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Background and Aim: Memory and learning specially auditory-verbal learning affected on developed and forming the cognitive skills in children. The auditory-verbal learning assessed with several methods. The Rey auditory verbal learning test is a useful tool for the assessment of auditory verbal learning. The Persian version of Rey test is not used for assessment auditory-verbal learning in Persian language children. The aim of the present study was to assess the auditory verbal memory and learning performance of 9 to 11 year old healthy children using the Persian version of rey auditory-verbal learning test and comparing these data with children from other countries. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 86 healthy children with age ranging from 9 to 11. Different aspects of memory like immediate recall, delayed recall, recognition, forgetting rate, interference and learning were assessed using the Persian version of Rey auditory-verbal learning test. Results: It was observed a significant correlation between the scores on the first trial to fifth trial. The mean scores of the participation increased from 7.34 on the first trial to 13.93 on the fifth trial. The correct answer was more in girls than the boys. There was not significant correlation between immediate and delayed recall. There was significant correlation between delayed recall and recognition. The proactive and retroactive interference and forgetting rate scores were 0.97, 0.87 and 0.37 respectively. Conclusion: The Persian version of Rey test in the clinical setting is a useful tool for assessment of memory and auditory-verbal learning. The scores increased from first trial to fifth trial show learning effect in Persian language children. The auditory verbal memory and learning performance of Persian language children in Persian version of Rey test was compared to the performance of the same population in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Scapular muscles stabilization and neuromuscular control are important factors in shoulder function during dynamic activities. The three-dimensional pattern of integrated movement between gleno-humeral and scapula-thoracic joints is known as the scapula-humeral rhythm. More involved rotator cuff and scapular muscles causes more motor units are being recruited, therefore perhaps with loading on scapular muscles, can evaluate muscles role in scapular position more accurately and comprehensively. Materials and Methods: Thirty male basketball players, aged between 20 to 40 years were recruited for modified lateral scapular slide test. The linear distance between inferior angle of scapula and spinous process of T7-8 was examined in 90 degrees of scaption without load and with 1 kg loading by two examiners in one session using the caliper. One of the examiners repeated the test in next week. Results: Amount of inter and intra-rater intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for 90 degrees of unloaded scaption was 0.73 and 0.82, respectively and for 1 kg loading position was 0.54 and 0.86, respectively. Amount of standard error of measurement (SEM) in inter and intra-rater measurements for 90 degrees of unloaded scaption was 0.83 and 0.59 cm, respectively and for 1 kg loading position was 0.97 and 0.45 cm, respectively. Conclusion: 1 kg loading in scaption, did not significantly improve the reliability of the test that shows the amount of load is not appropriate to activate the muscles in the athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The aim of this study was to collect and review Aphasia screening tests for speech-language pathologists. Materials and Methods: Searching was done in databases of MEDLIN, SID, Magiran, IRAN MEDEX and 5 site of ASHA, Pub Med, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Web of Science from 1949 to 2012, and Screening tests were collected and reviewed on the basis of time of composition, subtests,validity, and reliability. Results: In this study, 14 screening tests were identified. The maximum number of items were (72 subtests) for screening test and the minimum number of test items were (4 subtests) for Franchay Aphasia Screening test (FAST). The latter is the first test which evaluated the areas of comprehension and writing in addition to reading and speech. The results indicated that 10 tests have one type of validity, and eight tests have reliability. Conclusion: Considering the importance of the aphasia disorder and lack of a complete source for quick and easy identification of Aphasia, and also finding screening tests in this disorder in Persian language, the results of this study can be useful to familiarize speech and language therapists with this disorder. Application of these tests is recommended in various stages of rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: In recent years transcranial stimulations, action observation and motor imagery training have emerged as nonaggressive and attractive choices beside the common rehabilitation treatments for neurologic patients. Mirror therapy using visual feedbacks is one of these newfound methods that its therapeutic effects on impaired upper limb of stroke patients are still under investigation. In this case report, Impact of mirror therapy in treatment of the paralyzed upper extremity in 2 stroke patients will be described. Materials and Methods: Two adult patients with hemiplegia due to cerebrovascular accident and with 1 and 5 years passed since stroke went under 12 sessions of mirror therapy. Each session of mirror therapy lasted 45 to 60 minutes in which patients have been practicing specific exercises under direct supervision of therapist. Patients were evaluated for function and motor recovery level, spasticity, range of motion and power grip before and after one month of treatment. Results: In both individual, function and motor recovery level, active range of motion, and power grip were improved and spasticity just showed a decrease in one of the patient. Conclusion: Mirror therapy for 12 sessions can be beneficial to treatment of affected upper extremity in these two stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Proprioception is one of the most precise and delicate senses of the human body. It plays an important role in coordination and postural control by protecting the body against trauma and accidents. Although many studies have assessed the effect of fatigue on proprioception in the limbs and the low back region, but a few studies have investigated its possible effect on the cervical region. Material and Methods: Seventeen (8 women, 9 men) young and healthy volunteers were asked to perform the Cervicocephalic Relocation Test (CRT) to the neutral head position by relocating the head on trunk after actively rotating the head to right and left sides, in two conditions; before and after muscular fatigue. Absolute, constant and variable errors were used to evaluate cervical joint repositioning accuracy. Results: Fatigue had no effect on cervical joint position sense, Furthermore no considerable difference was seen between male and female subjects (p>0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that following isometric fatigue of upper trapezuis muscles, no change is produced in the repositioning accuracy of both sexes. Furthermore, sex had no effect on cervical joint proprioception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems that can affect activity daily living of patients. Many studies have indicated postural control deficits in these patients; but the effect of dual tasking on postural control has not been examined yet. The aim of this study is to investigat the effect of cognitive task on postural control in the female patients with knee osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods: Postural stability in knee OA patients and healthy subjects (20 subjects in each group ) in four positions was measured using the Force plate. Positions included double leg stance with closed or opened eyes with and without cognitive task. Area of COP and mean velocity (Vm) were measured for as static postural stability. Results: Area under the curve increased in the double leg stance position in the patients significantly (P<0.05). While mean velocity decreased by performing a dual task (P<0.05). The response to dual-tasking was not significant between the 2 groups(P>0.05). Conclusion: Postural control deficits and increased of center of pressure's sway were identified in participants with Knee osteoarthritis. Also performance of a cognitive task resulted in decrease of postural sway, but the dual-tasking did not change the postural performance of knee OA patients compared to healthy subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: In some disorders, word finding is difficult. There is different ways to assess naming process that verbal fluency is one way. So far has not been an index to verbal fluency assessment and treatment, the aim of this study was to determine normative data of semantic fluency for 18-69-year -- old adult Persian speakers. Materials and Methods: This study was cross sectional and analytic. Participants were 540 normal adults 18-69 -year -- old. They were divided in 4 age groups ( 18-30, 31-43, 44-56, 57-69) and 3 educational groups (0-8, 9-12, >12). The peoples were asked to name animals and fruits in 60 seconds, words were recorded and analyzed whit Troyer method and SPSS 16 software. Results: The findings of this study did not show significant differences in semantic verbal fluency, clusters mean and number of switches between two genders. But significant differences were found in semantic verbal fluency (P=0.000) and number of switching (P=0.000) between educational groups. Also significant differences were found in semantic verbal fluency (P=0.014), clusters (P=0.000) mean and number of switching (P=0.000) between age groups. Conclusion: Semantic verbal fluency and number of switching increase by promoting the education but decrease by rising of participant age. Clusters mean increase by rising of participant but the education had not significant effect. Gender had no effect on none of them. The findings of this study are consistent with other studies and difference in findings in some of studies, could cause of different in educational and age partitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Static stretch is a safe and feasible method which usually is used before exercise to avoid muscle injury and to improve muscle performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of cyclic static stretch (CSS) on fatigue recovery of triceps surae (TS) in female basketball players.Nine athlete volunteers between 20 and 30 years participated in this study containing two sessions. After warm-up a pressure cuff was fastened above the knee joint and its pressure was increased to 140 mmHg. The subjects were asked to perform one maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) followed by a fatigue test including maximum isometric fatiguing contraction of TS. These steps were similar in both sessions. Then, a two-minute rest was included in the first session while 4 static stretches were performed to TS in the second session. After interventions, one MVC was done and the pressure cuff was released. During these steps, peak torque (PT) and electromyography (EMG) were recorded. The amount of lower leg pain was determined by the visual analogue scale (VAS). The value of PT increased significantly after CSS but its increase was not significant after rest. It seems that the effects of rest and CSS on the EMG parameters, PT and pain are similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The goal of this study was to search verb morphology in bilingual with specific language impairment and comparing them with normal bilingual and Persian children with special language disorder because we want to find their ability in this skills in bilingual children with specific language impairment and and evaluating Low Capacity Processing( LCP) theory. Materials and Methods: Six bilingual (Azeri- Persian) children with specific language impairment and 6 Persian were selected from clinics of Tehran. They were 7-8 years old. Children with specific language impairment were evaluated about Perception and Expression tense morpheme of verbs and then they were compared with 6 age- matched--children as control groups. Children with specific language impairment are diagnosed as exhibiting a significant delay (more than one year) in language that can not be explained by intelligence deficits, hearing loss or visual impairment. In this research we used narrative speech and specific language impairment's test and we used Man Whitney's test for comparing these groups. Results: Bilingual children with specific language impairment (SLI) have delay in comparison with their age-matched group in tense morphemes (p=0.020, p=0.019). They also have delay in tense of verbs (past, present, future) in comparison with Persian language children with special language impairment but it was not meaningful (p= 0.057). Conclusion: Comparison between typical development of bilingual children and bilinguals with SLI shows that verb morphology is a good clinical marker for diagnosing and treatment of these children. Comparison between Persian language children with SLI and bilinguals with SLI shows that there is no evidence for LCP theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Intonation has important roles on increase in intelligibility and conveyance correct meaning especially in conversational speech. Recognition of intonation correlates with three acoustic parameters: fundamental frequency, intensity and duration. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the acoustic correlation of intonation and intelligibility of speech in children with cochlear implant (CI) and compare with normal hearing (NH) children. Materials and Methods: This study has been carried out on 25 cochlear implant children and 25 children with normal hearing in primary school age ranges. Ten pictures were shown to children and statement and question sentences were elicited from them. To investigation of intelligibility, produced sentences were perceptually judgment by seven speech therapists and were scored by five point rating value. Acoustic correlation were determined using Praat software. Results: The results showed that there were significantly difference between two groups in each of acoustic correlations (P<0.05). Intelligibility scores of CI children were significantly lower than ones of NH children (P<0.05). There were significantly correlation between intonation and intelligibility scores, also between intelligibility and duration of implant use (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, cochlear implant children's performance in using of acoustic correlation of intonation is lower than normal hearing peers that results in inappropriately intonation. Inappropriately intonation can be the cause of low intelligibility in cochlear implant children. Thus, intervention of intonation should be considered in treatment program of cochlear implant children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Impairment of noun retrieval is common among aphasic patients, but some of previous studies represent differences between noun retrieval ability of various aphasia syndromes. Current study investigates and compares the picture naming ability of 4 patients with fluent and non-fluent aphasia. Materials and Methods: Present study investigated the naming ability of 2 fluent and 2 non-fluent aphasic patients with oral picture naming test. This test contains line drawing of 109 nouns. Patients were asked to name each picture with a single word. Responses were classified according to Philadelphia Naming Test scoring system as correct and semantic, formal, mixed, non-word, unrelated and others error (no response, description/circumlocution, miscellaneous error). Then, the data were investigated in terms of descriptive statistics and analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The score of non-fluent aphasics was more than fluent ones. The percentage of semantic errors in fluent group and no responses among non-fluent patients were more than the other types. Despite of personal differences, all error types were found in responses of patients. The difference between score and error types in fluent and non-fluent patients was not significant (p>.05). Conclusion: This scoring system can define a variety of word retrieval errors. The fluent aphasics have more noun retrieval problems than non-fluent patients. Although, there are differences between two groups, but error type in picture naming is not a precise factor for distinguish between various aphasia syndromes and there is similarity in impaired underling mechanisms and naming behavior of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Whole Body Vibration (WBV), as a new exercise modality, can improve neuromuscular performance but, there is no study to assess the effects of WBV on the reaction time as an indicator of muscular performance especially in upper extremity muscles. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate the immediate effects of WBV on timing parameters of upper extremity muscles. Materials and Methods: Forty healthy young women were randomly assigned in two groups of intervention (with WBV) and control (without WBV). In the intervention group, timing parameters (Reaction time (RT), Premotor time (PMT), Motor time (MT)) were measured by using EMG before and after the vibration (5 sets of 30seconds at 5 mm amplitude and 30 Hz frequency) session. The same protocol but without vibration was used for control group. Results: Whole body vibration did not alter the RT significantly (P=0.253). Premotor time was increased significantly only in the triceps muscle (P=0.006). There was also a significant difference (P=0.003) in MT of the serattus anterior muscle between two groups. Conclusion: It seems that WBV can induce different effects on upper extremity muscles. Whole body vibration has not any significant effects on the total RT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demylinating disease that due to the involvement of multiple areas in central nervous system, including sensorimotor system can impair the patients' balance. The aim of the present study was to determine the balance, extremities muscular strength and disability rate in Iranian patients with MS and to investigate the relationship between these parameters. Materials and Methods: Sixty eight patients with MS participated voluntarily in this study. The berg balance scale (BBS), Motricity index (MI) and self report patient determined disease steps (PDDS) were used for assessing the balance, extremities muscular strength and patients' disability rate, respectively. Results: Fifty six of patients showed balance impairment. Balance values were significantly correlated with muscular strength of upper (p=0.011) and lower (p<0.001) extremities in patients with balance impairment. But, the relation between balance and muscular strength in patients without balance impairment was not significant (p>0.05).There was a negative correlation between balance and disability rate (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that more than 50% of patients have balance impairment. Furthermore, the importance of evaluating muscle strength in order to predict the falling risk in MS patients were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Many of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with normal pure tone thresholds complain from difficulties in their hearing, especially perception of speech in background noise. Many tests for evaluation of this dysfunction have been developed; one of the best tests that are applied for evaluating the ability of individual to process and categorize brief, rapid changes in auditory stimuli is duration pattern sequence test (DPST). Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to compare between MS and normal 18-40-years-old participants by the duration pattern sequence test (DPST). Materials and Methods: This analytic-descriptive non-invasive cohort study was conducted on 20 relapsing-remitting MS and 26 normal subjects 18-40-year-old with normal hearing. The finding data, percent of corrected answers, in two groups was evaluated by T-test. Results: The finding showed reduction of corrected answers percentage in DPST test between two groups (P<0.05). in addition, long periods of the disease showed poor performance in DPST test in both ear. Conclusion: The findings of this study confirm that temporal resolution deficits in patient with MS may be related to involvement of central auditory processing nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: One of the main problems in learning is ignoring the teaching in small group discussion. So, today, teaching in student-based methods such as work in small group is emphasized. Nevertheless, this method is not used for teaching physiotherapy students. This study was performed to determine the effect of teaching in small group on satisfaction and learning level of second- year students in physiotherapy in comparison with lecture teaching. Materials and Methods: An experimental study was performed on 29 physiotherapy students. The students were randomly classified into two groups; lecture (14 people) and work in small group (15 people). Students were educated for 4 sessions. Two separate questionnaires were used to assess learning and satisfaction levels. Results: Overall satisfaction in small group was significantly greater than lecture group (P<0.0001). However, there was no significant difference between learning levels of the methods (p>0.05). 86.7% of students in small groups preferred to be educated in the future semesters using this teaching method. Conclusion: This study showed the role of small group teaching on increasing students' satisfaction level. Due to increased satisfaction in small group, despite the lack of significant difference between the two methods of learning, learning process can be facilitated. Thus this method is recommended for education of the undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: The communicative functioning of children who stutter can be assessed in a variety of ways. Standardized tests are an important tool to assess communication skills particularly in stuttering children .The purpose of the present study was to translate the Test of childhood Stuttering (TOCS) into persian and investigation of validity and reliability of the test . Materials and methods: In this research, 40 stutterers and 40 non-stutterer were evaluated. After the translation of the Test according to Protocol IQOLA and its equalization to Persian Language, Content validity and Face validity of it were determined by the opinions of experts. Then, for concurrent validity determination 80 stutterer and non-stutterer children were examined by TOCS and SSI3 .In order to test reliability, test -retest and Cronbach,s alpha were used. Results: Entirely relevant items had simple translation. The translation items had content and face validity correlation between the marks of TOCS and SSI3 (p=0.000, r= %92). TOCS has high Test-retest ( p=0.000, ICC= %97) and internal reliability (p=0.000,α=%90). Conclusion: Persian equalized TOCS (Test of childhood stuttering) have high validity and reliability. it might be useful to differentiate stuttering children among normal ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems, can affect on patient's daily activity and produce dependency in their daily activity and functional disability; The aim of present study is to compare static balance in patients with knee osteoarthritis and healthy subjects using force plate. Materials & Methods: Postural stability in knee OA patients and healthy subjects (each group 20 subjects) were measured by force plate. Two positions were selected double stance with closed or opened eyes. Range of fore/aft (Rfa) and Range of side ways (Rsw), were measured as static postural stability. Results: Rsw increased significantly in the double stance position in patients group (P<0.05). Also in both groups, Rsw and Rfa in the double stance with closed eyes were more than of open eyes position (P<0.05). Conclusion: Postural control deficits and increase of center of pressure's sway were identified in participants with knee osteoarthritis. Therefore, one of the most important goals of rehabilitation is to improve balance control in knee OA patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Intonation perception mainly relies on fundamental frequency changes perception that is not available for individual with profound to severe hearing loss. The aim of the present study is to investigate the perception of intonation in cochlear implanted children and compare with normal hearing children. Materials and methods: This study has been carried out on 25 cochlear implanted children and 50 children with normal hearing. An adult who her first language was Persian, expressed some questions and statement sentences. These sentences were playing for child and was asked him/her to determine whether it was in a question form or statement one. Results: The results showed that perception of question and statement sentences intonation had significantly differences between two groups (P<0.05). Perception of question and statement sentences intonation had significantly correlation with age at implantation and duration of implant use (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the findings of the current study and previous studies, cochlear implant has some deficits in facilitating the perception of intonation. However, this limitation has been compensated partly for early surgery. Thus, speech language pathologists should consider intervention of intonation in treatment program of cochlear implanted children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The standard tests are tools for quantifying different aspects of speech & language abilities and communicative skills. However developing and applying standard tests is necessary for assessing, screening, defining the speech & language abilities, diagnosing the speech & language disorders and attending to outcomes of treatment process. Therefore in this study for providing general view of speech & language assessment tests, we reviewed some of tests related to some important aspects of speech & language abilities. Method: This research is a review study based on American speech-language and hearing association. We reviewed exactly the tests that are in this association site because it is one of comprehensive and reliable references for speech-language pathologists. Just four most practical aspects of them, from the first test developed to now (2010), are selected and then analyzed. Results: In this study, 251 tests of assessment of speech and language are reviewed. 54 tests are related to articulation and phonological assessment. One hundred and forty tests are related to assessment of children expressive language. Forty three tests are available for assessing the expressive language in adult. 14 tests are presented for evaluating autistic children. Conclusion: However there are widespread spectrum of standard tests but it is necessary to develop other tests in different aspects of speech and language pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: One of the most important part of management and modification of CAD risk factor is to control the level of plasma lipid profile. Application of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation in patient with CAD could decrease the level of CHL, TG, LDL and increasing of HDL .There are a lot of studies that discuss the effect of rehabilitation on different people with different races and life style. Material and Methods: Thirty six patients with the age (40-75) who were referred by cardiologist participated in this study. Fast walking on treadmill, biking on stationary bicycle and cycling with upper body ergometer were chosen as aerobic exercises. For assessing the short term and long term effects of this protocol, blood sampling were taken at three stages; before exercise initiation, after 12 and 24 sessions of exercise. Results: Following the cardiac rehabilitation protocol, the level of CHL, LDL and the ratio of LDL/HDL and CHL/HDL decreased significantly. Conclusion: Cardiac rehabilitation could be used as means to improve lipid profile level in blood serum, prevention of cardiovascular disease and reducing mortality and morbidity rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Stuttering contains speech disruption or observed behaviors and inner reactions of speech- associated or emotional, disruptive, coping, and attitudinal reactions. Inner events can be reported by the person who stutters but can not be reliably defined by listener perceptions. Both the disorder's directly observable and inner elements and their interactive effects need to be fully assessed to achieve to clinically deals. This study investigates validity and reliability of the tests about inner events in stuttering children. Materials & Methods: This descriptive and analytical study was performed on 96 stuttering and non stuttering students in 6-11 (similar in age and sex). After Persian equalization of questionnaire and verifying, tests validity are scored by 10 experts. In order to tests reliability, children performed tests in two stages (25 days interval). Three methods were used: 1. comparsion between the mean tests scores in two stage 2. Investigation of correlation between two stages. 3. Investigation of results reliability (ICC). The data were analyzed by parametric and non-parametric statistical tests (paired t-test, spearman and pearson). Independent t-test were used in order to compare the mean tests scores between stuttering and non-stuttering children. Results: Although there was different between the mean BCL and CAT scores of stuttering and non stuttering children but this between group difference is not statistically significant (p>0.05). The mean BCL and CAT scores between two group (stuttering and non-stuttering) was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Behavioral checklist and communication attitude tests changed in stuttering children at 6-11 age. Both are valid and reliable and these tests distinguish between stuttering and non stuttering children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: The aim of this study was to verify the relationship between pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis with muscle tightness, muscle strength, BMI, and age in standing position. Material and methods: In this study, 75 healthy female subjects participated with age range 20-70 years, mean (SD) = 40.66 (13.69). Pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis were measured in standing position with pelvic inclinometer and flexible ruler respectively. The length of muscles, including: erector spinae, iliopsoas, rectus femoris, hamstrings, tensor fascia lata & ilio tibial band, and gastrocnemius were assessed by Schober, Thomas, Ely, 90/90 SLR, Ober tests and passive dorsiflexion of foot, respectively. The strength of muscles, including: rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis, left & right obliqus, Gluteus maximums & medius, and quadriceps were evaluated by manual muscle tests. Results: The relationship between pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis with muscle strength, BMI, and age was poor. Muscle tightness and muscle strength had no significant effect on pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the evaluated variables including: pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis, have poor correlation with muscle tightness, muscle strength, BMI, and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Rehabilitation treatments have significant role in reducing the disabilities of Cerebro Vascular Accident (CVA). Due to great role of upper limb in the function of individuals particularly in Activity of Daily Living and the effect of stability of shoulder girdle on hand function, the aim of this study was to study the effects of Progressive Resistive Exercise on shoulder extensor and abductor muscles isometric strengths in adult hemiplegic. Material and methods: 17 adult hemiplegics patients (50-70yrs., mean =60.52, SD=7.22); with RT side dominancy and 6 months after stroke, participated in this study. All procedures were approved by ethical committee of TUMS and written consents were also taken. Patients were familiarized with the procedure and shoulder extensor and abductor muscles isometric strengths were measured by dynamometer. Results: According to results of our study, shoulder extensor and abductor muscles isometric strengths showed significant differences between mean scores of pre and post intervention (P<0.05). Progressive Resistive Exercise improved 34% in shoulder extensor muscles isometric strength and 27% shoulder abductor muscle isometric strength. Conclusion: Results of our research showed that progressive resistive exercise approach is a useful method for increasing the isometric strength of shoulder extensor and abductor muscles. Therefore, it might be concluded that improvement of strength of shoulder muscles could result in stability in shoulder girdle and consequently might affect on hand function in hemiplegic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Nowadays, importance of multidimensional approach in evaluating of stuttering is obvious. Stuttering aspects evaluation provided by speech situation checklist. In this study, validity and reliability of this checklist is performed on stuttering and non- stuttering (6-11 years old) pupils. Material and methods: In this research, 43 stutterer and 45 non-stutterer pupils were evaluated. After equalization of questionnaire to Persian language, emotional reaction & speech disruption questionnaire were completed according to their attitude . In order to test validity, four methods were used. Data were analyzed by parametric and non-parametric statistical tests Results: Comparison of score average of speech disruption and emotional reaction tests showed significant difference between stutter and non-stutter groups for Persian language children (p<0.05). Emotional reaction and speech disruption checklist (Persian version) has high test-retest (p=0.000,Icc>0.86) and internal validity (p=0.000,α >0.93). Conclusion: Persian equalized speech disruption and emotional reaction tests have high validity and reliability. it might be useful to differentiate stuttering pupil among normal ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders around the world including Iran. One of the most widely used modalities in the field of physiotherapy is therapeutic ultrasound (US). Despite its common use, there is still inconclusive evidence to support its effectiveness in patients with NSCLBP. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of continuous US compared with placebo US additional to exercise therapy for patients with NSCLBP. Methods In this single blind placebo controlled study, 50 patients with NSCLBP were randomized into two treatment groups: 1) continuous US (1 MHz &1.5 W/cm2) plus exercise 2) placebo US plus exercise. Patients received treatments for 4 weeks, 10 treatment sessions, 3 times per week, every other day. Treatment effects were assessed in terms of primary outcome measures: 1) functional disability, measured by Functional Rating Index, and 2) global pain, measured by a visual analog scale. Secondary outcome measures were lumbar flexion and extension range of motion (ROM), endurance time and rate of decline in median frequency of electromyography spectrum during a Biering Sorensen test. All outcome variables were measured before, after treatment, and after one-month follow-up. An intention to treat analysis was performed. Main effects of Time and Group as well as their interaction effect on outcome measures were investigated using repeated measure ANOVA. Results Analysis showed that both groups had improved regarding function (FRI) and global pain (VAS) (P < .001). Lumbar ROM as well as holding time during the Sorensen test and median frequency slope of all measured paravertebral muscles did not change significantly in either group (P > .05). Improvement in function and lumbar ROM as well as endurance time were significantly greater in the group receiving continuous US (P < .05). Conclusions The study showed that adding continuous US to a semi supervised exercise program significantly improved function, lumbar ROM and endurance time. Further studies including a third group of only exercise and no US can establish the possible effects of placebo US. Trial registration NTR2251

Background. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a common disorder which causes a variety of complications such as cognitive deficits in central nervous system. Auditory P300 event related potential is a wellestablished neurophysiologic approach in the assessment of cognitive performance. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cognitive performance in insulin dependent diabetic patients by auditory event related potentials. Methods. In this descriptive analytical and non-interventional study, auditory P300 event related potential was measured in oddball paradigm by using two tone burst stimuli (1000 & 2000 Hz) on 25 diabetic patients and 25 age, education and sex matched healthy controls, with mean age 28.76±4.1 in patients and 29.68±3.6 in controls. Results. The mean P300 latency of the diabetic patients was significantly prolonged and the mean P300 amplitude of the diabetic patients was significantly lower when compared with that of controls at all electrode sites (p<0.01). Also there was a strong correlation between P300 latency and glucose level, HbA1c and diabetes duration (p<0.01). Conclusion. Auditory information processing is slower and the speed of information categorizing is lower in diabetic patients than in controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nucleic acid-based vaccines allow scalable, rapid, and cell-free vaccine production in response to an emerging disease such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we objected to the design of a multiepitope mRNA vaccine against the structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Through an immunoinformatic approach, promising epitopes were predicted for the spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N) proteins. Fragments rich in overlapping epitopes were selected based on binding affinities with HLA classes I and II for the specific presentation to B and T lymphocytes. Two constructs were designed by fusing the fragments in different arrangements via GG linkers. Construct 1 showed better structural properties and interactions with toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2), TLR-3, and TLR-4 during molecular docking and dynamic simulation. A 50S ribosomal L7/L12 adjuvant was added to its N-terminus to improve stability and immunogenicity. The final RNA sequence was used to design a trans-amplifying RNA (taRNA) vaccine in a split-vector system. It consists of two molecules: a nonreplicating RNA encoding a trans-acting replicase to amplify the second one, a trans-replicon (TR) RNA encoding the vaccine protein. Overall, the immune response simulation detected that activated B and T lymphocytes and increased memory cell formation. Macrophages and dendritic cells proliferated continuously, and IFN- γ and cytokines like IL-2 were released highly., Competing Interests: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the present study., (Copyright © 2024 Fatemeh Nafian et al.)

Importance: Stroke is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is often accompanied by complications such as spasticity. Static stretching (SS) is a common physiotherapy intervention for reducing spasticity, whereas dry needling (DN) is a novel approach. However, the combined effects of DN and SS on spasticity have not been thoroughly investigated. Given the pivotal effect of spasticity on daily activities, mitigating spasticity can significantly contribute to restoring patient independence., Objective: This study will explore the impact of DN plus SS on spasticity, alpha motor neuron excitability, overall function, and quality of life in patients with chronic stroke., Design, Setting, and Population: A double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial will be conducted in patients with post-stroke spasticity in the plantar flexor muscles. Twentyeight participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group. The intervention group will receive DN (60s × 3 days/week; 1 week) plus SS (20 min × 5 days/ week; 1 week). The control group will undergo sham DN (60s × 3 days/week; 1 week) and SS (20 min × 5 days/week; 1 week)., Exposures: DN plus SS or sham DN plus SS., Main Outcomes and Measures: Both groups will be assessed at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and after 1 week of follow-up. Outcome measures will include the Modified Modified Ashworth Scale, H-reflex latency, Hmax/Mmax ratio, active and passive ankle dorsiflexion range of motion, timed up and go test, and the EuroQol questionnaire., Results: Results from this randomized, sham-controlled study will provide evidence for the effectiveness of DN in combination with SS for spasticity., Conclusions and Relevance: The additional impact of DN in conjunction with SS, a widely used method for reducing muscle tone, remains unclear and warrants investigation. This study, with a high level of evidence, aims to address this knowledge gap.

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common mononeuropathy in the upper limb. It remains uncertain whether adding extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) or low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to conventional treatment benefits CTS patients., Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of ESWT and LLLT in conjunction with conventional treatments (including carpal mobilization, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and ultrasound) on the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve and pain in mild-to-moderate CTS patients., Study Design: This was a single-blinded randomized clinical trial with registration number IRCT20220504054734N1., Methods: Thirty-six patients were randomly assigned using block balanced randomization to receive either four sessions of ESWT or 10 sessions of LLLT in addition to 10 sessions of conventional treatments over 2 weeks. Patients received numbered closed envelopes indicating their treatment group. CSA (primary) and pain (secondary) in 18 patients who completed the treatment were assessed at baseline and after 2 weeks by a blinded assessor. Paired and independent sample t-tests were used for analyses due to the normal distribution of data was checked by Kolmogorov-Smirnoff. Cohen's d effect size was used to assess the intervention's magnitude., Results: Both ESWT and LLLT groups showed significant improvements in CSA (p = 0.002) and pain (p < 0.001) from baseline to posttreatment. CSA improvement was moderate for ESWT (mean difference: 1.2, 95% CI 0.51-1.9) and mild for LLLT (mean difference: 0.76, 95% CI 0.4-1.14). Conversely, pain improvement was substantial in both groups (ESWT: mean difference 4.4, 95% CI 3.6-5.3; LLLT: mean difference 4.4, 95% CI 3.7-5.2). No substantial differences between ESWT and LLLT were observed, highlighting their comparable efficacy., Conclusion: The addition of either LLLT or ESWT to conventional treatment effectively reduced pain and median nerve CSA in mild-to-moderate CTS. The absence of significant differences between ESWT and LLLT indicates their comparable efficacy in pain relief and CSA reduction., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that we have no financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The most important clinical problem in myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is trigger points (TrPs). The aim of the present study was to investigate the comparison of immediate effect of deep transverse friction massage (DTFM), high-power pain threshold ultrasound (HPPTUS), and whole body vibration (WBV) on treatment of active myofascial trigger points (MTrPs)., Materials and Methods: sixty six men with active TrPs of upper trapezius muscle were randomly divided into three equal groups: DTFM, HPPT US, and WBV. Pain intensity based on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), pressure pain threshold (PPT) and active contralateral lateral flexion range of motion (CLF ROM) of the neck were evaluated before and immediately after the interventions., Results: The VAS, PPT and the active CLF ROM were substantially improved after intervention in all groups (P < 0.01). When the three groups were compared regarding VAS, participants in the WBV group reported significantly more reduction in pain (P < 0.01). On comparing the interventions, there were no significant differences in PPT values (P > 0.05). The CLF ROM value in HPPTUS and WBV groups have significant increase in comparison to the DTFM group., Conclusion: All three interventions can improve neck pain, PPT and ROM in participants with active TrPs in upper trapezius muscle, but due to the fact that the DTFM has more pressure on therapist fingers, and the HPPTUS technique requires proper interaction with the participants, WBV can be used as one of the effective intervention on active MTrPs of upper trapezius., Clinical Trial Registration Number: IRCT20200518047498N1., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors whose names are listed immediately below certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: The Fascial Distortion Model (FDM) is a relatively new manual therapy approach in the field of musculoskeletal physical therapy, but to date no study has been conducted to compare its' effect in comparison with joint mobilization on patients with shoulder impingement syndrome., Objective: The present study aims to compare the efficacy of the FDM versus joint mobilization in pain intensity, pain-free abduction range of motion and function of patients with shoulder impingement syndrome., Design: single-blind, parallel-arm randomized controlled trial., Methods: 26 patients diagnosed with shoulder impingement syndrome were equally randomized into 2 groups: manual treatment according to the FDM, and joint mobilization of the shoulder complex. All patients received 3 intervention sessions every other day. Pain intensity (by visual analogue scale), pain-free abduction range of motion (by goniometry) and function (by Persian version of shoulder pain and disability index) were measured before and after every session and at follow-up 2 weeks later. Patients' satisfaction with treatment was also measured (by a 4-point Likert scale) at follow-up., Results: FDM therapy group showed statistically significant greater pain reduction (P = 0.014) and range of motion increment (P = 0.044) than joint mobilization group after intervention, while only range of motion maintained the difference at follow-up (P = 0.034). Function improvement was not statistically different after the intervention (P = 0.582) and at follow-up (P = 0.094). There was no difference in patients' satisfaction with treatment between groups (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: The FDM is a safe and effective treatment approach with comparable results to joint mobilization in patients with shoulder impingement syndrome., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest This paper was extracted from the master's thesis of the first author in Department of Physiotherapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (grant number 99-3-103-50109). One of the authors (T. Fischer) is a certified European Fascial Distortion Model Association instructor. Otherwise, the authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study aimed to investigate the behavioral results of perceptual learning in young old using double-vowel discrimination tasks in combined auditory training programs. In a single-blind randomized clinical trial, 35 participants were randomly divided into three groups and received different auditory training programs for six sessions using the software. To compare the double-vowel discrimination score, CV in noise test, and reaction time to the first and second vowels pre- and post-intervention, an analysis of variance was conducted. The discrimination score in the double vowel task and CV in noise test improved after training with no significant difference between the groups. After auditory training, the lowest RT1 was observed in the first intervention group, whereas RT2 decreased only in the second intervention. The present study showed that combined auditory training programs are as effective as conventional auditory training programs in improving speech perception in the elderly. Modifications in the sensory cortex could be investigated using electrophysiological recordings, but this was not conducted because of the pandemic., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03923-x., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© Association of Otolaryngologists of India 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

[Purpose] The aim of this research was to see how ultrasound and nerve gliding with and without shock wave therapy effects on clinical and sonographic data of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). [Participants and Methods] Forty four patients with moderate carpal tunnel syndrome participated in this research. One group got shock-wave therapy in addition to median nerve glide exercises and ultrasound, whereas the other group received median nerve glide exercises and ultrasound alone. Hand grip strength (HGS), pinch grip strength (PGS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)-pain, Boston Questionnaire (BQ), and Cross-sectional area (CSA) of median nerve were examined before and after 10 sessions of treatment. [Results] HGS, PGS, VAS, BQ and CSA of median nerve improved considerably after therapy. [Conclusion] Patients with moderate CTS who received ultrasound and median nerve glide exercises with and without shock-wave therapy improved considerably without preference of adding shock-wave therapy to other treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflict of interest., (2022©by the Society of Physical Therapy Science. Published by IPEC Inc.)

Objectives: 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., Materials and Methods: 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)., Results: The ability to detect the gap interposed between 60 db background noise was impaired at weeks 2, 3, and 4 following insular lesion, while prepulse inhibition remained intact up to four weeks after surgery., Conclusion: 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., Competing Interests: None.

Introduction: 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., Methods: 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)., Results: 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., Conclusion: 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., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright© 2021 Iranian Neuroscience Society.)

Background and objectives: Hyperacusis is hypersensitivity and extreme response to the intensity of sound that is tolerable in normal subjects. The mechanisms underlying hyperacusis has not been well understood, specially the role of insular cortex. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of insular cortex in hyperacusis like behavior. Material and methods: The number of 33 male wistar rats weighting 170-250 gr were allocated randomly in three groups; control, sham, and insular lesion. Auditory startle responses (ASR) to different intensities of stimuli (70, 80, 90, 100, and110 dB without background noise as well as 110 dB in the presence of 70, 80 dB background noise) were measured before and up to four weeks after intervention. Results: Data analyses showed an increase in ASR to 100 dB stimulus without background noise one week after insular lesion, and increased responses to other intensities two weeks after lesion. Furthermore, there was a decrease in ASR to 110 dB stimulus with 80 dB background noise two weeks after insular lesion. However, no significant difference was observed in 70 dB background noise. The changes in ASR lasts at least four weeks. Conclusion: The findings indicated that there was an increase in ASR in the absence of background noise following cortical excititoxic lesion limited to insular cortex, while there was a decrease in responses in the presence of background noise which suggests possible increased sensitivity to sound loudness as a hyperacusis-like phenomenon. The study showed a significant relationship between insular cortex lesion and ASR in rats.

Background: Little research has examined gender differences in the association of seeing others exercise, in the neighborhood context, with physical activity, particularly for diverse racial/ethnic groups. The authors examined the association between frequency of seeing people walk and aerobic activity by gender among Latinos., Methods: The authors used cross-sectional 2015 National Health Interview Survey data on Latino participants ≥18 years (n = 5147). Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the association between seeing people walk and level of aerobic physical activity., Results: Men reporting seeing people walk every 2 to 3 days and every day were more likely to meet the aerobic activity recommendation (odds ratio [OR] 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-3.89 and OR 1.96; 95% CI, 1.23-3.14, respectively). Among women, those seeing people walk every day and every 2 to 3 days were likely to engage in some aerobic activity (OR 1.88; 95% CI, 1.26-2.80 and OR 2.16; 95% CI, 1.23-3.18, respectively) and meet the recommendation (OR 1.73; 95% CI, 1.24-2.42 and OR 1.66; 95% CI, 1.03-2.67, respectively). Women seeing people walk about once a week were also likely to engage in some activity (OR 3.06; 95% CI, 1.59-5.89)., Conclusions: Among Latino men and women, seeing people walk is associated with meeting the aerobic activity guideline. Results suggest that adoption of physical activity may in part be driven by neighborhood-level behavioral norms and by inference characteristics of the neighborhood that support walking.

Hyperacusis may be defined as diminishing tolerance to moderate and high intensity sounds in people with normal hearing sensitivity. Serotonin plays a critical role in some of auditory tasks including startle reflex and prepulse inhibition. Serotonin deficiency can cause some diseases which can coincide with hyperacusis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the probable influence of serotonergic depletion in nucleus accumbens (NAcc) on the startle reflex. The startle reflexes were examined in Wistar rats (n: 48) in different intensities with and without the background noise. The amplitude of startle reflex significantly increased in NAcc-injected rats without background noise, while this difference disappeared in the presence of background noise in all intensities. These data proposed that the injection of 5, 7-Dihydroxytryptamine (5, 7-DHT) into nucleus accumbens will cause hyperacusis-like behavior, and strengthens the possibility of the role of serotonin and nucleus accumbens in hyperacusis., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Dysphagia following stroke is common and can lead to severe complications such as aspiration pneumonia, but there is inconclusive evidence on how poststroke dysphagia should be treated. This study aimed to investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with the traditional dysphagia therapy on the swallowing function in patients with poststroke dysphagia. In this pilot double-blind randomized clinical trial, 18 patients with poststroke dysphagia were allocated randomly to three groups: (i) traditional dysphagia therapy, (ii) rTMS, and (iii) combined intervention. Patients received traditional dysphagia therapy for 18 treatment sessions three times per week. The inhibitory rTMS was applied to the intact cerebral hemisphere at 1 Hz with a train of 1200 for 5 consecutive days. The patients in the combined intervention group received traditional dysphagia therapy and rTMS simultaneously. The Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) and Functional Oral Intake Scale were performed before treatment, after the end of the fifth session, after the end of the 10th session, after the end of the 15th session, and after the end of the 18th session. All groups had improved on MASA and Functional Oral Intake Scale scores over time (P<0.01). The improvements achieved in all outcomes were significantly greater in the combined intervention group than those of the traditional dysphagia therapy and rTMS groups. The large effect sizes were found for the MASA score in all groups: traditional dysphagia therapy group (d = 3.57), rTMS group (d = 2.67), and combined intervention group (d = 3.87). This pilot randomized-controlled trial showed that the combination of rTMS and traditional dysphagia therapy significantly improved swallowing function in patients with poststroke dysphagia.

Background: Little is known about the neuromuscular morphometric characteristics in patients with sciatica., Objective: To evaluate the possible changes of nerve and muscle structures in patients with low back pain with unilateral radiculopathy due to lumbar disc herniation by ultrasound imaging., Design: A case-control observational study., Methods: Forty individuals were divided into case (n = 20; low back pain with unilateral radiculopathy due to disc herniation), and healthy control groups (n = 20). The thickness of lumbar multifidus at L5 level, and of lower limb muscles (i.e., biceps femoris, medial gastrocnemius, and soleus) was measured during both rest and full contraction to calculate the rest/contraction ratio of these muscles. Additionally, the sciatic nerve cross-sectional area and the echogenicity of the nerve and muscles were measured based on ultrasound imaging. The association between severity of low back pain radiculopathy (i.e., pain and patients' perceived disability) and rest/contraction ratio was assessed., Results: Patients with sciatica showed sciatic nerve enlargement, and different contraction ratios for multifidus (at L5)/ankle plantar flexors compared to the controls. The rest/contraction ratio for biceps femoris was similar between the two groups., Conclusion: According to these findings, ultrasound imaging can be considered a useful tool to detect changes in the sciatic nerve and muscles due to disc herniation. Furthermore, regarding the observation of significant changes in muscle rest/contraction ratio in the multifidus and gastrosoleus, one might attribute these changes to the nerve root compression., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of dry needling on tendon-pulley architecture, pain and hand function in patients with trigger finger. [Participants and Methods] A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Fifty eight patients having trigger finger were randomly assigned as either an experimental group that received a single session of dry needling over pulleyA1 and flexor tendon or a control group that received no intervention. Thickness of tendon-pulley, and pain-hand function (by disability arm-shoulder questionnaire score and pinch grip strength) were measured by a blinded assessor before and one week after intervention. [Results] The two way mixed ANOVA in the experimental group showed that the thickness of pulley-tendon decreased, pinch grip power increased and DASH questionnaire score was decreased in comparison to the control group. [Conclusion] This study results suggest that a single session of Dry Needling (DN) was effective in decreasing pain, DASH score, pulley-tendon thickness and improving pinch grip power in patients with trigger finger., Competing Interests: None.

Background and Objectives: Weak signals embedded in fluctuating masker can be perceived more efficiently than similar signals embedded in unmodulated masker. This release from masking is known as comodulation masking release (CMR). In this paper, we investigate, neural correlates of CMR in the human auditory brainstem., Subjects and Methods: A total of 26 normal hearing subjects aged 18-30 years participated in this study. First, the impact of CMR was quantified by a behavioral experiment. After that, the brainstem correlates of CMR was investigated by the auditory brainstem response to complex sounds (cABR) in comodulated (CM) and unmodulated (UM) masking conditions., Results: The auditory brainstem responses are less susceptible to degradation in response to the speech syllable /da/ in the CM noise masker in comparison with the UM noise masker. In the CM noise masker, frequency-following response (FFR) and fundamental frequency (F0) were correlated with better behavioral CMR. Furthermore, the subcortical response timing of subjects with higher CMR was less affected by the CM noise masker, having higher stimulus-to-noise response correlations over the FFR range., Conclusions: The results of the present study revealed a significant link between brainstem auditory processes and CMR. The findings of the present study show that cABR provides objective information about the neural correlates of CMR for speech stimulus.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on lower extremity (LE) spasticity, motor function and motor neurone excitability in chronic stroke patients., Method: This study was a randomised sham-controlled cross-over trial with 1-week follow-up. A total of 20 post-stroke patients were randomised to receive active (n = 10) or sham (n = 10) rTMS. Fourteen of them (7 in each group) crossed over to the sham or active rTMS after a washout period of 1 month. Interventions consist of five consecutive daily sessions of active or sham rTMS to the unaffected lower extremity motor area (1000 pulses; 1 Hz; 90% of the tibialis anterior motor threshold). Outcome measures were modified modified ashworth scale (MMAS), the H-reflex, lower extremity section of Fugl-Mayer assessment (LE-FMA) and timed UP and GO (TUG) test. All outcomes were measured at three levels in each intervention period: pre- and post-intervention and 1-week follow-up., Results: Friedman's test revealed significant improvement in MMAS score only after active rTMS. This improvement lasted for one week after the active rTMS. Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant time*intervention interaction for LE-FMA. There are no differences between groups for the MMAS and LE-FMA. No significant change in Hmax/Mmax ratio and TUG test was noted., Conclusion: Low-frequency rTMS over the LE motor area can improve clinical measures of muscle spasticity and motor function. More studies are needed to clarify the changes underlying this improvement in spasticity. Implications for Rehabilitation Spasticity is a common disorder and one of the causes of long-term disability after stroke. Physical therapy modalities, oral medications, focal intervention and surgical procedures have been used for spasticity reduction. Beneficial effect of the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for post-stroke upper extremity spasticity reduction and motor function improvement was demonstrated in previous studies. This study shows amelioration of lower extremity spasticity and motor function improvement after five daily sessions of inhibitory rTMS to the unaffected brain hemisphere which lasted for at least 1 week following the intervention.

Background: Whole Body Vibration (WBV) has been reported to change neuromuscular activity which indirectly assessed by electromyography (EMG). Although researches regarding the influence of WBV on EMG activity of the upper extremity muscles are in their infancy, contradictory findings have been reported as a result of dissimilar protocols., Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of WBV on electromyography (EMG) activity of upper extremity muscles in static modified push up position., Methods: Forty recreationally active females were randomly assigned in WBV and control groups. Participants in WBV group received 5 sets of 30 seconds vibration at 5 mm (peak to peak) and 30 Hz by using vibratory platform. No vibration stimulus was used in the control group. Surface EMG was recorded from Upper Trapezius (UT), Serratus Anterior (SA), Biceps Brachii (BB) and Triceps Brachii (TB) muscles before, during and after the vibration protocol while the subjects maintained the static modified push up position. EMG signals were expressed as root mean square (EMGrms) and normalized by maximum voluntary exertion (MVE)., Results: EMGrms activity of the studied muscles increased significantly during the vibration protocol in the WBV group comparing to the control group (P ≤ 0.05). The results indicated that vibration stimulus transmitting via hands increased muscle activity of UT, SA, BB and TB muscles by an average of 206%, 60%, 106% and 120%, respectively, comparing to pre vibration values., Conclusions: These findings suggest that short exposure to the WBV could increase the EMGrms activity of the upper extremity muscles in the static modified push-up position. However, more sessions of WBV application require for a proper judgment.

Objective: Auditory temporal processing is the main feature of speech processing ability. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, despite their normal hearing sensitivity, may present speech recognition disorders. The present study was carried out to evaluate the auditory temporal processing in patients with unilateral TLE., Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out on 25 patients with epilepsy: 11 patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy and 14 with left temporal lobe epilepsy with a mean age of 31.1years and 18 control participants with a mean age of 29.4years. The two experimental and control groups were evaluated via gap-in-noise and duration pattern sequence tests. One-way ANOVA was run to analyze the data., Results: The mean of the threshold of the GIN test in the control group was observed to be better than that in participants with LTLE and RTLE. Also, it was observed that the percentage of correct responses on the DPS test in the control group and in participants with RTLE was better than that in participants with LTLE., Conclusion: Patients with TLE have difficulties in temporal processing. Difficulties are more significant in patients with LTLE, likely because the left temporal lobe is specialized for the processing of temporal information., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine verbal intelligence and spoken language of children with phenylketonuria and to study the effect of age at diagnosis and phenylalanine plasma level on these abilities., Design: Cross-sectional., Setting: Children with phenylketonuria were recruited from pediatric hospitals in 2012. Normal control subjects were recruited from kindergartens in Tehran., Participants: 30 phenylketonuria and 42 control subjects aged 4-6.5 years. Skills were compared between 3 phenylketonuria groups categorized by age at diagnosis/treatment, and between the phenylketonuria and control groups., Main Outcome Measures: Scores on Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence for verbal and total intelligence, and Test of Language Development-Primary, third edition for spoken language, listening, speaking, semantics, syntax, and organization., Results: The performance of control subjects was significantly better than that of early-treated subjects for all composite quotients from Test of Language Development and verbal intelligence (P<0.001). Early-treated subjects scored significantly higher than the two groups of late-treated subjects for spoken language (P=0.01), speaking (P=0.04), syntax (P=0.02), and verbal intelligence (P=0.019). There was a negative correlation between phenylalanine level and verbal intelligence (r=-0.79) in early-treated subjects and between phenylalanine level and spoken language (r=-0.71), organization (r=-0.82) and semantics (r=-0.82) for late-treated subjects diagnosed before the age one year., Conclusion: The study confirmed that diagnosis of newborns and control of blood phenylalanine concentration improves verbal intelligence and spoken language scores in phenylketonuria subjects.