A Study of the Effectiveness of Group Spiritual Intelligence Training on Self-Efficacy and Social Responsibility of Secondary School Girls in Shahrekord

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of group spiritual intelligence training on self-efficacy and social responsibility of high school secondary school students in Shahrekord. Methods: The parallel intervention research method was used in this study. The statistical population included all female secondary school students in Shahrekord during the academic year 1393 - 1394. Random cluster sampling was used to select the samples. Then, schools were randomly selected among all secondary schools and self-efficacy and responsibility questionnaires were distributed to them. Out of the distributed questionnaires, 30 individuals were randomly selected among those whose score in the self-efficacy and responsibility questionnaire was a standard deviation less than average, and then the subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The participants in the intervention group received spiritual intelligence training in groups in 12 sessions. Self-efficacy and responsibility questionnaires were used as the research tools in this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (covariance analysis) by SPSS23 software. Results: The results of the data analysis showed that group training of spiritual intelligence has a significant effect on the improvement of self-efficacy and social responsibility of students (P-value < 0.001). Conclusion: Spiritual intelligence training plays an important role in promoting the mental health of students. Therefore, promoting self-efficacy and social responsibility, which are fundamental steps in achieving optimal mental health, should be emphasized and monitored in school training. For this purpose, interventions such as group spiritual intelligence training or other successful programs in this regard should be used. &nbsp

Nanomedicine for improvement of dendritic cell-based cancer immunotherapy

Dendritic cell (DC)-based cancer immunotherapy has shown impressive outcomes, including the development of the first FDA-approved anti-cancer vaccine. However, the clinical application of DC-based cancer immunotherapy is associated with various challenges. Promising novel tools for the administration of cancer vaccines has emerged from recent developments in nanoscale biomaterials. One current strategy to enhance targeted drug delivery, while minimizing drug-related toxicities, is the use of nanoparticles (NPs). These can be utilized for antigen delivery into DCs, which have been shown to provide potent T cell-stimulating effects. Therefore, NP delivery represents one promising approach for creating an effective and stable immune response without toxic side effects. The current review surveys cancer immunotherapy with particular attention toward NP-based delivery methods that target DCs

Silencing of IL-6 and STAT3 by siRNA loaded hyaluronate-N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles potently reduces cancer cell progression

The immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment is a critical problem that should be considered before the design of immunotherapies. Interleukin (IL)-6 and its related downstream molecules such as signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 play an important role in the cancer progression, which can be considered as potential therapeutic targets. In the present study, we generated the active-targeted hyaluronate (HA) recoated N, N, N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver IL-6- and STAT3-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to the CD44-expressing cancer cells. We utilized the interaction between HA and CD44 to increase the specificity and efficacy of cellular uptake in NPs. The results showed that the synthesized NPs had efficient physicochemical characteristics, high transfection efficiency, low toxicity, and controlled siRNA release. siRNA-loaded NPs significantly inhibited the IL-6/STAT3 expression, which was associated with blockade of proliferation, colony formation, migration, and angiogenesis in cancer cells. These findings imply the potential of HA-TMC NPs as potent vectors in gene therapy and their application for the silencing of IL-6 and STAT3, as a novel anti-cancer combination therapeutic strategy, for the first time