BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine the difference in activation patterns of the plantar intrinsic foot muscles during two quiet standing tasks with increasing postural difficulty. We hypothesised that activation of these muscles would increase with increasing postural demand and be correlated with postural sway. METHODS Intra-muscular electromyographic (EMG) activity was record...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of flexible flatfoot is high among preschool-aged children, but the effects of treatment are inconclusive due to the unclear definitions of normal flatfoot. To date, a universally accepted evaluation method of the foot arch in children has not been completely established. Our aims of this study were to establish a new method to evaluate the foot arch from a three dimen...

To simulate the effects of prolonged standing in the workplace on the leg muscles, we subjected mice to centrifugation for 6 wk. The absolute wet weight of leg muscles and internal organs of mice were measured after exposure to 3G by centrifugation for 6 wk and at 2 wk after removal of centrifugation. The weight of the soleus muscle (antigravity muscle) significantly increased after 6-wk exposu...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immediate effect of stabilizing exercise using the PNF technique on standing balance in one-leg and double-leg stances. [Subjects and Methods] The present study recruited 34 healthy participants from a local university. The Participants performed four balance tests (double-leg stance with and without vision, one-leg stance with and without...

To determine the effects of muscle pump function on cardiac autonomic activity in response to quiet standing, we simulated the muscle pump effect by rhythmic lower-leg cuff inflation (RCI) with four cuff pressures of 0 (sham), 40, 80, and 120 mmHg at 5 cycles/min. The R-R interval (RRI) and beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) were acquired in healthy subjects (6 males and 5 females, aged 21-24 yr)...

[Purpose] The purpose of the present study is to clarify whether tilted scenery presented through an immersive head-mounted display (HMD) causes the inclination of standing posture. [Subjects and Methods] Eleven healthy young adult males who provided informed consent participated in the experiment. An immersive HMD and a stereo camera were employed to develop a visual inclination system. The su...

This study was undertaken to find out the relationship between various body parameters to identify the measurement that correlates most closely to stature. Sitting height, standing height, arm span and leg lengths of 505 healthy women between the ages of 20 and 29 were measured. The relationship between the parameters was determined by computing correlation coefficients and 95% confidence inter...