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Key message: ARG6 and ARG10 pea accessions exhibited better tolerance to drought by keeping drought-associated attributes stable and higher, that is, stable chlorophyll content, high antioxidant activity, and the presence of polymorphic bands with stress-responsive EST-SSR markers. Each year, a significant portion of crops is lost due to various abiotic stresses, and even pea (Pisum sativum) crop growth and yield are severely affected by the challenges posed by drought stress. Drought is a critical factor that limits crop growth and development, and its impact is exacerbated by changes in the magnitude of climatic conditions. Drought induces oxidative stress in plants, leading to the accumulation of high concentrations of reactive oxygen species that damage cell structures and vital functioning of cells. The primary objective was to identify stress-tolerant plants by evaluating different morphological and biochemical attributes, such as biomass, chlorophyll content, relative water content, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and DPPH scavenging activity, as well as protein, proline, and phenolic content. Our study revealed that pea accessions (ARG6 and ARG10) were more resilient to drought stress as their chlorophyll, relative water, protein, and proline contents increased under drought conditions. Antioxidant enzymes, such as SOD, APX, and DPPH activities, also increased under drought stress in ARG10 and ARG6, suggesting that these accessions could bolster the antioxidant defense system in response to drought stress. Based on putative (cellular, biological, and metabolic) functions, ten EST-SSR primers were selected for the amplification study. Three EST-SSR primers, AUMP06_110, AUMP18_300, and AUMP31_250, were used for ARG6 and ARG10. Based on the correlation between the presence or absence of specific EST-SSR alleles, various physiological and morphological traits, and DPPH scavenging activity, both ARG10 and ARG6 demonstrated resistance to drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chile's national school-based mental health program, Skills for Life (SFL), has demonstrated effectiveness in improving behavioral and academic outcomes in first- through third-grade students. The current study assessed the feasibility and outcomes of SFL's program for sixth- through eighth-grade students. Methods: We assessed the percentage of students who participated in the program and longitudinal changes on teacher-reported Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation Re-Revised (TOCA-RR) scores, youth-reported Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Chile (PSC-Y-CL) scores, grade-point average, and school attendance from sixth to eighth grade (2016–2018) for SFL's workshop intervention. Linear mixed effects models analyzed the association between outcome variables and workshop attendance. Results: Of the 30,649 sixth graders who attended the 754 participating schools in 2016, 28,204 (92.0%) were screened with the TOCA-RR. Of the 1829 students who screened at risk, 1344 had available workshop data for seventh grade, with 86.9% of them participating in most (≥ 7) workshop sessions. Workshop attendance was significantly associated with improvements in school attendance and peer relationships (a TOCA-RR subscale) in eighth grade. Conclusions: With high rates of behavioral health screening and workshop attendance, this study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing SFL's middle school program on a national scale. Higher workshop attendance by at-risk students was associated with better school attendance and peer relationships in eighth grade, as well as better but not significantly different outcomes on other measures (e.g., teacher-rated school performance and aggressive behavior in the classroom). Overall, these findings provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility and benefits of SFL's middle school program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]