Rotational Acceleration during Head Impact Resulting from Different Judo Throwing Techniques

Most severe head injuries in judo are reported as acute subdural hematoma. It is thus necessary to examine the rotational acceleration of the head to clarify the mechanism of head injuries. We determined the rotational acceleration of the head when the subject is thrown by judo techniques. One Japanese male judo expert threw an anthropomorphic test device using two throwing techniques, Osoto-gari and Ouchigari. Rotational and translational head accelerations were measured with and without an under-mat. For Osoto-gari, peak resultant rotational acceleration ranged from 4,284.2 rad/s² to 5,525.9 rad/s² and peak resultant translational acceleration ranged from 64.3 g to 87.2 g; for Ouchi-gari, the accelerations respectively ranged from 1,708.0 rad/s² to 2,104.1 rad/s² and from 120.2 g to 149.4 g. The resultant rotational acceleration did not decrease with installation of an under-mat for both Ouchi-gari and Osoto-gari. We found that head contact with the tatami could result in the peak values of translational and rotational accelerations, respectively. In general, because kinematics of the body strongly affects translational and rotational accelerations of the head, both accelerations should be measured to analyze the underlying mechanism of head injury. As a primary preventative measure, throwing techniques should be restricted to participants demonstrating ability in ukemi techniques to avoid head contact with the tatami.     

Neural substrates of emotional habituation: A PET study using film stimuli

Abstract  While external stimuli are given repeatedly, the level of emotional response gradually decreases. This study aims to reveal the neural substrates of such emotional habituation. Fifteen healthy male volunteers were examined using [¹⁵O]-H₂O-PET scanning. Subjects were required to watch two film clips, a horror scene (emotional task) and a calm scene (non-emotional task). Each film clip was repeatedly presented six times during 12 PET scans. The regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the first two scans of each task was compared with that in the last two scans. On the emotional task, the right retrosplenial cortex (Brodmann's areas 30 and 23) was activated during the former scans, and the bilateral occipital cortices (BA19 and 37) were activated during the latter scans. As for the non-emotional task, the bilateral occipital cortices (BA19 and 37) were activated during the first two scans, and the bilateral prefrontal cortices (BA10) were activated during the last two scans. The activated cerebral region by emotional experience reciprocally transferred from the paralimbic region (the retrosplenial cortex) to the neocortical region (the bilateral occipital cortices) as the experience was repeated. This finding is consistent with the theory that the process of emotional habituation is promoted by the process of conceptualization.     

Para-Aortic Nodal Irradiation in the Treatment of Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix: A Report of 22 Cases

Twenty-two patients with previously untreated carcinoma of theuterine cervix were treated by para-aortic nodal irradiationfor the macroscopical metas-tases found at the operation withor without pathological confirmation, at the National CancerCenter Hospital from 1962 to 1980. The irradiation was givenwith 6 MeV X rays. Total doses ranged from 42 to 99 with anaverage of 69 in Time Dose Fractionation factors. All of thepatients died of the tumor within 42 months. The initial siteof relapse was intrapelvic for two patients, extrapelvic for18, and both intra- and extrapelvic for two. Of 12 patientsupon whom autopsies were performed, only one of the patientswho had multiple metastatic tumors of less than i cm in maximumdiameter had the tumor controlled in the irradiated region.     

Clinical Features of Congenital Contractural Arachnodactyly

ABSTRACT Clinical features of 11 cases of congenital contractural arachnodactyly (CCA) were reported. Eight cases were male and 3 cases were female. Family history was positive in 6 cases of 3 families. As for hand deformity, flexion of the finger, adduction of the thumb and shortening of the palmar skin were observed in all cases, arachnodactyly in ten cases, flexion contracture of the finger joint in 6 cases. Dolichostenomelia and crumpled ear deformity were associated in all cases, spinal deformity in 6 cases, flexion contracture of the lower extremities in 5 cases, micrognathia in 2 cases and high palate, strabismus, pectus excavatum and polydactyly of the fifth toe in one case. Arachnodactyly was not an essential feature of CCA. Existence of multiple camptodactyly with or without arachnodactyly and/or ulnar drift of the fingers, and crumpled ear deformity were important findings for differential diagnosis of CCA. There was no association of cardiovascular anomalies in this series. CCA without ocular and cardiovascular involvement must be a definite clinical entity and should be distinguished from the other forms of marfanoid habitus.     

Clinical Features and Operative Findings of Congenital Flexion Deformity of Multiple Digits

ABSTRACT Thirty-six cases with congenital flexion deformities of multiple digits were classified into six types such as congenital contractural arachnodactyly, distal arthrogryposis, Freeman-Sheldon-like syndrome, congenital aplasia of the extensor muscles of the digits, ulnar drift type and multiple camptodactyly type. Many common clinical features of the hands were observed among these deformities. In eleven cases, 18 hands were treated surgically and were followed up for more than a year. During surgery, complete correction or signigicant reduction of the deformity was achieved in most cases. From these operative findings, it was assumed that the main cause of congenital flexion deformity of multiple digits was contracture of the palmar skin and retaining ligaments of the skin. At follow up, complete correction was achieved in 10 hands, and incomplete or minimal correction in eight hands.