Early Rehabilitation with Weight-bearing Standing-shaking-board Exercise in Combination with Electrical Muscle Stimulation after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

The objective of early rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is to increase the muscle strength of the lower extremities. Closed kinetic chain (CKC) exercise induces co-contraction of the agonist and antagonist muscles. The purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative muscle strength/mass of subjects who performed our new CKC exercise (new rehabilitation group:group N) from week 4, and subjects who received traditional rehabilitation alone (traditional rehabilitation group:group T). The subjects stood on the device and maintained balance. Then, low-frequency stimulation waves were applied to 2 points each in the anterior and posterior region of the injured thigh 3 times a week for 3 months. Measurement of muscle strength was performed 4 times (before the start, and then once a month). Muscle mass was evaluated in CT images of the extensor and flexor muscles of 10 knees (10 subjects) in each group. The injured legs of group N showed significant improvement after one month compared to group T. The cross-sectional area of the extensor muscles of the injured legs tended to a show a greater increase at 3 months in group N. This rehabilitation method makes it possible to contract fast-twitch muscles, which may be a useful for improving extensor muscle strength after ACL reconstruction

Spectrophotometric Studies on High Iron Content Silicate Glasses

Spectrophotometric investigations were carried out on soda-lime-silica glasses containing iron in high content, corresponding to 4.9 wt.% Fe(2)O(3), and melted under the various reducing conditions, as a part of series of studies on the redox behavior of glass. Absorption measurement was made in the range from 340 mμ to 1000 mμ. Ferric ions could not be reduced to ferrous ions completely even by the amount of carbon of four equivalents. The ratio of the strength of light absorption at 1000 mμ as a typical band of Fe(2+) ions and that at 380mμ of Fe(3+) ions was expressed as E(1000)/E(380), which was examined for glass compositions as well as various carbon amount added to glass batches. The ratio decreases as the carbon amount increases and increases with decreasing content of Na(2)O or CaO. These changes of spectrophotometric properties of glasses were discussed from the view point of state of the the iron ions. Besides, some results on oxidized glasses were also added

The Shift from Centralized to Peer-to-Peer Communication in an Online Community: Participants as a Useful Aspect of Genre Analysis

In this paper we analyzed an online community based on a mailing list that was created as an internal marketing tool for launching a new network service. We focused on the change in communication over time among dispersed Sales representatives and the employees in a centralized Service Department. We conducted a genre analysis based on content (what), purpose (why), timing (when), form (how) and participants (who communicates to whom) (Yates and Orlikowski, 2002). Analyzing the participants in a genre and how those participants changed over time highlighted a shift from centralized to dispersed, peer-to-peer communication in this community. We highlight implications both for genre analysis and for organizational practice

The Role of an Online Community in Relation to Other Communication Channels in a Business Development Case

We investigated how sales representatives (Salespeople) and members of a service business development department (the Service Dept.) communicated within an informal online community, particularly in relation to their use of other informal and formal communication channels. We found that while the Service Dept. developed formal communication channels in order to fulfill the information needs of Sales, some types of information were apparently more effectively provided by the online community. The result suggests that an online community may play an important role both in making visible information needs, and in providing information that can’t be better provided by the formal organization