Sakura no Seibo Junior College

Background: Delirium, a well-known psychiatric syndrome occurring after a stroke, is an obstacle to rehabilitation, resulting in prolonged hospital stay. The Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) is a simple method to help nursing staff detecting delirium. Risk factors for post-stroke delirium have been reported, but use of the ICDSC as a screening tool has rarely been reported. Purpose: This study investigated risk factors of delirium during acute phase after a stroke by using the ICDSC. Methods: We retrospectively examined 418 acute stroke patients treated in our Stroke Care Unit (SCU) between September 2011 and September 2012. Patients who died within 24 h after hospitalization and those with transient ischemic attacks, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and severe consciousness impairment were excluded. Patients were assessed usingthe ICDSC every 8 h while in the SCU. Delirium was defined as an ICDSC score > 4. Patients were divided into the delirium (those assessed as having delirium at least once) and non-delirium (those assessed as not having delirium) groups. Using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, risk factors of age, sex, past medical history, consciousness level at admission, stroke onset (ischemia or hemorrhage), lesion, symptoms (hemiparesis, hemispatial neglect, or aphasia), and period of hospitalization were compared between the groups. Results: Of 310 patients ultimately included, 104 (33.5%) were included in the delirium group. Age (p=0.0456), consciousness level at admission (p<0.0001), history of stroke (p=0.0013), hemorrhagic onset (p=0.0017), suffering from aphasia (p=0.013) and period of hospitalization (p=0.0018) were independent risk factors for post-stroke delirium. Conclusions: The incidence and risk factors of delirium were similar to those previously reported. The ICDSC may be a useful and simple method for detecting delirium in the acute phase after a stroke.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of various kinds of VDT operations by using an analysis of eye movements and examining the distribution of gaze fixation points. Eye movemen...

The design and performance of a new type of ionization gauge, specifically developed for an accelerator, equipped with an ionsource constructed in combination of three electrodes (a hemisphere mesh anode, an annular filament and a funnel-shaped electron reflector) is described. In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, the ion current is converted into an alternating current signal by a modulator grid located beneath the ion outlet of the ion source. The new gauge has a sensitivity factor for nitrogen of 14 Torr-1 and a modulation factor of 1.00.

The motion-picture analysis administered to the skilled overhand pitchers has made it clear that in most of the subjects the upper extremity movement stops momentarily during the shift from the backswing to the forward swing, and in some subjects the upper extremity moves almost continuously during the same period. Most of the skilled overhand pitchers belonged to the former 'discontinuous type'; the rest, the latter 'continuous type.' The electromyograms were recorded from the shoulder girdle, the upper extremity, and the trnuk muscles of the skilled overhand pitchers who were requested to perform overhand pitching to the fullest of their ability, and were analyzed in terms of the functional mechanism of the muscles. 1) During the backswing of the upper extremity, the discharge patterns obtained from both of the two types indicated that the upper extremity was abducted slightly backward in the frontal plane, and for the 'continuous type,' the discharge pattern indicated that the upper extremity was abducted slightly forward in the frontal plane. 2) In the first half and in the middle of the forward swing of the upper extremity, both of the two styles showed the discharge patterns indicating that the trunk was rotated, and that in the first half, the upper arm was rotated with the elbow flexed. As for the 'continuous type,' the discharge pattern, in the first half and in the middle of the forward swing, indicated that the upper arm was lifted up, and at the same time horizontally abducted, but for the 'discontinuous type,' such discharge pattern appeared from the middle of the forward swing. 3) In the latter half of the forward swing of the upper extremity, the discharge patterns of both types indicated that the upper arm was depressed with the elbow flexed and with the forearm inwardly rotated. As for the 'discontinuous type,' the discharge pattern indicated that the upper arm was abducted in the frontal plane with force exerted backward, for the 'continuous type,' the discharge pattern indicated that force was exerted somewhat forward. In releasing the ball, the discharge pattern of the 'continuous type,' as in the 'discotinuous type,' indicated that the upper arm was abducted in the frontal plane with force exerted backward.