It is just a preliminary report about the ALS pts in the US that are now known to the registry and hopefully now doing surveys and getting more data into the [future] biorepository, too: most likely to be white senior males and so on. It is descriptive. It's one of these "this is how we spent our money so far" things -- but helps researchers testing new therapies/strategies ensure that their sampled population is representative, for example. Instead of worrying that a 30-patient study has no black females enrolled, say, they can look at the rpt and say "this is a problem" or "it's not."
As they get survey data, they will publish more about what the data says about possible ALS causes/correlates, for instance; symptoms; treatments used and the like. Some of it is similar to PML with more science/structure behind it. Also, as the rpt states, the Registry is being used to recruit for clinical trials, so people who don't get to a clinic or stay up on the trials will have info pushed to them, which is good.