Comparing the effect of short-term detraining on athletic performance of elite competitive children and adolescent swimmers

Background: Optimum functioning of the competitive swimmers depends on the adaptations in power and strength of superficial, upper and lower limbs and interaction with core stabilizing muscles of the body. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of short periods of detraining on exercise performance of elite competitive children and adolescents swimmers. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 48 female participants with a history of more than 2 years (Damash Team) of professional exercise at Alborz province were selected based on available sampling and were assigned into 2 equal groups of children and adolescents based on their age. During the two periods, dependent variables, endurance of the trunk flexors, lateralis and flexors of the trunk, strength of the trunk muscles, dynamic balance and the performance of the swimmers (50 and 100 m) were evaluated. Results: Comparison of the results for swimming speed (50 m) showed a significant difference between the adolescent and children groups (P=0.001). In addition, total endurance of trunk muscles, power of trunk muscles and the dynamic balance in adolescents showed a significant difference (P=0.01), but the dynamic balance and swimming speed (50 and 100 m) were significant only in the children group (P=0.001). Conclusion: A 25-day detraining period results in a considerable alteration in the trunk muscle function, balance, and exercise performance of the competitive swimmers, especially among the children

The effects of metformin on stereological and ultrastructural features of the ovary in streptozotocin-induced diabetes adult rats: An experimental study

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease that can affect almost all of the body organs, including male and female reproductive systems. Objective: This study was designed to investigate the preventive effects of metformin on stereological and ultrastructure characteristics of the ovary in the streptozotocin-induced diabetes adult female rats. Materials and Methods: Seventy adult (8-10 wk) female Sprague-Dawley rats (180-200 gr) were equally divided, as follows: (n = 10/each) control; STZ-induced diabetes (single dose of 65 mg/kg STZ, IP); metformin-treated (50 mg/100 gr of body weight, orally); diabetic-metformin-treated; sham 1, (single dose of sodium citrate); sham 2, (0.5 ml of daily oral distilled water); and sham 3, (sodium citrate + distilled water treated). The body mass index, ovarian weight, blood sugar level, cholesterol, and triglyceride were measured. The stereological and ultrastructural features of ovary were assessed. Results: The blood sugar of induced-diabetic rats was increased (p < 0.01). The BMI (p < 0.01), number of granulosa cells (p = 0.04), primordial, primary and secondary follicles (p = 0.03), total volume of ovary (p < 0.01) and cortex, nucleus diameter ratio to the ooplasm were decreased. The number of atretic follicles in the diabetic and diabetic + metformin-treated rats were increased (p < 0.01). The ultrastructural characteristics of ovary were more damaged in diabetic rats. Conclusion: Diabetes has destructive effects on ovarian follicles and causes follicular atresia. Also, the size of oocytes, numbers of granulosa cells and ooplasmic organelles, which are involved in the folliculogenesis are affected by diabetes and metformin has no preventive effects. Key words: Diabetes, Metformin, Ovary, Tissue

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms and risk of myeloid leukemia

Objective: 5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) involved in folate metabolism has an important role in a cell because folate availability is critical for DNA integrity. This research aims to evaluate, in a case-controlled study, if the polymorphisms in MTHFR gene contribute to altering susceptibility to leukemias of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Materials and Methods: Thirty-eight CML patients and 106 AML patients were diagnosed based on detection of BCR-ABL fusion gene by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunophenotyping by flow cytometry. A control group containing 97 healthy, age- and sex-matched individuals participated in this study. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T and A1298C polymorphisms in the patient and control groups were evaluated by using the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. We assessed the relationship between the MTHFR genotype and the risk of hematologic malignancies by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with a 95 confidence interval (CI) using conditional logistic regression. Results: The frequencies of CT and TT genotypes (of 677 allele) and AC and CC genotypes (of 1298 allele) among AML patients did not show a statistically significant difference when compared with those of the controls. Also, among CML patients, the frequencies of above stated genotypes did not show statistically significant differences compared with those of the controls. Conclusions: The data indicate that because of no statistical difference in the frequencies of MTHFR gene polymorphisms (C677T and A1298C) in the patient and control groups, these polymorphisms do not contribute to an inherited genetic susceptibility of AML and CML

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the cervix: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the cervix uteri is extremely rare. Between 1987 and 2010, there were only nine cases reported in the English literature, with considerably different management policies.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 45-year-old Iranian woman presented to our facility with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the cervix uteri. Her clinical stage IB2 tumor was treated successfully with chemotherapy. Our patient underwent radical hysterectomy. There was no trace of the tumor after four years of follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>According to current knowledge, primitive neuroectodermal tumors belong to the Ewing's sarcoma family, and the improvement of treatment outcome in our patient was due to dose-intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery and consolidation chemotherapy in accordance with the protocol for bony Ewing's sarcoma.</p

Health Technology Assessment of the Psychotherapy Effect on Prevention of Suicide and Self-Harm: A Rapid Review of Secondary Studies

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, acute depression disorders are the second largest health problem in the world which can cause disability and imposes huge costs on individuals and societies. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using psychotherapy in patients with depression for prevention of suicide and self harm commitment. Methods: Cochrane library (Issue 10, 2012) and CRD (Centre for Review and Dissemination) were searched using Mesh. Studies that compared psychotherapy with different alternative methods such as antidepressant drugs and used outcomes such as self-harm or suicide rates were included. Results: Eighteen articles were included in this review. Most of them showed that using psychotherapy as only suicide preventive method cannot be sufficiently effective, so that in the one of the included meta-analysis was shown that the effect of psychotherapy on suicide imagination and the risk of suicide were small. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it seems that MACT (Manual-assisted cognitive behavior therapy) is a cost-effective method in prevention of self-harm. Conclusion: Generally, it seems that using combination of therapeutic methods will increase the effectiveness of suicide and self-harm prevention methods

Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Iranian Version of Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS)

BackgroundThe maternal attitude toward infant feeding is one of the strong predictors of the start and continuation of exclusivebreastfeeding. According to the validity and reliability assessment of Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) in many countries, the purpose of this study was to examine psychometric properties of an Iranian version of this scale. Materials and MethodsThe present study was a cross-sectional and performed on 280-breastfeeding mothers in the first 48 hours after delivery. After translation with forward-Backward technique, in order to assess the structure validity, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted and the goodness of fit indices were calculated. Reliability of the tool was measured with the use of Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the measurement of internal consistency and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) to assess the stability through test-retest method.Results: In the first phase of CFA, from 17 questions of the original version of the scale, six questions included 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, and 17 were removed due to the loading factor of less than 0.3. In the second phase of CFA, validity of the 11-question version with two-factor structure confirmed. The ratio of Chi- square to the degree of freedom was 2.44 that along with other goodness of fit indices of the model showed the two-factor model has excellent fit. The Cronbach’s alpha and ICC were 0 .856 and 0 .885, respectively; that represented the good reliability of the scale. ConclusionOverall, the results showed that the 11-question version of (IIFAS)is a valid, reliable, acceptable and repeatable tool for measuring infant feeding attitude in Iranian mothers

Comparing the effect of short-term detraining on athletic performance of elite competitive children and adolescent swimmers

Background: Optimum functioning of the competitive swimmers depends on the adaptations in power and strength of superficial, upper and lower limbs and interaction with core stabilizing muscles of the body. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of short periods of detraining on exercise performance of elite competitive children and adolescents swimmers. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 48 female participants with a history of more than 2 years (Damash Team) of professional exercise at Alborz province were selected based on available sampling and were assigned into 2 equal groups of children and adolescents based on their age. During the two periods, dependent variables, endurance of the trunk flexors, lateralis and flexors of the trunk, strength of the trunk muscles, dynamic balance and the performance of the swimmers (50 and 100 m) were evaluated. Results: Comparison of the results for swimming speed (50 m) showed a significant difference between the adolescent and children groups (P=0.001). In addition, total endurance of trunk muscles, power of trunk muscles and the dynamic balance in adolescents showed a significant difference (P=0.01), but the dynamic balance and swimming speed (50 and 100 m) were significant only in the children group (P=0.001). Conclusion: A 25-day detraining period results in a considerable alteration in the trunk muscle function, balance, and exercise performance of the competitive swimmers, especially among the children

Investigation of the effects of solvent on oxygen evolution reactions on the surface of magnesium oxide

In this research, due to the importance of oxygen evolution reactions (OER) in the production of hydrogen gas, the effects of the solvent on the OER steps on the magnesium oxide surface have been studied. For this purpose, the difference in free energy value in OER steps on the Magnesium oxide surface for two systems (in the presence and the absence of solvent) have been investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and thermodynamic integration (TI). These results are in perfect agreement with the results obtained from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanics calculations. Our findings show that the presence of water solvent around the surface of magnesium oxide has a crucial role on OER and leads to an increase more than twofold in the free energy of all steps. Also, the presence of the solvent has the most effect on the third step of OER, and its ΔG increases by about 1.9 eV. This fact can be attributed to the approach of the water molecules to the substrate spontaneously, which increases the probability of forming hydrogen bonds and the number of contacts, leading to more favorable thermodynamic reactions. Close inspection of the calculated binding energies between the substrate and the intermediates confirms that the binding energy of OER's second step is significantly higher than the other steps and is the velocity determining step

The Effect of Comprehensive Corrective Exercises on Posture of Wushu Practitioners With Upper Cross Syndrome

Objective: Perform repetitive movements or long-term positioning causes adaptations in muscles and jointsand it can cause various disorders. To correct it, it is necessary to correct the movement pattern and use exercises to return to the desired muscle and joint position. The aim of this study was to investigate The effect of comprehensive corrective exercises on posture of the wushu athletes with upper cross syndrome. Methods: The method of the present study is quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test. The statistical population of this study included wushu men living in Kerman province with at least 3 years of sports experience. To this end, 30 Wooshakar males with forward Head, forward shoulder and kyphosis malalignment participated voluntarily in this study. A randomized placebo group was divided into two control groups and experimental were divided. Experimental group was selected for correction exercises for 10 weeks and 3 sessions per week for 20 to 60 minutes, while the control group did not receive any training program during this period. The evaluation of forward Head and forward shoulder and kyphosis angle were performed in two stages. Paired t-test and covariance analysis were used for data analysis. SPSS software was used at the significance level (P≤0.05). Results: The results showed that the mean forward Head and forward shoulder and kyphosis angle of the subjects decreased after participating in the corrective training program (P=0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to use the selected corrective exercise program to reduce the amount of head forward, shoulder forward, kyphosis and improve the upper limb function of athletes prone to the upper cross syndrome. Therefore, in addition to reducing the mentioned complications, it can also affect their performance