فصلنامه ابن سینا
سال بیست و سوم شماره 4 (پیاپی 77، زمستان 1400)

Beta amyloid protein (Aβ) deposition in the brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a moderate-intensity interval training with curcumin supplementation on plasma levels of LRP1 (as the main carrier of Aβ in plasma) and Aβ levels in plasma and brain of induced AD rats.

Fifty Wistar rats (eight-week-old) with an average weight of 191±10g were randomly divided into five equal groups: 1) AD+exercise+curcumin, 2) AD+exercise, 3) AD+curcumin, 4) AD, and 5) control group. AD was induced by injecting Aβ1-42 into the intraventricular space of AD groups. After three days of recovery, the training groups experienced moderate-intensity interval training for four weeks and other groups continued their normal lives. Curcumin was also injected intraperitoneally three days a week in two curcumin groups.

The results of one-way analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference between the mean levels of hippocampal Aβ, plasma Aβ, and plasma LRP1 in different groups (p=0.001). Also, the results of LSD post hoc test showed the highest mean difference (compared to the other intergroup comparisons) in plasma Aβ and LRP-1 variables of AD+exercise+curcumin group in comparison with healthy control and AD control groups.

In general, the results of the present study showed that moderate-intensity interval training and curcumin supplementation can modulate and control the factors affecting AD in laboratory rats by increasing plasma levels of LRP1 and environmental clearance of Aβ levels in the hippocampus.

The use of herbal supplements along with exercise is common among people to treat chronic diseases and metabolic disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of swimming training with CBD oil consumption on the expressions of NF-kB and 5-HT1A genes in the heart tissue of rats with myocardial infraction.

In this experimental study, 20 myocardial infraction rats were divided into four groups of five series: 1) control; 2) training; 3) CBD; and 4) CBD + training. To investigate the effects of myocardial infarction induction on the research variables, five healthy rats were placed in a healthy control group. Induction of myocardial ischemia was performed by subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol. CBD groups received 50mg/kg/day of CBD oil by gavage for eight weeks. The training groups performed swimming training for five days a week. Real time-PCR was designed to measure the levels of cardiac tissue gene expression.

Although swimming, CBD consumption, and swimming combined with CBD decreased NF-kB gene expression and increased 5-HT1A gene expression in heart tissue (p<0.05), the combination of swimming training with CBD had a more significant effect on them (p<0.05).

Therefore, it seems that swimming training and CBD with the positive regulation of NF-kB and negative regulation of 5-HT1A of inflammatory factors in heart tissue can reduce inflammatory factors and improve cardiovascular health.

Nursing is one of the vital jobs in society, and nurses spend an important part of their lives in close contact with individuals and patients. The aim of this study was modeling and predicting job burnout based on organizational commitment mediated by job well being in female nurses.

This was a descriptive correlational study of structural equation modeling. The statistical population was all female nurses in public hospitals in Tehran, Iran. The sample size was 330 nurses who were selected by simple random sampling method. Maslash Job Burnout Questionnaire, Allen & Meyer Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and Parker Wahitt Job Welfare Questionnaire were used for collecting data. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS and LISREL software. Structural equation modeling was also used to test the research hypotheses.

The current findings confirmed the effect of organizational commitment on job burnout with the mediating role of job well-being in the nursing population.

By promoting job well-being and increasing organizational commitment, job burnout in nurses can be reduced and ultimately lead to an increase in the quality of nursing care and patient satisfaction.

Nurses, as the largest group of health care providers in pandemic COVID-19 face special occupational and familial challenges. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between work-family conflict and the quality of nursing care among nurses working in the COVID-19 ward of hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 213 nurses of Covid-19 wards were entered by census sampeling from the beginning of March 2019 to the end of September 2020. Data were collected using the Carlson family-conflict inventory and the Quality Patient Care Scale (Qualpacs) Questionnaire, which were completed electronically by studied nurses.

The level of quality of nursing care was moderate (258.25±38.20) and the level of work-family conflict was high (32.03±7.08). There was a significant relationship between work-family conflict and the quality of nursing care, so that with increasing work-family conflict, the quality of nursing care decreased.

The results showed that the quality of nursing care of COVID-19 patients is related to the work-family conflict. In order to reduce the work-family conflict in nurses, it is necessary to reduce the working hours and workload of nurses and also to include training courses to balance the family and work life of nurses to increase the quality of nursing care for COVID-19 patients.

Mothers of children with autism have lower levels of psychological well-being than other mothers. The purpose of this study was to determine effectiveness of self-compassion education on psychological well-being and resilience in mothers of children with autism.

This research employed a semi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and control group. Totally, 64 mothers of children with autism were selected by available sampling method, and randomly divided into experimental (n=32) and control (n=32) groups. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of 90 minutes of self-care education, but the control group remained on the waiting list. To collect data Early Screening of Autistic Traits Questionnaire (ESAT), Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB), and Connor‐Davidson resilience scale (CD‐RISC). Data analysis was performed using multivariable analyze of covariance.

The results showed that the self-compassion education used in this study could improve all six areas of SPWB including environmental mastery (p<0.001; F=117.914), self-acceptance (p<0.001; F=34.940), positive relations with others (p<0.001; F=42.355), purpose in life (p<0.001; F=61.213), personal growth (p<0.001; F=9.111) and autonomy (p<0.001; F=8.254), as well as all five factors of CD‐RISC including personal competence (p<0.001; F=24.883), tolerance of negative affect (p<0.001; F=47.487), positive acceptance of change (p<0.001; F=22.419), control (p<0.001; F=16.979) and spiritual influences (p<0.001; F=104.49) of mothers.

Based on the results of this study, the self-compassion education is an effective intervention in improving psychological well-being and resilience of mothers of children with autism.

Sex offenders cause many problems at the individual and social level. The availability of appropriate assessment tools is one of the most important necessities for identifying and designing effective interventions and programs for the prevention and management of sexual crimes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of two questionnaires about attitudes as well as perceptions of sex offenders.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 250 individuals from all adults living in Tehran were selected by available sampling method and completed the questionnaires online. Attitudes toward sexual offenders (ATS) and perceptions of sex offenders (PSO) scales were completed by participants, and data were analyzed using mean (± standard deviation), Pearson’s correlation test, independent t-test, content validity index, content validity ratio, and confirmatory factor analysis in SPSS and AMOS softwares.

Factor structure of ATS (trust, intent, and social distance) (RMSEA=0.045) and PSO (sentencing and management, stereotype endorsement, and the risk perception) towards sex offenders (RMSEA=0.077) was confirmed. Both scales had a good content validity. Also, a good reliability coefficient, from 0.61 to 0.85, was obtained for all factors. Factors had a moderate to strong correlations.

The findings show that these two scales are valid tools for measuring the attitudes and perceptions towards sex offenders that can be used for this purpose.

Weakness in the balance system leads to body instability, increased passive musculoskeletal lode, and consequently, increased likelihood of loss of balance and fall. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of neuromuscular exercises on static and dynamic balance of in-service soldiers who were exposed to injury.

This study was a semi-experimental study. The statistical population of this study consisted of soldiers (20-26 years old) who were at risk of injury, and 20 of whom were purposefully selected according to inclusion criteria and divided into experimental and control groups. The static and dynamic balance were measured using the Roomberg test and the adjusted star test, respectively. Then the exercise protocol was performed by the experimental group for six weeks (three sessions per week). Data were analyzed using dependent t-test and covariance analysis.

The results showed significant improvement in experimental group for static balance (with open and closed eyes) (p=0.001) as well as dynamic balance (with Y-test for anterior, internal posterior, and external posterior directions) (p=0.001) than the control group.

The present study showed that six weeks of neuromuscular supervised exercises using wobble board and slider board significantly improve static and dynamic balance performance of soldiers at exposed to lower extremity injury.

 Evidence found the most common cognitive problem, learning disabilities, in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the stage of decoding new information. Although, the effectiveness of verbal learning and enactment strategies were evaluated and compared in MS patients, the difference of their effectiveness on cognitive functions was not considered. In the present study, the effect of verbal and active learning was investigated on the change of cognitive functions in MS patients.

The present clinical study included 30 MS patients who were divided into two groups of 15 subjects for verbal and active learning. Participants completed some baseline assessments including initial psychological assessment via the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, cognitive assessments in pre- and post-test evaluations by the tests of MACFIMS battery including California Verbal Learning Test, second edition (CVLT-II), Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) and Brief Visuo-spatial Memory Test – Revised (BVMT-R). The treatment consisted of six separate verbal and active learning sessions for each group. Learning materials included six lists containing 16 simple instructions consisting of a noun and a verb.

In the post-test cognitive evaluation, both groups made significant progress (p<0.05) in working memory. In addition, the active coding group showed significant improvement in verbal learning, and the verbal learning group showed significant improvement in processing speed (p<0.05).

Applying a combination of enactment and verbal learning strategies is suggested to reduce learning problems in MS patients.

Some studies have shown that Covid-19 increases the risk of ischemic stroke. Therefore, the present study was performed to review the studies on ischemic stroke associated with Covid-19.

The articles were searched in national and international databases. In the present study, 17 articles were identified and according to the purpose of the study, five studies were reviewed.

Studies have shown that Covid-19 increased risk of acute ischemic stroke. All studies have expressed that in patients with acute ischemic stroke following Covid-19, D-dimer was increased due to the breakdown of fibrin which indicates increased blood coagulation.

There is a risk of stroke in patients with Covid-19. All patients should be monitored for clinical signs of stroke and laboratory parameters, especially inflammatory and coagulation parameters, during and after hospitalization.