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Introduction: 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. Materials and Methods: 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. Results: 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

Every movement ends in a period of stillness. Current models assume that commands that hold the limb at a target location do not depend on the commands that moved the limb to that location. Here, we report a surprising relationship between movement and posture in primates: on a within-trial basis, the commands that hold the arm and finger at a target location depend on the mathematical integration of the commands that moved the limb to that location. Following damage to the corticospinal tract, both the move and hold period commands become more variable. However, the hold period commands retain their dependence on the integral of the move period commands. Thus, our data suggest that the postural controller possesses a feedforward module that uses move commands to calculate a component of hold commands. This computation may arise within an unknown subcortical system that integrates cortical commands to stabilize limb posture.

Objective Ageing is associated with some physiologic and functional declines that can increase disability, frailty, and falls in the elderly, so balance is used as a factor in determining the level of independence of the elderly. On the other hand, the mean velocity is considered as the most reliable indicator of the center of pressure to assess the balance and reduce the risk of falling. Because of significant effects of balance and muscle strength in the health of the more elderly population, the purpose this study was to investigate the effects of a nine- weeks training program on the center of pressure indicators with open and closed eyes condition in the elderly male. Materials & Methods In this study, 27 elderly subjects with general health were participated voluntarily in this study. These were randomly divided into two training groups (n=15, mean age=61.5±08.59 years, weight=77.10±07.23 kg, height=167.6±6.4 cm) and control (n=12, mean age=62.6±08.44 years, weight=72.07±08.06 kg, height=167.9±01.08 cm). To assess the balance subjects were placed in a steady state on the foot scan at the beginning of the work, and the mean velocity of the center of pressure was first recorded in a static state with open eyes and then closed eyes. The kinetic data of the foot scan (mean velocity of the center of pressure) was calculated by RS-scan software, and the mean of the data was extracted from Excel software and evaluated. The training group then performed a nine-week program of lower limb muscle resistance training (on seven lower limb muscle groups including adductor and abductor of femurs, flexors, and extensor of femurs, flexors and extensor of knee, and plantar flexor of ankle) for 1.5 hour (15 minutes warm up, 1 hour of the main exercise, 15 minutes of cool down) and three sessions per week. During this period, the control group was requested to perform its daily activities. After completing the resistance training program, post-test was performed. Data were analyzed using independent and dependent T-analysis at a significant level (P≤0.05). Results Lower limb muscle resistance training for nine weeks yielded a significant improvement in mean velocity of COP (P=0.005, t=3.07) and static balance with open eyes (P=0.004, t=3.46). In the training group, it has been pre-tested; however, no statistically significant effect was observed in static balance with closed eyes (P=0.15, t=1.49 ). Resistance training showed a significant difference between the control and the training group in the mean overall velocity of the center of pressure (P=0.04, t=2.43) and static balance with open eyes (P=0.01, t=2.39) as determined by independent t-test. This difference was not significant between two groups in static balance with closed eyes (P=0.22, t=1.25). Conclusion The lower extremity muscle resistance training improves the center of pressure, static balance and reduces the fall risk. It is suggested that planning sufficient physical activities and training among all age groups is necessary. Appropriate resistance training program can prevent balance disorders and falling among the elderly population.

Abstract Background: It is believed that sports exercises have minimal impacts on the pathological changes in the lung tissue exposed to chemical carcinogens in cigarette smoke. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of 12 weeks of swimming exercises on IL-6 concentration in the lung tissue of rats following the injection of carcinogen NNK. Materials and Methods: This study is experimental in terms of the design. Forty-six Wistar rats were divided into five groups: A) Exercise (E), B) Exercise-NNK (EN), C) NNK (N), D) Control (C) and E) Vehicle (V). Exercise groups completed the swimming exercises for twelve weeks, five days per week (25-60min). Rats of vehicle and NNK treatment groups were respectively administered subcutaneous injections of distilled water and NNK (12.5mg/kg, once a week, 12weeks). Then, samples of the lung tissue were collected and IL-6 concentration was measured by ELISA technique. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test were used for data analysis at the level of p ≤ 0.05. Results: The results indicated a significant decrease of IL-6 concentration in exercise (p=0.009), exercise-NKK (p=0.006) groups and vehicle (p=0.006) with NKK groups; while there was no significant difference between exercise groups and the control groups. The swimming exercises can reduce IL-6 concentration significantly in lung tissue of rats following the injection of carcinogen NNK. Conclusion: It seems that endurance exercises, along with other therapeutic methods, can play a role in reducing the effects of carcinogen NNK and negative effects of smoking by decreasing the inflammatory factor of IL-6.

Background: Tobacco contains carcinogens such as NNK (nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone) that makes induction of lung cancer by changing the stimulation of IL-10 expression. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in resting levels of IL-10 in lung tissues of rats exposed to NNK after a 12-week aerobic submaximal swimming training. Methods: For this purpose, 46 Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups consisting training, training + NNK, NNK, saline and control. NNK-induced groups received NNK subcutaneously one day per week at a rate of 12/5 mg per kg body weight and the training groups performed submaximal swimming training for 12 weeks. The levels of IL-10 in homogenized lung tissue were measured by ELISA. Results: Findings indicated that a period of swimming training increased the IL-10 levels significantly in lung tissue of training group when compared to control (P=0.00) and NNK groups (P=0.00). Also, a significant increase of IL-10 level was observed in exercise + NNK group when compared to NNK group (p≤0/02). Furthermore, it was observed that IL-10 levels of NNK group had a significant decrease when compared to training group (P=0/00), training + NNK group (p≤0/02), but had insignificant increase when compared to saline group (p≤0/85). Conclusions: Generally, it could be confirmed that regular submaximal aerobic training plays an important role in the inhibition of the effects of lung inflammation induced by NNK via increasing IL-10 activity.

Amir-reza Abedi,1 Morteza Fallah-Karkan,2 Farzad Allameh,1 Arash Ranjbar,1 Afshin Shadmehr3 1Urology Department, Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Urology Department, Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, Laser Application in Medical Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Urology Department, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Objective: Incidental prostate cancer (IPCa) is defined as a symptom-free cancer unexpectedly discovered upon microscopic examination of resected tissue. The aim of this study was to report the correlation between some specific clinical criteria in patients incidentally diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa) during transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or open prostatectomy (OP) after clinically suspected benign prostatic hyperplasia.Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective study. Data were collected from Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital database during November 2006 to October 2016. Four hundred and twenty three men suffering from symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia who underwent either TURP or OP that provided a prostate specimen were evaluated. The data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation test and independent t-test using SPSS version 20 software.Results: The mean age of subjects was 68.74±9.87 years old (45–93 years). The mean prostate specific antigen (PSA) level was 21.47±13.44 ng/mL (0.6–47.1 ng/mL). Results showed that 84 patients (19.9%) had PCa (40 patients who underwent TURP [12.6%] and 44 patients who underwent OP [40.7%] groups). Cut-off point of PSA for detecting IPCa was 3.8 ng/mL in our study, and this showed sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of 26.08%, 100%, 100%, and 29.79%, respectively. Twenty two patients with cancer had a positive family history for PCa; thus, a significant relationship between familial history of PCa and its occurrence was shown (p=0.0001).Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the cut-off point for PSA levels in detecting PCa was 3.8 ng/mL, which is similar to that reported by other studies. Familial history of PCa and PSA levels were two predictors in determining the PCa. Keywords: incidental prostate cancer, transurethral resection of the prostate, open prostatectomy, prostate cancer, Iran

Introduction: The control of pain associated with root canal treatment (RCT) is crucially important in endodontics. The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of using articaine versus lidocaine local anesthetics for inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) on pain after RCT. Materials and Methods: Eighty-eight patients diagnosed with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis of a mandibular first molar were selected. The patients randomly received either a cartridge of lidocaine or articaine using IANB. RCT was initiated 15 min after the injection. Lip numbness was a requisite for all the patients. The post-operative pain was assessed by using 170-mm visual analog scale at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, 36, and 48 h after the treatment. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22 statistical software. Results: The mean total post-treatment pain in the lidocaine group was 37.1 ± 32.9 whereas it was 25.4 ± 26.4 for articaine group (P < 0.001). Pain at 4, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h after the RCT in articaine group was significantly less than the lidocaine group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Using articaine for IANB may increase post-RCT comfort than lidocaine. Further study is needed to confirm the results.

Introduction: Idiopathic subglottic tracheal stenosis is a rare inflammatory disease of the trachea; most commonly affects females within the age range of 20-50 years. No etiologic factor has yet been identified for this rare tracheal disease and therefore it should be diagnosed after the exclusion of other inflammatory, traumatic, and autoimmune diseases of the trachea. The familial or genetic predisposition to this disease is still unknown although one published report in the literature showed some familial predisposition. Case Report: A 41-year old woman presented with progressive dyspnea and stridor. The bronchoscopic evaluation revealed subglottic tracheal stenosis; however, there was no significant etiology of this disease after complete evaluations. Therefore, the idiopathic subglottic stenosis was the final diagnosis. After two years, her identical twin sister presented with the same signs and symptoms. There was also no etiology for her tracheal stenosis. The first patient was managed surgically through cricotracheal resection. However, the second sister didn’t need surgical resection due to the mild to moderate tracheal stenosis. Conclusion: The obtained results of our cases along with the previously reported family cases can potentiate the hypothesis that there is some genetic predisposition to the development of this disease.

We consider the problem of a leader who can assign rewards for citizens for different anti-regime actions. Citizens face a coordination problem in which each citizen has a private, endogenous degree of optimism about the likelihood of regime change. Because more optimistic citizens are easier to motivate, the choice of optimal rewards entails optimal screening. This leads to a distribution of anti-regime actions. A key result is the emergence of a vanguard, consisting of citizens who engage in the endogenous, maximum level of action. Other citizens participate at varying degrees, with less optimistic citizens contributing less. We explore how the regime's strength or the maximum reward available to the leader influences the distribution of actions. Moreover, we show that more heterogeneity (e.g. higher inequality) among potential revolutionaries reduces the likelihood of regime change. Our methodological contribution is that we deliver a sharp and novel marriage of screening and global games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is a rare condition, which could be life-threatening if diagnosed late or mismanaged. Post-intubation TEF is the most common form of acquired, non-malignant TEF and is usually associated with tracheal stenosis, which makes the treatment more challenging. Here, we present our experience of managing 21 patients with post-intubation TEF. Materials & Methods: Twenty one patients including seven women and fourteen men with mean age of 38.05 years, who had post-intubation TEF were managed in our center (Massih Daneshvari Hospital, Tehran, Iran) during 2004-2013. None of the patients were operated before weaning from mechanical ventilation. Single division and closure of the fistula was performed in one patient who did not have accompanying tracheal stenosis. One-stage surgical repair including tracheal resection, anastomosis, primary closure of the esophageal defect, and muscle flap Interposition was the main treatment method in all other cases. Patients were followed up for at least two years. Results: Excellent and good results achieved in 85.7% of our patients. Major complications including permanent vocal cord paralysis and recurrence of tracheal stenosis necessitating T-tube insertion occurred in two patients (9.5%). Severe cachexia and sepsis secondary to sputum retention resulted in one mortality (4.8%). Conclusion: Surgery might provide the best treatment results along with low mortality and morbidity rates in post-intubation TEFs if performed within the proper time.

Objectives This study was conducted to compare the reaction time & anticipation skills of football players with non-athletes. Methods Participants of the study were 10 male soccer players and 10 male non-athletes. Auditory choice reaction time, auditory complex choice reaction time, visual choice reaction time, visual complex choice reaction time, ball anticipation skills with high & low speed individuals were assessed by using Speed Anticipation and Reaction Time (SART) Tester software. Results Results showed significant differences (P = 0.000) between healthy athletes and healthy non-athletes males in the tests of auditory choice reaction time, auditory complex choice reaction, visual choice reaction time, visual complex choice reaction time as well as anticipation skills. Athlete males had higher cognitive abilities as compared to the non-athlete healthy individuals. Conclusion Soccer players gain extensive knowledge regarding specific neurocognitive model of soccer during their vast exercise sessions and show better cognitive abilities in comparison with non-athletes in similar sport circumstances (like SART).

Background/purpose: Root-end filling materials are used to fill and seal the root apex during periradicular surgery. Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is a widely-used material because of its particular characteristics. Cold ceramic (CC) is an experimental material that has been recently introduced. The purpose of this study was to compare bone tissue response to CC and MTA in an animal model. Materials and methods: Forty-five male guinea pigs (weighing 750–850 g) were anesthetized with 10 mg/kg ketamine HCL and 12 mg/kg xylazine. A triangular incision of around 15 mm was prepared in the posterior site along the symphysis in both right and left sides of the mandible. A 3 mm×3 mm diameter cylindrical hole was prepared in each side using a trephine. Two Teflon cylindrical tube applicators were filled with white MTA and CC and inserted into the defects separately. Histopathological evaluation of the specimens was completed after 2 weeks and 12 weeks. The extent of inflammation was recorded and analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U test and SPSS software version 12 at a significance level of 0.05. Results: MTA and CC produced moderate and mild hard tissue responses respectively after 2 weeks and 12 weeks. No significant differences were found in the distribution of the responses between the two groups at either time point. Conclusion: Both CC and MTA demonstrated biocompatibility with minor adverse impact on hard tissue and healing recovery after 12 weeks.

Background & Objectives: It is well established that High-intensity Interval Training (HIT) may represent a time-efficient strategy to induce adaptations normally associated with endurance training. However, the effect of exercise on lung mitochondrial changes is not well understood.The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of HIT on NRF-1 and PGC-1α genes at mRNA level in rat lung tissue. Materials & Methods: Twenty Wistar male rats (4 weeks old, 68±9 g weight) were randomly assigned to 6-week training, 9-week training, 6-week control and 9-week control groups. High-intensity interval training program was started with 25 m/min and gradually reached to 70 m/min at the end of the ninth week. Following tissue sampling, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, and the expressions of genes were determined by real time RT-PCR technique. Results: NRF-1 and PGC-1α genes expression were increased following interval training. The expression of NRF-1 and PGC-1α between 9-week training and 9-week control groups was significantly different (P≤0.05). Conclusion: According to the current study, it seems that intense interval training can cause changes in the mitochondrial content and the possibly of mitochondrial biogenesis in lung tissue.