Sport Sciences and Health Research

Introduction: This study aimed to review the literature on the role of body composition as arisk factor for injury in an athletic population.Materials and Methods: We searched articles in English in Google Scholar Science direct,PubMed, WOS, Scopus, ProQuest, and Cochrane Library databases without time limit until2020 using keywords related to "body composition" and "sports injury".Results: Considering criteria including inclusion and exclusion, 10 papers out of 1322 studieswere comprehensively reviewed. It was found that body composition components are relatedto musculoskeletal injuries in the athletic population. Body mass index, weight and bonedensity are known as risk factors in the development of sports injuries.Conclusion: This systematic review provides preliminary evidence of the relationship between body composition and prediction of injury in athletes. Defects in various aspects ofbody composition were recognized as potential risk factors for lower extremity injuries.Likewise, body composition should be considered when screening athletes.

Introduction: To examine the effects of a 6-week hopping exercise program on time to stabilization and perceived stability among athletes with chronic ankle instability. This is a randomized controlled trial.Materials and Methods: A total of 28 basketball players with chronic ankle instability (Mean±SD age; 22.67±2.88 y, Mean±SD weight: 80.47±8.48 kg, Mean±SD height: 186.82±3.09 cm) participated in this study and were randomly divided into two equal groups of 14 people each: 1. Experimental; and 2. Control. The experimental group performed hop exercises 3 times per week for 6 weeks. The control group received no intervention. Time to stabilization for anterior-posterior and medial-lateral components of ground reaction force, as well as ankle joint function assessment tool were found before and immediately after the exercise program. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and paired sample t-test were used to analyze the data at the significance level of 95% (α≤0.05).Results: The 6-week hopping exercise program led to a significant decrease in the time to stabilization of medial-lateral and anterior-posterior of ground reaction force and also a significant increase in the score of ankle joint function assessment tool (p <0.05).Conclusion: Given the effectiveness of hopping exercises, postural control deficit, and time to stabilization in sport exercises, it is suggested that these selected exercises be used in training and rehabilitation protocols.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the onset time and the electromyographic activity level of the selected lower limb muscles in the active and inactive old women.Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 28 old women with a Mean±SD age of 61.07±0.88 years were selected in the inactive (15 people) and active (13 people) groups. The electrical activity of the selected muscles of the lower limbs was collected by the EMG device in a stair down movement. Results: The onset time of tibialis anterior, vastus lateralis, and biceps femoris muscles are faster in the active group (p <0.05). Besides, the activity level of the rectus femoris muscle in the interval of 100 ms before the initial contact and the ratio of the vastus medialis muscle to the biceps femoris muscle was significantly lower (p <0.05) in the active group.Conclusion: It seems that the muscles of the lower limbs in the group of women with regular physical activity are activated faster than the inactive group and the decrease in the activity of the rectus femoris muscle and the ratio of the vastus medialis to the biceps femoris muscle in the active women may be accompanied by fatigue and reduced intra-articular forces. Therefore, it is recommended that old women participate in regular and active exercise programs to improve their onset times of muscle activity.

Introduction: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between Self-compassion and precompetitive anxiety among female athlete students.Methods: This was a descriptive correlational study. Two hundred and fifty-three female students (140 taekwondo & 113 karate) were selected among athletes present at the 14th Student Cultural Sports Olympiad. Self-compassion Scale and Competitive State Anxiety–2 were used in this study before competing in games to measure the aforementioned theoretical constructs.Results: The obtained results revealed a significant relationship between pre-competitive anxiety and Self-compassion. Moreover, the components of this characteristic positively predicted self-confidence variance; however, this prediction reversed with somatic and cognitive anxiety.Conclusion: Based on the current study results, Self-compassion plays a moderating role in the pre-competitive anxiety of female martial arts athletes. Therefore, improving this characteristic should be considered to promote self-confidence and reduce the pre-competitive anxiety in these athletes.

Introduction: The present study aimed to determine the effects of a selected group exercise on motor skills and cognitive function in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs).Methods: Forty children with ASD aged 5-12 years participated in this quasi-experimental study. The Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were performed in 3 assessment stages of baseline, pretest, and posttest in Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids (SPARK). The repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for analyzing the collected data.Results: The current research results demonstrated that the selected exercises presented positive effects on motor skills (P<0.05) in the studied subjects; however, they indicated no significant effects on their cognitive function (P>0.05).Conclusion: According to the present study results, the SPARK’s training is effective on children with ASDs and severe mobility limitations; however, it presented no cognitive function improvement in the study participants.

Introduction: This study was conducted to control hand tremors and decrease adverse effects due to the high field intensity in advanced Parkinson’s disease. We aimed at concurrently controlling two areas of Basal Ganglia (BG) in a closed-loop strategy.Methods: In the present research, two nuclei of BG, namely subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus internal were simultaneously controlled. Furthermore, to enhance the feasibility of the suggested control strategy, the coefficients of the controller were determined using a hybrid version of the harmony search and cuckoo optimization algorithm. Results: The advantages of the applied method include decreasing hand tremors and applied electric field intensity to the brain; consequently, it leads to reducing adverse effects, such as muscle contraction and speech disorders. Moreover, the purposed controller has achieved superior performance against changing the parameters of the model (robustness analysis) and under noise tests, compared to other conventional controllers, such as Proportional Integrator (PI) and Proportional Derivative (PD).Conclusion: The employed approach provided an effective strategy to reduce hand tremors. It also decreased the delivered high field intensity to the brain; consequently, it reduced adverse effects, such as memory loss and speech disorders. It is important to ascertain the superior performance of the suggested closed-loop control scheme in different conditions and levels of tremor. Such a function was examined in terms of robustness against the variation of parameters and uncertainties. We also obtained time domain outcomes, i.e., compared with the state-of-the-art approaches.

Introduction: This research was conducted to determine whether professional athletes with Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI) exhibit differences in maintaining balance under conditions of with and without visual informationMaterials and Methods: Forty-five elite players with CAI were classified into soccer, volleyball, and basketball groups (n=15 each). All participants performed a static single-leg balance test in conditions wherein visual information was provided and withheld. Also, their center of pressure (CoP) oscillation parameters was measured. The data were examined through an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey test.Results: A significant difference was found between the soccer and volleyball players (P=0.034) in anteroposterior CoP displacement. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between soccer compared with volleyball (P=0.001) and basketball (P=0.02) groups regarding mediolateral sway and sway area (P=0.003 and P=0.03, respectively) when they performed the test with their eyes open. A significant difference occurred between the soccer and volleyball players concerning anteroposterior and mediolateral sway (P=0.002 and P=0.04, respectively) and sway area (P=0.004) when they performed the test with their eyes closed.Conclusion: Given the necessity of maintaining a good balance in sports, volleyball coaches should design practices that reduce players’ reliance on visual information. These practices should strengthen their proprioceptive abilities through an increased challenge to their proprioceptive senses.