Iranian Parents\u27 Perceptions on Physical Activity for Their Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic is a remarkable health crisis that enforced most people to stay at home and quarantine for a period of time and seems to be having negative impacts on physical activity and mental health worldwide. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a deficit in social interaction characteristics, relationships, and stereotyped behaviors. This study examined Iranian parents’ perceptions of physical activity for their children with ASD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this study, an explanatory qualitative methodology was used and data were collected via semi-structured phone interviews. The samples included 40 Iranian parents (aged 25-50 years) who had children with ASD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 Edition (DSM-5) criteria (aged 7-12 years). Results: The results showed that the parents observed their children’s physical activity to decrease greatly than before the pandemic. Parents experienced weight gain, increased anxiety, increased stereotypic behaviors, and decreased orderliness, communicative interactions, and social skills. The parents stated that, when their children were more active before the COVID-19 pandemic, they were more cheerful, more adaptable, and communicated more verbally. Parents believed that physical activities have positive effects on the development of their children’s physical health and behavior. They also reported some barriers to their children’s participation in physical activity. Conclusion: Participating in daily physical activity and support from parents were consequential factors in the promotion of their physical and behavioral health and the development of their independent performance and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic

Examining the Influence of Job Satisfaction on Individual Innovation and Its Components: Considering the Moderating Role of Technostress

Background: Employee innovation is a crucial aspect of organizations in the current era. Therefore, studying the factors influencing individual innovation is vital and unavoidable. Undoubtedly, job satisfaction is a significant variable in management sciences. Nowadays, all organizations are interconnected with technology. Objective: This research explores the relationship between job satisfaction and individual innovation, including its components, and the moderating role of technostress. Research Method: This study, in terms of purpose, is applied, and in terms of data collection method, it is a descriptive survey. Data collection tools included the Technostress Inventory by Tarafdar and colleagues (2007), Janssen's Individual Innovation Questionnaire (2000), and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) by Spector (1994). The validity and reliability of these questionnaires were confirmed. The sample size for this study was 215, and data analysis was performed using SPSS and SMART-PLS software. Findings: Job satisfaction has a significant and positive relationship with individual innovation, idea generation, idea promotion, and idea implementation. Technostress moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and individual innovation, as well as idea generation and idea promotion. However, technostress does not play a moderating role in the relationship between job satisfaction and idea implementation. Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, organizations should take necessary measures to increase job satisfaction and reduce technostress among their employees.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, 4 table

A Prospective Study on the Relationship between Sports Injuries and some of the Physical Fitness Factors in Soccer Players

The purpose of this research was to study was the relationship between some of the physical fitness factors and sport injuries in soccer players. 69 senior soccer players (age: 22.83±3.06 yrs.), experienced (9.45±4.56 yrs.), that play in Guilan league participated in this study. Demographic information and sport activity were collected by questionnaire and interviews. Then muscle strength by manual muscle test, flexibility by sit & reach test and aerobic power by Bruce test were assessed. Hawkinz and Fuller questioner with validity of 87% was used for collecting information about risk factors. Correlation coefficient and chi square test were used to analyze data (p≤0.05). The results showed that most injuries were in lower extremity (63.8) and muscular tissue (62.3). Also significant relationship was found between hip flexors strength (p=0.042), trunk flexors strength (p=0.044), trunk extensors strength (p=0.047), flexibility (p=0.022) and aerobic power (p=0.029) with injury. But was no significant relationship between hip extensors strength with injury. There is also significant relationship between experience, dominant leg, non-dominant leg and injury rate (p≤0.05). However was no significant relationship between age with injury rate. With respect to relationship between strength, flexibility and aerobic power (in fact physical fitness) with injury, seems that coaches and players should pay more attention to factors such as strength, aerobic power and flexibility. Also skill and experience of players should be considered carefully

Effect of a Corrective Exercise Program Based on the National Academy of Sports Medicine’s Protocol on Forward Head Angle and Cervical Joint Position Sense in Females With Forward Head Posture

Background and Aims Nowadays, the musculoskeletal disorders and postural problems due to inappropriate postural habits and uninterrupted repetitive movements are important issues in sports medicine. Recently, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)’s corrective exercise protocol has received attention from scholars. This study aims to evaluate the effect of a corrective exercise program based on NASM’s protocol on the forward head angle and cervical joint position sense.Methods This is a quasi-experimental study. Participants were 30 female college students, aged 18-25 years with a forward head angle > 46 degrees, who were randomly divided into two groups of control (N=15, age=20±2 years, height=1.59±3.03 m, weight=58.13±5.08 kg, BMI=22.71±1.41 kg/m2) and exercise (N=15, age= 20.53±1.55 years, height=1.60±0.02 m, weight=60.53±4.10 kg, BMI=23.61±1.20 kg/m2). The exercise group performed corrective exercises for eight weeks, three sessions per week, each for 30-70 minutes, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The lateral photography method was used for measuring forward head posture. The cervical joint position sense was assessed using the target angle repositioning error test before and after corrective exercises. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and analysis of covariance. The significance level was set at 0.001.Results Eight weeks of corrective exercises reduced the forward head angle and target angle repositioning error in the exercise group compared to the control group (P≤0.001).Conclusion Corrective exercises based on NASM’s protocol seem to reduce the forward head angle and improve the cervical joint position sense. Therefore, correctional treatment specialists and therapists are recommended to use the program to improve the forward head posture and cervical proprioception in women with this postural deformity

Development of a Screening Tool for Functional Movements in Tennis

Introduction: Despite the importance of the functional movement screening tool and the prevalence rate of 4.34 injuries per 1000 hours in tennis, there is no standard protocol for functional movement screening specific to tennis. Therefore, this study aims to develop a tool for screening functional movements in tennis.Methods: the statistical population for qualitative data in this research includes all experts and specialists in the field of tennis, including coaches, teachers, and physiotherapists, and 18 of them were randomly selected as a statistical sample. Data collection was done through structured interviews. The interviews were mainly held in tennis academies, doctors' and physiotherapists' offices, and university faculty members' offices. Six classes of tests that were comprehensive enough to achieve the desired tool were designed with eleven questions in the qualitative questionnaire for these six classes. After defining the initial tests, the interviews were coded; then the codings were controlled and verified. Interview data were analyzed through version 11 of MAXQDA.Results: The results of the interviews were analyzed to determine the qualified tests to be included in the tool.  The analytical process determined initial codes, and finally, 27 tests out of 108 potential tests were identified.Conclusion: It seems that this tool is suitable and practical with features such as simple scoring, acceptable reliability and validity, the possibility of implementation in a short time, and the ability to be used in various researches

Immunomodulatory effect of β-glucan on peritoneal macrophages of Babl/c mice

We assessed the effect of β-Glucan on macrophages by Griess reagent and viability by MTT assay and cytotoxicity. Assay of macrophages culture supernatants were carried out on WEHI-164 fibrosarcoma cell line as tumor necrosis factor-α bioassay were done. NO release was increased at the dose of 10 μg/ml (P = 0.001) of β-Glucan while the viability of macrophages in all concentrations was the same. In TNF-α bioassay, the supernatant of macrophages stimulated with β-Glucan had a significant cytotoxic effect on WEHI-164 cells (P = 0.023). β-Glucan had a positive effect on increasing tumoricidal activity of macrophages which may help in anti-cancer immune responses. © 2015 Polish Journal of Microbiology

The Relationship Between Structure Profile and Sports Performance of Elite Goalball Players

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Structure profile and sports performance of the elite goalball players. Methods: The participants of this study were 30 goalball players competing in Iran’s men’s premium goalball league. Their anthropometric properties were measured. The performance of the players was assessed by filming and evaluating the matches. The Shapiro–Wilk test assessed the normality of data distribution. Due to the abnormality of the data distribution, the Spearman correlation coefficient test was used.  Results: The results showed no significant relationship between body composition and somatotype with performance indices (P>0.05). However, significant relationships were seen between the efficiency of defense with weight (P=0.03) and body mass index (P=0.03) and also between the efficiency of penalty shots with the height of defense (P=0.005), the total length of the hand (P=0.02), and the length of two open arms (P=0.02). Furthermore, the relationships between the length of the foot and the efficiency of shots leading to the goal (P=0.009) and the efficiency of penalty shots (P=0.001) were significant. However, no significant relationship was observed between other anthropometric indices and the sports performance of the players. Conclusion: The present study results showed that despite the importance of anthropometric features, at the elite level; Experience, technique and practice and effort to improve performance in this field are much more important

The effectiveness of the STOP-X training program on the knee valgus angle and balance in female basketball players with dynamic knee valgus: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Dynamic knee valgus (DKV) accompanied by poor balance is the cause of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in athletes, and the identification and correction of these factors are always of interest to researchers. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of the STOP-X program on the knee valgus angle and static and dynamic balance in female basketball players with DKV defects. Methods The present study was a quasi-experimental study. Thirty female basketball players with DKV defects were purposefully identified by the single-leg landing (SLL) test and were randomly assigned to two control (n = 15) and experimental (n = 15) groups. Static balance status was evaluated with the BASS STICK test, and dynamic balance status was evaluated with the Y-balance test (YBT). The experimental group performed the STOP-X program for 25–40 min for eight weeks (three times per week), and the control group performed their traditional warm-up program. Data were analyzed by means of 2 × 2 repeated measures ANOVA followed by post hoc comparison (Bonferroni) at the significance level of (P < 0.05) with SPSS version 26. Results The results showed that with the use of the STOP-X program, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in variables of the static balance (F = 56.45; P = 0.001; ES = 0.66, PC=↑59.64%), total dynamic balance score (F = 107.57; P = 0.001; ES=↑0.79, PC=↑19.84%), and knee valgus angle (F = 119.46; P = 0.001; ES = 0.81, PC=↓34.36%). Conclusion In addition to reducing the knee valgus angle, applying the STOP-X injury prevention program can improve static and dynamic balance in female basketball players with DKV defects. Therefore, it can be recommended that sports trainers benefit from these advantages by adding STOP-X training to routine basketball exercises

The study of relationship spinal abnormalities with flexibility and body composition in down syndrome girls

Introduction: Down syndrome is one of the most common genetic causes of mild-to-moderate mental retardation. The main signs and symptoms of the disorder are the loss of mental functions and physical abnormalities that affect motor activities. The purpose of this research was to determine the possible relationship between flexibility, body composition and skeletal abnormalities in student with Down syndrome. Materials and Methods: 50 mentally-retarded female students with Down syndrome (age: 13.96 ± 1.77 yr, height: 135.40 ± 8.19 cm, weight: 42.86 ± 9.21 kg, IQ: 59.12 ± 3.73), were randomly selected and enrolled in the study. Demographic and health-related information including age, height, weight, IQ and medical histories were obtained from the students’ medical records. Flexibility and body composition were respectively assessed through asking subjects to complete “sit and reach” test and calculating their body mass index (BMI). Continued spinal abnormalities (kyphosis, lordosis, thoracic and lumbar scoliosis) were measured through Spinal mouse. Results: The results showed a significant correlation between BMI and lordosis (P ≤ 0.05) but there was no significant correlation between flexibility and skeletal abnormalities in the sample studies. Conclusion: Considering the interaction between postural, physical fitness and Special needs among patients with Down syndrome, it would be reasonable to provide affected students with postural corrective exercises, physical fitness and weight control programs in order to ensure that they perform their daily activities optimally. Keywords: Down syndrome, Spinal abnormalities, Flexibility, Body compositio

Relationship between Obesity and Flatfoot in High-school Boys and Girls

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between obesity and flatfoot among high -school students in Rasht (North Province of Iran). 1180 students (726 boys and 454 girls) were selected cluster random sampling. Height and weight of subjects were measured by using standard apparatus. BMI (weight / height 2 ) was considered as the index of obesity .The international BMI cut -off values was used to determine obesity (BMI&gt; 95 th percentile), and foot structure assessment was performed with Denis Method. No significant relationship between obesity and flatfoot was observed. A significant difference (P≤0.05) was found between the prevalence of flatfoot and age in boys and girls in age 12 -15 years, but for age 16 and 17 years no significant difference was observed. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest increasing of weight temporarily, may cause existence significant difference in the prevalence of flatfoot among high -school boys and girls in age 12 -15 years. Because most of girls in our study experienced puberty in age 12 -15 years