiology ; Humans ; Posture

The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of vertical head rotation and to evaluate the reproducibility of natural head posture (NHP) according to two guiding methods, the head posture aligner (HPA) method and the self balance posture (SBP) method. The subjects consisted of 30 adults. On the first day, lateral and frontal cephalometric radiographs were obtained through the two guiding methods. One month later, lateral and frontal cephalometric radiographs were obtained again through both guiding methods. The degrees of vertical head rotation of both guiding methods were compared and the reproducibility was evaluated for each guiding method. A comparison of the degrees of vertical head rotation for the two methods revealed that the vertical head posture was lower in the SBP method than in the HPA method by an average of 2.79 degrees. All measurements obtained using the HPA and SBP methods with a time interval of one month did not show any significant difference in lateral and frontal cephalometric radiographs. The results of the present study suggest that the SBP method may be used as an alternative to the HPA method in case the HPA method can not be applied.
Adult ; Head* ; Humans ; Posture*

PURPOSE: The paper presents an intervention for clinical applications in the future by examining the effects of 3D stabilization exercise on patients with lumbar instability, which causes problems in the muscles and balance, and analyzing the effects of balanced lumbar muscles on the static balance. METHODS: After collecting samples randomly from thirty patients with lumbar instability, fifteen patients selected for 3D stabilization exercise were placed in the stability group and fifteen patients selected for Swiss ball exercise were placed in the ball exercise group. The intervention program was applied for thirty minutes a session, once a day, three days a week for four weeks. Before the intervention, the lumbar muscle activity and static balance were measured. After four weeks, they were re-measured in the same way and the data were analyzed. RESULTS: In relation to the within-group changes in muscle activity, all groups except for the LEO and REO groups showed significant differences. Regarding the between-group changes in muscle activity depending on the left and right difference, ES, RA, and TrA but not EO showed significant differences. In addition, there were significant differences in the between-group change in static balance. CONCLUSION: 3D stabilization exercise improves the muscle activity by promoting a balanced posture of lumbar muscles and changing senses, such as a proprioceptor but this had a positive influence on the static balance by controlling the balance of muscles.
Humans ; Muscles ; Posture

PURPOSE: This study examined the influence of longitudinal arch on the strength and muscle activity of the abductor hallucis in the standing position in subjects with and without navicular drop signs. METHODS: A sample of 34 subjects with and without navicular drop signs between 22 and 28 years of age were enrolled in this study. The strength and muscle activity of the abductor hallucis was measured using a tensiometer. The Smart KEMA System and electromyography device was used on the subjects with and without navicular drop signs. Two groups were classified using the navicular drop test to identify the longitudinal arch of the foot. The strength of the abductor hallucis was evaluated in standing, both with and without an external arch support condition. The two-way mixed ANOVA was used. The level of statistical significance was set to α=0.05. RESULTS: The strength and muscle activity of the abductor hallucis in standing was significantly higher with external arch support than that without the external arch support in the group with navicular drop signs. There was no significant difference in the abductor hallucis strength and muscle activity with and without external arch support in the subjects without navicular drop signs. CONCLUSIONS: The strength and muscle activity of the abductor hallucis in standing can be influenced by the external arch support in the group with navicular drop signs. The strength measurement of the abductor hallucis in standing should be separately performed in conditions with and without longitudinal arch of foot.
Electromyography ; Foot ; Posture

No abstract available.
Neck* ; Posture* ; Rabbits*

This study was designed to examine relations between posture and size of the tongue and dentoalveolar pattern. The sample was consisted of three groups, the 34 subjects of Normal occlusion, the 31 sub?jects of Bimaxillary protrusion and the 31 subjects of Class III malocclusion. On the cephalograms, lengths, heights and areas of the tongue and intermaxillary space and on the study model, arch length, intercanine width, intermolar width and palatal height were measured. These data from measuring cephalograms and models were statistically analyzed. The results of the study were as follows, 1. Length of the tongue was the greatest in Bimaxillary protrusion and in order of Normal occlusion and Class III malocclusion. 2. Posture of the tongue was the lowest in Class III malocclusion and in order of Bimaxillary protrusion and Normal occlusion. 3. There were a tendency to be larger area of tongue and intermaxillary space in Class III malocclusion compared to Normal occlusion and Bimaxillary protrusion. 4. Size of the tongue and intermaxillary space showed low correlations with the dentoalveolar pattern.
Malocclusion ; Posture* ; Tongue*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the occupational risk factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in public workers. METHODS: In November 2010, 544 participants anwered a survey that included questions on the participants' general characteristics, job-related factors, health-related behaviors, and psychosocial stress. We measured the relationship of risk factors to musculoskeletal symptoms using a logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: After adjusting for general characteristics, factors associated with occupational musculoskeletal symptoms were gender (OR=2.858, 95% CI=1.701~4.801), unnatural posture (OR=2.386, 95% CI=1.308~4.354), psychosocial stress (OR=4.051, 95% CI=1.336~12.282) and sleep quality (OR=1.672, 95% CI=1.052~2.660). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that psychosocial stress levels and physical environment (especially in professions requiring an unnatural posture) are related to musculoskeletal symptoms in public workers.
Logistic Models ; Posture ; Risk Factors