The purpose of this study was to explore the experience and decision-making process of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms in a 'wait and see' approach. We conducted interviews asking patients mainly about reasons for seeking a checkup, their impressions of the diagnosis, and thoughts during the process of choosing a'wait and see' approach. The qualitative analysis of data gained from the 21 subjects who have been followed up as neurosurgical outpatients revealed four phases in those experiences: "before diagnosis", "shortly after diagnosis", "waiting for the comprehensive diagnosis" and "decision-making". In the decision-making phase, we found three decision-making patterns: "immediate decision lead by a physician", "self-determination after scrutiny and conflict", "compromise associated with the high risk of surgery". Nursing support should aim to encourage patients to move through to the decision-making phase by mitigating the shock caused by diagnosis and helping to organize information. During the decision-making phase, nurses have to judge the adequacy of information, develop good relationships with physicians, and give comprehensive support to patients for satisfactory self-determination.

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When a human receives a heavy impact on the head, a focal brain injury and/or a diffuse axonal injury (DAI) are caused. The focal brain injury is caused by partial strain of a brain and/or rapid pressure fluctuation inside the skull. DAI is widespread damage to the white matter of the brain and caused by the shear stress. A focal brain injury is usually associated with brain tissue damage visible to the naked eye. However, the pathological basis of DAI can be observed only under the limited condition, and the bases are very difficult to be found in morbid anatomy. DAI may be unnoticed when focal brain injury concurs. In this study, various impacts were given to a finite element human head model, the condition of causing the focal brain injury and DAI was evaluated using average acceleration and the duration of the head which obtained from the computer simulations, and the possibility of concurrence of both damages was verified. As a result of computer simulation which is based on judicial autopsy report, it was shown the possibility of concurrence of DAI and focal brain injury was high, even though the cause of death was judged as focal brain injury.

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This study was intended to examine the differences in the motion properties of the arms in children with cerebral palsy who were using a mouse or a trackball (hereinafter referred to as two types of PDs) for a personal computer. The method was applied variously for 9 children with cerebral palsy who used two types of PDs daily, the joint movement distance was measured when they were operating the PDs and differences in the joint motion of the arms were examined. According to the results, in the group using a mouse the joint movement distance of the metacarpophalangeal joint, wrist joint and cubital joint, but not including the shoulder joint, increased in the arm on the operation side. In contrast, in the group that was using a track ball, the joint movement distance of all of the joints that were measured in the arm on the operation side increased. The reason for this finding is believed to be due to differences in the arm functions associated with the types of cerebral palsy affected the groups that used either the mouse or the track ball.

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