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Physical exercise for late life depression: effects on cognition and disability
- Francesca Neviani, Martino Belvederi Murri, Chiara Mussi, Federico Triolo, Giulio Toni, Elisabetta Simoncini, Ferdinando Tripi, Marco Menchetti, Silvia Ferrari, Graziano Ceresini, Alessandro Cremonini, Marco Bertolotti, Giovanni Neri, Salvatore Squatrito, Mario Amore, Stamatula Zanetidou, Mirco Neri
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- Journal:
- International Psychogeriatrics / Volume 29 / Issue 7 / July 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 17 April 2017, pp. 1105-1112
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Background:
Late-life depression is often associated with cognitive impairments and disability, which may persist even after adequate antidepressant drug treatment. Physical exercise is increasingly recognized as an effective antidepressant agent, and may exert positive effects on these features too. However, few studies examined this issue, especially by comparing different types of exercises.
Methods:We performed secondary analyses on data from the Safety and Efficacy of Exercise for Depression in Seniors study, a trial comparing the antidepressant effectiveness of sertraline (S), sertraline plus thrice-weekly non-progressive exercise (S+NPE), and sertraline plus thrice-weekly progressive aerobic exercise (S+PAE). Exercise was conducted in small groups and monitored by heart rate meters. Patients with late-life depression without severe cognitive impairment were recruited from primary care and assessed at baseline and 24 weeks, using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA, total and subdomain scores) and Brief Disability Questionnaire. Analyses were based on Generalized Linear Models.
Results:In total, 121 patients (mean age 75, 71% females) were randomized to the study interventions. Compared with the S group, patients in the S+PAE group displayed greater improvements of MOCA total scores (p=0.006, effect size=0.37), visuospatial/executive functions (p=0.001, effect size=0.13), and disability (p=0.02, effect size=−0.31). Participants in the S+NPE group did not display significant differences with the control group.
Conclusions:Adding aerobic, progressive exercise to antidepressant drug treatment may offer significant advantages over standard treatment for cognitive abilities and disability. These findings suggest that even among older patients exercise may constitute a valid therapeutic measure to improve patients’ outcomes.
Radio Continuum Surveys with Square Kilometre Array Pathfinders
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- Ray P. Norris, J. Afonso, D. Bacon, Rainer Beck, Martin Bell, R. J. Beswick, Philip Best, Sanjay Bhatnagar, Annalisa Bonafede, Gianfranco Brunetti, Tamás Budavári, Rossella Cassano, J. J. Condon, Catherine Cress, Arwa Dabbech, I. Feain, Rob Fender, Chiara Ferrari, B. M. Gaensler, G. Giovannini, Marijke Haverkorn, George Heald, Kurt Van der Heyden, A. M. Hopkins, M. Jarvis, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Roland Kothes, Huib Van Langevelde, Joseph Lazio, Minnie Y. Mao, Alejo Martínez-Sansigre, David Mary, Kim Mcalpine, E. Middelberg, Eric Murphy, P. Padovani, Zsolt Paragi, I. Prandoni, A. Raccanelli, Emma Rigby, I. G. Roseboom, H. Röttgering, Jose Sabater, Mara Salvato, Anna M. M. Scaife, Richard Schilizzi, N. Seymour, Dan J. B. Smith, Grazia Umana, G.-B. Zhao, Peter-Christian Zinn
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 30 / 2013
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 March 2013, e020
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In the lead-up to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, several next-generation radio telescopes and upgrades are already being built around the world. These include APERTIF (The Netherlands), ASKAP (Australia), e-MERLIN (UK), VLA (USA), e-EVN (based in Europe), LOFAR (The Netherlands), MeerKAT (South Africa), and the Murchison Widefield Array. Each of these new instruments has different strengths, and coordination of surveys between them can help maximise the science from each of them. A radio continuum survey is being planned on each of them with the primary science objective of understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies over cosmic time, and the cosmological parameters and large-scale structures which drive it. In pursuit of this objective, the different teams are developing a variety of new techniques, and refining existing ones. To achieve these exciting scientific goals, many technical challenges must be addressed by the survey instruments. Given the limited resources of the global radio-astronomical community, it is essential that we pool our skills and knowledge. We do not have sufficient resources to enjoy the luxury of re-inventing wheels. We face significant challenges in calibration, imaging, source extraction and measurement, classification and cross-identification, redshift determination, stacking, and data-intensive research. As these instruments extend the observational parameters, we will face further unexpected challenges in calibration, imaging, and interpretation. If we are to realise the full scientific potential of these expensive instruments, it is essential that we devote enough resources and careful study to understanding the instrumental effects and how they will affect the data. We have established an SKA Radio Continuum Survey working group, whose prime role is to maximise science from these instruments by ensuring we share resources and expertise across the projects. Here we describe these projects, their science goals, and the technical challenges which are being addressed to maximise the science return.