سید محمد حسینی

Background: Hyper kyphosis is a common postural issue that affects many women, often leading to negative body image. Aim: The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of an 8-week corrective exercise program on the body image of women with hyper kyphosis. Materials and Methods: The research method used in this study was quasi-experimental. The study population consisted of female students aged 18 to 26 years with hyper kyphosis at Shahid Rajaee University. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=20) or the control group (n=20). Hyper kyphosis was measured using a flexible ruler, while body image was assessed using the Body-esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults. The questionnaire had a reliability coefficient of 0.83 as measured by Cronbach's alpha. After 8 weeks of corrective exercise, both the experimental and control groups completed the questionnaire again. The control group did not receive any training during this time. The data were analyzed using the mixed ANOVA method with SPSS-26 software at a significance level of 95%. Results: The results of the mixed ANOVA analysis showed that the main effect of the training group and the interaction between the group and test stages were significant in the post-test stage for the dependent variable of total body image (F=6.82, P =0.013), appearance (F=6.72, P =0.014), attitude (F=8.81, P =0.005), and kyphosis angle (F=18.91, P =0.000). However, there was no significant effect of training on weight satisfaction. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that eight weeks of corrective exercise significantly reduced the hyper kyphosis angle ( P =0.01), resulting in an improvement in the subjects' posture and a decrease in deformity. This improvement in appearance led to an increase in satisfaction with their appearance, as demonstrated by improvements in their body image.

In cognitive stylistics, “deixis” is deemed one of the core linguistic elements through which both the physical and ideological stances of the participants in fictional narratives, namely the narrator and the character(-focalizer)s, are demonstrated. This study aims at investigating the cognitive functions of the different kinds of deixis, i.e., perceptual, spatial, temporal, social, textual, and compositional deixis, in The Bell (1958), a critically acclaimed novel by the British philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch. Because of its special narrative discourse, in particular the use of variable internal focalization, Murdoch’s novel proves to be a proper case for exploring how deixis impacts upon the (implied) reader’s cognition of the story. Thus, utilizing a descriptive-analytic method, the present research examines the text worlds and mind styles shaped in this novel through various kinds of deixis, among other textual elements, and explores the relationship between these text worlds and the way they inform the reading process. To achieve this goal, this qualitative study draws upon the cognitive deixis theory to examine selected extracts from Dora Greenfield’s and Toby Gashe’s discourses in this novel, as two of the major character-focalizers. The findings suggest that deictic expressions serve a significant function in appreciating the characterization of the fictional personages, their relations, and consequently the narrative’s overall theme, thereby affecting and somehow directing the reading process. This mainly occurs through the reader’s cognitive pushes and pops in and out of the different layers of the narrative discourse as well as projecting the narrator’s and character-focalizers’ text worlds or deictic fields and constantly shifting among them. By foregrounding the role of deixis in narration, this study carries significant implications for cognitive stylistics of prose fictional narratives, providing a deeper appreciation of the relationships between characters and between characters and fictional settings in such texts.