The effect of functional electrical stimulation cycling on late functional improvement in patients with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury

Study design: Prospective single-arm study. Objectives: To investigate the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling on late functional recovery, spasticity, gait parameters and oxygen consumption during walking in patients with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Ankara, Turkey. Methods: Ten patients with chronic (duration of more than 2 years) incomplete SCI who could ambulate at least 10m independently or with the assistance of a cane or walker, but no hip-knee-ankle-foot orthosis. The subjects underwent 1-h FES cycling sessions three times a week for 16 weeks. Outcome measures including the total motor score, the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score, the Modified Ashworth Scale for knee spasticity, temporal spatial gait parameters and oxygen consumption rate during walking were assessed at baseline, 3 and 6 months after the baseline. Results: There were statistically significant improvements in total motor scores, the FIM scores and spasticity level at the 6-month follow-up (P0.05). Oxygen consumption rate of the patients showed significant reduction at only 6 months compared with baseline (P<0.01). Conclusion: The results suggest that FES cycling may provide some functional improvements in the late period of SCI

Aquatic macrophyte diversity of the Pantanal wetland and upper basin

This is a short review of the state of the art concerning diversity of aquatic macrophytes and the main aquatic vegetation types in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland and upper watershed. There are ca. 280 species of aquatic macrophytes on the Pantanal floodplain, with scarce endemism. On the upper watershed, Cerrado wetlands (veredas) and limestone springs have a distinct flora from the Pantanal, with twice the species richness. As a representative case of aquatic habitats influenced by river flood, some primary data are presented for the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park and associated Acurizal Preserve, analysing the floristic similarity among aquatic vegetation types. We comment on problems of conservation and observe that Panicum elephantipes Nees is one of the few natives to compete with the invasive Urochloa arrecta (Hack. ex T. Durand & Schinz) Morrone & Zuloaga