Earticle

Obesity causes atrophy of the brain, leading to deterioration in working memory, learning, and cognitive function. The status of short-term memory in rat pups born to older obese mother rats was verified, and the effect of treadmill exercise on short-term memory in rat pups was investigated. Step-down avoidance test for short-term memory, termi-nal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining for apoptosis, and immunohistochemistry for Ki67 for new cell generation were done. The old female rats were fed with nor-mal diet (5% of fat), and the old and obese female rats were fed with high-fat diet (60% of fat) for up to 50 weeks in age (for 44 weeks in ex-perimental period). The newborn rats were divided into four groups ac-cording to the conditions of the mother rats as follows: the rat pups group born to old rats, the rat pups group born to old rats with exercise, the rat pups group born to old and obese rats, the rat pups group born to old and obese rats with exercise. Maternal exercise improved short-term memory, decreased TUNEL-positive cell number, and increased Ki67-positive cell number of the pups born to old and obese rats. Mater-nal exercise has been found to contribute to eliminating the health risks of fetuses born to old obese mothers.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of whole-body vibration ther-apy on lower extremity function in subacute stroke patients. Subacute stroke patients who were able to undergo gait training were randomly divided into a vibration therapy group and a control group. All patients attended 20-min training sessions twice daily, 5 times a week for 2 weeks. Each session included 45 squats. The vibration group trained on a vibration platform and the control group trained on the ground. The degree of maximal isokinetic voluntary contraction torque was evaluat-ed, and manual muscle tests of hip and knee flexion and extension were performed. The Berg Balance Scale, 10-m walk test, Timed Up and Go Test, and Functional Ambulation Category were used. A total of 38 patients, 20 in the vibration group and 18 in the control group, were included in the analysis. After the 2-week therapy, the vibration group showed significant improvements in lower extremity strength, balance, and gait performance. The vibration group showed significantly better performance on the Berg Balance Scale, 10-m walk test, and Function-al Ambulation Category than the control group. There were no signifi-cant differences in maximal isokinetic voluntary contraction torque or manual muscle tests between the groups. Our results suggest that ad-ditional training with whole-body vibration may effectively improve the balance and gait performance of subacute stroke patients. Further studies on large populations are required to determine the therapy’s clinical efficacy.

The purpose of this study is to explore the meaning of the middle school sports club and to understand the impact on the self-esteem and social development of middle school students participating in the school sports club. To achieve the purpose of this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 450 students by selecting a middle school. Of the 420 collected questionnaires, 399 questionnaires were used as a valid sam-ple. As a result of examining seven areas of self-esteem, self-esteem in five areas excluding domestic ego and personality ego was highest in the group that participated in the league. As a result of examining the difference in social development according to the type of participation in school sports clubs, the league participation group was higher in all five areas. As a result of examining the difference in self-esteem ac-cording to the period of participation in school sports clubs, the group participating in the league was high in six areas excluding physical abil-ity, however, it was difficult to see a statistically significant difference. As for the factor related to physical ability, the group with the longest participation period of 13 months or longer was the highest, and there is a statistically significant difference. As a result of examining the differ-ence in social development according to the period of participation in school sports clubs, the group under 6 months was the highest in four areas other than physical activity. Physical activity was highest in the group over 13 months.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of high school students’ athletic commitment, health promotion education, and lifelong sports activities. To this end, the researcher searched for research sub-jects of 397 high school students residing in Seoul in 2019. As a result of the analysis, the following conclusions were drawn. First, the effect of exercise commitment on sports health promotion education was inves-tigated. Looking at the activities of high school students, their commit-ment to behavior has had a profound impact on their health responsibil-ities and relationships. Second, the study also investigated the impact of athletic commitment to lifelong sports of sports activities in high school students and found that cognitive and behavioral commitment had a significant impact on lifelong sports. Finally, as a result of investi-gating the impact of health promotion education on lifelong sports of high school student sports activities, it was found that health responsi-bility and relationships have a great influence on lifelong sports.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of ankle injury pre-ventative C-tape on the ankle range of motion, Y-balance test (YBT), and functional movement screening (FMS) test in Judo athletes. Participants in this study were 15 male judo athletes in high school. The angle of the ankle joint, YBT, and FMS were examined with and without the applica-tion of C-tape on each athlete’s dominant foot. In YBT, ankle range of motion, and anterior reach distance were significantly lower in the taped ankle compared to the other (P<0.01). Moreover, the overhead deep squat and the FMS total score were significantly decreased after the C-tape application (P<0.05). The taping’s limitation on the ankle joint range of motion may impose adverse effects on the other relevant joints, therefore a proper guideline on long-term usage is advised.

The coupled motions of tibial internal rotation (T-IR) and ankle dorsiflex-ion (DF) are necessary for proper lower-limb function. Anecdotally, cli-nicians have been performing techniques to restore T-IR to improve an-kle DF, however, no evidence exists to support their efficacy. Therefore, the two objectives were to: (a) determine the effectiveness of a manual therapy technique for improving T-IR range of motion (ROM) and (b) Ex-amine the relationship between ankle DF and T-IR ROM. Twenty-four participants qualified to participate and were randomly allocated to ei-ther the control (n=12) or manual therapy (n=12) group. Closed-chain ankle DF and T-IR ROM were assessed at baseline and immediately posttreatment. Control group participants sat quietly for 5 minutes. The experimental group performed 3 sets of 15 repetitions of a manual ther-apy, mobilization with movement technique. With the patient in a kneel-ing lunge position, the examiner wrapped an elastic band around the tibia and fibula and was instructed to lunge forward while the examiner simultaneously manually internally rotated the lower leg. T-IR ROM sig-nificantly increased following the intervention for the manual therapy group when compared to the control group. There were no significant changes in standing or kneeling DF ROM. No significant correlation was found between T-IR and both standing and kneeling DF ROM. A single mobilization with movement treatment is effective for improving tibial IR ROM in the short-term compared to no treatment. However, ac-tive tibial IR and end-range dorsiflexion range of motion do not appear to be correlated based on these methods.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) have been considered as clinically prevalent symptom in women, and can be ameliorated by the change of abdominal muscles and pelvic floor muscle (PFM). This study investigated the efficacy of Pilates program using Oov and mat on the change of abdominal muscle thickness, PFM function, and LUTS clinical score. 53 women experiencing LUTS were randomly assigned to Oov Pilates exercise group (OPEG) (n= 20), mat Pilates exercise group (MPEG) (n= 16), and symptomatic control group (SCG) (n= 17), respectively, and two groups using Oov and mat participated in 8-week Pilates program. Thickness of abdominal muscle, functional movement of PFM, and LUTS clinical score were measured from all groups. Thickness of rectus abdominis, internal oblique abdominis, transversus abdominis was significantly improved in OPEG (P<0.05), however, MPEG showed a significant change only in transversus abdominis (P< 0.05). In all abdominal muscles, OPEG had a significantly improved abdominal muscle thickness compared to SCG (P< 0.05). Functional movement of PFM in OPEG was significantly decreased (P< 0.005), but not in MPEG and SCG. In LUTS clinical score, OPEG and MPEG showed a significantly abated symptoms in degree of voiding-related symptoms and discomfort (P< 0.005), but not in SCG. Our study highlighted that Pilates using Oov can be an effective intervention to ameliorate the quantitative quality of abdominal muscle thickness and PFM, which ultimately provides the satisfied self-clinical index in degree of voiding-related symptoms and discomfort.

Highly-intensive exercise occurs in reactive oxygen species which leads to cellular damage as a result of increased oxidative stress mark-ers. An appropriate program design incorporating volume, intensity, and types of exercise may produce different effects amid oxidative status in athletes. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the outcomes of re-sistance training (RT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on oxida-tive stress markers, and physical performance in university athlete sub-jects. The effect of two different protocol types (RT and HIIT) on oxida-tive stress and antioxidant status were also compared. Seventy-two university athletes, were recruited and divided into control, RT, and HIIT groups (n=22/group). The RT group were undertaken a resistance ex-ercise training program of the upper and lower body. The HIIT group performed their exercise training on a cycle ergometer. The training program was 30 min/day, 3 days/wk, continuously over 8 weeks. We observed that long-term RT and HIIT improved blood glutathione and glutathione disulfide redox ratio in all athletes. The results demonstrated that only RT training significantly decreased plasma malondialdehyde. Another finding was that RT and HIIT resulted in similar elicitation of physical performance in the post- compared with pretraining exercise. This study revealed that RT and HIIT programs improved antioxidants and physical performance in university sports athletes. However, oxida-tive markers were only improved following the RT program. This study suggests that RT program is superior to HIIT in improving oxidative stress markers in sport athletes.

The recently discovered myokines, irisin and fibroblast growth fac-tor-21, have emerged beneficial for metabolic health due to their role in regulating browning. This study examined the effects of high-intensity circuit training on obesity indices, physical fitness, and irisin and fibro-blast growth factor-21 levels in inactive female college students. Ten fe-male college students performed high-intensity circuit training (jogging, stretching, squat jumps, arm walking and push-ups, lunge jumps, burpee test, mountain climbers, side steps, and crunches and side crunches exercises). The exercise program consisted of 40 min of cir-cuit training at 60%–80% hear rate reserve and was conducted 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The body composition, physical fitness, and con-centration of plasma irisin and fibroblast growth factor-21 were ana-lyzed before and after the exercise. The body weight (P=0.001), waist circumference (P=0.003), and body fat percentage (P=0.003) decreased, while the muscular strength (handgrip strength test, P=0.030; sit-ups test, P=0.024) and cardiorespiratory fitness (P=0.001) increased after the exercise program. However, there were no significant changes in the irisin and fibroblast growth factor-21 levels. These results suggest that high-intensity circuit training could be the ideal type of exercise in inactive female college students to induce a positive change in the obe-sity indices and physical fitness. Further studies are needed to deter-mine the effects of exercise on the browning factors.

The old people are weakened and misaligned due to aging, and their balance and quality of life are reduced. We investigated that the effect of scapular strengthening exercise on balance and quality of life in the old people. A scapular strengthening exercise was applied to the ex-perimental group, and the general conditioning exercise was applied to the control group for 40 min per session, 5 times a week, for a total of 4 weeks. As a result, the static balance and Y-balance test performance improved in the experimental group (P<0.05). The physical function and mental health, and general health of 36-item Short Form health survey improved in the experimental group (P<0.05). Therefore, the scapular strengthening exercise could be suggested as an intervention method that could improve the balance and quality of life of the old people.