The effects of anxiety and dual-task on upper limb motor control of chronic stroke survivors

This study was designed to investigate the effects of anxiety and dual-task on reach and grasp motor control in chronic stroke survivors compared with age- and sex-matched healthy subjects (HC). Reach and grasp kinematic data of 68 participants (high-anxiety stroke (HA-stroke), n = 17; low-anxiety stroke (LA-stroke), n = 17; low-anxiety HC, n = 17; and high-anxiety HC, n = 17) were recorded under single- and dual-task conditions. Inefficient reach and grasp of stroke participants, especially HA-stroke were found compared with the control groups under single- and dual-task conditions as evidenced by longer movement time (MT), lower and earlier peak velocity (PV) as well as delayed and smaller hand opening. The effects of dual-task on reach and grasp kinematic measures were similar between HCs and stroke participants (i.e., increased MT, decreased PV that occurred earlier, and delayed and decreased hand opening), with greater effect in stroke groups than HCs, and in HA-stroke group than LA-stroke group. The results indicate that performing a well-learned upper limb movement with concurrent cognitive task leads to decreased efficiency of motor control in chronic stroke survivors compared with HCs. HA-stroke participants were more adversely affected by challenging dual-task conditions, underlying importance of assessing anxiety and designing effective interventions for it in chronic stroke survivors. © 2020, The Author(s)

Pesticide Consumption in Greenhouses; a Case Study of Kashan Region

Aims: In regard to increasing greenhouse area in Iran followed by increased use of pesticides and contaminated crops, this study aimed to determine the frequency and types of consumed pesticides in Kashan region, Iran, greenhouses. Instrument & Methods: In this descriptive study in 2011-2012, samples was entered by census method. At the first step, a list of greenhouses was obtained from agricultural organization, 39 active greenhouses were detected, thereafter the questionnaires have been completed in detail by direct interview; obtained data were analyzed in SPSS 23 by descriptive statistics. Findings: 87.1 of greenhouses used chemical methods for controlling pest and diseases of products and 43.5 used non-chemical methods. The most frequent used chemical pesticides were Deltamethrin (37.9) and Permethrin (28.3) as pyrethroid insecticides, Diazinon (23.1) as an organophosphate insecticide and Carbendazim (23.2) as a fungicides. Conclusion: 87.1 of the greenhouses’ owners of Kashan region, Iran, use chemical pesticide for pest control

Systematic review: The comparative content review of the persian participation assessment measures: A systematic review

Objectives: Facilitating participation is regarded as the primary goal and outcome of rehabilitation. According to the importance of comprehensive assessment of participation in occupational areas (social participation, work, education, instrumental activities of daily living, activities of daily living, rest and sleep, leisure, and play), all available studies on the development or translation of measures, which assess participation in Persian, were systematically reviewed. Methods: A search for Persian versions of measures, which assess participation in at least one occupational area, was carried out. Eight bibliographic databases, including 4 Iranian (IranDoc, Medlib, Magiran, and SID) and 4 international (Cochran, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect) databases from 1990-2018 were searched by 2 independent researchers based on the predetermined criteria. Any disagreements during the selection processes were resolved in consultation with the third researcher. Results: Through 3 refining steps, by 2 independent researchers, 68 articles exactly related to this study were selected and studied. A total of 50 measures were extracted. The content of the measures and their psychometric properties were reported; 44 were translated into Persian and 6 developed based on the Iranian population. Discussion: This critical review will help Persian-speaking therapists to select an appropriate measure for assessing participation in different occupational areas. Considering the importance of participation in the outcomes of rehabilitation and since it is mostly cultural and familialbased, developing new scales based on Persian-speaking people culture seems necessary. © 2020 University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences

Bone mineral density is lower in male than female patients with plaque-type psoriasis in Iran

Background There are many similarities with regard to contributing cytokines in patients with psoriasis and osteoporosis. A theory of probable relationship between these two entities has been proposed but there is no concordant consensus. The aim of this study was to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with psoriasis. Method and materials This cross-sectional study of BMD was conducted with 64 eligible patients with psoriasis who were referred to the dermatology clinic of Razi hospital in Tehran, Iran in between 2011 and 2012. Results The mean T score of femoral neck was �1.17 and �0.49 in men and women, respectively, which was statistically significant (p =.047). The mean T score of the lumbar spine was �0.93 and �0.30 in men and women, respectively, but not statistically significant (p =.058). In total except with the exclusion of the study site (femur or lumbar), men and women did not have a statistically significant difference with regard to osteoporosis or osteopenia in BMD (p =.114). The Pearson correlation coefficient demonstrated a moderate inverse relationship between age and T score of the femoral neck and lumbar spine (r = �0.419 and �.406, respectively), which was statistically significant (p =.001). Although there was no statistically significant relationship between the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and T scores of the femoral neck (p =.596), a positive and weak correlation was observed between the PASI and T scores for the lumbar spine, which was statistically significant (r = 0.269; p =.03). Conclusion Patients with psoriasis had decreased bone density, which was more significant in men. Prevalence of osteoporosis showed no statistically significant difference when compared with the healthy population in Iran. © 201

Bone mineral density is lower in male than female patients with plaque-type psoriasis in Iran

Background There are many similarities with regard to contributing cytokines in patients with psoriasis and osteoporosis. A theory of probable relationship between these two entities has been proposed but there is no concordant consensus. The aim of this study was to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with psoriasis. Method and materials This cross-sectional study of BMD was conducted with 64 eligible patients with psoriasis who were referred to the dermatology clinic of Razi hospital in Tehran, Iran in between 2011 and 2012. Results The mean T score of femoral neck was �1.17 and �0.49 in men and women, respectively, which was statistically significant (p =.047). The mean T score of the lumbar spine was �0.93 and �0.30 in men and women, respectively, but not statistically significant (p =.058). In total except with the exclusion of the study site (femur or lumbar), men and women did not have a statistically significant difference with regard to osteoporosis or osteopenia in BMD (p =.114). The Pearson correlation coefficient demonstrated a moderate inverse relationship between age and T score of the femoral neck and lumbar spine (r = �0.419 and �.406, respectively), which was statistically significant (p =.001). Although there was no statistically significant relationship between the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and T scores of the femoral neck (p =.596), a positive and weak correlation was observed between the PASI and T scores for the lumbar spine, which was statistically significant (r = 0.269; p =.03). Conclusion Patients with psoriasis had decreased bone density, which was more significant in men. Prevalence of osteoporosis showed no statistically significant difference when compared with the healthy population in Iran. © 201

Serum homocysteine level, vitamin B12 levels, and erythrocyte folate in psoriasis: A case-control study

Background: One of the most important organ involvements in psoriasis is atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Homocysteine is known to have atherogenic properties, but some inconsistency exists in the literature about its probable role as a risk factor of cardiovascular disorder in patients with psoriasis. Objective: Because of some controversies, we compared homocysteine levels and related parameters of metabolic cycles in patients with psoriasis and healthy individuals. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 50 patients with psoriasis and 50 healthy individuals as the controls. Serum homocysteine, vitamin B12 levels, and erythrocyte folate concentrations were checked in all participants. Results: Mean serum homocysteine, erythrocyte folate, and vitamin B12 levels did not show any significant difference between the two groups (p >.05), but interestingly, in patients with psoriasis, men had a significantly higher incidence of hyperhomocysteinemia and lower levels of erythrocyte folate (p =.14). Overall, there is no significant difference in serum levels of homocysteine and metabolic-related parameters between the case and control group. There was no significant relationship between the severity of psoriasis and the body mass index of patients (p >.05). Conclusion: Patients with psoriasis had a higher body mass index and higher levels of homocysteine in men. Hyperhomocysteinemia could be a predisposing factor of cardiovascular events, but more evaluations as a part of metabolic syndrome in patients with psoriasis are needed. © 201

Averaged Gabor filter features for facial expression recognition

An efficient automatic facial expression recognition method is proposed. The method uses a set of characteristic features obtained by averaging the outputs from the Gabor filter bank with 5 frequencies and 8 different orientations, and then further reducing the dimensionality by the means of principal component analysis. The performance of the proposed system was compared with the full Gabor filter bank method. The classification tasks were performed using the K-Nearest neighbor (K-NN) classifier. The training and testing images were selected from the publicly available JAFFE database. The classification results show that the average Gabor filter (AGF) provides very high computational efficiency at the cost of a relatively small decrease in performance when compared to the full Gabor filter features