The purpose of this study was to see whether an electromyographic (EMG) index of gait instability is applicable to the developmental process of supported walking in normal neonates and infants. In six neonates ranging in age from 14 to 26 days after birth, EMGs of stepping were recorded at approximately from one to four week intervals until around four months. Additionally, longitudinal-EMGs of one subject were recorded at one or two week intervals until just before independent walking. EMG patterns of the lateral gastrocnemius (an ankle plantarflexor) and vastus medialis (a knee extensor) in the latter part of swing phase indicating unstable walking, not seen in the neonatal period up to first postnatal month, tended to increase in young infants at around three postnatal months. These results suggest the addition of voluntary infant stepping to reflex neonate stepping from around three months. From six to twelve months, these marked activities tended to decrease, gradually coming to resemble adult stable walking through development of strength, balance, and postural control. In conclusion, muscular activities of the lateral gastrocnemius and vastus medialis in the latter part of swing phase indicate unstable walking, findings which are applicable to developmental changes during newborn stepping and infant supported walking.

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This study aimed to identify the most effective type of upper extremity orthosis in aiding self-feeding in quadriplegic patients with high cervical injuries by comparing a portable spring balancer and a mobile arm support. A single-subject A-B-C-B-C design was used in the study, in which a subject was tested at baseline (A) followed by alternate use of a portable spring balancer (B) and a mobile arm support (C) for two rounds. Four subjects were requested to eat yogurt with the aid of one of the devices. The amount of yogurt consumed was compared between the two devices. Three of four subjects were able to eat much more the yogurt with portable spring balancer than with the mobile arm support. Only one subject used the mobile arm support more effectively than the portable spring balancer. The subjects’ physical condition, specifically, muscle strength of the upper arm and tolerance appeared to be factors that influence how patients adapt to these devices. In conclusion, both the portable spring balancer and mobile arm support are effective feeding aids for quadriplegic patients with high cervical injuries. These orthoses function differently for patients with different physical characteristics.

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The distribution of calcitonin and CGRP-producing cells and pathways in the brain and other tissues suggests functions for the peptide in nociception, ingestive behaviour and modulation of the autonomic and endocrine systems. Sympathetic skin response (SSR), is a reliable indicator of autonomic dysfunctions. The heart rate variability termed as R-R interval variation (RRIV) is another simple and reliable test which can be used to determine vagal autonomic dysfunction. Twenty female patients with active osteoporosis aged between 46-58 and for a control group 20 age-matched healthy female volunteers with no history or evidence of any other disease were included in this study. The study results show that long term therapy with salmon calcitonin does not effect any SSR and RRIV parameters. It can be speculated that though human calcitonin and CGRP have discrete functions in the human autonomic nervous system, replacement therapy with salmon calcitonin does not interfere normal autonomic functions.

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The measurement of maximum voluntary isokinetic contraction is a common practice in research and clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of visual feedback on muscle endurance. Subjects were 22 male, between the ages of 18 and 31. Each subject had no history of lower extremity joint injury, surgery, or disease. All subjects completed two isokinetic exercise test sessions. The tests consisted of 50 maximum voluntary isokinetic contractions, using dynamometer (KIN-COM500H) at 90 degrees per second. All left lower extremities were measured. On endurance and effects fatigue index of visual feedback and no visual feedback were compared about every tenth average peak torque. On comparisions between with and without visual feedback were analyzed using a paired t-test. On average between 11th and 20th repetitions, average peak torque with visual feedback was significantly greater than without visual feedback (p<0.05). Excepting average torque between 11th and 20th repetition the results indicated no significant difference between with and without visual feedback. The fatigue index with feedback was not significantly different from that without visual feedback. These results suggest that visual feedback does not influence the fatigue index in measurements of muscle endurance.

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Falls are a common problem among elderly persons, but the training for the fall prevention is not well established. Therefore, the effectiveness of toe grasp training was examined in this study. Spontaneous postural sway was tested on elderly persons (N=19) with eyes open and eyes closed. Using a force plate, sway responses were quantified in terms of the total track length, the environmental areas, the maximum amplitude distance of X-axis, and the maximum amplitude distance of Y-axis. The data was compared between the toe grasp training group and the control group. Total track length (eyes open and eyes closed), environmental areas (eyes open) and maximum amplitude distance of X-axis (eyes open and eyes closed) were improved significantly in the toe grasp training group. The activation of foot mechanoreceptors and improvements of the eye-leg coordination were thought to be factors in this improvement and toe grasp training is expected to be effective for fall prevention of the aged.

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Making a functional prognosis for patients with traumatic incomplete spinal cord injuries is extremely important not only for the patients themselves, in attempting to achieve independence in activities of daily living and social rehabilitation, but also for medical co-workers, the family and almost everyone in the society. However, only very few reports deal with this subject, and rehabilitation is often conducted aimlessly. In the present study we tried at our department to summarize the functional prognosis of patients with spinal injuries and set up a preliminary standard for rehabilitation. The present study included 75 patients with Frankel class C, D, E, incomplete spinal injury who underwent rehabilitation training in the past ten years at our department. The level of the injury was the cervical cord in 53 patients and the thoracic or lumbar cord in 22 patients. The average age of the patients was 36.2 years. Seventy of the patients were male and 5 female. The time of the final evaluation after the injury was on the average 11.8 months (SD=5.9 months). When muscle power of the lower extremities three months after injury reached [4], patients accomplished independent walking 6.8 months after the injury. When muscle power of the lower extremities 6.5 months after injury reached [3^-], patients accomplished semi-independent walking with the help of a wheelchair 8.7 months after the injury. Patients with a muscle power of more than [3^-] in the upper extremities could walk independently. Among patients with incomplete injury of the cervical cord 64% gained independence in ADL 8.6 months after the injury, but patients with central paralysis or strong spasticity required assistance.

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Besides its Ca⁺⁺ regulative effects, calcitonin is known to diminish sensitivity to painful stimuli. The present study aims to clarify whether calcitonin has similar effects on stimulus processing in other modalities. The study was performed according to a double-blind and placebo controlled protocol. Sixteen patients with osteoporosis were given intramuscularly 100 IU salmon calcitonin (sCT) or 1 ml saline solution as placebo, randomly on first and fifteenth days. One hour after injection, SEP’s were recorded at the scalp, following right posterior tibial nerve stimulations at the ankle. Latencies of wave-form modalities and amplitude did not differ between sCT and placebo groups (p>0.05). However, latency differences of N42-N65 (ΔLAT) and area were significantly prolonged in sCT group (p<0.05). As a result we can speculate that sCT can change some SEP modalities which can be interpreted as the central effects of sCT.

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We conducted physical therapy for patients suffering from lumbago (n=37) with high- frequency hyperthermia equipment by a capacitive electric transfer method, MD-303 (0.65 ± 0.05 MHz), which is employed in Europe and America. The 37 patients comprised 13 with lumbar spondylosis deformans, 7 with lumbar spinal canal stenosis, 5 with lumbar disc herniation, 4 with lumbar spondylolysis/spondylolisthesis, 4 with lumbar discopathy, and 4 with other diseases accompanied by lumbago. The electricity was used 10 times in total, for 20 minutes per time. A rise in skin temperature was observed even 15 minutes after treatment, with no occurrence of adverse reactions, and this therapy was highly effective in relieving pain, with an efficacy rate of 81.1%. This paper reports the results of the use of this therapy.

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Because of recent rapid progress in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), intraspinal lesions have been clarified. On the correlation between the paralysis grade and MRI signal pattern, it was known that cases of complete paralysis were many in spinally-ruptured and large type while those of incomplete paralysis were many in medium and small type; however, many cases of incomplete paralysis with various symptoms did not necessarily coincide with MRI signal patterns. In this study the correlation between MRI signal patterns in the coronal plane and incomplete paralysis was studied in 27 cases of spinal cord injury in the chronic stage. The results found were 1) the spinal cord lesion of many cases were C3-4 and C4-5; 2) the types of many MRI signal patterns were small oval 44% and girdle 26%; 3) three-dimensional types of the patterns were cylindroid 56%, polygon 22%, cone 18.5%, and gourd 3.5%; 4) the coincidence ratios in size between expected injured areas and the patterns were small 86%, medium 55%, and large 67%.

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