Epidemiologic of Winter Sports Injuries in the Tube Riding Track of Kohrang City, Shahrekord, Iran

Winter sports are fun and exciting and at the same time may be quite risky. Injuries and damages increase if environment, tools and equipments are not standard or athletes are not sufficiently skilled. Tube riding is one of winter sports. Because of a tube rider does not have any control over tube speed, route guidance and does not brake and stop, As a result of injuries in tube riding is very high. This study aims that the epidemiologic investigation of injuries caused by tube riding in the track of Kohrang city in 2009. In this retrospective census study data collected by using the mission records and available documents in the emergency station (115) of Kohrang city, in winter 2009. Total performed missions of the station from June 22, 2009 (no earlier statistics were available in that station) to March 20, 2010 included 216 missions, 183 missions were nonrelated to the tube riding track and 33 cases included those who had been injured in the tube riding track. The injuries caused by tube riding had occurred on Thursdays and Fridays of November, December and January months (on non-vacations days the track is closed). The injuries had all been injured at the tube riding track and the skiing track had no injured person during that year. Of the total 33 people who had been injured at the tube riding track, 15 were women and 18 were men within the age range of 8 to 52 years old. 6 head traumas, one femoral fracture, one facial trauma and nose fracture, 1 chest and sternum trauma, 8 hand traumas, 5 multiple traumas, and 3 lower organs traumas had been recorded. Considering the large number of injured people and the fact that 15% of the missions of that station had been performed only within 24 days of the year (Thursdays and Fridays of November, December and January months), it seems necessary to make managements to reduce the injuries caused by tube riding. Moreover, it is recommended that the information of injured people and those who refer to the clinic is recorded completely and exactly. Ghani Dehkordi F, kooshesh F, Alinajad H, Malekpour P, Abedi HA, Esmaeili Vardanjani SA. Epidemiologic of Winter Sports Injuries in the Tube Riding Track of Kohrang City, Shahrekord, Iran.. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):2202-2205] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 32

Rhamm-/- mice are defective in skin wound repair due to aberrantERK1,2 signaling in fibroblast migration

Rhamm (receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility) is an hyaluronan binding protein with limited expression in normal tissues and high expression in advanced cancers. To understand its physiological functions and identify the molecular mechanisms underlying these functions, we created mice with a genetic deletion of Rhamm. We show that Rhamm(−/−) fibroblasts fail to resurface scratch wounds >3 mm or invade hyaluronan-supplemented collagen gels in culture. We identify a requirement for Rhamm in the localization of CD44 to the cell surface, formation of CD44–ERK1,2 (extracellular-regulated kinase 1,2) complexes, and activation/subcellular targeting of ERK1,2 to the cell nucleus. We also show that cell surface Rhamm, restricted to the extracellular compartment by linking recombinant protein to beads, and expression of mutant active mitogen-activated kinase kinase 1 (Mek1) are sufficient to rescue aberrant signaling through CD44–ERK1,2 complexes in Rh(−/−) fibroblasts. ERK1,2 activation and fibroblast migration/differentiation is also defective during repair of Rh(−/−) excisional skin wounds and results in aberrant granulation tissue in vivo. These results identify Rhamm as an essential regulator of CD44–ERK1,2 fibroblast motogenic signaling required for wound repair

Effect of Aqueous Extract of Foeniculum Vulgare on Thyroid Hormones and the Expression of its Receptors in the Ovaries of BALB/C Mice

Background & Objective: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is one of the ancient plants that has various medicinal effects. The main hormones produced by the thyroid gland are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), which regulate the body's growth and development. Thyroid hormones have two receptors called TRα and TRβ in different tissues. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of fennel aqueous extract on serum levels of thyroid hormones and the expression of thyroid receptors in ovarian tissue. Materials & Methods: In this study, 40 female Balb/C mice weighing 18-20 g were used. Mice were divided into 5 groups of 8 including control, sham and intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg aqueous fennel extract for 14 days. The blood samples were then taken from the heart to measure thyroid hormone. The ovarian tissue was also sampled for real time thyroid receptor expression by PCR. Results: Serum thyroid hormones, T3 and T4 were not changed by aqueous extract of fennel. The expression of receptor β did not have any significant change, but the expression of receptor α increased significantly by the 200 mg/kg of aqueous extract of fennel. The weights of the rats in 200 mg/kg of fennel decreased significantly. Conclusion: Fennel may increase ovarian response to thyroid hormones in high dose