The effectiveness of counseling on anxiety and depression by minimally trained counselors: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: To assess if eight counseling sessions conducted by women minimally trained as community counselors could reduce the mean level of anxiety and/or depression in women of their own community.Design: A randomized controlled trial.SETTING: A lower-middle-class, semi-urban community in Karachi, Pakistan.PARTICIPANTS: 366 anxious and/or depressed women providing informed consent.METHOD: Through systematic sampling, 1226 women were screened using an indigenous instrument. Out of these, 366 women were found to have anxiety and/or depression and were randomized to intervention and control groups. Women from the same community were trained in 11 sessions as counselors. Subjects in the intervention group were counseled once weekly for eight weeks by the trained community counselors. After the 8th session, the screening questionnaire was re-administered to both the groups.Results: A significant reduction was found between the mean anxiety and depression scores of the two groups (p value = 0.000).CONCLUSION: Counseling by minimally trained community counselors reduced levels of anxiety and/or depression in women of their own community

Identification and Characterization of Malate Dehydrogenases in Tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L.)

Malate dehydrogenase, which facilitates the reversible conversion of malate to oxaloacetate, is essential for energy balance, plant growth, and cold and salt tolerance. However, the genome-wide study of the MDH family has not yet been carried out in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). In this study, 12 MDH genes were identified from the S. lycopersicum genome and renamed according to their chromosomal location. The tomato MDH genes were split into five groups based on phylogenetic analysis and the genes that clustered together showed similar lengths, and structures, and conserved motifs in the encoded proteins. From the 12 tomato MDH genes on the chromosomes, three pairs of segmental duplication events involving four genes were found. Each pair of genes had a Ka/Ks ratio MDH gene family of tomato was purified during evolution. Gene expression analysis exhibited that tomato MDHs were differentially expressed in different tissues, at various stages of fruit development, and differentially regulated in response to abiotic stresses. Molecular docking of four highly expressed MDHs revealed their substrate and co-factor specificity in the reversible conversion process of malate to oxaloacetate. Further, co-localization of tomato MDH genes with quantitative trait loci (QTL) of salt stress-related phenotypes revealed their broader functions in salt stress tolerance. This study lays the foundation for functional analysis of MDH genes and genetic improvement in tomato