The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management Training on Psychological Well-being and School Satisfaction on Teenage Girls

Background & aim: Adolescence is an important period of human development. Adolescents have to cope with various common stressors. Therefore, adolescence often has been thought of as a peak time of stress. Stress is one of the aspects of a students’ daily life. Stress can lead to physical and psychological complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress management training on school psychological well-being and school satisfaction on teenage girls in Urmia, Iran. Methods: The present quasi experimental pretest-posttest plan with 2 groups was selected to conduct this study and well-being and life satisfaction (school satisfaction component) questionnaires were used to collect data. The population of this study was adolescent girls aged 15-14 years in the 2010-2011 academic years. Thirty female students were selected through random sampling technique. They were placed in 2 groups of 15 subjects ( 1 control group and 1 experimental group). After the Pre-test, the participants in experimental group were given cognitive-behavioral techniques training for 1/5 hours in 10 session. The control group did not received any training in all these session. After these sessions, the groups were evaluated once again. Results: analysis of t-test showed that post-test well-being and school satisfaction of 2 groups showed a meaningful difference. Difference between pre-test and post-test score in experimental group and control group in psychological well-being was significant (p= 0/01). It could be claimed that results were product of operation (99% level of confidence). Also, the difference between pre-test and post-test score in experimental group and control group in psychological well-being was significant (p= 0/95). It could be claimed that results were product of operation (95% level of confidence). Conclusion: training of cognitive-behavioral stress management techniques increased well-being and school satisfaction in experimental group in comparison with control group. Cognitive-behavioral stress management training could be used as an independent manner and/or with other therapies to increase school satisfaction and psychological well-being

Microsatellite Variation in the Most Devastating Beetle Pests (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) of Agricultural and Forest Crops

Weevils, classified in the family Curculionidae (true weevils), constitute a group of phytophagous insects of which many species are considered significant pests of crops. Within this family, the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, has an integral role in destroying crops and has invaded all countries of the Middle East and many in North Africa, Southern Europe, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean Islands. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs), also termed microsatellites, have become the DNA marker technology most applied to study population structure, evolution, and genetic diversity. Although these markers have been widely examined in many mammalian and plant species, and draft genome assemblies are available for many species of true weevils, very little is yet known about SSRs in weevil genomes. Here we carried out a comparative analysis examining and comparing the relative abundance, relative density, and GC content of SSRs in previously sequenced draft genomes of nine true weevils, with an emphasis on R. ferrugineus. We also used Illumina paired-end sequencing to generate draft sequence for adult female RPW and characterized it in terms of perfect SSRs with 1–6 bp nucleotide motifs. Among weevil genomes, mono- to trinucleotide SSRs were the most frequent, and mono-, di-, and hexanucleotide SSRs exhibited the highest GC content. In these draft genomes, SSR number and genome size were significantly correlated. This work will aid our understanding of the genome architecture and evolution of Curculionidae weevils and facilitate exploring SSR molecular marker development in these species

Polyethylene Glycol on Stability of Chitosan Microparticulate Carrier for Protein

Stability enhancement of protein-loaded chitosan microparticles under storage was investigated. Chitosan glutamate at 35 kDa and bovine serum albumin as model protein drug were used in this study. The chitosan microparticles were prepared by ionotropic gelation, and polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG 200) was applied after the formation of the particles. All chitosan microparticles were kept at 25°C for 28 days. A comparison was made between those preparations with PEG 200 and without PEG 200. The changes in the physicochemical properties of the microparticles such as size, zeta potential, pH, and percent loading capacity were investigated after 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days of storage. It was found that the stability decreased upon storage and the aggregation of microparticles could be observed for both preparations. The reduction in the zeta potential and the increase in the pH, size, and loading capacity were observed when they were kept at a longer period. The significant change of those preparations without PEG 200 was evident after 7 days of storage whereas those with PEG 200 underwent smaller changes with enhanced stability after 28 days of storage. Therefore, this investigation gave valuable information on the stability enhancement of the microparticles. Hence, enhanced stability of chitosan glutamate microparticles for the delivery of protein could be achieved by the application of PEG 200