The Effect of Positive Thinking Training on Reduction of Depression, Stress and Anxiety of Juvenile Delinquents

Background: The positive psychology always seeks to recognize and describe the pleasure and subjective well-being. The main issue of this field is to improve the well-being and recognize the positive aspects in order to reinforce them to prevent and develop the mental health. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of positive thinking training workshop on reduction of depression, stress and anxiety of juveniles at Correction and Rehabilitation Centers.Methods: The quasi-experimental method was used in this study and the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) was used. Forty one subjects participated in this research and were divided into two homogeneous groups based on their pretest scores and were randomly included in the experimental and control groups. The positive thinking training workshop was performed for 10 sessions within three weeks on experimental group and after that the posttest and after one month the follow up test were performed.Results: The results have shown that the positive thinking training courses have effects on reduction of depression and anxiety. But it had not effects on stress in the follow up study.Conclusion: Thus, this training can be used for reduction of depression and anxiety of juvenile at Correction and Rehabilitation Center

A new method for providing a model to analyze a kite wind turbine

The ultimate purpose of simulating kite wind turbine is to predict the kite movement and the power generated by its mechanism. To simulate because when the initial estimate of the intended values is found, we may have to manipulate the simulation to find the most efficient design for manufacturing our system and then predict the final power generated for our mechanism. Simulation for the system is based on two parts: Simulation of steady-state and dynamic model, which include differential equations. In this paper, we have presented a novel idea for a proper simulation of the system based on the two static and dynamic parts in order to numerical solution of the required amount and to calculate the output power.Keywords: Kite wind turbine; Simulation; Static model; Dynamic model;Winch; Torqu

Germline BRCA2 mutations and the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is very high among the Turkmen population of Iran. Family studies suggest a genetic component to the disease. Turkmen are ethnically homogenous and are well suited for genetic studies. A previous study from China suggested that BRCA2 might play a role in the etiology of ESCC. We screened for mutations in the coding region of the BRCA2 gene in the germline DNA of 197 Turkmen patients with ESCC. A nonsense variant, K3326X, was identified in 9 of 197 cases (4.6) vs 2 of 254 controls (0.8) (OR=6.0, 95 CI=1.3-28; P=0.01). This mutation leads to the loss of the C-terminal domain of the BRCA2 protein, a part of the region of interaction with the FANCD2 protein. We observed nine other BRCA2 variants in single cases only, including two deletions, and seven missense mutations. Six of these were judged to be pathogenic. In total, a suspicious deleterious BRCA2 variant was identified in 15 of 197 ESCC cases (7.6). © 2008 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved

The Effect of Positive Thinking Training on Quality of Life, Depression, Stress and Anxiety in Delinquent Juveniles

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of positive thinking training on quality of life and reduction of depression, stress and anxiety in delinquent boys of Zahedan Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center (ZJCRC). Method of this research was a quasi-experimental with a design of pretest- posttest- follow up test and with a control group. The sample comprised of 29 boys (17 subjects in experimental group and 12 in control). Method of sampling was the census. That is, all of statistical population were be studied as sample group. Positive thinking training was conducted on the experimental group during 8 sessions with 90 minutes. After the last session the post-test, was conducted and one month after it, the follow-up test. For data gathering, the Quality of Life of Parkerson, Broadhear & Tse et al. and the Depression, Anxiety Stress of Lovibond & Lovibond were used. The results of co-variance analysis showed that the positive thinking training effected on reducing of depression, stress and anxiety and increasing quality of life. Therefore, in regard to effectiveness of positive thinking training on reducing of depression, stress and anxiety and increasing quality of life, it is recommended for Juvenile delinquent trainers to use of the positive thinking training for increasing quality of life and reducing of depression, stress and anxiety in these juveniles

Degenerate Pax2 and Senseless binding motifs improve detection of low-affinity sites required for enhancer specificity

<div><p>Cells use thousands of regulatory sequences to recruit transcription factors (TFs) and produce specific transcriptional outcomes. Since TFs bind degenerate DNA sequences, discriminating functional TF binding sites (TFBSs) from background sequences represents a significant challenge. Here, we show that a <i>Drosophila</i> regulatory element that activates Epidermal Growth Factor signaling requires overlapping, low-affinity TFBSs for competing TFs (Pax2 and Senseless) to ensure cell- and segment-specific activity. Testing available TF binding models for Pax2 and Senseless, however, revealed variable accuracy in predicting such low-affinity TFBSs. To better define parameters that increase accuracy, we developed a method that systematically selects subsets of TFBSs based on predicted affinity to generate hundreds of position-weight matrices (PWMs). Counterintuitively, we found that degenerate PWMs produced from datasets depleted of high-affinity sequences were more accurate in identifying both low- and high-affinity TFBSs for the Pax2 and Senseless TFs. Taken together, these findings reveal how TFBS arrangement can be constrained by competition rather than cooperativity and that degenerate models of TF binding preferences can improve identification of biologically relevant low affinity TFBSs.</p></div

Modeling the antidepressant treatment response to transcranial magnetic stimulation using an exponential decay function

Abstract Recovery from depression often demonstrates a nonlinear pattern of treatment response, where the largest reduction in symptoms is observed early followed by smaller improvements. This study investigated whether this exponential pattern could model the antidepressant response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Symptom ratings from 97 patients treated with TMS for depression were collected at baseline and after every five sessions. A nonlinear mixed-effects model was constructed using an exponential decay function. This model was also applied to group-level data from several published clinical trials of TMS for treatment-resistant depression. These nonlinear models were compared to corresponding linear models. In our clinical sample, response to TMS was well modeled with the exponential decay function, yielding significant estimates for all parameters and demonstrating superior fit compared to a linear model. Similarly, when applied to multiple studies comparing TMS modalities as well as to previously identified treatment response trajectories, the exponential decay models yielded consistently better fits compared to linear models. These results demonstrate that the antidepressant response to TMS follows a nonlinear pattern of improvement that is well modeled with an exponential decay function. This modeling offers a simple and useful framework to inform clinical decisions and future studies

<i>RhoA</i> contains low affinity Pax2 and Sens binding sites.

<p><b>(A, D)</b> Alignment of Pax2 (A) and Sens (D) logos derived from SELEX-seq [<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007289#pgen.1007289.ref023" target="_blank">23</a>] to <i>RhoA</i> and selected B1H sites [<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007289#pgen.1007289.ref024" target="_blank">24</a>]. Mismatches to the logos are highlighted in red. <b>(B, E)</b> Pax2 (B) and Sens (E) binding to <i>RhoA</i> and selected B1H hits using EMSAs. Each probe was incubated with 0, 106, or 212 ng of Sens or 0, 48, or 96 ng of Pax2. Full gels are shown in <b><a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007289#pgen.1007289.s002" target="_blank">S2 Fig</a></b>. <b>(C, F)</b> Correlation between proportion of probe bound in EMSAs versus proportion predicted by PWM energy models. The Spearman-rank correlation (ρ) and coefficient-of-determination (r²) are indicated on the plots. Linear regression of this relationship is shown in blue.</p

The <i>RhoA</i> enhancer activates gene expression in <i>Drosophila</i> abdominal C1-SOPs.

<p><b>(A, B)</b> Lateral view of <i>Drosophila RhoBAD-LacZ</i> (A) or <i>RhoAAA-LacZ</i> (B) embryos (stage 11) immunostained for β-gal (green) and AbdA (purple). Both reporters are active in a specific cell type (C1-SOP) with higher levels observed in abdominal segments (stained by AbdA, first abdominal segment marked by “A1”) than thoracic segments. <b>(C)</b> The <i>RhoA</i> sequence has binding sites for Pax2, Sens, Exd, Hth, and AbdA that are critical for proper <i>RhoBAD-LacZ</i> and <i>RhoAAA-LacZ</i> activity in <i>Drosophila</i> embryos [<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007289#pgen.1007289.ref017" target="_blank">17</a>, <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007289#pgen.1007289.ref022" target="_blank">22</a>]. <b>(D)</b> Schematic model of competition between activator (Pax2/Exd/Hth/AbdA) and repressor (Sens) TFs. Sens binds and represses <i>RhoA</i> activity in the thorax; whereas AbdA and the activators outcompete Sens to promote gene activation in C1-SOP cells of the abdomen.</p