Report of Health Care
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter 2018

Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) causes disruption for the central nervous system of fetus and is followed by cerebral cortex damage of neonates. This study aims to analyze the effects of erythropoietin (EPO) on spatial memory and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in entorhinal cortex of IUGR rat models. For IUGR induction, anterior uterine artery occlusion surgery is carried out on rats in embryonic day (ED) 14. From ED12, EPO are injected subcutaneously in 500, 1000 and 2000 IU/kg doses until the birth of their neonates. Spatial memory is analyzed by Morris water maze at postnatal day (PND) 30. Then, BDNF cerebral cortex level is estimated using ELISA. Differences between groups is analyzed with ANOVA and considered statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05. A significant decrease is observed in spatial memory and BDNF cortex of untreated IUGR group in comparison with the control group (p ≤ 0.05). On the other hand, treatment of EPO improves spatial memory by increasing BDNF level in entorhinal cortex (p ≤0.05). The present study indicates that fetal growth restriction causes cognitive disorder in rat model. Consequently, expression of neurotrophic factors, such as cerebral cortical BDNF, will be decreased. Moreover, neuroprotective effects of EPO could ameliorate cognitive deficits in IUGR model.

One of the most important international indicators for assessing growth and physical health is measuring weight, height, BMI and other parameters of growth and development and comparing it with standard curves. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to compare anthropometric indices of 10- 16 years old school girls with the NCHS iternational standard. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 267 female students aged 10 to 16 year-old in Taft city were randomly selected through cluster sampling and the mean and standard deviation of their anthropometric indices in their age ranges with related methods were measured and compared to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) standard. Finally, the data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics including Kolmogrov- Smirnov and single sample t-test at a significance level of less than 0.05. The results showed that weight, triceps skinfold thickness, subscapular skinfold thickness of students in all age ranges were significantly lower than NCHS standard (p ≤0.05). But the height, body mass index, mid arm circumference, waist circumference, upper leg length and upper arm length of students in some age groups were significantly lower than the NCHS standard (P ≤0.05), and in other age groups, there was no significant difference (P≥ 0.05). The results of this study showed that the anthropometric characteristics of these students are less than international standards. Significant changes made in some of these anthropometric indices can be due to the geographical, climatic, nutritional and physical activity of students, which should be given more attention.

Emotional maturity and occupational stress can play an important role in explaining the general health of nurses and their job performance. Mindfulness interventions have been increasingly used in different situations. The aim of present research was to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness training on emotional maturity and occupational stress of nurses. In this study, the research method was semi-experimental and the pretest- posttest design with control group was used. The statistical population in this study was nurses of Hajar hospital in Tehran in August 2017. 24 volunteer nurses were selected based on convenience sampling and were randomly assigned in to experiment and control groups (each group 14 individuals). The experimental group participated in 8 sessions of mindfulness training and the control group received no intervention. Occupational stress and emotional maturity questionnaires were used for data collection. The gathered data were analyzed by SPSS (version 18) using multivariate analysis of covariance (p≤0.05). The results showed that there are significant differences between post-test scores of the experimental and control group and mindfulness training could significantly improve emotional maturity (p= 0.001) and reduce occupational stress (p= 0.001). Mindfulness is beneficial for improving emotional maturity and reducing occupational stress among nurses.

Aging causes apoptosis in the heart. While the old heart is vulnerable to apoptosis, physical activity with different mechanisms can be effective in reducing apoptosis or inhibit it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of moderate and high intensity interval trainings on some apoptotic indices of Bax and Bcl- 2 cardiomyocytes of old female rats. In this study, 21 aged female, postmenopausal Wistar rats (2 years old), were randomly divided into three groups: 1) control, 2) moderate intensity interval training (MIIT), and 3) high intensity interval training (HIIT). The training protocol performed consisted of two different intensities (MIIT and HIIT) of running on treadmill 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks. 48 hours after the last training session, the heart tissue was removed in order to analyze Bax, Bcl- 2 genes and Bax/Bcl- 2 ratio in the cardiomyocytes. Two-way analysis of variance was used to determine the main effect of training. In case of a statistically significant difference, Bonferroni post hoc test was used to determine the intergroup difference. Significance level for all data analysis was considered as p≤0.05. Bax (p=0.0001) and Bax/Bcl- 2 ratio (p=0.001) gene expression was higher in the HIIT group in comparison with MIIT group nevertheless Bcl- 2 gene expression was higher in the MIIT group in comparison with the HIIT group (p=0.0001). Based on the present results, treadmill exercise with MIIT can support cardiac against apoptosis through the enhancement of Bcl- 2 expression in the heart. Therefore MIIT may be a beneficial method for preventing heart problems in the aging.

Prenatal Food Restriction (PFR) causes some disorders in prenatal development and neuro-developmental abnormalities. On the other hand, the studies indicated that erythropoietin can act as a neuro-protector. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the effects of erythropoietin on working memory, passive avoidance learning, and anxiety level in rat PFR model. In this experimental study, 50 neonatal rats are exposed to PFR. Reduction of standard food portion up to 50% has been started on the embryonic day (ED) 14 in rats until postnatal period. Then, different doses of 500, 1000, and 2000 IU/kg weight erythropoietin were injected to experimental groups, subcutaneously. At post natal day (PND) 30; Y-maze, shuttle box and elevated plus maze (EPM) are used for evaluation of working memory, passive avoidance learning, and anxiety level, respectively. Differences between groups were analyzed by one way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc (p ˂ 0.05). The results indicate that working memory and avoidance learning have reduced significantly in the control group (p ˂ 0.05). Moreover, anxiety level has increased in PFR group in comparison with the control group (p ˂ 0.001). On the other hand, working and avoidance memories have increased in those groups which received EPO in comparison with PFR groups and anxiety level have decreased significantly (p ˂ 0.05). Our results indicate that prenatal treatment of erythropoietin can ameliorate behavioral abnormalities in PFR model.

Exercise is an important strategy for reducing the risk of chronic disease, and recent research has focused on its role in the improvement of the inflammatory profile. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a single bout of aerobic exercise on ergometer on inflammatory and hormonal markers in active girls. 16 physical education students with average age of 20.25 ±0.9 years, maximal oxygen uptake of 42.14±9.8 ml/kg/m and body mass index of 22.11±2.66 kg/m2 were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group pedaled on ergometer with intensity of 75 % VO2max for 60 minutes and the control group had no activity during the test. Blood samples for measuring the levels of IL-10, TNF-α, CRP, cortisol, epinephrine were taken before, immediately and 2 hours after termination of the exercise. The data were analyzed by paired t-test, repeated measure ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc at P 0.05). The mean values of CRP (P=0.002) and cortisol (P=0.001) were higher in the experimental group than the control group. In addition, the mean values of epinephrine in the control group were higher than the experimental group (P=0.009), while no significant difference was observed between the two experimental and control groups in the concentration of IL-10 (P> 0.05). Based on the findings of study, it seems that an exercise session on an ergometer does not affect hormonal and inflammatory factors in active subjects.

Features of the environment where practice takes place may influence performance, learning as well as the quality of experienced motivation. This study was performed with the aim of investigating the effect of teacher’s instructional language on students’ intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and performance accuracy while they were involved in performing a darts throwing skill. Forty-eight female students were randomly divided into three instructional language groups (autonomy supportive, controlling, neutral). All three groups watched the same silent clip about darts throwing. They performed 21 throws (as pre-test) and subsequently, each group watched a specific clip prepared for them. Instructions in the second clip provided learners with different degrees of choice or control in performing the task in spite of similar technical information. Then, each group performed 51 throws as their post-test. On the second day, all groups performed 21 throws without any instruction as retention test. All participants completed the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory by McAuley et al. (1991) before the pre-test and after the post- and retention tests. To test the research results, the statistical procedure ANOVA with repeated measures test with Bonferroni post-hoc test were used (P≤0.05). The results revealed that the instructional language used in the autonomy-supportive group facilitated learning significantly through its effect on intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy (P≤0.05). In addition, on the acquisition and retention tests, the autonomy supportive group showed a significant better accuracy in throwing darts towards targets relative to the other two groups (P≤0.05). Giving choice to learners is a useful way in acquiring motor skills. Teachers must try to provide situations which promote learners’ sense of competence (self-efficacy) which in turn, improves learning. These situations can include information which is effective on the learners’ perception of their abilities. Giving autonomy to learners during practice and changing the instructional language to improve intrinsic motivation are different ways for creating such situations.

Anxiety and depression are among the commonly occurring illnesses around the world that cause changes in the lifestyle of humans and impose huge costs to treat these disorders on human societies. These disorders can be associated with physiological symptoms such as tachycardia, sweating, respiratory dysfunction, numbness, and sometimes paralysis of the limbs, etc. In the treatment of these diseases, the goal is to help people to minimize the risk of following side effects while healing these disorders. In the treatment of drugs in the past, benzodiazepine drugs such as diazepam (valium), alprazolam (xanax), lorazepam (ativan), and baspiron were used to treat anxiety disorders. However, presently anti-depressant drugs such as fluxetin, paroxetine, sertaline, and venlafaxine are more widely administered. It is estimated that between 10 to 20% of people in the western hemisphere use these drugs almost regularly . In depression studies, monoamine neurotransmitters such as serotonin (5- HT), neuroadrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA) play an important role in mediating depressive behaviors. Various studies have shown that major depressive symptoms are caused by a reduction in the function of these neurotransmitters. Monoamine oxidase enzyme (MAOA) is also a key enzyme dependent on the metabolism of neurotransmitters, and it has been suggested that its activity is one of the indicators of psychosomatic susceptibility. It has also been observed that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) is impaired in patients with depression. The use of herbal medicine has been commonplace in ancient civilizations, and hence since ancient times plants have long been an important source of medicine. Research on plants in recent years has shown that plants such as chamomile and lavender, which have formerly been used to treat anxiety and depression have anti-anxiety and anti-depression effects; accordingly, in the present study, the effects of 18 plant types on the treatment of these disorders have been investigated.