Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Reducing Craving in Women Consuming Crystal Drug

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance-commitment based therapy in decreasing drug craving in women who were addicted to the crystal. Materials and Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test with the control group and two methods; the cognitive-behavioral, and the acceptance and commitment therapy were separately followed for two experimental groups with a follow-up phase. The statistical population of this study was all women who were addicted to the crystal that referred to addiction treatment centers in Isfahan province during the period of August to October 2017. They were simultaneously depressed. The instruments used in the study were the Wilson, Guilford and Concrete protocol (2004) that is the treatment based on the acceptance, Carole's cognitive-behavioral therapy (1998), and Frankl (2002) craving for drug questionnaire, as well as repeated measures of variance analysis. Results: Findings showed that cognitive-behavioral and acceptance and commitment therapies for craving of crystal usage are effective in women who have had crystal abuse. Between two methods of cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy in the field of craving for the crystal in women that overcome drug addiction, there was a significant difference. The acceptance and commitment therapy had effects that are more therapeutic. Conclusion: Therefore, this study provides a total empirical support for acceptance-based and commitment treatment in the treatment of women who were overcoming the crystal addition

Comparison of cognitive behavioral group therapy and acceptance and commitment group therapy on quality of life of breast cancer women

Background: Breast cancer diagnosis always causes a great deal of stress and result in significant changes in the patient’s routine life which is apart from physical injuries, can lead to losing social roles and increased risk of mental disorders which can negatively effects their quality of life.Objective: The present study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy and acceptance and commitment group therapy on quality of life of breast cancer women.Methods: This is a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test and follow-up with control group design. Thirty women suffering from breast cancer randomly and equally assigned in to two interventions and a control groups. The treatments consisted of eight weekly acceptance and commitment group therapy and also eight weekly cognitive-behavioral group therapy sessions and follow-up evaluations were carried out two months later. The QLQ-C30, QLQ-BR23 questionnaires were applied in this study.Results: Comparing with cognitive-behavioral group therapy, significant enhancement was indicated in total and all scales of QlQ-C30 and QlQ-BR23 scores in acceptance and commitment group therapy’s post-test and the results were also preserved at follow-up test.Conclusions: It is suggested by the findings of this research that acceptance and commitment program appears to be more efficient and feasible therapeutic intervention than cognitive-behavioral therapy for improving quality of life of women suffering from breast cancer

The Effectiveness of Skill Training based on Compassion-Focused Therapy on Psychological Capital and Depression in Adolescent Girls with Type 1 Diabetes

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease with a high risk of disability and death. In addition to physical complications, some psychological problems especially depression and loss of psychological capital are also common in people with diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) training on psychological capital and depression in female adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and follow-up. The statistical population of the study was all adolescents aged 16-14 years with type 1 diabetes in Sanandaj City. The statistical sample consisted of 30 adolescents with type 1 diabetes who were purposefully selected and randomly divided into experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The PCQ-24 scale was used to collect data to measure psychological capital and the BDI-II scale was used to measure depression. The experimental group received 90 minutes of skill training based on CFT in eight sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed by repeated measure in SPSS software v. 25. Results: The results showed that skill training based on CFT was effective on psychological capital and depression in adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes in the post-test phase (Pvalue<0.05), and had a lasting effect (Pvalue<0.05). Conclusions: The results showed that Skill Training Based on CFT is effective on psychological capital and depression, so it is recommended that clinical psychologists use this training to increase the psychological health of patients with type 1 diabetes.  Keywords: Skill Training, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Psychological Capital, Depression, Diabetes type

The Effectiveness of Skill Training based on Compassion-Focused Therapy on Psychological Capital and Depression in Adolescent Girls with Type 1 Diabetes

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease with a high risk of disability and death. In addition to physical complications, some psychological problems especially depression and loss of psychological capital are also common in people with diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) training on psychological capital and depression in female adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and follow-up. The statistical population of the study was all adolescents aged 16-14 years with type 1 diabetes in Sanandaj City. The statistical sample consisted of 30 adolescents with type 1 diabetes who were purposefully selected and randomly divided into experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The PCQ-24 scale was used to collect data to measure psychological capital and the BDI-II scale was used to measure depression. The experimental group received 90 minutes of skill training based on CFT in eight sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed by repeated measure in SPSS software v. 25. Results: The results showed that skill training based on CFT was effective on psychological capital and depression in adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes in the post-test phase (Pvalue<0.05), and had a lasting effect (Pvalue<0.05). Conclusions: The results showed that Skill Training Based on CFT is effective on psychological capital and depression, so it is recommended that clinical psychologists use this training to increase the psychological health of patients with type 1 diabetes.  Keywords: Skill Training, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Psychological Capital, Depression, Diabetes type

Metformin accelerates myelin recovery and ameliorates behavioral deficits in the animal model of multiple sclerosis via adjustment of AMPK/Nrf2/mTOR signaling and maintenance of endogenous oligodendrogenesis during brain self-repairing period

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating autoimmune disorder characterized by oligodendrocytes (OLGs) loss and demyelination. In this study, we have examined the effects of metformin (MET) on the oligodendrogenesis, redox signaling, apoptosis, and glial responses during a self-repairing period (1-week) in the animal model of MS. METHODS: For induction of demyelination, C57BL/6 J mice were fed a 0.2% cuprizone (CPZ) for 5 weeks. Thereafter, CPZ was removed for 1-week and molecular and behavioral changes were monitored in the presence or absence of MET (50 mg/kg body weight/day). RESULTS: MET remarkably increased the localization of precursor OLGs (NG2+/O4+ cells) and subsequently the renewal of mature OLGs (MOG+ cells) in the corpus callosum via AMPK/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Moreover, we observed a significant elevation in the antioxidant responses, especially in mature OLGs (MOG+/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2+) cells) after MET intervention. MET also reduced brain apoptosis markers and lessened motor dysfunction in the open-field test. While MET was unable to decrease active astrogliosis (GFAP mRNA), it reduced microgliosis by down-regulation of Mac-3 mRNA a marker of pro-inflammatory microglia/macrophages. Molecular modeling studies, likewise, confirmed that MET exerts its effects via direct interaction with AMPK. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our study reveals that MET effectively induces lesion reduction and elevated molecular processes that support myelin recovery via direct activation of AMPK and indirect regulation of AMPK/Nrf2/mTOR pathway in OLGs. These findings facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies based on AMPK activation for MS in the near future. KEYWORDS: AMPK; Cuprizone; Multiple sclerosis; Nrf2; mTO

A Comparison Between the Effectiveness of Neuro Linguistic Programing’ and Transactional Analysis Training on Managerial Effectiveness

Abstract Managerial effectiveness has always been one of the most important expectations of organizations from managers. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of teaching Neuro Linguistic Programming and transactional analysis on managerial effectiveness. The research design was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, control group and 2 months follow up. The population was all the middle male managers of Pars Khodro Company, and the sample consisted of 66 managers who distributed randomly in the experimental and control groups. The instruments of this study were: Gupta Management effectiveness Questionnaire, Transactional Analysis Protocol Based on Moradi, Shafiabadi and Salimi Protocol (2016) and Neuro-Linguistic Programming Protocol Based on Kajbaf, Moqaddas and Aghaei Protocol (2011). To analyze the data, repeated measures analysis of variance was used. Findings showed a significant difference between the mean of managerial effectiveness in the experimental and the control groups and showed that the Transactional analysis method has a significant effect on increasing the managerial effectiveness scores of managers; But this effect was not significant in Neuro Linguistic Programming method .Also, the pairwise comparison of the means indicated that Transactional analysis training was more effective than the Neuro Linguistic Programming training on managerial effectiveness. Therefore, it can be concluded that managers can increase their effectiveness by learning Transactional analysis techniques, and organizations can increase the productivity of their managers by holding these training courses

Increasing convergence rate in two-objective optimization of water distribution network with engineering judgment

Background: Water distribution networks (WDNs) are facilities that require massive investment and their optimization is very important. This study aimed to optimization and development of models for promoting WDNs with using engineering judgment. In this method, instead of controlling all system states, it is possible to search the optimal set of options based on engineering judgment and hydraulic and physical status of the system. Thus, the time to solve the optimization problem is greatly reduced, which is very important in widespread networks with many components. The case study was a WDN in western Tehran. Methods: To reduce the calculation size and increase the convergence rate using engineering judgment, the parts of the network where there was no possibility of parallel piping was ignored. For other parts with a low pressure problem, parallel piping was defined. A FMGA and WaterGEMS hydraulic software were used to optimize the WDN. Cost minimization and pressure benefit maximization were the objective functions and the diameters of the pipes were considered to be the decision variables. Results: The results of optimization the network showed that, the cost decreased 89.84% and the pressure in all nodes, except one node, reached within the standard range (26-60 mH20). It included 2387 m of pipe with diameters of 100, 150, 200, 250, 350, 400 and 500 mm. Conclusion: The results of optimization and modification of the network using engineering judgment confirm that the cost decreased significantly and the pressure level in all the nodes increased to above the allowable minimum pressure. Keywords: Water, Judgment, Software, Pressure, Engineerin

Effectiveness of Cognitive-Existential Group Therapy on Mental Health and Images of God in Parents of Children with Cancer

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-existential group therapy on spiritual health and image of God of parents of children with cancer using semi-experimental with pre - posttest control group was randomly assigned  and by following up has done during six-month. For this purpose 30 parents (From 24 to 54 years old) that their children due to cancer were in Mahak hospital under medical treatment and had volunteered to participate in counseling programs, Were assigned randomly to two experimental and control groups. Before the therapeutic intervention, both groups with spiritual health questionnaire (1982) and religious status questionnaire RSI (2003) were evaluated. The experimental group participated in twelve 90-minute sessions of cognitive-existential therapy that attended 2 sessions per week, while the control group did not use any psychological intervention during this period. After treatment, both groups were evaluated with the above tests. This assessment was carried out for the experimental group separately within 6 months of treatment. The data were processed by using software SPSS-16 for performing statistical test of covariance analysis (ANCOVA). The results revealed a significant difference in the spiritual health and positive impression of God in the two groups in favor of the experimental group (05/0> p), respectively. These results still remained in a 6-month follow experimental group for both variables, and showed that cognitive-existential therapy can be effective to increase spiritual health and create a positive impression of God in parents of children with cancer

Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism as the Initial Clinical Presentation of Gastric Cancer: A Case Report

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a clinically critical disease, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of which can lead to increased rate of mortality. For prevention of recurrence of PTE, recognition of its risk factors or underlying diseases is of great importance. PTE is common in patients with cancer and has high morbidity and mortality rates. Although cancer is a lethal condition, PTE accelerates death in these patients. In the current study, we reported the case of a 50-year-old male presenting with dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, and non-massive hemoptysis indicating pulmonary embolism. Anticoagulant therapy was initiated, but after 12 days of treatment, new deep vein thromboses in the left upper and right lower limbs were diagnosed. However, no specific risk factors or laboratory abnormalities were detected. History of weight loss during the recent months encouraged further investigation for ruling out malignancy, which led a diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma. He did not have any complaints of gastrointestinal disorders