Variation during practice is widely accepted to be advantageous for motor learning and is, therefore, a valuable strategy to effectively reduce high-risk landing mechanics and prevent primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Few attempts have examined the specific effects of variable training in athletes who have undergone ACL reconstruction. Thereby, it is still unclear to what extent the variations in different sensor areas lead to different effects. Accordingly, we compared the effects of versatile movement variations (DL) with variations of movements with emphasis on disrupting visual information (VMT) in athletes who had undergone ACL reconstruction. Forty-five interceptive sports athletes after ACL reconstruction were randomly allocated to a DL group (n = 15), VT group (n = 15), or control group (n = 15). The primary outcome was functional performance (Triple Hop Test). The secondary outcomes included dynamic balance (Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT)), biomechanics during single-leg drop-landing task hip flexion (HF), knee flexion (KF), ankle dorsiflexion (AD), knee valgus (KV), and vertical ground reaction force (VGRF), and kinesiophobia (Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK)) assessed before and after the 8 weeks of interventions. Data were analyzed by means of 3 × 2 repeated measures ANOVA followed by post hoc comparison (Bonferroni) at the significance level of p ≤ 0.05. Significant group × time interaction effects, main effect of time, and main effect of group were found for the triple hop test and all eight directions, SEBT, HF, KF, AD, KV, VGRF, and TSK. There was no significant main effect of group in the HF and triple hop test. Additionally, significant differences in the triple hop test and the seven directions of SEBT, HF, KF, KV, VGRF, and TSK were found between the control group and the DL and VMT groups. Between group differences in AD and the medial direction of SEBT were not significant. Additionally, there were no significant differences between VMT and the control group in the triple hop test and HF variables. Both motor learning (DL and VMT) programs improved outcomes in patients after ACL reconstruction. The findings suggest that DL and VMT training programs lead to comparable improvements in rehabilitation.

The physical health assessment of university students in Iran is a national large scale assessment examining health behaviors among tertiary education students. Understanding risky health behaviors which are the major sources of global mortality and morbidity in adulthood is the key objective of this assessment. In academic year of 2012–2013, newly admitted students (N = 151,671) at 74 governmental eligible universities that had health center from 28 provinces were invited to participate in the health assessment program. The physical health behaviors of the students were evaluated by using questionnaire. The test-retest reliability method was applied to estimate the reliability of physical health questionnaire. After filling out the questionnaires, students were led to the examination room for the measurement of height, weight and blood pressure. From the total study population, 84,298 student’s ages between 18 and 29 years old, were participated in the health assessment. The mean response proportion was 63%. The mean age of students was 21.5 ± 4.01, with 49.20% percent being <20 years old. 32.31% were between 20 and 24 years, 13.44% between 25 and 29 years, 69% of the participants were undergraduate 34.9% were master’s students, and 2.9% were Ph.D. students. The mean BMI for total students was 22.5 ± 4.0 and regarding to gender, the mean BMI for male and female were 23.0 ± 4.1 and 22.2 ± 3.8 respectively. Analysis of student’s findings will generate multiple studies which report different aspects of physical health of Iranian university students who constitute a large proportion of young adult aged 18–29 years in the country. This assessment also provides opportunity to compare Iranian student’s behavioral patterns with the behavioral pattern of students worldwide.

Objectives: As a major feature of the disease, motor-related complications, including loss of balance and reduced ability to walk were seen in multiple sclerosis (MS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of core stability exercises and transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) as a non-invasive brain stimulation on balance, walking capacity, and quality of life in patients with MS. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study with a pretest-posttest design, 29 female patients with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) of less than 4.5 (3.75±1.31) and a mean age of 38.36±7.99 years were purposefully selected from patients referring to MS society of Tehran during 2021 and then randomly assigned to the following three groups: core stability exercises, anodal tDCS, and sham. Variables, such as balance, walking capacity, and quality of life were measured before and after the interventions. Subjects in the core stability training group participated in core stability exercises for three weeks, and subjects in both sham and anodal tDCS groups received direct brain electrical stimulation for five sessions. Results: A significant improvement in balance and walking capacity were seen both in the anodal tDCS and the core stability training groups (P<0.05). Moreover, mobility was significantly changed in the tDCS group (P<0.05). However, no significant difference in the quality of life was seen between the groups. Discussion: Our findings indicate comparable effects of tDCS, and core stability training on balance and walking capacity in patients with MS. Therefore, in addition to exercises, tDCS can be considered a promising tool for the neurorehabilitation of patients with MS.

Purpose: Fatigue, imbalance, and walking disorder were commonly observed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) as debilitating symptoms. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) separately and in combination with virtual reality (VR) training on fatigue, balance, and walking (speed and stride ...

Background: Balance disorders are among the most significant challenges faced by children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (SDCP). Objectives: This study investigates the effect of selected exercises from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) approach on the functional balance of children with SDCP. Methods: Thirty-eight children aged 4 to 10 years with SDCP were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group. Inclusion criteria included grades 1 - 3 on the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). Functional balance was assessed using the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS). The experimental group participated in selected NASM exercises over eight weeks, with two sessions per week, while the control group received standard rehabilitation interventions, including neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) techniques, over the same period. Results: The ANCOVA results indicated no significant difference between the adjusted means of functional balance between the experimental and control groups. However, intra-group analysis using the dependent t-test showed a significant increase in average functional balance from pre-test to post-test within both groups. The control group exhibited a moderate effect size (effect size = 0.66), while the experimental group demonstrated a very large effect size (effect size = 1.17). Conclusions: National Academy of Sports Medicine exercises may serve as an effective alternative to conventional interventions for improving functional balance in children with SDCP.