The Development and Test-retest Reliability of Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique-Short Form (CHART-SF) Chinese Version

Rehabilitation clients who do not return to their previous roles may be considered handicapped. Despite the importance and necessity to quantify client's perceived handicaps, there is no reliability and validity confirmed Chinese instrument to evaluate individual's handicap in Taiwan. The purposes of this study were to translate the broadly used handicap measurement CHART-SF (Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique-Short Form) into Chinese and to examine its test-retest reliability. After getting the permission from authors of CHART, we translated the CHART-SF and its scoring methods into Chinese. Then, the reverse translation and confirmation were held. Test-retest reliability was confirmed in 21 spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects by telephone interviews. Pearson correlation and paired t test were used in analysis. As the results, correlation coefficients between test and retest were over 0.80 in all domains except the Social Integration domain. All item responses correlated significantly and there was no significant difference in any items between the first and the second interview. Generally the CHART-SF Chinese version was well developed and the results confirmed it to be a reliable instrument to evaluate handicaps that the SCI individuals suffered. Its application is expected in the future.社会的不利は障害を受けた個人が従来の役割を果すことに制限を受けることと考えられる.社会的不利の測定が重要であるにも関わらず,台湾では信頼性と妥当性が確認された尺度はない.この研究の目的は広く用いられる社会的不利の尺度Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique-Short Form (CHART-SF)の信頼性を繰り返してストにより検証することである.我々はCHARTの原作者の許可を得,CHART-SFとその採点法を中国語に翻訳し逆翻訳と確認作業を行った.信頼性の検証は再テスト法を用い,21名の脊髄損傷者に電話インタビューで行われた.分析はピアソンの積率相関係数と対応のあるt検定を使用した.結果では,社会統合領域以外CHART-SFのすべての領域において1回目と2回目のテスト間の相関係数は0.80以上であり,すべての項目回答において有意な相関があり有意な差はなかった.この結果からCHART-SF中国語版は社会的不利を測定するための信頼できる尺度であることを検証した

The mRNA Expression of Neurotrophins in Different Skeletal Muscles of Young Rats

Skeletal muscles are a target for motoneurons and synthesize neurotrophins, including nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5). Both at the embryonic stage and the adult stage, the mRNA expression of neurotrophins in skeletal muscles of rats has been reported. However, little was known about the mRNA expression patterns of neurotrophins in skeletal muscles of rats at the young developmental stage. In this study, we investigated the mRNA expressions of BDNF and NT-3 in three different skeletal muscles in 4 - to 8 - week - old rats using the reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The expression of BDNF mRNA in the soleus muscle gradually became higher with age from 5 to 8 weeks. But BDNF mRNA in the tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus muscles did not change with growth. The expression of NT-3 mRNA did not show a specific tendency during this period. The differences of muscle fiber types, recruitment patterns of the muscles, and roles of neurotrophins may cause these mRNA expression patterns. Neurotrophins are target-derived, activity-dependent neurotrophic factors and are transported retrogradely. There is a possibility that the different expression patterns of neurotrophins in muscles may be involved in the maturation of neuromuscular function in different muscles during the young developmental period

ラット脊髄の圧迫後における神経細胞損失の経過と範囲

Motor deficits after spinal cord injury arise from damages to the descending spinal pathways and ventral motoneurons (VMN). In contrast to data on damages to the white matter or the descending spinal pathways, few quantitative data on damages to VMN after injury are available currently. The purpose of this study was to examine quantitatively the temporal and spatial pattern of VMN loss after spinal cord compression. Two groups of adult female Wistar rats were used in this study: rats which were subjected to spinal cord compression in short duration with an aneurysm clip (experimental group) and rats which were subjected to a sham-operation (control group). Using serial cross-sections of the spinal cord, VMN were counted up to the 7th day after surgical intervention at 0, 1, 2, and 3 mm rostral and caudal to the lesion epicenter (experimental group) or to the median of the serial sections (control group). At 15 minutes after the compression, VMN were lost only at the epicenter section and no VMN were observed there. By 8 hours, VMN loss had spread to next 1 mm rostral and caudal section to the epicenter. Virtually, no further loss was detected between 8 hours and later time points. This study showed that compression to the adult rat spinal cord in short duration led to VMN loss, which progressed acutely and expanded modestly. Our findings could be used to develop effective treatment and provide a better understanding of VMN loss after spinal cord injury

Postural control in persons with unilateral trans-femoral amputation using center of pressure : effect of socket types

片側大腿切断者の立位姿勢制御の特徴を明らかにする目的で,社会的活動レベルにある片側大腿切断者6名を対象に,静止立位と計算課題を同時に行った場合の姿勢制御について足圧中心点の変位を指標に検討した.事前に光刺激による反応時間を測定し計算課題が注意を分散させ得る課題であること確認した.足圧中心点の測定は,静止立位で10秒間行い,総軌跡長,矩形面積,健患位置,前後位置を算出し,健常者との比較,計算課題の有無による比較を行った.その結果,片側大腿切断者は健常者より総軌跡長,矩形面積が有意に大きかったが,両者とも二重課題の影響は受けなかった.また,片側大腿切断者は静止立位時足圧中心点が健側へ偏倚しており,二重課題時はさらに健側へ偏倚させる方略で姿勢制御していた.ソケットの違いによる比較では,坐骨収納型ソケットより四辺形ソケット使用者の方が安定する傾向にあった.The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of postural control in persons with amputation and to examine the influence of two socket types. A group of six men with unilateral trans-femoral amputation (amputation group, AG) participated in this study. A group of twenty healthy men (control group, CG), matched for age, were also tested. The subjects performed two tests as follows: (1)quiet upright standing task (single-task, ST) and (2)upright standing and concurrent attention-demanding task (calculation task) (dual-task, DT). The center of pressure (CP) was measured using a force platform during the two conditions. In addition, the trajectory length (LNG), the rectilinear area (REA), and the lateral and fore-aft direction were calculated. Significant differences were observed between AG and CG concerning LNG and REA in ST (p<.05). But the effect of a cognitive task on the efficiency of postural control was not shown in either group. In contrast with CG, CP in AG showed a movement to the non-amputation side in the lateral direction (p<.05). Further, CP was moved to the non-amputation side as an effect of the cognitive task (p<.05). In regard to the effect by socket type, there was a tendency for LNG and REA in the quadrilateral socket to be smaller than in the ischial-ramal containment socket