Spasticity treatment patterns among people with multiple sclerosis: a Swedish cohort study

BACKGROUND: Spasticity is common among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but there are few studies of spasticity treatment patterns. We aim to describe associations with spasticity treatment measured primarily by oral baclofen use. METHODS: This cohort study using Swedish registers included 1826 and 3519 people with incident and prevalent MS (pwIMS, pwPMS) respectively, followed from 2005 to 2014. Cox regression assessed factors associated with new baclofen prescriptions and its discontinuation. RESULTS: A total of 10% of pwIMS and 19% of pwPMS received baclofen, a drug prescribed specifically for spasticity in Sweden, of which many patients had relapsing-remitting course. Prescriptions occurred soon after MS diagnosis: pwIMS received baclofen typically within 6 months of diagnosis, and pwPMS within 3 years. Younger patients compared with older patients were three times more likely to receive baclofen with similar disability level measured using Expanded Disability Severity Scores (EDSS). Patients aged 18-44 years with EDSS 3.0-5.0 have an HR for baclofen use of 5.62 (95% CI 2.91 to 10.85) and EDSS 6+ have an HR of 15.41 (95% CI 7.07 to 33.58) compared with individuals with EDSS 0-2.5. In comparison, patients aged 45+ years with EDSS 3.0-5.0 have an HR of 2.05 (95% CI 1.10 to 3.82) and EDSS 6+ a hour 4.26 (95% CI 1.96 to 9.17). Baclofen discontinuation was high: 49% (95% CI 0.42 to 0.57) of pwIMS discontinued within 150 days of dispensation, 90% discontinued within 2 years including patients with progressive course or higher EDSS. Associations among pwPMS and sensitivity analyses including additional treatments were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Younger patients with MS are more likely to receive baclofen compared with older patients with MS. High rates of baclofen discontinuation highlight the need for more tolerable and efficacious spasticity treatments and monitoring of spasticity among people with MS

Phase Curves from the Kuiper Belt: Photometric Properties of Distant Kuiper Belt Objects Observed by New Horizons

n/

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The role of networks to overcome large-scale challenges in tomography : the non-clinical tomography users research network

Our ability to visualize and quantify the internal structures of objects via computed tomography (CT) has fundamentally transformed science. As tomographic tools have become more broadly accessible, researchers across diverse disciplines have embraced the ability to investigate the 3D structure-function relationships of an enormous array of items. Whether studying organismal biology, animal models for human health, iterative manufacturing techniques, experimental medical devices, engineering structures, geological and planetary samples, prehistoric artifacts, or fossilized organisms, computed tomography has led to extensive methodological and basic sciences advances and is now a core element in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research and outreach toolkits. Tomorrow's scientific progress is built upon today's innovations. In our data-rich world, this requires access not only to publications but also to supporting data. Reliance on proprietary technologies, combined with the varied objectives of diverse research groups, has resulted in a fragmented tomography-imaging landscape, one that is functional at the individual lab level yet lacks the standardization needed to support efficient and equitable exchange and reuse of data. Developing standards and pipelines for the creation of new and future data, which can also be applied to existing datasets is a challenge that becomes increasingly difficult as the amount and diversity of legacy data grows. Global networks of CT users have proved an effective approach to addressing this kind of multifaceted challenge across a range of fields. Here we describe ongoing efforts to address barriers to recently proposed FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reuse) and open science principles by assembling interested parties from research and education communities, industry, publishers, and data repositories to approach these issues jointly in a focused, efficient, and practical way. By outlining the benefits of networks, generally, and drawing on examples from efforts by the Non-Clinical Tomography Users Research Network (NoCTURN), specifically, we illustrate how standardization of data and metadata for reuse can foster interdisciplinary collaborations and create new opportunities for future-looking, large-scale data initiatives

Hospital diagnosed pneumonia before age 20 years and multiple sclerosis risk

10.1136/bmjno-2020-000044BMJ Neurology Open21e000044-e000044complete

Comorbid disease burden among MS patients 1968–2012: A Swedish register–based cohort study

10.1177/1352458520910497Multiple Sclerosis Journal135245852091049-13524585209104

The DQB1*03:02 Genotype and Treatment for Pain in People With and Without Multiple Sclerosis

10.3389/fneur.2020.00993Frontiers in Neurology1

Topographic mapping of Pluto and Charon using New Horizons data

New Horizons 2015 flyby of the Pluto system has resulted in high-resolution topographic maps of Pluto and Charon, the most distant objects so mapped. DEM’s over ~30% of each object were produced at 100-300 m vertical and 300-800 m spatial resolutions, in hemispheric maps and high-resolution linear mosaics. Both objects reveal more relief than was observed at Triton. The dominant 800-km wide informally named Sputnik Planum bright ice deposit on Pluto lies in a broad depression 3 km deep, flanked by dispersed mountains 3-5 km high. Impact craters reveal a wide variety of preservation states from pristine to eroded, and long fractures are several km deep with throw of 0-2 km. Topography of this magnitude suggests the icy shell of Pluto is relatively cold and rigid. Charon has global relief of at least 10 km, including ridges of 2-3 km and troughs of 3-5 km of relief. Impact craters are up to 6 km deep. Vulcan Planum consists of rolling plains and forms a topographic moat along its edge, suggesting viscous flow.P.M. Schenk, R.A. Beyer, J.M. Moore J.R. Spencer, W.B. McKinnon, A.D. Howard, O.M. White, O.M. Umurhan, K. Singer, S.A. Stern, H.A. Weaver, L.A. Young, K. Ennico Smith, C. Olkin, and the New Horizons Geology and Geophysics Imaging Team