Sixty-five patients with dementia were evaluated with 1) The Japanese CADL (a measure for functional communication), 2) abbreviated version of the Roken Test of Higher Cortical Functions (a measure for dementia severity) and 3) a checklist of behavior observed during the test sessions. The results were as follows:
1) The degree of functional communication ability was proportional to the degree of dementia severity (r=0.87, p<0.001).
2) Analysis of subtests revealed that dementia patients at early stages failed to respond appropriately to the communication activities that require multiple steps of information processing (i. e., buying a ticket using a ticket vending machine). On the other hand, highly automated communication behavior such as greetings and saying own name were preserved in the severest patients.
3) When the groups of senile dementia patients (N=17) and vascular dementia patients (N=48) were compared, no differences were observed on the dementia severity. However, senile group was lower in functional communication ability which was particularly noticeable on the tasks that require utilization of contextual information and abstract thinking. They also showed more anxiety toward the test situation than vascular group.
4) When dementia and aphasia patients matched for the CADL total scores were compared, significant differences were found between the subtest profiles. Dementia patients were inferior to aphasia patients on the subtests that require utilization of contextual information, the ability of numerical operation and the abillity of visuospatial information processing. Aphasia patients were inferior to dementia patients on the subtests that directly tap linguistic functions.

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This preliminary study was designed to assess the glycogen metabolism of neuro-muscular diseases using rabbits. The results showed that the enzymatic capacity of glycogen synthesis in slow muscles (S) is higher than that of fast muscles (F), however, glycogenolysis was found to be reversed in data. The activity of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (kinase A) in S was higher than that of F. Active form ratios of glycogen-metabolizing enzymes in S and F were influenced by this kinase A. Since the activity of protein phosphatase in S was higher than that of F, S was thought to be regulated to a larger extent by kinase A.
These investigations were found to be useful in evaluating the physiological characteristics of muscle and neuro-muscular diseases.

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Various parameters of F-waves including frequency of response (FREQ), minimal latency (MIN), maximal latency (MAX), mean latency (MEAN) and difference between minimal and maximal latencies (DIFF) were analysed. F-responses were obtained from median, ulnar, tibial and peroneal nerves from 50 healthy subjects of both sexes aged between 20 to 33 years old. The follwing results were obtained:
1) The mean value of each latency (MIN, MAX, MEAN) was similar to the values obtained by other authors in Japan, but shorter than those obtained in European and American laboratories. The FREQ of F-waves was highest in tibial nerves and lowest in peroneal nerves.
2) There was a strong correlation between height and each latency (MIN, MAX, MEAN). And the coefficient variable (standard deviation/mean) of each parameter (MIN, MAX, MEAN) was decreased by using ones corrected by height.
3) The differences of mean values between 20 and 40 repetitive recordings were not statistically significant in all parameters except DIFF.
4) The reproducibility of each parameter was confirmed by examinations conducted on two separate days.
In conclusion, we suggests that: (i) the 20-repetitive-recording-method should suffice for clinical assessment, (ii) each parameter of F-response, especially when corrected by height, is highly reproducible, and (iii) the day-to-day analysis of F-response parameters appears to be useful in conducting follow-up of the changes of proximal lesions of peripheral nerves.

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We studied the negative feelings of medical personnel toward patients in a rehabilitation setting.
Via a questionnaire, 110 personnel were asked to recall patients who troubled them or whom they had considered to be “problems”. The following results were obtained:
1) Out of 246 patients, 45 patients (18%) were considered problematic.
2) Neither age nor sex were important factors; rather diagnoses associated with severe disability, viz., cerebrovascular accident (CVA), brain injury, and tetraplegia, were highly correlated with “problem patients”.
3) Nurses tended to see CVA patients as problematic when the patients were severely disabled.
4) Among 239 causes that personnel identified as problematic, 36 causes (15%) appeared to be derived from troubles within the service team, for instance, role conflicts among staff members.
5) Four patients were unanimously considered problematic. Two of them were severely disabled CVAs, another was an orthopedic patient who was a gangster, and the remaining patient was a young person with a spinal cord injury. The last case was difficult to deal with because the personnel in charge were unaccustomed to managing spinal cord injuries.
These results indicate that not only severity of disability, but also troubles in teamwork can engender feelings of antipathy toward a patient. Such negative feelings may thus be synonymous with negative “counter-transference”.
In conclusion, to establish harmonious rapport between staff and patients in a rehabilitation setting, the personnel should 1) recognize the existence of negative feelings when they arise, 2) discuss such feelings from the viewpoint of role theory, 3) clarify the purposes and functions of the team, and 4) have an active system for learning new solutions to the problems.

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