shohreh jalaei

Due to the prevalence of cognitive disorders, such as the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and the consequences that these disorders follow, early diagnosis and awareness of the deficiencies of these people in the cognitive and language areas is essential. Given that language is dependent on culture, examining the linguistic characteristics of such patients in different languages can provide valuable findings. Therefore, this study compares noun and verb naming abilities in individuals with bvFTD and non-patients Persian-speaking.

In this cross-sectional study, 3 cognitive tests, including frontal assessment battery (FAB), Montreal cognitive assessment, and mini-mental state examination (MMSE), along with 2 noun naming and verb naming tests were performed on 15 patients with bvFTD and 30 homogeneous non-patient individuals.

The bvFTD group had significantly different scores for both noun and verb naming compared to the non-patient group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the bvFTD group was more impaired in naming verbs than nouns, with the largest difference between groups in the verb naming task.

the results showed that bvFTD patients have poorer noun and verb naming abilities than non-patients. In particular, in verb naming, they showed more deficits than nouns. One possible explanation is that the processing of verbs is more complicated than nouns and involves a more complex neural system and cognitive processes than noun processing. Another possibility is that verbs rely more heavily on frontal and temporal regions of the brain, which are typically affected by bvFTD.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common peripheral entrapment neuropathy with squeezing of the median nerve and the patient is unable to function properly. There are different physiotherapy interventions for the management of these patients and recently, shock wave therapy and low-power laser (LPL) have been widely used, but there is no strong evidence comparing the effect of shock wave therapy and LLLT. Therefore, this trial was designed to compare the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), LPL, and routine interventions on clinical outcomes and electrophysiological parameters in patients with moderate CTS.

Fifty-four patients were randomly assigned to the control (routine interventions), ESWT, and LPL therapy groups. All participants received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapeutic ultrasound, hot pack, mobilization, and stretching for ten sessions over two weeks. Additionally, the ESWT group received radial ESWT in four sessions, and the LPL therapy group received laser in ten sessions. The primary outcomes were pain (assessed by the visual analog scale), function (assessed using the Boston questionnaire (BQ)), hand grip, and finger pinch strength. Secondary outcomes were electrophysiological parameters (distal motor and sensory latency and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of the median nerve. 

Time group interactions were significant for pain, the symptom severity subscale of BQ, finger pinch, and hand grip strength (p<0.001). Significant improvements were seen in clinical and sensory latency and motor NCV of the median nerve (p<0.05). The ESWT group experienced significant improvements with a large effect size in pain, function, and finger pinch strength compared to the control group (p<0.01). Additionally, the LPL therapy group showed significant changes in the function and finger pinch and hand grip strength compared to the control group. There were no significant differences between the LPL therapy and ESWT groups except for pain in favor of the ESWT group. No significant differences were found among the three groups in electrophysiological parameters (p>0.05).

Although laser therapy increased the efficacy of routine interventions, it seems adding ESWT to the routine treatment may be superior for the management of moderate CTS patients.

The study was conducted to compare the immediate effect of high-power pain threshold ultrasound (HPPTUS) and deep transverse friction massage (DTFM) as a traditional technique on the treatment of upper trapezius active myofascial trigger points in male patients with mechanical neck pain.

In this parallel single-blind randomized clinical trial study, 60 men with mechanical neck pain (mean age: 30.57±6.19 years) who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly assigned to HPPTUS and DTFM as the control group. A visual analog scale (VAS), pain pressure threshold (PPT), and range of motion (ROM) of cervical lateral flexion (CLF) were assessed before and after treatment.

Analysis of pre- and post-treatment findings showed that the VAS (P<0.01), PPT (P<0.01), and ROM of CLF (P<0.01) improved significantly in both groups while ROM of CLF increased significantly more in the HPPTUS group. An indirect correlation was found between the pre-treatment ROM of CLF and ROM of CLF improvement in both groups. A significant indirect correlation was observed between pre-treatment VAS and ROM of CLF improvement in the HPPTUS group. In the DTFM group a significant indirect correlation was found between pre-treatment ROM of CLF and VAS improvement.

The results showed that HPPTUS can be used as an effective treatment for active trigger points (TP). It seems that this method is more effective than deep transverse friction massage.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how words are retrieved in the picture naming tasks (retrieval is discrete serial or cascading and networked) by examining the effect of word cognateness on the ability to name. Obtaining normal data on the ability to name of Mazandarani-Persian bilingual individuals with different genders, ages, and educational groups, was another goal of this study.

In this cross-sectional study, after completing the language proficiency questionnaire, 120 Mazandarani-Persian individuals named 109 nouns and 90 verbs in Mazandarani and Persian languages. The speed and voice of people were recorded by DMDX software.

The results show that the accuracy of the naming cognate nouns in Mazandarani, cognate verbs in Mazandarani and Persian, and the speed of naming cognate nouns in Mazandarani is more than non-cognate (P=0.000). Cognate status, gender (men), word type (noun), level of education, and Persian language had a positive effect on naming accuracy.

The results of this study are an example of the effect of cognate status on naming ability and thus confirming the cascaded activation model. Also, gender (men), word type (noun), level of education, and Persian language has a positive effect on naming accuracy.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disabling worldwide disorder in which the knee osteoarthritis range of motion (ROM) is particularly reduced. Mobilization with Movement (MWM) has shown rapid improvements in pain and functions. The muscle energy technique (MET) is claimed to be effective in muscle lengthening, strengthening, and increasing joint ROM.

A clinical trial was conducted to compare knee Mulligan (lateral, medial, and rotational glides) techniques (n=15), and post-isometric relaxation muscle energy techniques (quadriceps, hamstring, and tensor fascia latae) (n=15) on pain and function in OA.

Twenty-two subjects (73.3%) were grade-II of knee OA and 8 subjects (26.7%) with grade III. The visual analogue scale (VAS) showed significant changes in the reduction of pain. In the VAS, the main effect of time of treatment shows that the mean value of the VAS score was statistically significant between at least two assessment stages (before the first session, after the third session, and after a month) (P<0.001) in each group. In knee osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS), the main effect of time of treatment shows that the mean value of KOOS score is statistically significant in increasing KOOS between at least two assessment stages (before the first session, after the third session, and after a month) (P<0.001) in each group. KOOS showed significant changes for increasing function. Timed up and go (TUG) score showed decremental significant changes in time. In the TUG score, the main effect of time of the treatment shows that the mean value of the TUG score was statistically significant between at least two assessment stages (before the first session, after the third session, and after a month ) (P<0.008). In ROM score, the main effect of time of the treatment shows that the mean value of ROM score was statistically significant in increasing ROM between at least two assessment stages (before the first session, after the third session, and after a month) (P<0.002, observed power= 0.927).

Applying MWM is more functionally effective than applying the post-isometric relaxation muscle energy technique, both interventions increase functional performance in the short term in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis, but they are not functionally effective from a single session. Applying both techniques has effects on reducing pain immediately and in the short term.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of single-session intramuscular electrical stimulation (IMES) on pain and dysfunction following active trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle.

Volunteers (30 females) with active trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle were randomly divided into two IMES and placebo groups. For the IMES group, a needle was inserted into the trigger point, and electrical stimulation was applied to generate a pain-free contraction. For the placebo group, the intervention procedure was exactly the same, but there was no electrical stimulation. Pain by visual analog scale (VAS), pain pressure threshold (PPT), range of motion (ROM), and disability by neck disability index (NDI) were assessed as main outcome measures before, immediately after, and one week after conducting intervention by another blinded researcher.

The VAS scales were improved in both groups but were significantly lower in the IMES group one week after treatment. The PPT and ROM scores were substantially higher in the IMES group one week after the treatment. The NDI indexes significantly reduced for both groups, with no significant differences between them.

IMES effectively improves pain, PPT, ROM, and NDI, following trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle. Further studies are required to investigate the IMES’s long-term effects.

Tinnitus is defined as ringing of the ears that is experienced when there is no external sound source, and is an auditory phantom sensation. The insula as a multimodal cortex has been shown to be involved in the processing of auditory stimuli rather than other sensory and motor processing and reported to correlate with some aspects of tinnitus. However, its exact role is not clear. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of excitotoxic lesions limited to the insular cortex on the ability to detect a gap in background noise.

Gap detection test and prepulse inhibition, two objective measurements of auditory startle response, were measured, in 33 male Wistar rats, before and up to four weeks after insular lesion in three experimental groups (sham, control, and lesion). 

 The ability to detect the gap interposed between 60dB background noise was impaired at weeks 2, 3, and 4 following insular lesion, while prepulse inhibition remained intact up to four weeks after surgery.

These findings indicated that excitotoxic lesions of the insular cortex may produce a tinnitus-like phenomenon in rats while sparing the hearing sensitivity; suggesting that the insular cortex may have a role in the development of tinnitus.

The Aphasia Check List (ACL) is a comprehensive, time-saving tool for language evaluation in aphasia, including a cognitive assessment part. This cross-sectional study aimed to translate ACL into Persian and analyze the psychometric features of the translated version. The original version of the ACL was translated and adapted from German; its psychometric features were then determined. 

Twenty People With Aphasia (PWA) and 50 age- and education-matched, cognitively healthy controls participated in this research. Possible floor and ceiling effects, discriminant validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the test were analyzed in addition to the evaluation of internal correlations between the test parts (language & cognition).

Regarding the performance of PWAs in the language section and the cognitive subtests assessing attention, memory, and reasoning, there were no floor and ceiling effects. Adequate discriminant validities for the language section of the test [i.e., total score: (Mann-Whitney U= 6.000, P<0.001); diagnostic subtests scores: (Mann-Whitney U= 3.000, P<0.001), and each subtest individually. Besides, the attention subtest of the cognition section (Mann-Whitney U= 16.500, P<0.001) was also observed. There was no difference between the control and patient groups in the subtests of memory (Mann-Whitney U= 497.500, P=0.973) and reasoning (Mann-Whitney U= 3.000, P= 308). The test-retest reliability was acceptable in all subtests (ICC agreement= 0.573-0.984). The ACL-P suggested appropriate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient= 0.761 for test & retest scores). There were also significant correlations between language and cognition in the control and patient groups.

The ACL-P test indicated sufficient reliability and validity for the evaluation of Persian-speaking PWAs and is suggested to be used in studies on this population.

The most critical clinical presentation in myofascial pain syndrome is trigger points. Trigger points are the main problem in 30% of the patients presenting to general internal medicine practice. One of the treatments used for trigger points is ultrasound therapy. The high-power pain threshold ultrasound (HPPTUS) technique is one of the therapeutic ultrasound modifications used to treat trigger points. The present randomized clinical trial aimed to investigate the immediate effect of high-power pain threshold ultrasound on treating active trigger points of the upper trapezius muscle in men with mechanical neck pain.

Fourteen men with mechanical neck pain (Mean±SD age: 34.50±5.24 years) who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria participated in this study. The visual analog scale (VAS), pressure pain threshold (PPT), and range of motion of cervical lateral flexion (CLF) were assessed before and after the treatment. The ultrasound probe was placed on the trigger point. The frequency was set to 1 MHz, and the intensity increased from 0.5 to 2 until the patient reported an unpleasant sensation. The probe was held there for 4 seconds. Then, the intensity was reduced by 50%, and the probe was moved over and around the trigger point. This process was done several times for three minutes.

Analysis of pre-treatment and post-treatment findings showed that the VAS (P<0.001), PPT (P=0.001), and CLF (P<0.001) improved significantly after applying the HPPTUS to trigger points.

Ultrasound significantly improved the muscular symptoms of the trigger points.

Lower extremity muscles are critical for maintaining dynamic balance and athletic performance. Fatigue of these muscles may affect dynamic balance. It is unclear whether fatigue in a particular muscle group can affect dynamic balance more than that in other groups. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effects of fatigue in 5 muscle groups on dynamic balance in volleyball players.

Fifteen healthy male volleyball players separately performed the Star Excursion Balance Test before and immediately after the occurrence of fatigue of ankle Plantar Flexor (PF), knee extensor, knee flexor, hip abductor, and hip adductor muscles. Composite reach distance and distance in anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions were recorded, accordingly.

Repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) data indicated that fatigue of all muscle groups significantly decreased the mean score of composite (P<0.001). Anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral distance scores decreased following muscle fatigue of knee extensors and ankle PFs (P<0.05).

This study suggested that regarding composite reach score, fatigue of ankle, knee, and hip muscles similarly decreased dynamic balance. However, evaluating three main directions revealed that knee extensors and ankle PFs muscles fatigue presented more prominent effects on the explored volleyball players’ balance, compared to the other muscles.

Executive functions develop, particularly in the first 5 years of life. This study aimed to investigate the executive functions in Persian typically-developing (TD) children aged 4 to 6 years.

In this cross-sectional study, 50 children (21 girls and 29 boys) participated. Executive functions (planning/problem solving, inhibition, shifting, and working memory) were measured by various performance-based tests (the Tower of London, Go/No-Go, Dimensional Change Card Sorting task (DCCS), forward Digit Span (FDS), Backward Digit Span (BDS) and Non-Word Repetition (NWR) and Behavior Rating Inventory Of Executive Function (BRIEF) questionnaire). After collecting the data, they were entered into SPSS version 16.0, and data analysis was done by Mann-Whitney U test and two-tailed Spearman test. The significant level was set at 0.05.

Regarding the age groups, 5-year-old children were significantly better than 4-year-old children in FDS and BDS, and regarding gender groups, performance-based tests were not significantly different between girls and boys but in the BRIEF questionnaire as parents reported, boys were significantly had better performance in daily life. BRIEF questionnaires in the boy’s group were correlated with FDS, BDS, the Tower of London, Go/No-Go, and DCCS. In the girl’s group, the BRIEF questionnaire was correlated with NWR and DCCS. In 4-year-old children, the BRIEF questionnaire was correlated with FDS, BDS, Go/No-Go, and DCCS. In 5-year-old children, the BRIEF questionnaire was correlated with BDS, the Tower of London, Go/No-Go, and DCCS.

It seems that TD children between the ages of 4-6 years can have different working memories but does not differ in skills such as problem-solving, shifting, and inhibition.

Musculoskeletal disorders are important causes of pain. Trigger points are one of the common reasons for myofascial pain. This study aimed to compare a single session of dry needling versus a single session of shock wave therapy on the level of pain and Range of Motion (ROM) in the people with Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) of the upper trapezius muscle.

Sixteen men with active trigger points of upper trapezius muscle were voluntarily attended in this study. They were randomly assigned into two groups. The patients were under a single session treatment of either dry needling or shock wave therapy. Level of pain (by Visual Analog Scale [VAS]) and active ROM of neck lateral flexion (by goniometer) were evaluated once before the treatment and immediately after the intervention.

The VAS scores and the neck ROMs were substantially improved at both groups of study immediately after the treatment (P<0.012). However, there were no significant differences between the two groups of interventions in terms of the VAS and ROM scores (P>0.05).

Both dry needling and shock wave therapy can improve neck pain and ROM in patients with active trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle.

Knee joint injuries usually occur in a short time, so analyzing the mechanism and process of this short time can be helpful to prevent similar injuries. This study aimed to determine and compare the reaction time of knee muscles and investigate the effect of knee position and perturbation direction on the reaction time of knee muscles in response to horizontal rotational perturbation applied to lower leg from support surface area.

A total of 30 healthy women volunteers were received ±35 degrees of horizontal rotational perturbation and speed of 120 degrees per second from the sole while standing on the right leg in four conditions (external versus internal rotation of surface while the knee was in both extension and flexion position). Electromyography of knee muscles (vastus medialis and lateralis, medial and lateral hamstring and medial and lateral gastrocnemius) was measured to study the reaction time.

The reaction time of knee muscles during the perturbation was relatively long in this study (124 to 151 ms). It seems that muscles are recruited simultaneously in most conditions except in external rotation perturbation, with extension knee that the internal gastrocnemius muscle had significantly less delay time than the internal hamstring (P<0.05) and external quadriceps (P<0.05). The results show that most of these muscles do not react selectively and dependently on perturbation direction and knee position in response to horizontal rotational perturbation.

In this study, little difference was seen in the reaction time of most knee muscles in all conditions. Thus in response to this type of perturbation, the knee muscles showed co-contraction.

Musculoskeletal disorders are among the main causes of disability in modern life. Myofascial trigger points are very common among musculoskeletal disorders and may occur through ordinary common activities. This study aimed to determine the combined effects of laser therapy and Ischemic Compression (IC) on the treatment of Myofascial Trigger Points (MTrPs) at the upper trapezius muscle.

Twenty men with at least one active trigger point at their upper trapezius muscle voluntarily participated in this study. Trigger points were under treatment of laser irradiation (6 Joules per point) and also ischemic compression. Treatment approaches were applied over the pain point every other day for 5 sessions in 10 days. Neck disability index, pain intensity by visual analog scale, pressure pain threshold by algometry, and cervical lateral flexion by goniometer were assessed and recorded before the intervention, and immediately after the last session.

At the end of treatment, statistically significant improvements were seen in the neck disability index, VAS value, pressure pain threshold, and cervical lateral flexion. VAS values of the treatment and control groups were compared with the baseline (P<0.001).

Application of combined laser and compression therapy was effective on the pain and level of disability of patients with trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a common muscular disorder characterized by a referral pain to a particular area after irritating the myofascial trigger point. This study aimed to determine the combined treatment effect of laser therapy and ischemic compression of an active myofascial trigger point in the upper trapezius muscle.

This is a clinical trial study conducted on 15 subjects with Active Trigger Points (ATPs). In one session, 15 subjects received laser therapy and ischemic compression. The assessment was done immediately after the treatment. We used the visual analog scale for the measurement of pain intensity, algometry (FG-5020, Taiwan made) for pressure pain threshold, and goniometer for cervical lateral flexion.

The cervical lateral flexion after the intervention was significantly higher than that before the intervention (P<0.001). Also, the post-operative pressure pain threshold was significantly higher than that before the intervention (P<0.001). The level of pain decreased after the intervention, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.90).

according to this study, the laser therapy combined with ischemic compression can significantly change the pressure pain threshold and cervical lateral flexion in patients with active trigger points in their upper trapezius muscles.

It is important to use reliable, valid, and responsive instruments to assess the treatment outcomes. The functional rating index (FRI) is a patient reported outcome measure to assess the pain and function in patients with neck and low back pain. The FRI has been translated and culturally adapted into Persian language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the responsiveness of Persian functional rating index in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP).

The adult patients with CNSNP recruited from Shariati Hospital in Tehran and filled the Persian functional rating index (PFRI), Persian neck disability index (PNDI), and pain numerical rating scale (NRS) before and after 10 physiotherapy sessions, from March to July 2017. The patients completed the global rating change scale after treatment. For statistical analyses, the effect size (ES), standardized response mean (SRM), Guyatt response index (GRI) were used. The Spearman or Pearson test was used for correlation analyses. The area under the receiver operating curve (ROC) and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) were calculated.

In this study, 30 patients (female 17) with a mean of age 45.6 years [standard deviation (SD) 13.8] participated. The mean duration of neck pain was 14.7 months (SD 12.8). Significant strong and moderate correlations were identified between PFRI with PNDI and GRC scores (r= 0.78 and r= 0.69). The respective ES and SRM values were 0.73 and 0.78 for PFRI. The GRI was 5.58. The AUC was 0.89 (P= 0.001). MCID was 11.7%.

This study confirms that the Persian functional rating index is responsive for assessing disability in Persian speaking patients with chronic non-specific neck pain

Background and Lipoid Proteinosis (LP) is a rare hereditary progressive disorder caused by a disorder of collagen metabolism. In LP, hyaline deposits in mucous membrane of true vocal folds causes hoarseness. The studies on the laryngeal and voice features of patients with LP are rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research to study acoustic and perceptual voice features in two Iranian children with LP.
Two children (siblings) were assessed. The main voice complaint was hoarseness. Voice samples were recorded and acoustically analyzed by Praat. Furthermore, perceptual voice assessment was performed according to the GRBAS scale.
Acoustic measurement represented increase in f0, jitter, and shimmer in both children. Furthermore, mean scores of the GRBAS for all voice parameters were more than 60.
Current study is the first research that describes the voice features of Persian subjects with LP. Comprehensive understanding of the etiology in voice problems helps speech and language pathologists to provide appropriate clinical services considering the nature of pathological condition to clients.

Knee joint has the highest percentage of injuries among lower extremity joints especially in athletes and people with high activity levels. Therefore, analyzing of knee movements has an important area of research in the bioengineering and rehabilitation fields. Sharif human movement instrumentation system (SHARIF-HMIS) is a new inertial sensor designed for movement analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of knee kinematic parameters using SHARIF-HMIS.
Material and A total of 25 healthy male subjects (aged 18-28 years) participated in this study. SHARIF-HMIS sensors were fixed with straps on dominant leg of the participants. Thereafter, they performed double leg drop jump landing from a box with a height of 30 cm. Linear acceleration and angular velocity were analyzed in initial contact phase. The test was performed 3 times at an interval of 1 hour. To assess the intra-rater reliability, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were calculated.
ICC in X, Y and Z planes was 0.99, 0.80 and 0.97 for linear acceleration and 0.50, 0.79 and 0.74 for angular velocity, respectively. Furthermore, the SEM in X, Y and Z planes were 0.03, 0.19 and 0.14 for linear acceleration and 0.007, 0.009 and 0.01 for angular velocity, respectively.
This study showed good test-retest reliability of knee kinematic parameters during double leg drop jump landing. Hence, the use of SHARIF-HMIS as a new and portable device is suggested for assessing knee joint movements.

Recently, the psycholinguistic approach has been used to understand reception and expression of prosodic skills in several languages. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the receptive and expressive functions of prosody based on the psycholinguistic approach in 5-10 year-old typically-developing children in a Farsi-speaking population.
This cross-sectional study recruited 60 typically-developing children (30 males and 30 females) in three age-groups of 5-6, 7-8 and 9-10 years old. At first, the Turn-end, Affect, Chunking and Focus tasks (both receptive and expressive) were designed by researchers with regard to the prosodic functions in Farsi based on the psycholinguistic approach. The tasks were then completed by all enrolled subjects.
The 5-6 and 7-8 year-old groups scored above 12 (chance level) in all receptive and expressive tasks except for the expressive focus, while the 9-10 year-old subjects scored near the ceiling scores in all tasks. In Turn-end and Focus, receptive and expressive mean scores were significantly different across age groups (p≤0.05). The analysis showed a significant correlation between the receptive and expressive performance in Turn-end and Focus (p≤0.05)
The receptive and expressive prosodic functions seem to develop by age in typically-developing Farsi-speaking children. The performance of Farsi-speaking children in reception and expression tasks of prosodic functions in 5-6 year-old kids appears to be above chance. Meanwhile, the acquisition of the Focus output skill seems to delay until the age of 10.

Flexibility is an important component of the normal musculoskeletal system function. Therefore, flexibility exercises as a basic component of athletes’ warm–up programs are generally recommended before training or participating in sports competitions. Due to the controversy in use of stretching in the warm-up programs, as well as the use of whole body vibration (WBV) in improving flexibility, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of WBV on lower extremity muscles flexibility in healthy young women.
A total of 25 healthy young women with an average of age 20/76±1/09 years old participated in the present study. Their flexibility were measured using passive knee extension test, hip flexion, test and modified sit and reach test before and after the intervention. Participants stood on WBV equipment (f=30 Hz, Amp=2mm 5×60s hold ⭺) in semi squat position.
After WBV, the flexibility of the hamstring and hip flexor as well as general flexibility significantly increased (P=0/000). The results showed that, before WBV, there was significant differences in hamstring and hip flexors flexibility between the two legs (P≤0/05), but after WBV, no significant difference was observed in hip flexors flexibility (P=0/14).
The findings of the study indicate that the WBV seems to be a suitable training method for improving lower extremity muscular flexibility.

There are various questionnaires to assess public attitudes towards various human traits but few standard tools to evaluate public attitudes about stuttering. The purpose of the present study was to translate the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes -Stuttering (POSHA-S) into Persian and investigation of psychometric properties of the scale.
Thirty adults without stuttering (8 men and 22 women) who have mean age of 24.9 participated in this developmental test study. After taking permission from test design, the translation of the test according to Protocol IQOLA and its equalization to Persian Language, face validity of it were determined by the opinions of participants. Then, Test-retest reliability of the scale was carried out by two methods; Pearson correlation coefficient and determination of point-to-point agreement.
Entirely relevant items had simple translation. The translation items had face validity. The results showed that there was a high correlation between two completions in the whole questionnaire (p=0.000, r=0.70).
The present research showed that the Persian version of the "Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes –Stuttering" is a reliable and valid tool. Therefore, the Persian version of this test can be used as a valid and reliable scale to assess community attitudes towards stuttering.

Grip strength is one of the important criteria in determining the physical fitness of all people, especially athletes. The purpose of this study was to compare the Hand-grip strength of young highly trained male athletes of different fields and the effect of some anthropometric indices on it.
This cross-sectional study was done on 78 athletes of four fields -wrestling, badminton, tennis, judo and 20 matched nonathletes (as control group). A questionnaire was used to record demographic data, also MIE Digital Pinch / Grip Analyser System was applied to evaluate hand grip strength, anthropometric indices( the forearm length and the upper third of the forearm circumference) was measured by cm tape. ANOVA and Tukey tests were used for statistical analysis and comparing the data of the groups. Pearson correlation coefficient was also calculated to determine the correlation between hand grip strength and anthropometric indices.
There was a significant difference between athletes and non-athletes in hand grip strength (P=( 0001/0 as well as wrestlers, tennis, badminton and judo players; The highest difference was between wrestlers and badminton players (P=0/0001 with the average difference= 13.65) and the lowest difference was observed between the control group and badminton players (P = 0/04 with the average difference= 5.10). Also, there were some correlations between the upper third of the forearm circumference and grip strength in the wrestlers, in the badminton players and the judo players (P = 0/03, P = 0/04, P = 0/0001, respectively).
The results of this study indicated significant differences between athletes and non-athletes as well as significant differences among wrestlers, tennis, badminton and judo players. In addition, there were some correlations between the forearm circumference and hand grip strength of wrestlers, badminton and judo players.

Providing rehabilitation care of deglutition disorders or dysphagia is a challenging issue for speech and language pathologists. Comprehensive assessment of dysphagia includes early screening, clinical tests and finally instrumental tests to be assured. In spite of the importance and the advantages of clinical tests; accurate diagnosis and decision in dysphagia management largely depend on instrumental ones. These tests provide dynamic assessment and information about structures and physiology of normal and affected swallow for clinician. The aim of this review article was to find instrumental tests of swallowing with their application, limitation and advantages.
An electronic search was done via the PubMed, Google scholar, Science direct, Medline, Scopus, Iranian web of knowledge data bases and web of knowledge data bases from 1956 to 2012. Based on the used keywords, 150 papers were found of which 90 papers were selected in accordance with the selection criteria.
Fourteen related instrumental tests were found. Only one of the tests is usable for screening and others for diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia. Three tests are used only in adults and others in children too.
The literature review showed that among the instrumental tests, (Video fluoroscopy swallowing study; VFSS), (Fiberoptic Endoscopic evaluation of swallowing; FEES) are golden standards for dysphagia assessment and treatment. Therefore, they are widely accepted among clinicians and researches in despite of their limitations, our study offers the possibility to professionals for selecting the appropriate instrumental test in dysphagia.

Reliability or unreliability of the results achieved from recording of surface electromyography of muscles has always been questioned. The aim of present study was to measure the reliability of the delayed reaction time of muscle electromyography of the knee joints on the exposure of unexpected rotary turbulence in the transverse plane from the area of supporting surface.
Twenty healthy women from 19 to 30 years old and free from any clear deformities in the lower extremities were participated in the present study. Surface electromyography of the six knee musculature was carried out for every subject separately in 4 situations including: External Rotation (Ext Rot) from plantar area on the transverse plane with bent and straight knee, Internal Rotation (Int. Rot) with the same conditions, Single Leg Stance situation in 4 stages, and repeatability of Intra Session through intra-class correlation coefficients when the muscles are in action on the exposure of turbulence in four applied forms were analyzed.
The results from 24 analyzed forms showed that 18 forms of muscles at the time of action had moderate to high repeatability (Monroe Classification)
Regarding reliability, the muscles indicated different amounts in onset latency time, on the exposure of rotary turbulence, according to joint angle and the direction of applying rotation on the transverse plane. In respect to direction of rotation, most of the muscles indicated more reliability on the exposure of external rotation turbulence (clockwise) in relation to internal rotation (anti-clockwise) and also regarding the joint angle in turbulences with straight knee in relation to turbulences with bent knee.

Several studies have investigated the effects of angular velocity on mechanical and physiological variables such as joint net torque, muscle force and myoelectrical activity, but so far its effects on the control of the pattern of synergist muscle activation during isokinetic movements have not been studied. In this experiment, a computational method of identifying and analyzing muscle synergies were used which is based on the framework of the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis to determine the variability of muscle synergies following movement velocity alteration.
Twelve healthy females without any known neurological or motor disorders participated in the experiment. The participants were positioned on a Biodex dynamometer. They were asked to perform ten continuous knee extension and flexion motions with maximal strength at 45˚/s or 300˚/s. Electromyographic activity of the vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL) and rectus femoris (RF) were recorded and variance within the UCM (VUCM) and orthogonal to the UCM (VORT) with respect to an appropriate Jacobian matrix was computed. An independent t-test was used to compare VUCM between two velocities.
Across subjects, VUCM was significantly higher than VORT (VUCM>VORT) in both tasks. There was no significant difference in VUCM between two velocities (p>0.05).
Our findings suggest that angular velocity is not an important parameter when a controller of a multi-element system wants to stabilize a particular value of a performance variable.