The SAGE-Spec Spitzer Legacy Program: The Life Cycle of Dust and Gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud

The SAGE-Spec Spitzer Legacy program is a spectroscopic follow-up to the SAGE-LMC photometric survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud carried out with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We present an overview of SAGE-Spec and some of its first results. The SAGE-Spec program aims to study the life cycle of gas and dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud and to provide information essential to the classification of the point sources observed in the earlier SAGE-LMC photometric survey. We acquired 224.6 h of observations using the infrared spectrograph and the spectral energy distribution (SED) mode of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer. The SAGE-Spec data, along with archival Spitzer spectroscopy of objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud, are reduced and delivered to the community. We discuss the observing strategy, the specific data-reduction pipelines applied, and the dissemination of data products to the scientific community. Initial science results include the first detection of an extragalactic 21 μm feature toward an evolved star and elucidation of the nature of disks around RV Tauri stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Toward some young stars, ice features are observed in absorption. We also serendipitously observed a background quasar, at a redshift of z ≈ 0.14, which appears to be hostless

Developing the Stroke Exercise Preference Inventory (SEPI)

<div><p>Background</p><p>Physical inactivity is highly prevalent after stroke, increasing the risk of poor health outcomes including recurrent stroke. Tailoring of exercise programs to individual preferences can improve adherence, but no tools exist for this purpose in stroke.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We identified potential questionnaire items for establishing exercise preferences via: (i) our preliminary Exercise Preference Questionnaire in stroke, (ii) similar tools used in other conditions, and (iii) expert panel consultations. The resulting 35-item questionnaire (SEPI-35) was administered to stroke survivors, along with measures of disability, depression, anxiety, fatigue and self-reported physical activity. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify a factor structure in exercise preferences, providing a framework for item reduction. Associations between exercise preferences and personal characteristics were analysed using multivariable regression.</p><p>Results</p><p>A group of 134 community-dwelling stroke survivors (mean age 64.0, SD 13.3) participated. Analysis of the SEPI-35 identified 7 exercise preference factors (<i>Supervision-support</i>, <i>Confidence-challenge</i>, <i>Health-wellbeing</i>, <i>Exercise context</i>, <i>Home-alone</i>, <i>Similar others</i>, <i>Music-TV</i>). Item reduction processes yielded a 13-item version (SEPI-13); in analysis of this version, the original factor structure was maintained. Lower scores on <i>Confidence-challenge</i> were significantly associated with disability (p = 0.002), depression (p = 0.001) and fatigue (p = 0.001). Self-reported barriers to exercise were particularly prevalent in those experiencing fatigue and anxiety.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The SEPI-13 is a brief instrument that allows assessment of exercise preferences and barriers in the stroke population. This new tool can be employed by health professionals to inform the development of individually tailored exercise interventions.</p></div

Means, standard deviations and percentages of those reaching varying thresholds of agreement for the 9 exercise barrier items.

<p>Means, standard deviations and percentages of those reaching varying thresholds of agreement for the 9 exercise barrier items.</p

Item loadings from exploratory factor analysis of the SEPI-13 (varimax rotation with Kaiser normalisation, fixed at 7 factors), n = 126, coefficients <0.50 are suppressed.

<p>Unweighted factor scores (% agreement) are shown as mean and standard deviation.</p

Demographic and stroke characteristics of the participants.

<p>Demographic and stroke characteristics of the participants.</p

Motivational interviewing added to oncology rehabilitation did not improve moderate-intensity physical activity in cancer survivors: a randomised trial

Question: Does adding weekly, physiotherapist-delivered motivational interviewing to outpatient oncology rehabilitation for cancer survivors increase physical activity levels and improve physical and psychosocial outcomes that are typically impaired in this cohort? Design: Randomised controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment, concealed allocation and intention-to-treat analysis. Participants: A heterogeneous sample of 46 cancer survivors (n = 29 female; mean age 59 years) participating in a public outpatient oncology rehabilitation program. Intervention: Participants were randomly allocated to receive oncology rehabilitation (n = 24) or oncology rehabilitation with motivational interviewing delivered once weekly for 7 weeks via telephone by a physiotherapist (n = 22). Outcome measures: The primary outcome was amount of physical activity of at least moderate intensity completed in 10-minute bouts, measured by an accelerometer worn continuously for 1 week. Secondary outcomes included other measures of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, physical function, psychosocial function, and quality of life. Results: When added to oncology rehabilitation, motivational interviewing caused no appreciable increase in the amount of moderate-intensity physical activity (MD –1.2 minutes/day, 95% CI –2.5 to 0.02). Among many secondary outcomes, the only statistically significant result was a small effect on nausea, which probably represents a Type I error. However, several secondary outcomes related to lower-intensity physical activity had non-significant confidence intervals that included large effects such as: sedentary time (SMD –0.67, 95% CI –1.32 to 0.02), light-intensity physical activity (SMD 0.56, 95% CI –0.12 to 1.21) and daily step count (SMD 0.37, 95% CI –0.30 to 1.02). Conclusion: Adding motivational interviewing to oncology rehabilitation did not increase moderate-intensity physical activity. Favourable trends on measures of lower-intensity physical activity suggest that motivational interviewing should be further investigated for its effects on reducing sedentary time and improving light-intensity physical activity for cancer survivors participating in rehabilitation. Trial registration: ANZCTR 12616001079437. [Dennett AM, Shields N, Peiris CL, Prendergast LA, O’Halloran PD, Parente P, Taylor NF (2018) Motivational interviewing added to oncology rehabilitation did not improve moderate-intensity physical activity in cancer survivors: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy 64: 255–263] Key words: Cancer, Rehabilitation, Motivational interviewing, Physical activity, Behaviour chang

Le cancer en Suisse, rapport 2015: état des lieux et évolution

En Suisse, 38'000 nouveaux cas de cancer sont diagnostiqués annuellement. Chaque année, 16'000 personnes meurent du cancer. Ce second rapport sur le cancer en Suisse présente la situation actuelle du cancer et son évolution au cours des 30 dernières années. Après un aperçu général de l'ensemble des cancers, les cancers principaux chez les adultes et les enfants sont détaillés. Le rapport présente les taux de morbidité et de mortalité due au cancer ainsi que le nombre de patients touchés. Il montre également l'évolution des taux de morbidité, de mortalité et de survie au cours des dernières années et les différences géographiques. Ces chiffres sont complétés par la description des facteurs de risque recensés dans la littérature scientifique. Les méthodes utilisées pour établir ce rapport font l'objet d'une publication séparée. Celle-ci contient également des indications sur les classifications, les sources de données, la qualité des données ainsi que sur la littérature scientifique

Motivational interviewing to increase physical activity in people with chronic health conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to determine if motivational interviewing leads to increased physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness or functional exercise capacity in people with chronic health conditions. Data sources: Seven electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsychINFO, EMBASE, AMED, CINHAL, SPORTDiscus and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials) were searched from inception until January 2014. Trial selection: Two reviewers independently examined publications for inclusion. Trials were included if participants were adults (>18 years), had a chronic health condition, used motivational interviewing as the intervention and examined physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness or functional exercise capacity. Data extraction: Two reviewers independently extracted data. Risk of bias within trials was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale. Data synthesis: Meta-analyses were conducted with standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to evaluate the quality of the evidence. Results: Eleven publications (of ten trials) were included. There was moderate level evidence that motivational interviewing had a small effect in increasing physical activity levels in people with chronic health conditions relative to comparison groups (standardized mean differences = 0.19, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.32, p = 0.004). Sensitivity analysis based on trials that confirmed treatment fidelity produced a larger effect. No conclusive evidence was observed for cardiorespiratory fitness or functional exercise capacity. Conclusion: The addition of motivational interviewing to usual care may lead to modest improvements in physical activity for people with chronic health conditions