Background: Working memory is one of the cognitive aspects that may be damaged in patients suffering from a stroke. According to evidence, repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and cognitive interventions could affect cognitive function in healthy individuals or patients with neurological diseases. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the combined effect of high-frequency rTMS in the left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) region of the brain and cognitive rehabilitation on the working memory of stroke patients. Methods: In this double-blind, randomized clinical trial with a pretest-posttest design, 18 post-stroke chronic patients aged 55 to 75 years were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The working memory score was measured using the N-back test in the two groups before the interventions. Then, both groups participated in rTMS intervention sessions, except that in the control group, changing the coil angle prevented the waves from reaching the brain. The rTMS interventions were performed for each patient in 15 sessions of six minutes, three days a week. In addition, both groups received computer-based cognitive rehabilitation therapy immediately after each rTMS session for 30 to 40 minutes. These practices included working memory rehabilitation in Captain's Log software used at the adult level. Each level had 15 steps, and the difficulty of the exercises increased with increasing steps. Finally, the working memory was remeasured after the intervention sessions. Results: The use of rTMS on the left DLPFC region significantly improved the working memory of stroke people in the experimental group compared to the control group (P = 0.027). In addition, the difference before and after the interventions in both groups was significant for this variable (P < 0.001), which indicates the positive effect of cognitive rehabilitation on reducing cognitive problems. Conclusions: Although cognitive rehabilitation using software is effective on working memory, using rTMS along with cognitive rehabilitation in the left DLPFC area has a more significant effect on improving working memory in people with chronic stroke.

Background and Aims Work-life balance refers to a person’s ability to effectively manage multiple responsibilities at work. Quality of life (QOL) is a person’s satisfaction with values in which they live. This study aims to investigate the relationship between work-life balance and QOL in dormitory and non-dormitory students Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 230 students (dormitory and non-dormitory) of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, who were selected by a simple random sampling method. They completed the Life Balance Inventory and short form health survey (SF-36) questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS v.18 software. Results The work-life imbalance in dormitory students (34.2%) was higher than in non-dormitory students (20.4%). The mean scores of physical health and mental health summary measures in non-dormitory students were higher than in dormitory students. There was a significant correlation between some domains of work-life balance and QOL (P<0.05). Conclusion Work-life balance, physical health, and mental health of non-dormitory students are higher than dormitory students. Given the relationship between work-life balance and QOL, educational and welfare planning should be made in universities to help improve the QOL of students.