Danube University Krems

About: Danube University Krems is a education organization based out in Krems, Niederösterreich, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Stroke & Population. The organization has 498 authors who have published 1572 publications receiving 68797 citations.

Poststroke spasticity: Treating to the disability.

Abstract: People who have strokes are subject to numerous potentially devastating sequelae, most often sensorimotor paresis, impairment of cognition and language, and other functional disabilities, including depression and dementia. Of these sequelae, spasticity occurring with motor dysfunction is a frequent finding that has to be evaluated in light of other diagnoses, such as central paresis, ataxia, pathologic stance or gait, and other coordination dysfunctions. Often, spasticity is not notably present in acute ischemic strokes but develops later on, and may then become a major obstacle for achieving independence in performance of activities of daily living (ADLs). Spasticity appearing after a stroke demonstrates quite convincingly that stroke is not a stable condition, but must be viewed instead as a dynamic condition that over time can precipitate additional impairments that were not necessarily noted or present in the acute phase. Poststroke spasticity (PSS) can indeed appear immediately after the ictus, but is most often seen later in the course of the illness. It then becomes a marker of changing or increasing sensorimotor malfunction and therefore requires repeated neurologic assessments. PSS can occur coupled with pain, be noted with decreased dexterity or positioning, or simply be associated with a gradual increase in sensorimotor paresis. When occurring late, PSS can induce changes in the entire health perception of the patient and caregiver. ADLs= : activities of daily living; PSS= : poststroke spasticity The authors thank Allergan, Inc., for supporting travel and meetings of an advisory group that met over the past 3 years to discuss the many issues of poststroke spasticity. It was found that no concise overview exists on this topic that reflects clinical as well as recent research findings. Therefore, this supplement was planned. Authors Michael Brainin, Bo Norrving, Brett Kissela, Jorg Wissel, David Burke, Geoffrey A. Donnan, Christopher Chen, Didier Leys, Alberto Esquenazi, Katharina S. Sunnerhagen, John Olver, Gerard E. Francisco, and Richard D. Zorowitz did not receive financial compensation or honoraria for contributing to this supplement. Authors Aubrey Manack and Patrick J. Gillard are employees of Allergan, Inc. The authors thank Allergan, Inc., for supporting the costs of production and for funding Imprint Publication Science, New York, NY, to provide editorial support in the preparation of this supplement.

Physical activity as a determinant of fasting and 2-h post-challenge glucose: a prospective cohort analysis of the NAVIGATOR trial.

Abstract: Aim To investigate whether previous physical activity levels are associated with blood glucose levels in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance in the context of an international pharmaceutical trial. Methods Data were analysed from the NAVIGATOR trial, which involved 9306 individuals with impaired glucose tolerance and high cardiovascular risk from 40 different countries, recruited in the period 2002–2004. Fasting glucose, 2-h post-challenge glucose and physical activity (pedometer) were assessed annually. A longitudinal regression analysis was used to determine whether physical activity levels 2 years (t-2) and 1 year (t-1) previously were associated with levels of glucose, after adjusting for previous glucose levels and other patient characteristics. Those participants with four consecutive annual measures of glucose and two consecutive measures of physical activity were included in the analysis. Results The analysis included 3964 individuals. Change in physical activity from t-2 to t-1 and activity levels at t-2 were both associated with 2-h glucose levels after adjustment for previous glucose levels and baseline characteristics; however, the associations were weak: a 100% increase in physical activity was associated with a 0.9% reduction in 2-h glucose levels. In addition, previous physical activity only explained an additional 0.05% of the variance in 2-h glucose over the variance explained by the history of 2-h glucose alone (R2 = 0.3473 vs. 0.3468). There was no association with fasting glucose. Conclusions In the context of a large international clinical trial, previous physical activity levels did not meaningfully influence glucose levels in those with a high risk of chronic disease, after taking into account participants' previous trajectory of glucose control.

Bertin was Right: An Empirical Evaluation of Indexing to Compare Multivariate Time‐Series Data Using Line Plots

Abstract: Line plots are very well suited for visually representing time-series. However, several difficulties arise when multivariate heterogeneous time-series data is displayed and compared visually. Especially, if the developments and trends of time-series of different units or value ranges need to be compared, a straightforward overlay could be visually misleading. To mitigate this, visualization pioneer Jacques Bertin presented a method called indexing that transforms data into comparable units for visual representation. In this paper, we want to provide empirical evidence for this method and present a comparative study of the three visual comparison methods linear scale with juxtaposition, log scale with superimposition and indexing. Although for task completion times, indexing only shows slight advantages, the results support the assumption that the indexing method enables the user to perform comparison tasks with a significantly lower error rate. Furthermore, a post-test questionnaire showed that the majority of the participants favour the indexing method over the two other comparison methods.

A Randomized Controlled Trial on Functional Relaxation as an Adjunct to Psychoeducation for Stress

Abstract: This randomized controlled trial investigated whether adding the psychodynamically based body-oriented psychotherapy “Functional Relaxation” (FR) to psychoeducation (PE) is more effective than PE alone to reduce stress and stress-associated complaints. Eighty-one participants with elevated stress-levels, ≥50 points on the global scale of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), received either 10 sessions of manualized FR+PE (n=42) or 2 sessions of manualized PE alone (n=39) in a group setting. Six FR trainers took part in this study. Stress-level was the primary outcome and secondary outcomes were depression and somatization. Multilevel models for discontinuous change revealed that FR+PE was more helpful to reduce stress-levels than PE from baseline to end of intervention (t0t1) as well as from baseline to 6-months after baseline (t0t2) (both p<.05) with effect sizes (d) being medium for PE (dt0t1=.57; dt0t2=.67) and large for FR+PE (dt0t1=1.59; dt0t2=1.42). Moreover, FR+PE affected depression and somatization more positively than did PE from t0 to t1 as well as from t0 to t2 (all p<.05). Effect sizes for depression were small to medium for PE (dt0t1=.52; dt0t2=.37) and large for FR+PE (dt0t1=1.04; dt0t2=.95). Effect sizes for somatization were small for PE (dt0t1=.18; dt0t2=.19) and medium to large for FR+PE (dt0t1=.73; dt0t2=.93). In summary, the combination of FR and PE was more effective than PE alone. The results of the present trial provide first evidence that FR might be a potent component of stress interventions. Adding FR to such interventions might better help prevent clinically relevant disorders such as depression or somatization.