Annals of Applied Sport Science
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Spring 2016

The Neuregulin is a member of the epidermal growth factors (EGF) family of receptor kinases, was originally identified as the product of the transforming gene derived from chemically induced rat neuroblastoms. A variety of different protein isoforms are produced from single Neuregulin gene. Four distinct vertebrate gene encode Neuregulin, prosaically named NRG1, NRG2, NRG3, and NRG4. Most of biological function related to NRG1 which are widely acting on brain and nervous plasticity, cardiac muscle development and also as mediator skeletal muscle metabolism. The expression of NRGs mRNA in different tissues (brain, cardiac and skeletal muscles and adipose tissue) has been observed, but its expression in nervous system element, particularly in brain is well documented. A change in serum NRG1 has been observed in patient with schizophrenia and also considered as a biomarker of cardiovascular fitness. In addition, NRG1 injection has shown to improve glucose tolerance test, increased serum leptin, weight gain prevention, and reduce food intake in NRG1-treated mince. The purpose of this short review paper was to see the responses of NRGs to different types of acute physical exercise or exercise training. In this regard, it seems exercise at different intensities should be a good candidate for future study in relation to NRGs response.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an 8 week period of aerobic interval training and massage therapy on changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) level and cardiorespiratory fitness in cardiovascular patients after coronary artery bypass graft. The study population consisted of patients who had undergone a coronary artery bypass graft and at least one month had passed since their surgery. 60 patients met the study inclusion criteria and were willing to cooperate; they were divided randomly into three groups (n = 20) as follows; interval, massage therapy and a control. Subjects in groups taking interval training and massage therapy were administered three sessions per week for eight weeks. 48 hours before and after eight weeks of exercise, subjects were measured for peak oxygen consumption and blood samples were taken. Results of the present study show that 8-week programs of regular exercise and massage therapy resulted in significant reduction of CRP of 42% and 25% respectively (P<0.05). Peak oxygen consumption values after eight weeks of regular exercise showed a significant increase (22% in interval exercise and 17% in massage therapy (P<0.05). In general, these findings show that 8-week programs of aerobic interval training and massage therapy significantly reduced serum CRP value and caused a significant increase in peak oxygen consumption in patients with coronary artery bypass graft. These changes can be effective for prevention of sudden death and cardiovascular problems after bypass surgery. Also, interval training was more effective on reducing CRP and increasing peak oxygen consumption than massage therapy.

Improving anaerobic performance and anaerobic power is the critical aspect on successfully in competitions for many athletes. The purpose of current research was to investigating the effect of various pre-competitions warm-up on anaerobic performance. It has been shown that, differences pre-competitions activity may effect on anaerobic and explosive performance. Effect of general warm-up, without warm-up and warm-up with specific static stretch training were examined on anaerobic power. Twenty four young women were recruited in this research. Subjects (20 ± 2.4 years; 164.91 ± 7.54 cm; 62.04 ± 12.34 kg) were performed three pre-test workouts and in the next step, the Wingate test (30 Second) was used to determination of anaerobic power and fatigue index. Familiar session was performed 48 hours before first test. Data management and analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA repeated measure, using SPSS 20.0. The Result of this study indicated that, there is not significant different on fatigue index and maximum anaerobic power in three conditions (P>0.05). It is interesting to note that 30 seconds anaerobic performance was not affected by pre-competitions activities in three stage of this study.

Marketers apply a variety of approaches to attract customers and gain more profits. One method is the utilization of nostalgia marketing. The use of nostalgic sport characters has not been sufficiently studied. This research determined the reliability and validity of the questionnaires presented in the studies Evoked Nostalgia by Pascal et al. (2002), Familiarity with Nostalgic Character by Meyer (2010), and Nostalgic Proneness by Routledge et al. (2008). For this purpose, 310 fans of Ali Karimi, a player and the former captain of Iranchr('39')s national soccer team (nostalgic character), was considered as the sample. To evoke nostalgic sensations in fans, a movie of the personal and professional life of this nostalgic character was developed and validated. The internal reliability of questionnaires was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability for three scales of evoked nostalgia, familiarity with nostalgic character, and nostalgia proneness of fans, respectively. The indices of the measurement model indicated that the elements chosen for measuring the nostalgia variable had the necessary validity and could well measure nostalgia. According to these results, it can be stated that the corresponding scales of nostalgia can be used as reliable and valid scales with detection ability in Iranian fans.

Iranchr('39')s apparel market is currently filled with foreign brands that are generally ranked as high quality goods with high prices. With a surface examination of the apparel market and customers’ opinions, it can be concluded that Iranian apparel, despite having lower prices, is not in a suitable status in comparison with its foreign counterparts. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of individual characteristics and brand-specific features, and finally design a model of consumer purchase behavior towards domestic brands of sports apparel that are available in the Iran market. The method of this study is descriptive-correlational and in terms of the aim, is applicable. The statistical population of the study consisted of sports experts. 141 individuals as sample size were studied out of 220 individuals of the population. A questionnaire used by Kumar, Kim, and Pelton (2009) was also used to collect the data, and the validity of the model and the relationship between the studied variables was supported by the techniques of structural equation modeling. The research findings showed that self-concept of individuals has no role in their orientation towards domestic brands of sports apparel, but need for uniqueness was effective on individual’s orientation towards brand. On the other hand, brand orientation also had positive impact on both emotional value and perceived quality of domestic brands of sports apparel. Also, according to the findings, increasing brand orientation did not increase their purchase intention. All the dimensions of brand in this study, both perceived quality and emotional value had significant positive impact on consumer’s purchase intention towards domestic brands of sports apparel.

This study attempts to find if better performance in power play leads a team to victory in a Twenty20 match. Based on the methodology devised to do so, the study tries to measure the performance of both the teams during power play overs in terms of batting and bowling. The developed measure is called ‘Prod’ which is a product of the difference of batting and bowling performance of the teams during power play overs. The team with better performance in both the skills during power play is expected to win the match. But it would be difficult to predict the outcome of a match if the performance of a team is better in bowling and worse in batting and vice-versa. A total of 261 matches from different seasons of Indian Premier League (IPL) are considered for the study. The outcomes of 220 matches are predicted based on the performance of two teams in power play out of which 153 of them were correctly predicted. Remaining 41 matches could not be predicted as it is not clear which team performed better during power play. Thus, out of the matches where the dominance of a team was clear in the power play, 70 percent cases that team ultimately won the match in Twenty20 cricket.

Knee osteoarthritis can have negative effects on the physical and mental conditions, social and family relations, general health and positive feelings of elders. For example, severe limitation of motion and increased depression, which are results of this disease, can have negative impacts on elders. The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of depression in healthy active and inactive elders versus those with knee osteoarthritis disease. Two hundred and twenty (220) elders with knee osteoarthritis disease (110 active and 110 inactive patients) and 220 healthy elders (110 active and 110 inactive) were voluntarily selected, and they filled the questionnaire about elders’ personal characteristics, physical activity and depression levels. Four groups had differences with respect to education, age and gender. The results of chi-square test revealed that women with knee osteoarthritis disease had increased levels of depression compared to men with the same condition (p<0.05). Older patients had increased levels of depression and educated elders reported lower levels of depression. The results of the one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there exist a significant difference in depression scores of healthy active and healthy inactive elders and those with knee osteoarthritis disease. The results of Tukey’s test revealed that healthy active elder had lower depression scores compared to inactive elders with knee osteoarthritis disease. Carrying out exercises and physical activities can help improve the health state of patients with knee osteoarthritis problem and can also improve the elders’ mental condition and thus decrease their pain and depression.