Physical Exercise Moderates the Effects of Disability on Depression in People with Multiple Sclerosis during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Physical disability impacts psychosocial wellbeing in people with multiple sclerosis. However, the role of physical activity in this context is still debated. By taking advantage of a previous survey, conducted online from 22 April to 7 May 2020, we performed a post-hoc analysis with the aim to assess the associations between disability, physical exercise, and mental health in multiple sclerosis. We retrieved the following data: (i) sociodemographic information, (ii) changes in lifestyle (including exercise), (iii) physical disability, as measured with the Patient-Determined Disease Steps scale, and (iv) anxiety feelings and depressive symptoms assessed via the items included in the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders measurement system. Examination of the interaction plot showed that the effect of disability on depression, but not on anxious symptoms, was significant for all levels of physical exercise (low: b = 1.22, 95% C.I. 0.85, 1.58, p < 0.001; moderate: b = 0.95, 95% C.I. 0.66, 1.24, p < 0.001; and high: b = 0.68, 95% C.I. 0.24, 1.13, p = 0.003). Based on these data, we can conclude that disability significantly impacted depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, with physical activity playing a moderating role. Our results suggest that favoring exercise in multiple sclerosis (MS) would ameliorate psychological wellbeing regardless of the level of physical disability

Integrated Cognitive and Neuromotor Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis: A Pragmatic Study

Background: Few studies examined the effects of combined motor and cognitive rehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The present prospective, multicenter, observational study aimed to determine the efficacy of an integrated cognitive and neuromotor rehabilitation program versus a traditional neuromotor training on walking, balance, cognition and emotional functioning in MS patients.Methods: Sixty three MS patients were selected and assigned either to the Integrated Treatment Group (ITG; n = 32), receiving neuropsychological treatment (performed by ERICA software and paper–pencil tasks) complemented by conventional neuromotor rehabilitation, or to the Motor Treatment Group (n = 31) receiving neuromotor rehabilitation only. The intervention included two 60-min sessions per week for 24 weeks. At baseline and at end of the training all patients underwent a wide-range neuropsychological, psychological/emotional, and motor assessment.Results: At baseline the two groups did not differ for demographic, neuropsychological, psychological/emotional, and motor features significantly. After rehabilitation, only ITG group significantly (p-corrected for False Discovery Rate) improved on test tapping spatial memory, attention and cognitive flexibility, as well as on scales assessing depression and motor performance (balance and gait). A regression analysis showed that neuropsychological and motor improvement was not related to improvements in fatigue and depression.Conclusion: The present study demonstrated positive effects in emotional, motor, and cognitive aspects in MS patients who received an integrated cognitive and neuromotor training. Overall, results are supportive of interventions combining motor and cognitive training for MS

Origin of Enantioselectivity in the Asymmetric Ru-Catalyzed Metathesis of Olefins.

The mechanism of enantioselectivity in the asymmetric Ru-catalyzed metathesis of olefins is investigated with a theoretical approach. The models are based on the chiral N-heterocyclic (NHC)-based catalysts developed by Grubbs. Our analysis indicates that the origin of enantioselectivity in the ring-closing metathesis of achiral trienes is correlated to the chiral folding of the N-bonded aromatic groups, which is imposed by the Ph groups in positions 4 and 5 of the imidazole ring of the NHC ligand. This chiral folding of the catalyst imposes a chiral orientation around the RudC bond, which, in turn, selects between the two enantiofaces of the substrate. In the ring-closing transition state, the geometry in which additional groups on the forming ring are in pseudoequatorial positions is favored over transition states in which this additional group is in a pseudoaxial position. These combined effects rationalize the enantiomeric excesses experimentally obtained

Flood mapping using LIDAR DEM. Limitations of the 1-D modeling highlighted by the 2-D approach

Nowadays, the use of 2-D fully dynamic models represents the most reliable approach for flood inundation and flood hazard studies, especially in complex applications. However, 1-D modeling is still a widely used approach due to the reduced computational time and cost. The introduction of LIDAR technique has stimulated a more detailed topographic description of river reaches. As a result, this huge amount of topographic data can lead to significant improvements in the 1-D computations. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to realize how the improvements in the topographic description can reduce the difference between 1-D and 2-D models, highlighting at the same time the critical aspects and the limitations of 1-D approach in the hydraulic simulation as well as in the spatial representation of the results. The analysis presented in the paper refers to two actual case studies for which terrestrial and airborne LIDAR DEMs were collected on purpose. The results of those applications show that the use of 1-D models requires a greater hydraulic skilfulness than the use of 2-D mode