ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of resistance exercise on arterial stiffness in 10 healthy young women. The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was used as a measure of arterial stiffness. Resistance and aerobic exercises were performed on different days and the change in CAVI from baseline was evaluated at 15 and 30 min after exercise. The CAVI was significantly lower than that at baseline at 15 min after both resistance (change from 5.5±0.9 to 4.9±0.7) and aerobic (change from 5.7±0.6 to 5.2±0.5) exercise. At 30 min after exercise, the CAVI had recovered to baseline values for both types of exercise. Therefore, both resistance and aerobic exercise produced a transient decrease in arterial stiffness, with the effect being dissipated by 30 min after exercise.

Purpose : APP770, expressed in brain endothelial cells, is a different isoform from neuronal APP695. Soluble APP770 (sAPP770) is produced by APP770 cleavage by α-secretase. sAPP770 has been proposed as a candidate biomarker of Alzheimer disease. To investigate sAPP770 levels in human plasma, a new commercially available sandwich ELIZA system has been developed. This study was undertaken to test whether this system would be useful in determining plasma sAPP770 levels. Subjects and Methods : Subjects were 20 healthy young volunteers. Plasma sAPP770 concentration was assayed by sandwich ELIZA using the Human APP770 assay kit. Results: Plasma concentration of sAPP770 in all subjects was 56.80ng/mL. The concentration in male subjects was 44.31ng/mL and in the female subjects was 60.99ng/mL. No significant difference in male and female concentrations was observed. The detection limit of this kit was 0.03ng/mL, and the working range of the assay was 0-6.2 ng/mL. Conclusion : The sandwich ELIZA method tested in this study is a useful protocol to analyze plasma sAPP770 concentrations.

The immediate effects of Repetitive Facilitative Exercise (RFE), continuous electrical stimulation (FES) and vibratory stimulation (VS) on gait and foot tapping were studied in 17 care recipients in nursing home health care facilities. Gait speed was significantly improved by RFE alone and by RFE combined with FES and VS, and the improvement persisted during the OFF period (Post stimulation). Gait speed improved further when stimulation was changed from RFE alone to RFE combined with FES and VS but worsened when stimulation was changed from RFE combined with FES and VS to the OFF condition. Both FES and VS significantly increased the number of foot tappings on the disabled side, and this improvement persisted during the OFF period. There were significant differences in the number of foot tappings between FES and FES combined with VS, and between FES and the OFF condition. The number of foot tappings on the non-disabled side was not significantly increased by stimulations with FES and VS or during the OFF period. There were strong correlations between gait speed during RFE combined with FES, VS and age (r= 0.5), and between gait speed during the OFF period and age (r= 0.62) (p < 0.05). However, there was no correlation between physical factors and foot tapping with stimulations.

The purpose of this study was to clarify whether effect of exercise therapy was differed by physical activity level relating to occupation. The study subjects were 34 overweight females; 16 desk workers (D group) and 18 homemakers (H group). The subjects had performed supervised exercise therapy for 40 minutes using treadmills or bicycle ergometers, 2 or 3 times per week for 6 months. After 6 months of the therapy, BMI, waist circumference and systolic / diastolic blood pressure of the D group had significantly decreased, whereas there were not any changes in other measures. In the H group, in addition to BMI, waist circumference and diastolic blood pressure, F-IRI and HOMA-R also decreased significantly. It was shown that the exercise therapy had significant effects on body weight and blood pressure in the both groups, whereas reduction in insulin resistance was observes only in the homemakers. The supervised program was effective for overweight females, with different effects on metabolic measures due to difference in physical activity level by the occupation.

Progression of diabetes mellitus (DM) leads to the development of diabetic polyneuropathy (DP), which causes sensory disturbances in the foot. Plantar tactile point pressure sensitivity (TPPS) is important for diagnosing DP according to the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament (SWM) test. This study revealed that in patients with DM, plantar TPPS influences backward walking. Seventy-three patients with type 2 DM were grouped according to the SWM test. Forward and backward walking abilities over 10 m were measured. The walking factors included forward and backward walking, and the subject factors were according to the SWM test. Statistical analysis was carried out using a two-way analysis of variance test. A two-way analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis. With an increase in the threshold of plantar TPPS, difficulties in backward walking increased. Walking ability was reduced in DM patients, and the backward walking time was significantly longer as the sensory disorders progressed.

This study investigated the effect of early hospital discharge after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Of the 118 patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, 31 received therapy during hospitalization until the brace was removed (L group), and 87 were discharged 8 days after surgery with a brace (S group). Risk-related behavior rates were compared in the L and S groups for the periods of 1 to 8 days, and 9 days to 3 weeks after surgery. There was no significant difference in occurrence rates between the L and S groups for either period. Both groups could perform activities of daily living without difficulty in the early postoperative hospitalization period.

In this study, the effect of pathological fracture management during rehabilitation intervention was examined in a breast cancer patient with high risk of skeletal related events due to multiple bone metastases. The subject was breast cancer bone metastatic patient, aged 63 years. Prior to the start of the rehabilitation, doctors conducted risk assessment such as pathological fractures using imaging study and physical examination. And we shared information on multi－professional conference. As a result, during the hospitalization, we could continue providing rehabilitation by sharing information smoothly without severe skeletal related events. Activities of daily living was also improved. These systems are considered useful to prevent further skeletal related events.

Sensory receptors that respond to noxious stimuli, called nociceptors, in the skin are present in free nerve endings of Aδ- and C-fibers. The Aδ-nociceptors develop picking pain and fast pain in response to mechanical stimulation. On the other hand, the C-nociceptors develop burning pain and slow pain in response to thermal, cold, chemical, and mechanical stimulation. In these free nerve endings, mechanical stimuli activate ion channels, such as piezo1 or ASICs, thermal stimuli activate ion channels, such as TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3, or TRPV4, cold stimuli activate ion channels, such as TRPM8 or TRPA1, and chemical stimuli activate ion channels and receptors, ASCIs, TRPV1, TRPV3, TRPM8, TRPA1, ATP receptors, or B2 receptors. In this review, we summarize the roles of ion channels and receptors in the nociception from the electrophysiological point of view.

The biomedical model is still used to diagnose chronic lower back pain by the majority of Japanese physicians. A new approach to chronic lower back pain called cognitive functional therapy (CFT) was developed by Peter O'Sullivan based on the biopsychosocial model. This is a physiotherapist-led approach and differs from other foundational cognitive interventions. There is much evidence of the use of CFT. For example, CFT has shown promising results in the reduction of fear, pain and disability in the long term. For chronic lower back pain, the biopsychosocial model is essential to manage patient conditions. Therefore, we should understand the biopsychosocial model and put it to practice. CFT is helpful to understand the model and can improve patient outcomes.