Abdolreza Kazemi

Today, thanks to scientific advances, space travel is on the rise. However, astronauts encounter numerous challenges during their space voyages, including the effects of space radiation and microgravity. Interestingly, female astronauts experience a greater number of side effects compared to their male counterparts. Certain research has indicated that female astronauts are prone to various types of cancers, particularly uterine cancer, as a consequence of prolonged space journeys and exposure to space radiation and microgravity. Conversely, physical activity has long been recommended as a cost-effective measure for managing or preventing cancer. Therefore, the present study aims to provide a concise overview of the impacts of space radiation and microgravity on female astronauts. Furthermore, it seeks to emphasize, for the first time, the significance of physical activity specifically for the prevention of uterine cancer among female astronauts. This study serves as a brief review of previous findings, potentially opening a new avenue for NASA researchers and exercise physiologists to explore. Finally, this study proposes a concise guide outlining three sections of physical activity for female astronauts: before, during, and after space travel. This guide aims to assist female astronauts in maintaining their physical well-being and reducing the risk of uterine cancer.

Background and objectives: Resistance training increases muscle mass and inhibits atrophy by changing the muscle mass and regulating the expression of muscle proteins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a detraining and retraining period on gene expression of ATF4 and P53 in the plantaris muscle of rats after hindlimb suspension. Subjects and Methods: 32 male rats aged 4 to 6 months were randomly divided into four groups (N=8): 1- control (G1), 2- training-suspension-retraining (G2), 3- detraining-suspension-retraining (G3) and 4- training-suspension-detraining (G4). The duration of resistance training was four weeks and the duration of the suspension protocol was two weeks. At the end of the study, the animals were anesthetized using chloroform and dissected and their plantaris muscle was separated. The measurement of gene expression was done by RT-PCR. Anova and Tukey's test were used to determine the difference between variables. Results: A significant difference was observed between the research groups in ATF4 and p53 gene expression (F=16.57) (p=0.0001) and (F=55.07) (p=0.0001). In addition, there was a significant decrease in ATF4 and p53 gene expression in G2, G3 and G4 compared to G1. Also, ATF4 gene expression was significantly decreased in G2 compared to G3 (p<0.05). Conclusion: Overall, the findings of the present study showed that resistance training is a very effective tool in preventing and controlling atrophy caused by immobility in animal model.

The Lower Extremity Functional Test (LEFT) is a reliable and valid test for the measurement of athletic fitness, fatigue resistance, and speed performance. Contradictory results exist regarding the screening value of the LEFT in predicting lower limb injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the screening value of the LEFT in predicting lower limb injuries in professional male footballers. One hundred and twenty-one professional male football players participated in the study. LEFT was recorded pre-season and the lower-limb injuries were recorded during a 9-month season. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the accuracy of the prognosis of LEFT. A total of twenty-five lower limb injuries were recorded. The model explained 53% of the variance in lower limb injury, showing that predictions by LEFT score is reliable, and correctly predicted 89.3% of cases, which is a large improvement. ROC analysis showed significant accuracy of the LEFT score (AUC 0.908, 95% CI 1.126–1.336, p = 0.001, OR = 1.227) in discriminating between injured and uninjured players. The optimum cut-off level of the LEFT score was 90.21 s; Our findings showed that the LEFT score was able to predict lower limb injuries in professional male footballers. The slower an athlete’s LEFT scores, the more susceptible they are to future injury risk. Sports medicine specialists, football coaches and managers are suggested to use LEFT as a pre-season screening test to identify and prevent the weakness and functional imbalance of the athletes before the injury occurs by conducting this test.

Context: The aim of this prospective cohort study was to identify whether Y-Balance Test (YBT) performance and asymmetry are associated with lower limb injury in elite adult football athletes. Design: A prospective cohort study. Methods: Preseason YBT measures were obtained from 121 male footballers participating in National League One across the 2021–2022 season. Lower limb injuries were tracked across the season to determine the relationship between YBT variables and injury incidence using logistic regression analysis. The statistical significance level was .05. Results: The average YBT score was 111.0 (5.8) cm on the left limb and 112.0 (5.5) cm on the right limb, with an average asymmetry of 2.3 (1.4) cm. Athletes with lower YBT scores on both the left (odds ratio = 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 4.8: P ≤ .001) and right (odds ratio = 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.6 to 3.2: P ≤ .001) limbs were at a greater risk of injury. Similarly, athletes with greater amounts of asymmetry were also more likely to get injured (odds ratio = 2.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 3.3: P = .002). Conclusions: Results indicate that lower and asymmetrical YBT scores have a significant relationship with future lower limb injuries in professional male footballers. The YBT offers a simple, reliable, and effective screening tool that can be used by practitioners in football to help identify players at a greater risk of injury before the season commences.

The benefits of physical exercise are well-known, but there are still many questions regarding COVID-19. Chow et al.’s 2022 study, titled Exerkines and Disease, showed that a special focus on exerkines can help to better understand the underlying mechanisms of physical exercise and disease. Exerkines are a group of promising molecules that may underlie the beneficial effects of physical exercise in diseases. The idea of exerkines is to understand the effects of physical exercise on diseases better. Exerkines have a high potential for the treatment of diseases and, considering that, there is still no study of the importance of exerkines on the most dangerous disease in the world in recent years, COVID-19. This raises the fundamental question of whether exerkines have the potential to manage COVID-19. Most of the studies focused on the general changes in physical exercise in patients with COVID-19, both during the illness and after discharge from the hospital, and did not investigate the basic differences. A unique look at the management of COVID-19 by exerkines, especially in obese and overweight women who experience high severity of COVID-19 and whose recovery period is long after discharge from the hospital, can help to understand the basic mechanisms. In this review, we explore the potential of exerkines in COVID-19 by practicing physical exercise to provide compelling practice recommendations with new insights.

We aimed to investigate whether composite Functional Movement Screen (FMS) test scores can predict musculoskeletal injuries (MSI) in youth volleyball players. 131 national young volleyball players (Males: n = 100, age = 16.5 years, height = 1.787 m, mass = 68.32 kg; Females: n = 31, age = 13.83 years, height = 1.684 m, mass = 65.12 kg) participated in this prospective cohort study. The FMS screen was performed before starting the season. MSI and exposure data were collected during the season via each team’s certified athletic trainer. The mean FMS score and standard deviation for all volleyball players was 15.85 ± 3.31. A score of ≤ 14 was positive to predict MSI with specificity of 0.60 and sensitivity of 0.93. The odds ratio for (≤ 14/˃14) was 0.048. The relative risk for being injured was 3.46. Positive likelihood ratio was 2.34, and negative likelihood ratio was 0.11. The findings of this study demonstrated that an FMS score of ≤ 14 is an identifiable risk factor for injury in young volleyball players. The FMS can be used as a pre-season screening test to identify volleyball players who may be predisposed to sustaining MSI during the season ahead.

هدف: به‌دلیل ابهامات موجود در زمینۀ فرایندهای رشد و حفظ عضلات اسکلتی به‌ویژه آتروفی ناشی از بی‌تحرکی، مطالعۀ حاضر، به‌منظور بررسی تأثیرات تعلیق مکانیکی اندام تحتانی بر بیان ژن‌های آتروژنیکی در عضلۀ نعلی موش‌های صحرایی انجام گرفت. روش‌ها: بدین‌منظور 10 سر موش صحرایی نژاد ویستار در دو گروه تعلیق (5=n) و کنترل (5=n) قرار گرفتند و موش‌های صحرایی گروه تعلیق به مدت دو هفته در همین شرایط نگه‌داشته شدند. پس از 14 روز عضلۀ نعلی آن‌ها استخراج گردید و بیان ژن‌های TRAf6 و MuRF1 به روش real-time-Pcr اندازه‌گیری شد. نتایج: نتایج نشان داد که پس از 14 روز تعلیق اندام تحتانی وزن نسبی عضلۀ نعلی به‌طور معنا‌داری کاهش یافته بود (009/0=P). به‌علاوه، بیان ژن TRAF6 (033/0=P) به‌طور معنا‌داری افزایش یافته بود، ولی افزایش MuRF1 به لحاظ آماری معنا‌دار نبود (061/0=P). نتیجه‌گیری: با توجه به نتایج پژوهش حاضر می‌توان گفت که TRAF6 و عامل پایین‌دست آن، MuRF1 می‌توانند در تنظیم تودۀ عضلانی در شرایط کاهش فعالیت عصبی عضلانی و تعلیق اندام‌ها درگیر باشند و به‌عنوان عامل منتخب مقابله با کاهش تودۀ عضلانی در وضعیت‌هایی مانند بستری شدن ورزشکاران پس از آسیب‌های ورزشی یا کاهش بار اندام پس از آسیب‌دیدگی درنظر گرفته شوند.

Aims: The present study investigated the effects of a 10-week concurrent training on the serum levels of vaspin and visfatin in overweight females. Methods & Materials: Twenty-four over-weight females from Kerman City, Iran (Mean±SD age: 11.23±0.62 years; Mean±SD weight: 64.83±2.70kg; Mean±SD BMI: 27.97±0.47 kg/m2) were randomly assigned into the control and concurrent training groups. The intervention group performed the training protocol as follows: endurance training: 65-85% of Vo2 max for 20 minutes per session, and resistance training: 50-60% of One Repetition Maximum (1RM) for 30 minutes per session and 3 days a week for 10 weeks. Fasting plasma vaspin, visfatin, and insulin levels were measured by ELISA method. To analyze the data, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used. Findings: Performing 10 weeks of concurrent training significantly decreased vaspin and visfatin plasma levels, and insulin resistance resting levels (P≤0.05); however, there was no significant decrease in glucose levels. Conclusion: Concurrent training can decrease insulin resistance, probably by reducing vaspin and visfatin in overweight females. Therefore, it is suggested that overweight females use concurrent training to improve insulin sensitivity and prevent metabolic diseases.

Introduction: Today, cancer is the second leading cause of death, and breast cancer is the most common cancer, among women. The levels of apoptotic factors, such as caspases, decrease in tumor, leading to tumor growth. The present study investigated the effect of aerobic exercise on the regulation of caspase-3 and ...