The effect of non-noxious and noxious stimulation of various skin areas on peristaltic movements of the ureter was examined in anesthetized rats. Experiments were performed on 17 rats anesthetized with urethane-chloralose under artificial respiration. Peristaltic movements of the ureter were continuously recorded by means of an electromyogram recording technique on a polygraph, and either pinching or brushing mechanical stimulation for one minute was delivered to a skin area such as neck, chest, abdomen, perineum or hindpaw.
Under the resting condition without cutaneous stimulation, regular peristaltic movements of the ureter at a frequency of 18+1/min (mean+S. E.) were observed. The frequency of these peristaltic movements was often increased significantly by noxious cutaneous stimulation to hindpaw, perineum or chest, while it was sometimes excited by the noxious stimulation to the other area, such as neck and abdomen. The non-noxious stimulation of various skin areas, however, did not influence these movements.
The increased frequency of the ureteral movements by pinching of hindpaw, perineum or chest after bilaterally sectioning vagal, hypogastric or pelvic nerves persisted, but were totally abolished after bilaterally sectioning splanchnic nerves.
It is suggested that splanchnic nerves play a substantially important role as a efferent arc in production of the reflex response of peristaltic movements of the ureter following the cutaneous noxious stimulation.

A sixteen-year-old girl with neuropsychological dysfunction after cerebral encephalopathy came to our hospital for evaluation of her cognitive impairment and ability to acquire compensatory skills for communicative dysfunction. Neuropsychological examinations revealed low scores on FSIQ, VCI, WMI and PSI by WISC-Ⅳ. We intervened using a process-orientated speech-language-hearing therapy to improve her cognitive, language and communicative skills for a year. After that, we evaluated her cognitive ability by WISC-Ⅳ and LCSA. As a result of our intervention, her word knowledge, idiom and mental expression, sentence expression and reading social condition and expression scores in LCSA performance were improved but each IQ by WISC-Ⅳ was preserved. In ST intervention for pediatric neuropsychological dysfunction, the patient evaluation should be made not only using IQ by WISC-IV but also by measuring other communicative skills such as by LCSA.

The reflex mechanisms of the responses in heart rate elicited by acupuncture stimulation in anesthetized rats were examined. An acupuncture needle measuring 160μmin diameter was inserted into skin and the underlying muscles to the hindlimb to a depth of about 5mm and was twisted once every second for 1min. A decrease in the heart rate was observed in 55% of 22 trials and in 70% of 20 trials when muscles separated from the overlying skin were stimulated. The response was abolished completely by cutting the femoral and sciatic nerves. The response was not influenced by transecting of the bilateral vagi but was totally abolished by transecting of the cardiac sympathetic nerves. Therefore, we conclude that the decrease in heart rate elicited by acupuncture stimulation of a hindlimb is based on a somato-autonomic reflex, in which the afferent pathway is composed of hindlimb muscle afferents and the efferent pathway is composed of cardiac sympathetic nerves.

The effect of moxibustion on duodenal motility was examined. Duodenal motility was measured by the balloon method in anesthetized, artificially ventilated rats. The stimulation temperature and duration of moxibustion varied. Treatments were applied to the hind paw and abdomen.
The duodenal motility exhibited an excited response by pinch stimulation of hind paw, and inhibitory response by abdominal pinch stimulation. Duodenal motility did not show any response to indirect moxibustion stimulation of the hind paw and abdomen. Duodenal motility exhibited an excited response by direct application of moxibustion to the hind paw and an inhibitory response by direct application of moxibustion to the abdomen.

Review of the effects of acupuncture and moxibustion on brain function and cerebral disorders in human and animals was presented. Firstly, in basic research on experimental animals, the change of cerebral blood flow induced by acupuncture and its mechanisms had been reviewed. Nextly, the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on human brain function that measured from fMRI, PET, magnetoencephalography (MEG), EEG (including event related potential) have documented in the review of basic research on humans. Finally, effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion on stroke was reviewed, and its possibility of QOL-improvement of the patients was discussed.

Purpose：To explore a methodology for evaluating end-of-life （EOL） cancer care using diagnosis procedure combination （DPC） administrative data. Methods： We investigated care provided to inpatients whose deaths were attributed to cancer and occurred between August 2010 and December 2012. We measured the quality of palliative care by dividing the decedents into two groups： those who died in the palliative care unit （PCU） and those who died in the general wards（GW）. Results： A total of 311 inpatient deaths were identified as cancer deaths. Of these, 147 patients were included in the PCU group and 164 in the GW group. We calculated the DPC data as follows： the rates of chemotherapy administered within 30 days before death （PCU 0％, GW 27％） and within 14 days before death （PCU 0％, GW 10％）, admission to the intensive care unit （PCU 0％, GW 2％）, life-sustaining interventions （PCU 0％, GW 3％）, rehabilitation sessions （PCU 10％, GW 26％）, emergency admission （PCU 2％, GW 27％）, and antibiotics （PCU 32％, GW 28％）. In the PCU group, rates of chemotherapy and emergency admission were significantly lower（＜0.0001；＜0.0001, respectively）, and rehabilitation sessions were significantly higher （p＝0.0002） than in the GW group. Conclusion： EOL care in a university hospital can be easily investigated using DPC data. Some limitations are the single-site study design, the health insurance system, and secondary use of administrative data. However, this methodology may be adapted to investigate the entire Japanese claim database and to evaluate EOL cancer care.