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The article titled "Theme 10 - Disease Stratification and Phenotyping of Patients" discusses the importance of accurately categorizing and studying patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). The authors emphasize the need for precise disease stratification and phenotyping in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms and develop targeted treatments. The article includes contributions from numerous authors and researchers from various institutions, highlighting the collaborative effort in advancing research on ALS and FTD. [Extracted from the article]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common neurodegenerative motor neuron disease and remains misunderstood with a difficult diagnosis and prognosis. The implication of the immune system is recognized in ALS pathophysiology, hence the interest in leucocyte count as lymphocytes and neutrophils. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently been used as a prognosis factor to assess the progression of ALS. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the evolution of the NLR during disease evolution in a French cohort of ALS patients and its relation with survival. In this monocentric retrospective study, clinical parameters and NLR were collected in ALS patients followed at the University Hospital of Tours (France). ALS patients were subdivided into three groups regarding their NLR value at inclusion: group 1 (NLR < 2); group 2 (NLR: 2-3); group 3 (NLR > 3). A comparison of qualitative and quantitative clinical and biological variables between NLR groups was performed. Then, Cox regressions were carried out to determine the association of NLR with survival. We observed a significant correlation of NLR with ALSFRS-r score ( p < 0.0001) and with vital forced capacity ( p = 0.0004) at inclusion. We observed that increased NLR at diagnosis is associated with decreased ALS patients' survival.

Background: Forced vital capacity (FVC) remains difficult to determine for some patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) due to the rapid progression of the disease. Arterial blood gas (ABG) parameters could represent a valuable alternative. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the correlation between ABG parameters and FVC, along with the prognostic ability of ABG parameters, in a large cohort of ALS patients., Methods: ALS patients (n=302) with FVC and ABG parameters available at diagnosis were included. Correlations between ABG parameters and FVC were evaluated. Cox regression was then carried out to determine the association of each parameter (ABG and clinical data) with survival. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were built to predict the survival of ALS., Results: Bicarbonates (HCO 3 - ), oxygen partial pressure (pO 2 ), carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO 2 ), base excess (BE), oxygen saturation and oxyhemoglobin were significantly correlated with FVC both in patients with spinal or bulbar onset. Univariate Cox regression showed that HCO 3 - and BE were associated with survival but only in spinal forms. ABG parameters predicted the survival of ALS with a similar performance to FVC, HCO 3 - being the parameter with the highest area under the curve., Conclusions: Our results suggest that there is an interest in conducting a longitudinal evaluation throughout disease progression to confirm the equal performances of FVC and ABG. This study highlights the benefits of performing ABG analysis that could be used as an interesting alternative to FVC when spirometry cannot be performed., (© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.)

Objective: Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), introduced by Albert Ellis in the late 1950s, is one of the main pillars of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Existing reviews on REBT are overdue by 10 years or more. We aimed to summarize the effectiveness and efficacy of REBT since its beginnings and investigate the alleged mechanisms of change., Method: Systematic search identified 84 articles, out of which 68 provided data for between-group analyses and 39 for within-group analyses., Results: We found a medium effect size of REBT compared to other interventions on outcomes (d = 0.58) and on irrational beliefs (d = 0.70), at posttest. For the within-group analyses, we obtained medium effects for both outcomes (d = 0.56) and irrational beliefs (d = 0.61). Several significant moderators emerged., Conclusion: REBT is a sound psychological intervention. Directions for future studies are outlined, stemming from the limitations of existing ones., (© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The objective assessment of psychological traits of healthy subjects and psychiatric patients has been growing interest in clinical and bioengineering research fields during the last decade. Several experimental evidences strongly suggest that a link between Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) dynamics and specific dimensions such as anxiety, social phobia, stress, and emotional regulation might exist. Nevertheless, an extensive investigation on a wide range of psycho-cognitive scales and ANS non-invasive markers gathered from standard and non-linear analysis still needs to be addressed. In this study, we analyzed the discerning and correlation capabilities of a comprehensive set of ANS features and psycho-cognitive scales in 29 non-pathological subjects monitored during resting conditions. In particular, the state of the art of standard and non-linear analysis was performed on Heart Rate Variability, InterBreath Interval series, and InterBeat Respiration series, which were considered as monovariate and multivariate measurements. Experimental results show that each ANS feature is linked to specific psychological traits. Moreover, non-linear analysis outperforms the psychological assessment with respect to standard analysis. Considering that the current clinical practice relies only on subjective scores from interviews and questionnaires, this study provides objective tools for the assessment of psychological dimensions.