Wen Ling

Women's Load Carriage Performance Using Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment

The purposes of this study were to evaluate how Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment (MOLLE) fits women while walking on level surfaces with different loads, to examine womens load carriage performance before and after a simulated march using five load levels, and to examine the relationship between shoulder and leg muscle strength and load carriage performance of women while carrying loads using MOLLE. Seven physically active women carried five levels of load (no load, 20, 30, 40, and 50 pounds) using MOLLE. With increased loads, women showed increased double-limb support time, decreased single-limb support time, increased trunk forward inclination excursion, decreased knee excursion, decreased medial-lateral excursion of center of gravity (COG), and increased vertical excursion of COG. Hip abductor strength was a strong predictor of COG vertical excursion. Some women required modification of the padded hip belt to ensure weight distributed evenly around the pelvis.

Coordination variability during load carriage walking: Can it contribute to low back pain?

Load carriage walking is frequently associated with low back pain. Mechanical stress is a potential cause of such pain, and a lack of coordination variability may produce mechanical stress. We tested the hypothesis that coordination variability would decrease during load carriage walking. We examined the trunk-thigh coordination variability in the sagittal and frontal planes and the thorax-pelvis coordination variability in the transverse plane. Ten healthy participants were recruited to perform unloaded and load carriage walking. Coordination variability was quantified as the standard deviation of continuous relative phase between two segments across a number of walking trials. During load carriage walking, the coordination variability significantly increased rather than decreased in the sagittal and transverse planes, and it did not change significantly in the frontal plane compared to those during unloaded walking. The findings rejected the hypothesis and suggested that reduced coordination variability may not predict the development of low back pain associate with load carriage walking in healthy people.

Temporal relationship between trunk and thigh contributes to balance control in load carriage walking

Load carriage walking (LCW) challenges a persons balance as the load increases their forward trunk inclination, shifting the center of mass (COM) forward with respect to the base of support (BOS). We examined LCW to understand whether and how healthy people adjust the temporal relationship (TR) between the trunk and leg for balance control. Ten subjects were recruited to perform unloaded walking and LCW. The TR between the trunk and leg was measured by the continuous relative phase. The maximum forward displacement of the COM with respective to the BOS (FDCOM(BOS)) was recorded during the stance phase. We found that the TR was shifted in LCW, and the shift was associated with a decrease in the maximum FDCOM(BOS). The findings suggest that the TR between the trunk and leg contributes to balance control, and it may be a variable that needs to be addressed in gait rehabilitation.

Evaluation of the cushion setting on performance of a Biodex II dynamometer.

OBJECTIVES To compare the effects of the soft cushion setting with those of the hard cushion setting of a Biodex II isokinetic dynamometer on peak velocity and peak torque with six loads at 23 preset speeds. DESIGN Mixed within- and between-groups, repeated-measures design. SETTING Research laboratory of a physical therapy education program. INTERVENTIONS Each load was strapped onto the right knee attachment of the dynamometer and was dropped through a 100 degrees arc of motion five times at each preset speed using the soft and hard cushion settings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Peak velocity, peak torque, time to peak velocity, time to peak torque. RESULTS Peak velocity was significantly influenced by the cushion setting, the weight dropped, and the preset speed. Maximal peak velocity achieved was 400 degrees/sec. Peak torque was influenced significantly by the cushion setting, the load, and the preset speed. Maximal peak torque measured was 34.99 kg-m. CONCLUSION The rotating shaft of Biodex II dynamometer moved at a slower speed through the entire arc of motion at the soft cushion setting and often failed to achieve a constant, preset speed. Peak torque measured using the soft cushion setting was more variable and therefore questionable.

Physical therapy faculty activity survey: A comparison between the Republic of China and the United States of America

The authors surveyed full-time physical therapy faculty activity in the Republic of China (ROC) during the 1995-1996 school year and compared the findings with those in the United States of America (USA). A total of 28 questionnaires were returned, with a reponse rate of 80%. Twenty-one questionnaires were filled out completely and used for data analysis. Physical therapy faculty were predominantly female in both countries. The physical therapy faculty in the ROC were younger and had less professional and teaching experiences compared with their colleagues in the USA. Both groups spent their time in a similar manner: spending most time in teaching. Administrative activities ranked the second while research activities ranked the third. Both groups spent the least amount of time in other types of professional activities. Physical therapy faculty in the ROC generally felt positive about the teaching environment.

The Effectiveness of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Techniques on Postural Control in Quadruped on Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

The purposes of this study were to examine the effectiveness of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) techniques and to compare the effectiveness of PNF versus traditional therapeutic exercise on postural control in the quadruped position on children with spastic cerebral palsy. A total of 19 children with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy were included in this study. Ten were males and nine were females. Their age ranged from 1.4 to 10.6 years, with a mean of 4.6 years. Ten children had a diagnosis of spastic diplegia. The other nine children had a diagnosis of spastic quadriplegia. The authors used a single subject A-B research design to conduct this study. Each child served as his/her own control, receiving PNF treatment in part A and therapeutic exercise in part B, which was a part of their continuing physical therapy. A pretest and a posttest were conducted in each part. Each part lasted four weeks. The children showed improvement in postural control in the quadruped position by raising the right shoulder higher after receiving PNF treatment. They also showed similar improvement in left shoulder after receiving traditional therapeutic exercise. The researcher did not find any significant differences between the PNF treatment and therapeutic exercise on these childrens postural control in quadruped.