We performed a meta-analysis to synthesize evidence on the efficacy and safety of physical exercise as an add-on therapeutic intervention for quality of life (QoL), depressive symptoms and cognition ...across six chronic brain disorders: Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and unipolar depression. 122 studies ( =
k
) (
n
= 7231) were included. Exercise was superior to treatment as usual in improving QoL (
k
= 64,
n
= 4334, ES = 0.40,
p
< 0.0001), depressive symptoms (
k
= 60,
n
= 2909, ES = 0.78,
p
< 0.0001), the cognitive domains attention and working memory (
k
= 21,
n
= 1313, ES = 0.24,
p
< 0.009), executive functioning (
k
= 14,
n
= 977, ES = 0.15,
p
= 0.013), memory (
k
= 12,
n
= 994, ES = 0.12,
p
= 0.038) and psychomotor speed (
k
= 16,
n
= 896, ES = 0.23,
p
= 0.003). Meta-regression showed a dose–response effect for exercise time (min/week) on depressive symptoms (
β
= 0.007,
p
= 0.012). 69% of the studies that reported on safety, found no complications. Exercise is an efficacious and safe add-on therapeutic intervention showing a medium-sized effect on QoL and a large effect on mood in patients with chronic brain disorders, with a positive dose–response correlation. Exercise also improved several cognitive domains with small but significant effects.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Recent advances in autonomous vehicles and vehicular communications are envisioned to enable novel approaches to managing and controlling traffic intersections. In particular, with intersection ...controller units (ICUs), passing vehicles can be instructed to cross the intersection safely without traffic signals. Previous efforts on autonomous intersection control mainly focused on guaranteeing the safe passage of vehicles and improving intersection throughput, without considering the quality of the travel experience from the passengers' perspective. In this paper, we aim to design an enhanced autonomous intersection control mechanism, which not only ensures vehicle safety and enhances traffic efficiency but also cares about the travel experience of passengers. In particular, we design the metric of smoothness to quantitatively capture the quality of experience. In addition, we consider the travel time of individual vehicles when passing the intersection in scheduling to avoid a long delay of some vehicles, which not only helps with improving intersection throughput but also enhances the system's fairness. With the above considerations, we formulate the intersection control model and transform it into a convex optimization problem. On this basis, we propose a new algorithm to achieve an optimal solution with low overhead. Finally, we build the simulation model and implement the algorithm for performance evaluation. Comprehensive simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm.
Objectives:
The co-occurrence of different classes of population-level stressors, such as social unrest and public health crises, is common in contemporary societies. Yet, few studies explored their ...combined mental health impact. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of repeated exposure to social unrest-related traumatic events (TEs), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related events (PEs), and stressful life events (SLEs) on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, and the potential mediating role of event-based rumination (rumination of TEs-related anger, injustice, guilt, and insecurity) between TEs and PTSD symptoms.
Methods:
Community members in Hong Kong who had utilized a screening tool for PTSD and depressive symptoms were invited to complete a survey on exposure to stressful events and event-based rumination.
Results:
A total of 10,110 individuals completed the survey. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that rumination, TEs, and SLEs were among the significant predictors for PTSD symptoms (all P < 0.001), accounting for 32% of the variance. For depression, rumination, SLEs, and PEs were among the significant predictors (all P < 0.001), explaining 24.9% of the variance. Two-way analysis of variance of different recent and prior TEs showed significant dose-effect relationships. The effect of recent TEs on PTSD symptoms was potentiated by prior TEs (P = 0.005). COVID-19 PEs and prior TEs additively contributed to PTSD symptoms, with no significant interaction (P = 0.94). Meanwhile, recent TEs were also potentiated by SLEs (P = 0.002). The effects of TEs on PTSD symptoms were mediated by rumination (β = 0.38, standard error = 0.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.36 to 0.41), with 40.4% of the total effect explained. All 4 rumination subtypes were significant mediators.
Conclusions:
Prior and ongoing TEs, PEs, and SLEs cumulatively exacerbated PTSD and depressive symptoms. The role of event-based rumination and their interventions should be prioritized for future research.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study aims to investigate the dysfunction and recovery of the lumbopelvic movement and motor control of people with chronic nonspecific low back pain after a structured rehabilitation which ...emphasizes on re-education and training of movement and motor control. The lumbopelvic movement and motor control pattern of 30 adults (15 with chronic low back pain, 15 healthy controls) were assessed using 3D motion and electromyographic analysis during the repeated forward bending test, in additional to the clinical outcome measures. Regional kinematics and muscle recruitment pattern of the symptomatic group was analysed before and after the 6-week rehabilitation, and compared to healthy controls. Significant improvement in back pain, functional capacity and self-efficacy of the symptomatic group was found after the rehabilitation. Patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain were capable to recover to a comparable level of the healthy controls in terms of their lumbopelvic movement and motor control pattern upon completion of a 6-week rehabilitation program, despite their dysfunction displayed at baseline. Phase specific motor control reorganization in which more profound and positive changes shown during the flexion phase. Our findings indicate that the recovery of the movement and motor control pattern in patients with chronic low back pain achieved to a comparable level of the healthy able-bodies. The improvement of both the physical outcome measures suggest that specific rehabilitation program which emphasizes on optimizing motor control during movements would help promoting the functional recovery of this specific low back pain subgroup.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Aim
Hong Kong's existing mental health services are inadequate in addressing young people's needs. The LevelMind@JC project established an early intervention platform of community‐based ...youth‐specific mental health centres involving youth workers, cross‐disciplinary professionals, and young people. The project intends to (1) pilot a community platform that incorporates a youth‐friendly early screening tool with preventative intervention capabilities, (2) set up a state‐of‐the‐art training system for youth mental health workers, (3) establish a community clinical support team and (4) develop a timely evaluation system to monitor the service and evaluate its outcome and cost‐effectiveness against generic youth services.
Methods
Six hundred LevelMind@JC service users will be assessed alongside 600 young people visiting generic youth centres and 100 young people in the community. Participants will be matched according to age, gender, years of education, socioeconomic status, and level of distress. Assessments, administered at baseline and at 3, 6 and 12 months, will cover demographic characteristics, psychological distress, quality of life, depressive and anxiety symptoms, functioning, physical health and lifestyle, personality and social measures, cognitive measures and health economics. Mixed‐model ANOVAs will be used to indicate interactions between services and between time points.
Conclusion
Built upon a community‐based support model, LevelMind@JC aims to promote positive mental health in young people through the collaboration of cross‐disciplinary mental health professionals. If efficacy and cost‐effectiveness are established, the project could be scaled up, implicating a wider reach of care. We anticipate its success to be critical in combatting mental health issues stemming from both personal and population‐level stressors.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Restrictive COVID-19 measures can have significant mental health impacts, particularly on young people. How such measures may influence day-to-day momentary affect, nonetheless, remains to be ...explored. Experience sampling data were collected from 165 young people (aged 15–24) as part of a larger epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong. We examined the impact of one of the most stringent COVID-19 measures – dine-in restrictions – on momentary positive and negative affect and current contexts and activities of these young people. The effects of a milder form of COVID-19 measure – school suspension – were separately examined. Multilevel analysis revealed that those in the dine-in ban group, compared to dining-as-usual, showed significantly reduced momentary positive affect (
β
= −0.17,
SE
= 0.06,
p
= 0.003). Its effect remained significant even when accounting for baseline depressive and anxiety symptoms and socioeconomic status (
β
= −0.15,
SE
= 0.05,
p
= 0.008). The effect of dine-in ban on reduced momentary positive affect was found specifically when participants were in indoor locations (e.g., home, office), alone, and engaged in passive leisure activities. This pattern was not observed when participants were at school or at other outdoor locations, with friends, or engaged in active leisure activities. No significant effect of school suspension on momentary affect was observed. More severe COVID-19 measures, such as dine-in ban, can have significant impacts on the momentary positive affect of young people. Certain contexts and activities may offer protection against the consequences of COVID-19 measures. The current findings may help to inform future designs of mental health interventions and public health policies.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Elevated aggression in individuals with psychiatric disorders is frequently reported yet aggressive acts among people with mental illness are often intertwined with proneness to aggression and other ...risk factors. Evidence has suggested that both general psychopathology and proneness to aggression may share common psychological characteristics. This study aims to investigate the complex relationship between general psychopathology, proneness to aggression, and their contributing factors in community youth. Here, we first examined the association between proneness to aggression and the level of general psychopathology in 2184 community youths (male: 41.2%). To identify common characteristics, we trained machine learning models using LASSO based on 230 features covering sociodemographic, cognitive functions, lifestyle, well-being, and psychological characteristics to predict levels of general psychopathology and proneness to aggression. A subsequent Gaussian Graph Model (GGM) was fitted to understand the relationships between the general psychopathology, proneness to aggression, and selected features. We showed that proneness to aggression was associated with a higher level of general psychopathology (discovery: r = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.52-0.59; holdout: r = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.54-0.65). The LASSO model trained on the discovery dataset for general psychopathology was able to predict proneness to aggression in the holdout dataset with a moderate correlation coefficient of 0.606. Similarly, the model trained on the proneness to aggression in the discovery dataset was able to predict general psychopathology in the holdout dataset with a correlation coefficient of 0.717. These results suggest that there is substantial shared information between the two outcomes. The GGM model revealed that isolation and impulsivity factors were directly associated with both general psychopathology and proneness to aggression. These results revealed shared psychological characteristics of general psychopathology and proneness to aggression in a community sample of youths.
Objectives
This study aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of lifetime suicide attempts and current suicidal ideation in community-dwelling schizophrenia patients in China.
Method
A sample ...of 540 schizophrenia patients was randomly selected in Beijing, China. All subjects were interviewed using standardized assessment instruments and their basic socio-demographic and clinical data including history of suicide attempts were collected.
Results
The prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts and the point prevalence of suicidal ideation were 12.0 %, and 21.1 %, respectively. In multiple logistic regression analyses, the presence of lifetime suicide attempt was independently associated with rural residence, having major medical conditions and better social functioning, while higher likelihood of current suicidal ideation was associated with past suicide attempt, the severity of overall psychopathology and depressive symptoms and lower psychological quality of life (QOL).
Conclusion
Among Chinese outpatients with schizophrenia, increased current symptoms and poorer QOL were correlated with current suicidal ideation, while demographic factors and indicators of greater social support were mostly correlated with lifetime suicide attempts. This study may help to identify important subgroups of patients with schizophrenia at particularly high risk of suicidal behavior.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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