Long-term effect of additional rehabilitation following botulinum toxin-A on upper limb activity in chronic stroke: the InTENSE randomised trial.

Background: It is common for people with persistent spasticity due to a stroke to receive an injection of botulinum toxin-A in the upper limb, however post-injection intervention varies.

Aim: To determine the long-term effect of additional upper limb rehabilitation following botulinum toxin-A in chronic stroke.

Method: An analysis of long-term outcomes from national, multicenter, Phase III randomised trial with concealed allocation, blinded measurement and intention-to-treat analysis was carried out.

Attitudes towards exercise among medical specialists who manage patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Exercise training was not traditionally recommended for patients with pulmonary hypertension. However, recent work has demonstrated that exercise improves endurance and quality-of-life in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Unfortunately, patients with pulmonary hypertension are often sedentary.

Effect of Additional Rehabilitation After Botulinum Toxin-A on Upper Limb Activity in Chronic Stroke: The InTENSE Trial.

Background and Purpose- The aim of this trial was to determine the effect of additional upper limb rehabilitation following botulinum toxin-A for upper limb activity in chronic stroke. Methods- We conducted a multicenter phase III randomized trial with concealed allocation, blinded measurement, and intention-to-treat analysis. One hundred forty stroke survivors who were scheduled to receive botulinum toxin-A in any muscle(s) that cross the wrist because of moderate to severe spasticity after a stroke >3 months ago, who had completed formal rehabilitation and had no significant cognitive impairment.

Compressed filesystem for managing large genome collections.

Motivation: Genome repositories are growing faster than our storage capacities, challenging our ability to store, transmit, process and analyze them. While genomes are not very compressible individually, those repositories usually contain myriads of genomes or genome reads of the same species, thereby creating opportunities for orders-of-magnitude compression by exploiting inter-genome similarities. A useful compression system, however, cannot be only usable for archival, but it must allow direct access to the sequences, ideally in transparent form so that applications do not need to be rewritten.

Development of a checklist for patients with axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis in daily practice: ONLY TOOLS project.

Objective: To standardize clinical evaluation of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) using a checklist.

Methods: Qualitative study that included: 1) nominal group (18 experts); 2) literature reviews of measures used in the assessment of patients with axial SpA or PsA; and 3) focus groups, one with rheumatologists and another with patients, organized to become familiar with their opinion on medical assistance. Taking this into account, the experts selected the measures to be included in the checklist based on their relevance, feasibility, and the outcome type.