Background and Aim: Fatigue has been proposed as one of underlying causes of musculo-skeletal injuries. Proprioceptive impairment seems to be one of the causes for this phenomenon. Few studies have investigated the effect of local fatigue on sense of force, but the effect of general fatigue on sense of force have not been studied yet. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of local and general fatigue on sense of force and their comparison in healthy young men. Material & Methods: this Quasi-Experimental study by cross over design was conducted on 20 healthy young men recruited by simple convenient sampling from 20-40 years old staffs in national Iranian oil company. The force sense error was measured and compared in elbow extensor muscles in sitting position by force sensor before and after local and general fatigue. Results: the force sense error of extensor muscles increased after local and general fatigue without any difference between the types of fatigue. The subjects made more force than what was required. Conclusion: local and general fatigue both increases the sense of effort and it seems that the subjects match the perceived effort thus they match more force than what is required. Therefore prevention of fatigue should be considered in exercise programming for athletes. Also it is necessary to design the exercise protocols for improvement of sense of force in these subjects.

Background and Aim: The goal of this study is to investigate the severity of visual acuity loss and the causes of low vision as well as the association between the severity of visual acuity loss and the type of low vision aid prescribed Material & Methods: In this retrospective cross- sectional study, 204 files of the patients referred to the Low Vision Center of the College of Rehabilitation, between 2007 to 2008,were analyzed. Data about their visual acuity, causes of low vision, and visual aid prescribed for them were collected. SPSS 17 was used to analyze the data. Results: The prevalence of different levels of visual acuity loss was as follow: moderate (40.7%), severe (45.6%), and very severe (13.7%). Twenty five types of diseases were identified with the following prevalence: Diabetic Retinopathy 16.2%, Age related macular degeneration 14.2%, Stargart 12.3%, Retinitis Pigmentosa 10.8%, and Albinism 8.2%. Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and ARMD, preventive measures should be taken to reduce these causes of Low vision. Microscope is the most prescribed vision aid for three groups of vision loss. The preference of the Iranian patients for using this vision aid could be due to its more casual appearance and ease of use.

Background and Aim: Hand writing is one of the most important abilities that children can gain and use as one part of their duties during their schooling. Students should write fluently and fast to have good connection with school works and gain good grades in exams. It is clear that hand writing problems can influence on children’s other abilities, because this skill is declared often as a reflection of intelligence and although what they write is the same, students with bad hand writing gain lower grades than students with nice hand writing. Recognition of sub base items in this problem will be affective in assessment, intermediation and prevention programs for children who are suffering from this problem. This study is designed to appoint the relation between in hand manipulation skills and visual-motor integration skills with hand writing skills of students of grade one of primary schools in Tehran. Material & Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytic (sectional) investigation. 139 students had been chosen by accident. Instruments which had been used in this study consisted of visual-motor integration test, hand writing quality checklist, chronometer and nine hole PEG test. After data collection, the results were analyzed. Results: The results indicate that visual- motor integration and in hand manipulation skills both are affective in children’s hand writing skills. Grades of girls and boys in visual-motor integration were significantly different. Mean grade of girls in this test was higher than boys, but these variants in hand manipulation skills were not significantly different. Also there was no significant different in handwriting speed and quality between boys and girls. Conclusion: The results indicate that by assessment of visual- motor integration skills and in hand manipulation skills we may be able to find more exact ways to prevent and treat children who are suffering from hand writing problems.

Background and Aim: Hand writing is one of the most important abilities that children can gain and use as one part of their duties during their schooling. Students should write fluently and fast to have good connection with school works and gain good grades in exams. It is clear that hand writing problems can influence on children’s other abilities, because this skill is declared often as a reflection of intelligence and although what they write is the same, students with bad hand writing gain lower grades than students with nice hand writing. Recognition of sub base items in this problem will be affective in assessment, intermediation and prevention programs for children who are suffering from this problem. This study is designed to appoint the relation between in hand manipulation skills and visual-motor integration skills with hand writing skills of students of grade one of primary schools in Tehran. Material & Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytic (sectional) investigation. 139 students had been chosen by accident. Instruments which had been used in this study consisted of visual-motor integration test, hand writing quality checklist, chronometer and nine hole PEG test. After data collection, the results were analyzed. Results: The results indicate that visual- motor integration and in hand manipulation skills both are affective in children’s hand writing skills. Grades of girls and boys in visual-motor integration were significantly different. Mean grade of girls in this test was higher than boys, but these variants in hand manipulation skills were not significantly different. Also there was no significant different in handwriting speed and quality between boys and girls. Conclusion: The results indicate that by assessment of visual- motor integration skills and in hand manipulation skills we may be able to find more exact ways to prevent and treat children who are suffering from hand writing problems.

Background and Aim: Falls are the leading cause of accidental death among older adults. Recent studies have demonstrated that an impaired ability to maintain balance while simultaneously performing cognitive tasks is associated with increased rates of adverse outcomes, such as falls in elderly people. Because interventions designed to improve dual-task balance performance have the potential to reduce falling rate and functional decline, they are a critical health care need. Material & Methods: 60 healthy adults in four equal groups (mean age in: young men=22.1±1.9, old men =68.3±4.1, young women =22.6±1.8, old women =66.9±2.6) participated in this study. All subjects experienced four test conditions including: single- task with eyes open (O1), single- task with eyes closed (C1), dual-task with eyes open (O2) and dual-task with eyes closed (C2). Postural task in this study included standing on 8 instability level of biodex balance SD machine plate and cognitive task was backward counting by three. Results: balance index mean in older group was significantly higher in comparison with young group in all test conditions (O1 P=.000, C1 P=.003, O2 P=.000, C2 P=.000). There are not any significant differences between gender groups balance index mean, in test conditions. In Young women group O2 overall (OL), antroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) balance indexes means were significantly higher than corresponding amounts in C2 (OL P=.014, AP P=.030, ML P=.017). In old women group C2 ML balance index mean was significantly higher than O2 ML balance index mean (P=.034). There are not significant differences between single- and dual-task conditions in other within group comparisons. Conclusion: In young men, young women and old women balance index means are different between single and dual eyes closed condition. Older adults balance index in single- and dual-task conditions is higher than young adults balance index. There is not any difference between men and women balance index in single and dual-task conditions.

Background and Aim: The dramatically increased incidence of hallux valgus (HV) deformity is more related to the cultural rather than genetic parameters. Satisfaction rate following either conservative or surgical treatments are very low. The current study aimed to compare the effects of three commonly used conservative treatments including hallux valgus (HV) splint, HV splint plus electrical stimulation (ES) currents, or HV splint plus exercise to treat this deformity. Materials & Methods: Thirty-six university students with a mild to moderate HV deformity were recruited in this study. Before starting the study, anterior-posterior view radiographies were taken from their feet. HV angle (HVA) less than 20º was considered as normal, between 21-25º as mild, between 26-40 º as moderate and higher than 40 degrees was considered as a sever HV deformity. Then, the subjects were divided into three groups (n=12) and were randomly placed into Splint, Splint plus Exercise, and Splint plus Exercise plus ES groups for 6 weeks. At the end of week six, the radiographies were repeated and the pre/post treatments HVA were compared. Results: The results of the current study showed a non-significant 4.7% reduction of HVA in Splint group (p=0.12). However, 15.4% reduction of HVA occurred in Splint plus Exercise group, which was significant (p=0.005).The subjects used Splint plus Electrical stimulation showed a significant 13.9% reduction in HVA (p=0.008). Furthermore, AOFAS scores of the subjects revealed no significant differences among treatment groups in terms of pain reduction. Conclusion: Although using a HV splint alone could not significantly reduce the HVA, mixing it with either exercise or ES could significantly expedite its corrective effects. It should be mentioned that correction of the deformity was not always associated with decreasing the subjects’ pain, which might be due to the immediate counter force of the splint. Repeating the study with a long follow-up time is recommended.

Background and Aim:Performing cognitive and motor tasks simultaneously, which is called dual task, could be a challenging topic to children with motor disorders. Since in everyday life, each person can encounter situations in which require concurrent activities, and also there are deficits in cognition and motor control among autistic children, so we aimed to investigate the effect of cognitive task on children’s postural stability.Material & Methods: In this study, fifteen boys with high function autism in the age range of 9-13 were recruited. Individuals with sever intellectual disabilities and other neurological or skeletal disorders were excluded. The same numbers of healthy children who were typically matched according to their sex and age with problematic children were included.Then sway parameters in the single (only standing) and dual (standing and counting) conditions were calculated with force plate. Results:The postural sway score was higher in autistic group than control (p <0.05). Dual task makes the sway parameters increased. These changes are statistically significant in mean velocity among patients and also RMS (root mean square) among healthy children (p <0.05). Conclusion:In one hand, autistic children have more postural instability in contrast with the control group. Developmental delay or deficits in the central neural system can lead them to confront difficulties. In the other hand, the decreased postural control and increased sway in dual task, suggest the higher usage of the limited attentional capacity.

Background and Aim: Massage training and how the body is influenced by massage are common issues which are seriously under study and discussion in Iranian traditional medicine. Iranian physicians considered motion and massage as major principles of health maintenance. In this study, we examined the available literature of traditional medicine to evaluate location, purpose and use of massage therapy in Iranian medicine in comparison with other popular conventional styles. The aim of Iranian massage is to regulate the core body temperature and aid to eliminate the waste products from the body. This type of massage is divided into five categories including solid, soft, moderate, great and aggressive, based on the intensity, speed, duration and techniques of massage. Iranian physicians proposed general body massage or massage of a particular area based on subjective complaints. They recommended specific massages in particular groups including children, pregnant women, the elderly and athletes. In some cases, the effects of these recommendations have been studied in clinical trials. Conclusion: It seems that the major difference between Iranian massage and other styles of massage is special attention of Iranian massage to the individual circumstances, and the cause of the problem rather than technique of the massage.