I greet the organizers of this year's 3rd Joint International Congress on Disability and Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy.

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My warmest greetings to the officers and members of the Organizing Committee of the 3rd Joint International Congress on Disability and Biophilia Rehabilitation Conference as you hold your convention, in cooperation with the Northern Marianas College Disability Support Services, Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy of Japan and Medical Center Manila, on September 16-18, 2004 at The Pearl Manila Hotel.

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I am honored to make an opening address for the 3rd JOINT INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON DISABILITY AND BIOPHILIA REHABILITATION CONFERENCE on behalf of the Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy.

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Let me express my warm welcome and greetings to everyone in this 3rd Joint International Congress on Disability and Biophilia Rehabilitation Conference. It is our honor and privilege to host this prestigious annual scientific event.

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On behalf of Japan Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy, I am pleased to announce to my Philippine friends and foreign delegate that European countries and Japan try to cope with aging society.

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Four and a half years ago, I met Mr. Shigeo Takizawa, Vice-President of Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy of Japan, during the International Conference on Disability at California State University, Northridge.On that same year, I was invited to attend their rehabilitation research meeting in Tokyo, Japan. In 2001, I proposed to Mr. Takizawa to have the 1st CNMI International Conference on Assistive Technology and Biophilia Rehabilitation Conference in Saipan which I coordinated and it became a reality in November 2002. Thereafter, I recommended that our next conference be held in the Philippines, however, it was held in Canada.

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My dedication to help the disabled was borne out of my very own personal experience when I was working in a government office in the City of Manila. Being a wheelchair-borne disabled myself, I have always felt discriminated and wasn't given an equal opportunity in my job.

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With the advent of better technology, better health care follows thereby increasing years to life. This however makes the population older and more prone to develop arthritis and /or osteoporosis that can be debilitating.

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Today's galloping advances in medical knowledge and technology have swollen the ranks of elderly persons, sparking off a rise in the incidence of chronic diseases and disabilities to which they are more vulnerable than any other age groups. Providing rehabilitation services for seniors involves an enormous range and complexity of challenges.

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Those who are engaged in rehabilitation services in Japan often argue that rehabilitation is not only about functional training today. What is 'holistic rehabilitation of disabled people'? Is it to live by one's self in an inconvenient environment using all the remaining body functions effectively? There are many cases in which disabled people gradually become dysfunctional and must stay in bed for the rest of the life. In this case, do we still call this situation a 'holistic rehabilitation'?

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Orthotics have been in great use since ancient times. Orthotics were made to protect, correct or support a particular area of the body or limb. Research and development were accelerated after World War II. Orthotics at that time used more of aluminum or steel and leather but today, different types of plastics are used.

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Assistive technology has dramatically changed the lives of individuals with disabilities, that is, from care reliance to independence. The presenter will discuss the definition of assistive technology and the different categories of assistive technology devices that can be used by individuals with disabilities for communication, control of environment, mobility, seating, and daily living. Hands-on demonstration and information on some assistive technology devices will be provided.

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Technology has changed the way we communicate. This presentation will be a combination PowerPoint and actual computer presentation that will highlight the use of a software-writing program called, "Clicker."We will show how to set up and use the software with a trackball mouse and Microsoft Word.

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Stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the Philippines. It is believed that stroke rehabilitation is one of the more important treatment armamentarium in helping patients return back to be productive members of the society.

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Spasticity is a diagnostic hallmark of an upper motor neuron disorder, and therapeutically, it represents one of the most important impairments for those who care for patients with central nervous system disease. It spans a variety of diagnoses, from cerebro vascular disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and the like. It may affect patients of different age groups and impacts on a variety of functions such as hygiene, feeding, dressing, balance, ambulance, and other activities of daily living.

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Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a muscuskeletal disorder of the upper extremity characterized by inflammation and swelling in the tendons that runs through the tunnel in the anterior wrist joint. The resulting compression of the median nerve in the narrow tunnel causes numbness and/ or pain of the first three fingers. The syndrome categorized by the World Health Organization as a work related problem and is caused by high frequency movements and lack of rest period. It is one of the most frequent causes of repetitive strain injury. When CTS afflicts a young productive age group the health, social and economic costs may be staggering especially for a developing country like the Philippines.

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Until now, strengthening muscular groups of lower limbs, focusing on musculus quadriceps femoris was done as a kinematic method of preventing a fall. In recent years, the role of the greater psoas muscle (a muscle connecting the thighbone with the backbone) in the body trunk is starting to garner attention. Though the changes of the musculus quadriceps femoris was one of the indexes of preventing long time turnover, this research is to compare changes of the greater psoas muscle to changes of the musculus quadriceps femoris by measuring those who are aging. The number of women's bone fractures by falling is approximately 2.5 times greater than that of men's, and is one of the big causes of needing care. Therefore, the muscle cross-section of greater psoas muscle and musculus quadriceps femoris were measured by MRI in this research focusing on women, from ages 20 to 70, with each age class containing 35 people, for a total of 210. As a result, the difference of the atrophia degree in greater psoas muscle was recognized from age of 40, and it became clear that it will be the biggest in the age of 70. The difference of the atrophia degree in musculus quadriceps femoris was not recognized until the age of 40, and it was recognized from age of 50 to 70. In comparison of the greater psoas muscle and musculus quadriceps femoris, the difference was recognized in the age group between 40 to 70. It was indicated that not only the strengthening of the lower limb muscular group, but the strengthening of greater psoas muscle is also important in kinematic method of preventing falls.

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The current condition of functional training at welfare facilities, where they take care of numerous bedridden people, is considered insufficient. Due to this situation, the disuse syndrome has developed and body functions of bedridden elderly people are rapidly deteriorating. The Takizawa Program is practiced as an exercise therapy regimen for infirm elderly people at the Geriatric Health Services Facility (GHSF) and geriatrics hospitals; however, the effectiveness of the Takizawa Program has not yet been proved by RCT. Therefore, this report will prove the effectiveness of the program and emphasize the importance of exercise therapy for bedridden elderly people.

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This research explains the structure of MELAD DEVICE, which is convenient for in-home use and also helps patients, who need nursing care, to be independent through motivative exercise. The sled, which is attached to the leg of the device, enables the user to cross doorsills and bumps without difficulty when moving. A management system is provided with the device. This system sends the results of the motivative exercise to management center. This contributes to the user's health management and the independence of both the caregiver and the disabled person. We strongly believe that disabled people can improve their body functions and reacquire walking due to the development of rehabilitation generated by this device. We also hope that this will contribute to the achievement of our social and economic goals, which are to reduce financial strain, to look after elderly people who are physically weak, and to ease the anxiety of Japanese citizens.

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We analyzed the factors influencing the incidence of falling in a hundred and nice outpatients suffering from rheumatoid diseases. Falling accidents were found in 37 % of the patients and bone fracture (the neck of the femur in 2 cases, metatarsal bone in 1 case, rib bone in 1 case, tibia in 1 case, and radius in 1 case) were found in 5.5% of the patients in 1 year. Incidents of falling and bone fracture were found most frequently in the patients between 65 and 69 years of age. In the younger group (<65 years old), there was a significant correlation between falling and the disease disorders (activity index, ADL score, the joint range of motion, speed of walk and muscle weakness). But in the older (from 65 years old up) patients, there was no correlation between falling and the disease disorders. In the older patients, the lifestyle and complications (e.g. diabetes) were significantly correlated with falling. In the older patients, we should study other factors besides the disorders of arthritis that might influence the incidence of falling.

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The population of elderly people over the age of 65 in Japan reached 19% in 2003 and it is estimated to be 22% by 2013. Due to the arrival of such aging society, it is an urgent problem for Japan to guarantee the physical and mental health and independent life for the elderly people as well as to establish the methods how to deal with this problem.The percentage of the elderly population in the Philippines in 1990 was only 3.6% and even in 2010 it is estimated to reach 4.9%. The arrival of the aging society in the Philippines still seems to be out in the future. Therefore, we would like to introduce the present situation of Japan's aging society as well as some of the solutions, which are attempts to solve these problems. We hope that this will help the Philippines when they face similar problems in the future.

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Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) which are synthesized by the endothelium are normal constituents of the vessel wall that maintains electronegativity. This is important to maintain the endothelium protected from platelets, leukocytes and other toxic molecules. The vessel wall selective permeability status is also maintained by GAGs. In the bloodstream, circulating GAGs has an anti-platelet effect by inhibiting thrombin and cathepsin-G enzyme released by leukocytes.

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common problem affecting mobility and subjectively noted pain over affected joints. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of magnet therapy as an adjuvant in alleviating pain and improving functional walking speed in patients with OA of the knee and to describe adverse effects of magnet therapy. The study was done on a local tertiary hospital in the Philippines.

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In Japan the new law has started to prevent decubitus ulcers since 2 years ago. Our situation has changed dramatically not to leave them as before. I'd like to explain the effect of that new system to get better result

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A control system of rehabilitation and muscle power strength training enables a person including such as the elderly, and handicapped who require training to recover, to improve and/or strengthens a body's impaired function. This control system enables a doctor and a physical therapist to simplify the training contents for a patient planning and a chart entry. The way to manage the rehabilitation that has been enforced with one patient on one physical therapist can be substituted efficient training with many patients on one. A safety and reliable control system of rehabilitation and muscular power strength exercise and the motivative exercise by the Takizawa program (or the Takizawa method) in order to take away a caregiver's anxiety when a caregiver enforces rehabilitation exercise for patients.

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The U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Assistive Technology Project (ATP) and the Trankilu (Tranquil) Alternative Financing Program (AFP) both federally funded programs, are initiatives of the CNMI Council on Developmental Disabilities or CNMI CDD charged with systems advocacy and in increasing awareness of the availability and benefits of a broad range of assistive technology for persons with disabilities. Demonstration and training on the use of low to high technology is on of the main focus of these projects.

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Discriminatory practices towards women with disabilities are prevalent in many countries. The dissertation examines major issues relating to the formulation and implementation of special education policy within the context of developing countries. It focuses especially on the experiences of women with disabilities in Pakistan. It is stressed that the variety of disabilities experienced by women is as great as the variety of abilities present in the non-disabled population.

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Hafa Adai and greetings from the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands!

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Since I took up the challenge of leading DPA for the last four years, many things happened within the Asia-Pacific Region that we have missed out on and we still have a long way to go. I also learned more about our Regional Organization and in particular, finding out about the struggles, commitments and hardships that our self-help groups have to go through in order to achieve our millennium goals and objectives. This is particularly so with the extension of the Decade for Persons with Disability from 2003 to 2012.

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Rehabilitation is indeed an area for many as a disabled person that need to look into. As a disabled person myself, I am always looking at ways to reduce my dependency. With such sharing session of knowledge, technological advances and the many know-how in these areas, the disabled communities in the region would definitely have much to gain from this conference organized by your committee

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