Features

SAN JOSÉ, California — A Federal Court jury on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features in a patent case dating back seven years.

Jurors tacked on an additional $5 million in damages for a pair of patented functions. The award appeared to be a bit of a victory for Apple, which had argued in court that design was essential to the iPhone.

The case was keenly watched as a precedent for whether design is so important that it could actually be considered the “article of design”, even in a product as complex as a smartphone.

“We don’t think it is supported by the evidence,” Samsung Attorney John Quinn told US District Court Judge Lucy Koh after the verdict was read in her courtroom in Silicon Valley.

“We have every concern about the determinations about the article of manufacture.”

Quinn declined an offer by the judge to send jurors back for further deliberation, saying Samsung would pursue post-trial motions to address its concerns about the verdict.

Juror Christine Calderon said the panel agreed that one of the design patents — the grid of coloured icons — did represent the whole phone, while the other two at issue in the trial were seen as the display assembly that gave the iPhone its look.

She compared it to the Mona Lisa: “You use the paint, but it is not the article of manufacture.”

“I had to really think about it,” the 26-year-old Calderon, a technical writer, said after Koh dismissed the jury.

“We kind of felt like we ended up at a happy medium.”

Long legal road

The case had been sent back to the district court following a Supreme Court decision to revisit an earlier $400 million damage award.

Apple reasoned in court that design was so integral to the iPhone that it was the “article of manufacture” and worth all the money Samsung made by copying the features.

The lower figure sought by the South Korean consumer electronics titan would have involved treating the design features as components.

The jury had been asked to determine whether design features at issue in the case are worth all profit made from Samsung smartphones that copied them — or whether those features are worth just a fraction because they are components.

Apple argued in court that the iPhone was a “bet-the-company” project at Apple and that design is as much the “article of manufacture” as the device itself.

The three design patents in the case apply to the shape of the iPhone’s black screen with rounded edges and a bezel, and the rows of colourful icons displayed.

Samsung no longer sells the smartphone models at issue in the case.

Two utility patents also involved apply to “bounce-back” and “tap-to-zoom” functions.

An original trial finding that Samsung violated Apple patents preceded a lengthy appellate duelling over whether design features, such as rounded edges, are worth all the money made from a phone.

Technology versus style

Samsung challenged the legal precedent that requires the forfeiture of all profits from a product, even if only a single design patent has been infringed.

The US Supreme Court in 2016 overturned the penalty imposed on the South Korean consumer electronics giant.

Justices ruled that Samsung should not be required to forfeit the entire profits from its smartphones for infringement on design components, sending the case back to a lower court.

“Today’s decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favour of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages,” the South Korean company said in response to an AFP inquiry.

“We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

The key question of the value of design patents rallied Samsung supporters in the tech sector, and Apple backers in the creative and design communities.

Samsung won the backing of major Silicon Valley and other IT sector giants, including Google, Facebook, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claiming a strict ruling on design infringement could lead to a surge in litigation.

Apple was supported by big names in fashion and manufacturing. Design professionals, researchers and academics, citing precedents like Coca-Cola’s iconic soda bottle.

The case is one element of a $548 million penalty — knocked down from an original $1 billion jury award — Samsung was ordered to pay for copying iPhone patents.

PRAGUE — Hostility towards ethnic minorities is contagious and the acceptability of destructive behaviour towards them can easily change depending on how others behave, according to a new study by a Czech-Slovak team.

“Social norms regulating anti-social behaviour are very fragile if this behaviour is aimed at ethnic minorities,” researchers Michal Bauer and Julie Chytilova told AFP on Wednesday.

The study by the CERGE-EI Institute at Prague’s Charles University, the Munich-based Max Planck Institute and the Technical University in Kosice, was conducted in eastern Slovakia, a district with a large Roma ethnic minority, in 2013.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA in April, the study was based on a game in which the players — 327 school children from the majority ethnic Slovak population aged 13-15 — first received two euros ($2.34) each.

Then they had to decide whether to pay 0.2 euros to reduce their rival’s funds by half — a “destructive” choice — or whether to keep the payoffs unchanged.

Next, in groups of three, they played against potential rivals represented by a list of 20 typical Slovak majority or Roma minority names, with all three players making their choice one after another.

“We tested the hypothesis that susceptibility to follow peers becomes magnified when harm is done to ethnic outgroup members compared with coethnics,” reads the study. 

‘Fragile social norms’

The results were “striking” — the study pointed out a significant influence of peers in decision-making on doing harm to the minority.

If the first child to choose was “peaceful” towards the minority, only 19 per cent of the second decision-makers were hostile.

But a total of 77 per cent of second decision-makers showed hostility if the first child to choose had been hostile.

Among the third decision-makers, only 18 per cent were destructive if one or both their predecessors were peaceful, but 88 per cent were destructive if the previous two showed hostility.

Besides, “the participants saw hateful behaviour towards the Roma as more socially acceptable if somebody else treated the Roma with hate,” said Bauer and Chytilova.

People who eat an egg just about every day may have a lower risk of heart attack and stroke than individuals who do not eat eggs at all, a large Chinese study suggests. 

Researchers examined survey data on egg consumption among 461,213 adults who were 51 years old on average. When they joined the study, none had a history of heart disease. Overall, they ate an average of half an egg daily; about 9 per cent of them avoided eggs altogether while 13 per cent ate roughly one egg every day. 

At least half of the participants were followed for nine years or more. During that time, 83,977 people developed heart disease or had a heart attack or stroke and 9,985 died from these conditions. 

Compared to people who never ate eggs, individuals who ate an average of 0.76 eggs per day were 11 per cent less likely to develop cardiovascular diseases and 18 per cent less likely to die from these conditions, the study found. 

“This is important to people, especially those in the part of the world where eggs are major sources of high-quality proteins and other important nutrients for the body,” said Luc Djousse, a researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston who was not involved in the study. 

“The take-home message from this is that when consumed in moderation, there does not appear to be an elevated risk of developing heart disease or stroke,” Djousse said by e-mail. 

But that does not mean people should be rushing to make a three-egg omelette every day for breakfast. 

That is because the study does not offer any insight into the risk of heart disease or stroke associated with more than one egg a day, Djousse said. 

“Eggs are not safe for anyone at risk of heart attacks or strokes, but particularly not for diabetics,” said J. David Spence of the Western University Stroke Prevention and Atherosclerosis Research Centre in London, Ontario. 

“Eggs increase the risk of vascular disease,” Spence, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by e-mail. For example, egg yolks contain phosphatidylcholine, a chemical that can contribute to clogged arteries, he said. 

Eggs are a primary source of dietary cholesterol, but they also contain high-quality lean protein and many vitamins, the study team notes in the journal Heart. Previous research on the link between eggs and heart disease have offered inconsistent results, with some pointing to a protective effect and others suggesting that eggs might make people more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

Part of the issue revolves around cholesterol.

Eggs can contain around 200 milligrammes of cholesterol, and scientists used to think that eating eggs would lead to higher levels of cholesterol in the blood, Djousse said.

Some more recent research, however, suggests that eggs might block the liver from making low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the bad kind of cholesterol that can build up in blood vessels and lead to clots and heart attacks, and boost production of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good kind needed for healthy blood flow. 

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how eggs might impact the risk of developing cardiovascular disease or dying from it. Senior study authors Canqing Yu and Liming Li of Peking University Health Science Centre in Beijing did not respond to a request for comments. 

Another limitation is that the results in China might not apply in other parts of the world. The study participants were typically a healthy weight, and most of them did not have high blood pressure or a family history of heart disease. 

In the US — where most adults are overweight or obese and eat a Western diet heavy on meat and potatoes and light on fruits and vegetables — the connection between eggs and heart disease might look quite different. 

For optimal heart health, the AHA recommends the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet or a Mediterranean-style diet. Both diets emphasise unsaturated vegetable oils, nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and poultry and both limit red meat, as well as foods and drinks high in added sugars and salt. 

Where were you when Harry and Meghan got married last weekend? Watching the proceedings on television I hope. It is not everyday one gets to see the nuptial of two people who were conferred the titles of duke and duchess of Sussex by the queen of England simply because they decided to marry each other. It was almost as if the monarch acknowledged their wedding as a supreme act of bravery. Which it is, to a certain extent, for the young prince, who has embarked on it for the first time, unlike his American wife, who is a divorcee and has considerable more experience in this field.

The last time the world viewed Prince Harry so intently was in the year 1997, when he trailed his mother’s coffin at her funeral procession, as a forlorn 12-year-old. Two billion people had turned up to say farewell to his mum, Princess Diana, who had died in a car crash in Paris but it was the sight of the grieving prince that stayed with everyone.

Throughout his tumultuous youth, he was a tabloid sensation and a darling of the paparazzi who regularly featured him on the front pages in an inebriated and dishevelled state. Dirty Harry and Playboy Prince were some of risqué labels assigned to him, and he unwillingly though invariably, lived up to that image. 

When he was introduced to the sensible Hollywood actress Meghan Markle on a blind date, which was set up by common friends, opposites did attract, so to speak. They hit it off and, without divulging too much of behind the scenes activity that might be construed as pure conjecture, we all ended up positioning ourselves in front of our respective idiot boxes. To observe the events unfold at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, on Saturday the 19th of May.

The best part of any wedding, everybody agrees, is analysing the entire occurrence a few days later with the entire family, during the screening of the DVDs. Here one can catch the gossiping aunties, the intoxicated uncles, the exaggerated dancers and the overactive children — in all their resplendent glory. There is always one odd invited guest, who complains that the naan bread is not hot or the ice cream not cold. Their petty petulance is a comical add-on to the overall entertainment. 

The undisputed highlight of this royal wedding was a passionate sermon that was delivered by the African American preacher, the Most Reverend Michael Curry. He became the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2015 and his speech was fiery, in every sense of the term.

Bishop Curry spoke at length about fire, quoting the late French philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who had “suggested that the discovery and harnessing of fire was one of the great technological discoveries of human history”. He then listed the many uses of fire, from cooking food, to aviation, to “broadcasting this wedding around the world”.

My family WhatsApp group, whose members are spread across various continents, was beeping notifications every second. 

“What’s he doing?” messaged my brother-in-law from Delhi. 

“He is hilarious,” our daughter typed from London. 

“The royal family can’t contain themselves,” our son-in-law chipped in.

“We need to get you all married,” the Reverend drawled dramatically. 

“Two young people fell in love, and we all showed up,” he continued.

“What’s he doing?” my sister-in-law from Dubai complained this time. 

“Stealing the limelight,” I wrote back.

Married people may be more likely to spot a deadly skin cancer sooner than their counterparts who are not part of a couple, a US study of melanoma patients suggests. 

For the study, researchers examined data on 52,063 adults diagnosed with early-stage melanoma from 2010 to 2014. The study included 36,307 married patients, 7,570 never-married people, 3,650 individuals who were divorced and 4,536 who were widowed. 

Compared to married patients, widows were 70 per cent more likely to have early-stage melanoma diagnosed when it was thicker and harder to treat, while divorced people were 38 per cent more likely to get diagnosed later and never-married individuals had 32 per cent higher odds, the study team reports in JAMA Dermatology. 

“We suspect that part of the reason that married patients present with earlier-stage melanoma is from having another pair of eyes on their skin that allows for identification of suspicious lesions,” said lead author Cimarron Sharon of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 

“People in long-term relationships see their partner’s skin frequently over time, and are able to notice any new or changing lesions, especially in difficult to see areas, such as the back,” Sharon said by e-mail. 

Melanoma diagnoses and deaths in the US have been rising steadily in recent years despite widespread prevention efforts aimed at encouraging people to limit sun exposure and use sunscreen and protective clothing when they’re outdoors. 

Even with the majority of melanoma cases that are caught early, the thickness of tumours can influence how easy they are to treat and patients’ survival odds. 

In the current study, researchers wanted to see if marital status might influence how often people got diagnosed with early-stage melanoma at what’s known as stage T1a, when tumours are no more than 1 millimetre thick and have not reached the innermost layers of the skin. 

Overall, 46 per cent of married patients were diagnosed at stage T1a, compared with 43 per cent of never-married people, 39 per cent of divorced individuals and 32 per cent of widows. 

Married people were also more likely to get what is known as sentinel node biopsies to confirm whether tumours have spread to other parts of the body. This suggests that spouses not only catch the skin problems, but also push their partners to follow up with any recommended tests or treatments, Sharon said. 

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether marriage actually helps people catch melanoma sooner or live longer with this diagnosis. One drawback of the study is that researchers lacked data on whether non-married people might be living with a partner or in a long-term relationship. 

Even so, the results make sense and offer fresh evidence of the importance of having a another set of eyes on the lookout for changes in the skin, said Jeffrey Farma, surgical director of the melanoma programme at Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia. 

“Intuitively one would surmise that a partner would be more likely to identify or facilitate evaluation of a concerning skin lesion and this excellent paper has scientifically demonstrated this,” Farma, who was not involved in the study, said by e-mail. 

“It is important for clinicians to understand these social implications when evaluating patients and considering treatment choices in these different groups of patients based on marital status,” Farma added. “There is a higher chance that a partner could identify suspicious lesions in difficult-to-visualise areas.” 

Beyond just providing another set of eyes to be on the lookout for anything suspicious on the skin, a spouse might also help encourage people to seek medical help sooner and follow any recommendations from the doctor, said Saira George of the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston. 

“Encouraging married people to partner up to examine their skin regularly could help magnify that benefit,” George, who was not involved in the study, said by e-mail. “For those who are unmarried, it may be worthwhile to emphasise the importance of skin self-examinations and regular clinical screenings or suggest they pair up with a friend or family member for skin checks and support in getting evaluation and treatment.” 

LOS ANGELES — Deadpool might not consider himself a superhero, but its latest installment is off to a powerful start.

The Marvel Comics film from 20th Century Fox debuted in North American with $125.5 million in 4,349 locations. That was not enough to match the debut of its predecessor, 2016’s “Deadpool”, which had the biggest opening ever for an R-rated film with $132.4 million. The Ryan Reynolds-starrer bowed overseas with $174.6 million for a global weekend total of $300.1 million.

Although it debuted under estimates, “Deadpool 2’s” launch was nothing to complain about. It still secured the second-best opening for an R-rated film, as well as the third-biggest debut of the year behind Marvel blockbusters “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther”. It also secured Fox its second-highest opening weekend in history.

The sequel is still boasting a promising critical consensus, with an 84 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating and an A CinemaScore.

“Deadpool 2’s” strong debut is a testament to Reynolds, according to Fox’s president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson.

“I just can’t say enough about him,” Aronson said. “Not just the character, but promoting it. I feel great about this opening.”

Its opening was enough to crush “Avengers: Infinity War’s” reign on the domestic box office. After securing the No. 1 spot for three weeks, the Disney and Marvel superhero tentpole dropped to second place. Its fourth weekend haul was still impressive, reeling in $29.5 million from 4,002 screens. “Infinity War’s” domestic tally currently sits at $595.9 million.

“Infinity War” was followed by Paramount Pictures’ new release, “Book Club”. The romantic comedy — starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen — came in slightly ahead of expectations, earning $13.6 million on 2,781 screens.

The weekend’s other newcomer, Global Road Entertainment’s “Show Dogs”, landed in sixth place, only digging up $6 million from 3,212 locations. The family-friendly comedy garnered an A CinemaScore. Its Rotten Tomatoes critical score did not fare quite as well, averaging a 26 per cent.

Rounding out the top five are two film’s sophomore frames. Warner Bros.’ “Life of the Party” rallied in $7.6 million from 3,656 locations. Domestically, it has made $30.9 million. Universal’s “Breaking In” secured $6.8 million on 2,537 screens. In two weeks, it is earned $28.8 million.

“Overboard” ($4.6 million), “A Quiet Place” ($3.9 million), “Rampage” ($1.6 million) and “I Feel Pretty” ($1.3 million) rounded off the top 10.

In the specialty market, Focus Features’ “Pope Francis — A Man of His Word” opened with $480,000 on 346 screens for a per screen average of $1,389.

“RBG”, the documentary on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is still holding strong. In its third weekend, it expanded to 375 locations for a three-day total of $1.28 million. That is a per screen average of $3,413. Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media co-produced the film with Storyville Films and CNN Films.

Thanks to a trio of superhero powerhouses, the domestic box office is up 6.3 per cent from 2017, according to comScore. The weekend-to-date is up a staggering 62.9 per cent, compared to 2017 when “Alien: Covenant” was the No. 1 film.

“A crowded powerhouse of a mid-May weekend benefitted from a very diverse line-up of newcomers to appeal to almost every taste and demographic,” Paul Dergarabedian, box office analysis at comScore, said.

Launched globally in recent weeks, the Range Rover P400e PHEV is Land Rover’s entry into the full-size luxury hybrid SUV segment. Introduced as part of a model-wide revision, the P400e is an efficiency-minded take on the large and heavy Range Rover flagship line.

As an efficiency model, the P400e is a petrol-electric hybrid alternative to the diesel Range Rovers popular in Europe. It meanwhile plays an opposite to thirsty supercharged V8 petrol versions popular in the Middle East, and should do well as in more price-sensitive markets with steep fuel prices and tax incentives for electrified vehicles.

Accessibility and efficiency

A more accessible proposition and entry to Range Rover ownership, the P400e makes one of the most desirable SUVs a more realistic prospect, with low claimed 2.8l/100km combined fuel efficiency, 64g/km CO2 emissions and 51km electric-vehicle range. If not quite carrying the same cache as more powerful variants, the P400e should, however, appeal to a significant number of potential owners willing to stretch their initial layout, but not for the fuel costs of running a petrol V8 Range Rover. Furthermore, and contrary to skeptic expectations, the plug-in hybrid model is particularly suited to the Range Rover.

Only just heavier than the turbo-diesel V8 Range Rover, but 126kg more than the supercharged petrol V8, the 2509kg P400e, additional weight from its hybrid motor, batteries and systems, however, does not seem to affect it too much, given it is a rather hefty vehicle to begin with. With its electric motor contributing to a vast and easily accessible torque reservoir, much of which is available from idling engine speed, the generous and broad torque output is exactly what a large and heavy luxury vehicle needs for smooth, quiet and effortlessly muscular progress, and is especially useful for off-road driving.

Effortless torque

Powered by a combination of Jaguar Land Rover’s inhouse-developed turbocharged 2-litre direct injection 4-cylinder Ingenium engine developing 296BHP and a 114BHP electric motor, for a combined output of 398BHP, the P400e deliver brisk 6.8-second 0-100km/h acceleration.

Meanwhile, it develops a massive 472lb/ft of torque, of which the electric motor’s portion is instantly available, which allows for accessible and effortless on-the-move versatility, including 80-120km/h acceleration in 4.2-seconds, and a 220km/h top speed. Smooth, refined and muscular in delivery, the P400e drives with the confidence of a bigger engine, and only sounds slightly strained at heavy load and high revs.

Ideal for cruising and city driving, one is unlikely to drive the P400e at full throttle for long enough to deplete the batteries before its petrol engine and brakes regenerate sufficient electrical charge. A plug-in hybrid, it can be fully charged in 2-hours and 45-minutes with a high capacity charger, but with a standard home plug-in charger takes seven and a half hours for a full charge. Capable of 51km on electric-only driving, the P400e can also drive in silent electric mode in moderate off-road situations, but the combustion engine needs to be on when driving through water, to not flood the exhaust system.

Silent off-roader

With its electric motor positioned between its inline combustion engine and smooth and slick shifting 8-speed automatic gearbox, the P400e’s front weighting is little altered, and sitting behind the front axle, keeps turn-in tidy and without any greater nose-heavy tendencies. However, the battery pack does add some weight aft of the rear axle. With its electric motor position, the P400e remains a true off-roader using the same four-wheel-drive system and drive-line as regular Range Rovers, rather than employing a partial and half-hearted system with the electric and combustion engines driving one set of wheels each.

With its driveline hardware unchanged, the P400e’s off-road ability remains unchanged too, and features a low gear ratio transfer for full power crawling for steep inclines, and locking differentials to for added traction on slippery off-road surfaces. Riding on double wishbone front and integral-link rear height adjustable air suspension, the P400e can be raised for off-road driving, where it delivers generous 900mm water fording, 220mm ground clearance, and 26° approach, 24.6° departure and 22.1° break-over angles. Meanwhile, its Terrain Response adaptive off-road driver assistance system automatically recalibrates throttle, braking, differentials and stability and traction control systems for different off-road conditions.

Riding high

Smooth and comfortable on road, the P400e’s air suspension lowers at speed and goes a long way to take the edge off the vehicle’s large 21-inch alloy wheels and low profile 275/45R21 tyres. Driven on narrow and imperfectly textured UK roads, the P400e was supple, settled and stable at speed and over lumps, bumps and rebounds. Seated high and with good visibility, one was able to accurately place it on road, even from a right-hand driving position. Balanced and tidy through corners, the P400e well controls body roll despite the added hybrid system weight, while different suspension settings allow one to adjust ride quality between comfort and control.

Little altered visually with minimal grille and bumper, faux side vents alterations, the revised 2018 Range Rover also receives more advanced LED lighting options, but the emphasis is, however, on interior improvements. A luxurious, stylish and spacious environment, the Range Rover’s cabin now features improved seating front and rear, with better leathers, functionality and includes wider seat frames, deeper cushioning and improved bolstering. Tech and infotainment systems are also improved, but the hybrid model driven does lose 98-litres of cargo capacity owing to its battery pack, but remains generously accommodating at 802-litres.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged, in-line 4-cylinders & electric motor

Bore x stroke: 83 x 92mm

Compression ratio: 9.5:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, variable timing, direct injection

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive, low gear transfer

Ratios: 1st 4.714; 2nd 3.143; 3rd 2.106; 4th 1.667; 5th 1.285; 6th 1.0; 7th 0.839; 8th 0.667

Reverse/final drive ratios: 3.317/3.73

Combined power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 398 (404) [297] 

Combustion engine, power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 296 (300) [221]

Electric motor, power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 114 (116) [85]

Power-to-weight: 158.6BHP/tonne

Combined torque, lb/ft (Nm): 472 (640)

Torque-to-weight: 255Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 6.8-seconds

80-120km/h: 4.2-seconds

Top speed: 220km/h

Fuel economy, combined: 2.8-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 64g/km

Fuel capacity: 90-litres

Electric drive range: 51km

Charging time, at 10amp: 2-hours, 45-minutes

Charging time, at 32amp: 7-hours, 30-minutes

Length: 5,000mm

Width: 2,073mm

Height: 1,869mm

Wheelbase: 2,922mm

Track, F/R: 1692/1,685mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.34

Weight: 2,509kg

Approach/departure/break-over angles: 26°/24.6° /22.1°

Towing, braked/unbraked: 2500/750kg

Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones/integral link, adaptive air suspension

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning circle: 12.33-metres

Brakes, F/R: 380/365mm ventilated discs

Tyres: 275/45R21

PARIS — While physical exercise may stave off dementia, it does not delay mental decline in people after they have been diagnosed, a study in nearly 500 people with the condition reported on Thursday.

While a fitness regime improved physical fitness in people with mild to moderate dementia, it “does not slow cognitive impairment”, researchers reported in The BMJ medical journal.

It is generally accepted that exercise can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

But whether or not it can slow symptoms after the onset of mental decline, has been the subject of much debate.

For the latest study, researchers took 494 people in England, who had been diagnosed with dementia, and assigned 329 of them to an exercise programme. 

They took part in 60-90-minute group sessions in a gym twice a week for four months, and home exercises for an additional hour per week.

The average age of the group was 77.

Participants were assessed at six and 12 months after starting the programme.

The researchers noted that cognition had declined in both the exercise and non-exercise groups.

In the exercise group, the decline was steeper, “however, the average difference was small and clinical relevance was uncertain”, said a press statement.

Commenting on the study, Brendon Stubbs of King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, said its findings was “enormously important” for the care of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Whilst previous smaller studies have suggested that exercise can prevent or improve cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease, this robust and very large study provides the most definitive answer we have on the role of exercise in mild-moderate Alzheimer’s disease,” he said via the Science Media Centre.

“The search for effective lifestyle interventions that can delay cognitive decline in dementia must continue.”