The ICF as a way to specify goals and to assess the outcome of physiotherapeutic interventions in the acute hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to measure the effect of physiotherapy treatment. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study with an additional case report. PATIENTS: Individuals were eligible for the study if they were patients at the University Hospital of Zurich and had received physiotherapeutic interventions during their inpatient stay. METHODS: Patient's functioning was assessed by physiotherapists at initiation of physiotherapeutic treatment and at discharge using ICF Core Sets. RESULTS: A total of 425 patients were analysed, mean age 60 years, 42% female. The median of treatment days varied between 4 (intensive care unit) and 19 (low back pain). The majority of patients had improved or stable results; improvement was most prominent in the surgical and internal medicine group. The ICF category d450 "Walking" appears in 4 out of 6 ICF Core Sets, being only infrequently treated in intensive care unit and low back pain CONCLUSION: Analysis showed that the ICF can be used to record precise information on patients' functioning in the acute hospital. Typical impairments and restrictions, intervention goals and trajectories of functioning could be documented. The qualifiers used in our clinical example were sensitive to change. Definitions of qualifiers, however, should be the subject of further research.

Localization of Müllerian mimicry genes on a dense linkage map of Heliconius erato.

We report a dense genetic linkage map of Heliconius erato, a neotropical butterfly that has undergone a remarkable adaptive radiation in warningly colored mimetic wing patterns. Our study exploited natural variation segregating in a cross between H. erato etylus and H. himera to localize wing color pattern loci on a dense linkage map containing amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), microsatellites, and single-copy nuclear loci. We unambiguously identified all 20 autosomal linkage groups and the sex chromosome (Z). The map spanned a total of 1430 Haldane cM and linkage groups varied in size from 26.3 to 97.8 cM. The average distance between markers was 5.1 cM. Within this framework, we localized two major color pattern loci to narrow regions of the genome. The first gene, D, responsible for red/orange elements, had a most likely placement in a 6.7-cM region flanked by two AFLP markers on the end of a large 87.5-cM linkage group. The second locus, Sd, affects the melanic pattern on the forewing and was found within a 6.3-cM interval between flanking AFLP loci. This study complements recent linkage analysis of H. erato's comimic, H. melpomene, and forms the basis for marker-assisted physical mapping and for studies into the comparative genetic architecture of wing-pattern mimicry in Heliconius.