The effects of exercise to promote quality of life in individuals with traumatic brain injuries: a systematic review

© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Objective: To systematically review the effects of exercise interventions that may enhance quality of life (QOL) in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: A systematic search was conducted using five databases up to April 2018. Studies were included if QOL was quantified following an exercise programme for people with a TBI. Methodological quality was assessed using a validated scoring checklist. Two independent reviewers assessed study inclusion and methodological quality. Results: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria (seven RCTs, six non-RCTs). The median total scores for the quality assessment tool were 26.1 (RCTs), and 21.3 (non-RCTs), out of 33. Eight out of the 13 studies reported improved QOL following an exercise programme. The duration of the interventions varied from 8-12weeks. The most common programmes involved moderate to vigorous exercise; with a frequency and duration of 3–5 times/week for 30–60minutes. Conclusion: Due to the diversity of the exercise training interventions, heterogeneity of patient characteristics, multitude of QOL instruments and outcome domains assessed, it was not possible to draw any definitive conclusion about the effectiveness of exercise interventions. However, this review identified positive trends to enhance various aspects of QOL measured using a range of assessment tools

Proposal for an Update of the Definition and Scope of Behavioral Medicine

Purpose: We aim to provide an update of the definition and scope of behavioral medicine in the Charter of ISBM, as the present version was developed more than 25 years ago. Methods: We identify issues which need clarification or updating. This leads us to propose an update of the definition and scope of behavioral medicine. Results: Issues in need of clarification or updating include the scope of behavioral medicine (biobehavioral mechanisms, clinical diagnosis and intervention, and prevention and health promotion); research as an essential characteristic of all three areas of behavioral medicine; the application of behavioral medicine; the terminology of behavioral medicine as a multidisciplinary field; and the relationship and distinction between behavioral medicine, mental health, health psychology, and psychosomatic medicine. Conclusion: We propose the following updated definition and scope of behavioral medicine: “Behavioral medicine can be defined as the multidisciplinary field concerned with the development and integration of biomedical and behavioral knowledge relevant to health and disease, and the application of this knowledge to prevention, health promotion, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and care. The scope of behavioral medicine extends from biobehavioral mechanisms (i.e., the interaction of biomedical processes with psychological, social, societal, cultural, and environmental processes), to clinical diagnosis and intervention, and to public health.

Single photon emission tomography with 99mTc-exametazime in major depression and the pattern of brain activity underlying the psychotic/neurotic continuum

Forty patients with a major depressive episode were investigated at rest using Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPET or SPECT) with 99mTc-exametazime, an intravenous ligand taken into brain in proportion to regional cerebral blood flow, thereby providing an estimate of regional metabolism. All patients were unipolar and were rated on the Newcastle scale and with the 17-item Hamilton scale. They also completed a range of neuropsychological tests. They were compared with 20 control subjects matched for age, gender, premorbid intelligence and education. The uptake of 99mTc-exametazime was expressed for a range of anatomically defined regions of interest to calcarine/occipital cortex. The depressed group showed reduced uptake in the majority of cortical and sub-cortical regions examined, most significantly in temporal, inferior frontal and parietal areas. Unexpectedly, there was a strong positive association between uptake and scores on the Newcastle scale, especially in cingulate areas and frontal cortex. After removing the variance attributable to the Newcastle ratings, however, there emerged the expected negative association between Hamilton scores and anterior tracer uptake. The associations between neuropsychological impairment and regional brain uptake of tracer in part reflected the pattern seen with the Newcastle scale: for example, impairment of memory function correlated with higher uptake into posterior cingulate areas. We propose that depressive illness may be characterised by two processes. One leads to an overall reduction in anterior neocortical function, perhaps related to symptom severity. The other mechanism is manifest as relatively increased function, most notably within cingulate and frontal areas of the cerebral cortex in association with psychotic symptoms. The findings offer new understanding of the brain states underlying depressive illness and a potential focus to subsequent neuropharmacological analysis

Convergence properties of ART and SOR algorithms

Elsner L, Koltracht I, Lancaster P. Convergence properties of ART and SOR algorithms. Numerische Mathematik. 1991;59(1):91-106.ART algorithms with relaxation parameters are studied for general (consistent or inconsistent) linear algebraic systems Rx = f, and a general convergence theorem is formulated. The advantage of severe underrelaxation is re-examined and clarified. The relationship to solutions obtained by applying SOR methods to the equation RR(T)y = f is investigated

Healthy Ageing in Scotland: the pilot survey

Like most developed countries, Scotland has an ageing population. Currently, around 40% of its residents, some 2 million people, are aged 50+. Scotland will face many policy challenges associated with ageing over the next few decades, including how to meet the increasing demand for health and social care services, how to adapt to an elderly population with increasingly diverse social and economic characteristics and how to provide income support for those outside the labour market. A necessary condition for effective policy response to these challenges is a clear understanding of the economic, social and health-related conditions faced by older people in Scotland. The UK is a world-leading centre for the development longitudinal and cohort studies. These have had a substantial influence on policy development in recent decades. However, Scotland has no longitudinal study that focuses on its ageing population. This report describes the development and results of the pilot survey for such a longitudinal study. The study is known as Healthy AGeing In Scotland (HAGIS)

Epitaxial Growth of Highly Oriented Fibers of Semiconducting Polymers with a Shish-Kebab-Like Superstructure

International audienceHighly oriented fibers of regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene)s (P3ATs) showing a ldquoshish-kebabrdquo morphology are prepared by oriented epitaxial crystallization in a mixture of 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene (TCB) and pyridine. The superstructure of the P3AT fibers consists of an oriented thread-like core several hundreds of micrometers long, the ldquoshishrdquo, onto which lateral crystalline fibrils made of folded polymer chains, the ldquokebabsrdquo, are connected in a periodic way with a periodicity in the range 18-30†nm. The P3AT-chain axis is oriented parallel to the fiber axis whereas the pi-stacking direction is oriented perpendicular to it. The oriented character of the shish-kebab fibers results in polarized optical absorption and photoluminescence. The formation of oriented precursors by epitaxial orientation of polymer chains onto long needles of a molecular crystal†-†TCB in the present case†-†appears to be an original alternative to the crystallization usually performed under external flow conditions