Search results for: genome scale sequencing

Authors: Özgür Bahadir, Meltem Kurtuncu

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The study was designed as quasi-experimental and conducted to determine the effect of music therapy on anxiety, fear and pain management in 6-12-year-old children undergoing surgery. The present study was carried out between 01.01.2016 and 19.08.2016 in BEU. Application and Research Center. The children aged 6 -12 who applied for surgery between the mentioned dates constituted the universe of the study. In the quasi-experimental study that was conducted in the clinics where children received operational treatment, two groups were formed: experimental group (the children who received musical therapy before the surgery) and control group (the children who were administered surveys and the surgery service routines only). Each group consisted of 30 children, and the participants of the study were 60 children in total. Necessary permissions were obtained from the parents of the children hospitalized before the beginning of the implementation. The data was collected through Child Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), “Fear In Medical Treatment Scale”, Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability Scale (FLACC), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Participant Information Form. In the analysis of the data, Kolmogorov-Smirnov distribution scale was used to examine the normality of the distribution along with descriptive statistics methods (Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation). Data was presented in the tables in numbers and percentages. Means were demonstrated along with the standard deviations. The research compared children received; case and control groups include socio-demographic perspective, non-significant difference statistically among similar groups are intertwined. The general level of fear regarding the medical processes before returning to service after the operation and 30 minutes before getting discharged was found to be significantly low in the experimental group compared to control group (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between experimental and control groups in terms of general level of fear regarding the medical processes before the operation, during the operation day and in the recovery room after the operation (p>0.05). Total CASI AD (anxiety sensitivity) levels before the operation, day of the operation and 30 minutes before the discharge for patients in experimental group was found to be significantly higher than the control group (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the total CASI AD levels for the post-operative recovery room and for returning to the service room after the operation (p>0.05). VAS levels for patients in the experimental group in the post-operative recovery room was significantly higher than the control group (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of VAS findings in returning to service room after the operation and in 30 minutes before the discharge (p>0.05). As a result of the research; applied children music therapy in the experimental group anxiety, fear, and pain of the scales, their scores average, is lower than the control group children in this situation an increase in the satisfaction of children and parents was observed. In line with this, music therapy preoperative anxiety, fear, and can be used as an effective method of decreasing postoperative pain clinics is suggested.

Keywords: anxiety, children, fear, music therapy, pain

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Authors: Liu Chyong-Ru, Wang Yao-Chin, Huang Wen-Shiung, Tang Wan-Ching

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Although gamification has been concerned and applied in the tourism industry, limited literature could be found in tourism academy. Therefore, to contribute knowledge in festival gamification, it becomes essential to start by establishing a Festival Gamification Scale (FGS). This study defines festival gamification as the extent of a festival to involve game elements and game mechanisms. Based on self-determination theory, this study developed an FGS. Through the multi-study method, in study one, five FGS dimensions were sorted through literature review, followed by twelve in-depth interviews. A total of 296 statements were extracted from interviews and were later narrowed down to 33 items under six dimensions. In study two, 226 survey responses were collected from a cycling festival for exploratory factor analysis, resulting in twenty items under five dimensions. In study three, 253 survey responses were obtained from a marathon festival for confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in the final sixteen items under five dimensions. Then, results of criterion-related validity confirmed the positive effects of these five dimensions on flow experience. In study four, for examining the model extension of the developed five-dimensional 16-item FGS, which includes dimensions of relatedness, mastery, competence, fun, and narratives, cross-validation analysis was performed using 219 survey responses from a religious festival. For the tourism academy, the FGS could further be applied in other sub-fields such as destinations, theme parks, cruise trips, or resorts. The FGS serves as a starting point for examining the mechanism of festival gamification in changing tourists’ attitudes and behaviors. Future studies could work on follow-up studies of FGS by testing outcomes of festival gamification or examining moderating effects of enhancing outcomes of festival gamification. On the other hand, although the FGS has been tested in cycling, marathon, and religious festivals, the research settings are all in Taiwan. Cultural differences of FGS is another further direction for contributing knowledge in festival gamification. This study also contributes to several valuable practical implications. First, this FGS could be utilized in tourist surveys for evaluating the extent of gamification of a festival. Based on the results of the performance assessment by FGS, festival management organizations and festival planners could learn the relative scores among dimensions of FGS, and plan for future improvement of gamifying the festival. Second, the FGS could be applied in positioning a gamified festival. Festival management organizations and festival planners could firstly consider the features and types of their festival, and then gamify their festival based on investing resources in key FGS dimensions.

Keywords: festival gamification, festival tourism, scale development, self-determination theory

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Authors: Rubina Shakya, Srijana Dangol, Dil Islam Mansur

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The exposure of constant stress stimuli in our daily lives is causing deterioration of neural connectivity in the brain. Interestingly, the improvement in larger-scale neural communication has been argued to rely on brain rhythms, which might be sensitive to binaural beats of particular frequency bands. The theoretical idea behind neural entrainment is that the rhythmic oscillatory activity within and between different brain regions can enhance cognitive function and mood state. So, we aimed to investigate whether the binaural beats of 40 Hz could enhance the cognition and the mood stability of the medical students at Kathmandu University of age 18-25 years old, which possibly, in the long run, might help to enhance their work productivity. The participants were asked to focus on the auditory stimuli of binaural beats with 200 Hz on the right side and 240 Hz on the left side of the headset for 15 minutes, every alternative day of three consecutive weeks. The Stroop’s test and the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) were applied to assess the cognitive function and the mood state, respectively. The binaural beats significantly decreased the reaction time for the incoherent component of Stroop’s test in both male and female participants. For the mood state, scores of all positive emotions except ‘Calmness’ were significantly increased in the case of males. Whereas, scores of all positive emotions except ‘Vigor’ were significantly increased in the case of females. The results suggested that the meditation aided by binaural beats of 40 Hz helps in improving cognition and mood states to some extent.

Keywords: binaural beats, cognitive function, gamma neural oscillation, mood states

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Authors: Wi Sung Yoo, Seung Woo Lee, Youn Kyoung Hur, Sung Hwan Kim

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Large-scale construction projects are continuously increasing, and the need for tools to monitor and evaluate the project success is emphasized. At the construction industry level, there are limitations in deriving performance evaluation factors that reflect the diversity of construction sites and systems that can objectively evaluate and manage performance. Additionally, there are difficulties in integrating structured and unstructured data generated at construction sites and deriving improvements. In this study, we propose the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to enable performance evaluation that reflects the increased diversity of construction sites and the unstructured data generated, and present a model for measuring performance by the derived indicators. The comprehensive performance of a unit construction site is assessed based on 6 areas (Time, Cost, Quality, Safety, Environment, Productivity) and 26 indicators. We collect performance indicator information from 30 construction sites that meet legal standards and have been successfully performed. And We apply data augmentation and optimization techniques into establishing measurement standards for each indicator. In other words, the KPI for construction site performance evaluation presented in this study provides standards for evaluating performance in six areas using institutional requirement data and document data. This can be expanded to establish a performance evaluation system considering the scale and type of construction project. Also, they are expected to be used as a comprehensive indicator of the construction industry and used as basic data for tracking competitiveness at the national level and establishing policies.

Keywords: key performance indicator, performance measurement, structured and unstructured data, data augmentation

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Authors: Wenjuan Lu

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China and Hungary have risen from a friendly and comprehensive cooperative relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in recent years, and the economic and trade relations between the two countries have developed smoothly. As an important country along the ‘Belt and Road’, Hungary and China have strong economic complementarities and have unique advantages in carrying China's industrial transfer and economic transformation and development. The construction of the China-Hungary Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which was initiated by the ‘Sino-Hungarian Borsod Industrial Zone’ and the ‘Hungarian Central European Trade and Logistics Cooperation Park’ has promoted infrastructure construction, optimized production capacity, promoted industrial restructuring, and formed brand and agglomeration effects. Enhancing the influence of Chinese companies in the European market has also promoted economic development in Hungary and even in Central and Eastern Europe. However, as the China-Hungary Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is still in its infancy, there are still shortcomings such as small scale, single function, and no prominent platform. In the future, based on the needs of China's cooperation with ‘17+1’ and China-Hungary cooperation, on the basis of appropriately expanding the scale of economic and trade cooperation zones and appropriately increasing the number of economic and trade cooperation zones, it is better to focus on optimizing and adjusting its functions and highlighting different economic and trade cooperation. The differentiated function of the trade zones strengthens the multi-faceted cooperation of economic and trade cooperation zones and highlights its role as a platform for cooperation in information, capital, and services.

Keywords: ‘One Belt, One Road’ Initiative, China-Hungary economic and trade cooperation zone, function optimization, Central and Eastern Europe

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Authors: Chana Pavneet

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Background: In more recent years in dentistry, a greater emphasis has been placed on competency-based education (CBE) programmes. Undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums have been reformed to reflect these changes, and adopting a CBE approach has shown to be beneficial to trainees and places an emphasis on continuous lifelong learning. The literature is vast; however, very little work has been done specifically to the assessment of competence in dentistry and even less so in oral surgery. The majority of the literature tends to opinion pieces. Some small-scale studies have been undertaken in this area researching assessment tools which can be used to assess competence in oral surgery. However, there is a lack of general consensus on the preferable assessment methods. The aim of this review is to identify the assessment methods available and their usefulness. Methods: Electronic databases (Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews) were searched. PRISMA guidelines were followed to identify relevant papers. Abstracts of studies were reviewed, and if they met the inclusion criteria, they were included in the review. Papers were reviewed against the critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) checklist and medical education research quality instrument (MERQSI) to assess their quality and identify any bias in a systematic manner. The validity and reliability of each assessment method or tool were assessed. Results: A number of assessment methods were identified, including self-assessment, peer assessment, and direct observation of skills by someone senior. Senior assessment tended to be the preferred method, followed by self-assessment and, finally, peer assessment. The level of training was shown to affect the preferred assessment method, with one study finding peer assessment more useful in postgraduate trainees as opposed to undergraduate trainees. Numerous tools for assessment were identified, including a checklist scale and a global rating scale. Both had their strengths and weaknesses, but the evidence was more favourable for global rating scales in terms of reliability, applicability to more clinical situations, and easier to use for examiners. Studies also looked into trainees’ opinions on assessment tools. Logbooks were not found to be significant in measuring the competence of trainees. Conclusion: There is limited literature exploring the methods and tools which assess the competence of oral surgery trainees. Current evidence shows that the most favourable assessment method and tool may differ depending on the stage of training. More research is required in this area to streamline assessment methods and tools.

Keywords: competence, oral surgery, assessment, trainees, education

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Authors: Mengying Wang, Dongjing Liu, Holger Schwender, Ping Wang, Hongping Zhu, Tao Wu, Terri H Beaty

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Background: Maternal smoking is a recognized risk factor for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P). It has been reported that the effect of maternal smoking on oral clefts is mediated through genes that influence nicotine dependence. The polymorphisms of cholinergic receptor nicotinic alpha (CHRNA) and beta (CHRNB) subunits genes have previously shown strong associations with nicotine dependence. Here, we attempted to investigate whether the above genes are associated with clefting risk through testing for potential gene-gene (G×G) and gene-environment (G×E) interaction. Methods: We selected 120 markers in 14 genes associated with nicotine dependence to conduct transmission disequilibrium tests among 806 Chinese NSCL/P case-parent trios ascertained in an international consortium which conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of oral clefts. We applied Cordell’s method using “TRIO” package in R to explore G×G as well as G×E interaction involving environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) based on conditional logistic regression model. Results: while no SNP showed significant association with NSCL/P after Bonferroni correction, we found signals for G×G interaction between 10 pairs of SNPs in CHRNA3, CHRNA5, and CHRNB4 (p<10-8), among which the most significant interaction was found between RS3743077 (CHRNA3) and RS11636753 (CHRNB4, p<8.2×10-12). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis revealed only low level of LD between these markers. However, there were no significant results for G×ETS interaction. Conclusion: This study fails to detect association between nicotine dependence genes and NSCL/P, but illustrates the importance of taking into account potential G×G interaction for genetic association analysis in NSCL/P. This study also suggests nicotine dependence genes should be considered as important candidate genes for NSCL/P in future studies.

Keywords: Gene-Gene Interaction, Maternal Smoking, Nicotine Dependence, Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip with or without Cleft Palate

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Authors: Chung-Yuan Huang, Yu-Hsiang Fu, Chuen-Tsai Sun

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Community detection represents an important data-mining tool for analyzing and understanding real-world complex network structures and functions. We believe that at least four criteria determine the appropriateness of a community detection algorithm: (a) it produces useable normalized mutual information (NMI) and modularity results for social networks, (b) it overcomes resolution limitation problems associated with synthetic networks, (c) it produces good NMI results and performance efficiency for Lancichinetti-Fortunato-Radicchi (LFR) benchmark networks, and (d) it produces good modularity and performance efficiency for large-scale real-world complex networks. To our knowledge, no existing community detection algorithm meets all four criteria. In this paper, we describe a simple hierarchical arc-merging (HAM) algorithm that uses network topologies and rule-based arc-merging strategies to identify community structures that satisfy the criteria. We used five well-studied social network datasets and eight sets of LFR benchmark networks to validate the ground-truth community correctness of HAM, eight large-scale real-world complex networks to measure its performance efficiency, and two synthetic networks to determine its susceptibility to resolution limitation problems. Our results indicate that the proposed HAM algorithm is capable of providing satisfactory performance efficiency and that HAM-identified communities were close to ground-truth communities in social and LFR benchmark networks while overcoming resolution limitation problems.

Keywords: complex network, social network, community detection, network hierarchy

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Authors: Sean T. S. Wei, Joy D. Van Nostrand, Annapoorna Maitrayee Ganeshram, Stephen B. Pointing

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McMurdo Dry Valleys are a largely ice-free polar desert protected by international treaty as an Antarctic special managed area. The terrestrial landscape is dominated by oligotrophic mineral soil with extensive rocky outcrops. Several environmental stresses: low temperature, lack of liquid water, UV exposure and oligotrophic substrates, restrict the major biotic component to microorganisms. The bacterial diversity and the putative physiological capacity of microbial communities of quartz rocks (hypoliths) and soil of a maritime-influenced Dry Valleys were interrogated by two metagenomic approaches: 454 pyro-sequencing and Geochp DNA microarray. The most abundant phylum in hypoliths was Cyanobacteria (46%), whereas in solils Actinobacteria (31%) were most abundant. The Proteobacteria and Bacteriodetes were the only other phyla to comprise >10% of both communities. Carbon fixation was indicated by photoautotrophic and chemoautotrophic pathways for both hypolith and soil communities. The fungi accounted for polymer carbon transformations, particularly for aromatic compounds. The complete nitrogen cycling was observed in both communities. The fungi in particular displayed pathways related to ammonification. Environmental stress response pathways were common among bacteria, whereas the nutrient stress response pathways were more widely present in bacteria, archaea and fungi. The diversity of bacterialphage was also surveyed by Geochip. Data suggested that different substrates supported different viral families: Leviviridae, Myoviridae, Podoviridae and Siphoviridiae were ubiquitous. However, Corticoviridae and Microviridae only occurred in wetter soils.

Keywords: Antarctica, hypolith, soil, dry valleys, geochip, functional diversity, stress response

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Authors: RAJ KUMAR G.C.

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There are tremendous opportunities to maximize smallholder farmers’ income from small-scale water resource development through micro irrigation and multiple-use water systems (MUS). MUS are an improved water management approach, developed and tested successfully by iDE that pipes water to a community both for domestic use and for agriculture using efficient micro irrigation. Different MUS models address different landscape constraints, water demand, and users’ preferences. MUS are complemented by micro irrigation kits, which were developed by iDE to enable farmers to grow high-value crops year-round and to use limited water resources efficiently. Over the last 15 years, iDE’s promotion of the MUS approach has encouraged government and other key stakeholders to invest in MUS for better planning of scarce water resources. Currently, about 60% of the cost of MUS construction is covered by the government and community. Based on iDE’s experience, a gravity-fed MUS costs approximately $125 USD per household to construct, and it can increase household income by $300 USD per year. A key element of the MUS approach is keeping farmers well linked to input supply systems and local produce collection centers, which helps to ensure that the farmers can produce a sufficient quantity of high-quality produce that earns a fair price. This process in turn creates an enabling environment for smallholders to invest in MUS and micro irrigation. Therefore, MUS should be seen as an integrated package of interventions –the end users, water sources, technologies, and the marketplace– that together enhance technical, financial, and institutional sustainability. Communities are trained to participate in sustainable water resource management as a part of the MUS planning and construction process. The MUS approach is cost-effective, improves community governance of scarce water resources, helps smallholder farmers to improve rural health and livelihoods, and promotes gender equity. MUS systems are simple to maintain and communities are trained to ensure that they can undertake minor maintenance procedures themselves. All in all, the iDE Nepal MUS offers multiple benefits and represents a practical and sustainable model of the MUS approach. Moreover, there is a growing national consensus that rural water supply systems should be designed for multiple uses, acknowledging that substantial work remains in developing national-level and local capacity and policies for scale-up.

Keywords: multiple-use water systems , small scale water resources, rural livelihoods, practical and sustainable model

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Authors: K. Cartelier, D. Aime, V. Vernoud, J. Buitink, J. M. Prosperi, K. Gallardo, C. Le Signor

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Legumes can produce protein-rich seeds without nitrogen fertilizer through root symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. Rich in lysine, these proteins are used for human nutrition and animal feed. However, the instability of seed protein yield and quality due to environmental fluctuations limits the wider use of legumes such as pea. Breeding efforts are needed to optimize and stabilize seed nutritional value, which requires to identify the genetic determinism of seed protein plasticity in response to the environment. Towards this goal, we have studied the plasticity of protein content and composition of seeds from a collection of 200 Medicago truncatula ecotypes grown under four controlled conditions (optimal, drought, and winter/spring sowing). A quantitative analysis of one-dimensional protein profiles of these mature seeds was performed and plasticity indices were calculated from each abundant protein band. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) from these data identified major GWAS hotspots, from which a list of candidate genes was obtained. A Gene Ontology Enrichment Analysis revealed an over-representation of genes involved in several amino acid metabolic pathways. This led us to propose that environmental variations are likely to modulate amino acid balance, thus impacting seed protein composition. The selection of candidate genes for controlling the plasticity of seed protein composition was refined using transcriptomics data from developing Medicago truncatula seeds. The pea orthologs of key genes were identified for functional studies by mean of TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes) lines in this crop. We will present how this study highlighted mechanisms that could govern seed protein plasticity, providing new cues towards the stabilization of legume seed quality.

Keywords: GWAS, Medicago truncatula, plasticity, seed, storage proteins

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Authors: Milena Lakicevic

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The paper deals with the problem of optimizing management options for urban parks within different scenarios of nature protection and tourism importance. The procedure is demonstrated on a case study example of urban parks in Novi Sad (Serbia). Six management strategies for the selected area have been processed by the decision support method PROMETHEE. Two criteria used for the evaluation were nature protection and tourism and each of them has been divided into a set of indicators: for nature protection those were biodiversity and preservation of original landscape, while for tourism those were recreation potential, aesthetic values, accessibility and culture features. It was pre-assumed that each indicator in a set is equally important to a corresponding criterion. This way, the research was focused on a sensitivity analysis of criteria weights. In other words, weights of indicators were fixed and weights of criteria altered along the entire scale (from the value of 0 to the value of 1), and the assessment has been performed in two-dimensional surrounding. As a result, one could conclude which management strategy would be the most appropriate along with changing of criteria importance. The final ranking of management alternatives was followed up by investigating the mean PROMETHEE Φ values for all options considered and when altering the importance of nature protection/tourism. This type of analysis enabled detecting an alternative with a solid performance along the entire scale, i.e., regardlessly of criteria importance. That management strategy can be seen as a compromise solution when the weight of criteria is not defined. As a conclusion, it can be said that, in some cases, instead of having criteria importance fixed it is important to test the outputs depending on the different schemes of criteria weighting. The research demonstrates the state of the final decision when the decision maker can estimate criteria importance, but also in cases when the importance of criteria is not established or known.

Keywords: criteria weights, PROMETHEE, sensitivity analysis, urban parks

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Authors: Preeyarach Whisetkhan, Malai Taweechotipatr, Ulisa Pachekrepapol

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Elevated level of blood cholesterol or hypercholesterolemia may lead to atherosclerosis and poses a major risk for cardiovascular diseases. Probiotics play a crucial role in human health, and probiotic bacteria that possesses bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity can be used to lower cholesterol level of the host. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from traditional Thai fermented foods were able to exhibit bile salt hydrolase activity and their use in fermented milk. A total of 28 isolates were tested for BSH activity by plate method on MRS agar supplemented with 0.5% sodium salt of taurodeoxycholic acid and incubated at 37°C for 48 h under anaerobic condition. The results showed that FN1-1 and FN23-3 isolates possessed strong BSH activity. FN1-1 and FN23-3 isolates were then identified for phenotype, biochemical characteristics, and genotype (16S rRNA sequencing). FN1-1 isolate showed 99.92% similarity to Lactobacillus pentosus DSM 20314(T), while FN23-3 isolate showed 99.94% similarity to Enterococcus faecium CGMCC1.2136 (T). Lactobacillus pentosus FN1-1 and Enterococcus faecium FN23-3 were tolerant of pH 3-4 and 0.3 and 0.8% bile. Bacterial count and pH of milk fermented with Lactobacillus pentosus FN1-1 at 37°C and 43°C were investigated. The results revealed that Lactobacillus pentosus FN1-1 was able to grow in milk, which led to decrease in pH level. Fermentation at 37°C resulted in faster growth rate than at 43 °C. Lactobacillus pentosus FN1-1 was a candidate probiotic to be used in fermented milk products to reduce the risk of high-cholesterol diseases.

Keywords: probiotics, lactic acid bacteria, bile salt hydrolase, cholesterol

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Authors: Saeideh Lotfi Nikoo, Azadeh Ghaheri, Reza Omani Samani

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Context: In most cultures around the globe, infertility is recognized as a crisis and exposed infertile couples are under psychosocial pressure. Indeed, the quality of life (QoL) for infertile women is lower in comparison with fertile control. Objective, The purpose of this study, was to investigate the impact of social support and hope on QoL in women undergoing infertility treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional study. Patient(s): In this cross-sectional study, 350 infertile women were recruited who were referred to an infertility clinic for the first time and had no history of Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) failure. Intervention(s): Questionnaires on the Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL), Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (family and friends), and Snyder Hope Scale (pathway and agency) were used to collect data. Data analysis was done by univariate and multivariate analysis. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result(s): Multivariate analysis indicated that infertile women with a higher score of social support (by family & friends) (b= 0.59 (CI 95%: 0.03, 1.15) (P = 0.040), b= 0.61 (CI 95%: 0.17, 1.04) (P = 0.006)) and hope (pathway & agency) (b= 0.94 (CI 95%: 0.29, 1.59) (P = 0.005), b= 1.13 (CI 95%: 0.45, 1.82) (P = 0.001) respectively) have significantly better Core FertiQoL. The result revealed that social support and hope are significantly and positively associated with other subscales of FertiQoL as well. Conclusions: According to the results, lifestyle interventions such as receiving social support, building a sound family with effective communication, and providing appropriate health education are of crucial importance to address psychological distress and improve the fertility QoL of women experiencing fertility problems.

Keywords: inertility, social support, infertile women, hope

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Authors: Omar Alhamd, Peter A. Thomas, Trevor J. Greenhough, Annette K. Shrive

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The Pseudomonas syringae species complex includes many plant pathogenic strains with highly specific interactions with varied host species and cultivars. The rapid spread of these bacteria over the last ten years has become a cause for concern. Nanoparticles have previously shown promise in microbiological action. We have therefore investigated in vitro and in vivo the effects of different types and sizes of nanoparticles in order to provide quantitative information about their effect on the bacteria. The effects of several different nanoparticles against several bacteria strains were investigated. The effect of NP on bacterial growth was studied by measuring the optical density, biochemical and nutritional tests, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to determine the shape and size of NP. Our results indicate that their effects varied, with either a negative or a positive impact on both bacterial and plant growth. Additionally, the methods of exposure to nanoparticles have a crucial role in accumulation, translocation, growth response and bacterial growth. The results of our studies on the behaviour and effects of nanoparticles in model plants showed. Cerium oxide (CeO₂) and silver (Ag) NP showed significant antibacterial activity against several pathogenic bacteria. It was found that titanium nanoparticles (TiO₂) can have either a negative or a positive impact, according to concentration and size. It is also thought that environmental conditions can have a major influence on bacterial growth. Studies were therefore also carried out under some environmental stress conditions to test bacterial survival and to assess bacterial virulence. All results will be presented including information about the effects of different nanoparticles on Pseudomonas syringae bacteria.

Keywords: plant microbiome, nanoparticles, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, bacterial survival

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Authors: Jaime E. Salazar Lagos

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Chongqing is located in southwest China and is becoming one of the most significant cities in the world. Its urban territories and metropolitan-related areas have one of the largest urban populations in China and are partitioned and shaped by two of the biggest and longest rivers on Earth, the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, making Chongqing a megalopolis intersected by rivers. Historically, Chongqing City enjoyed fundamental connections with its rivers; however, current urban development of Chongqing City has lost effective integration of the riverbanks within the urban space and structural dynamics of the city. Therefore, there exists a critical lack of physical and urban space conjoined with the rivers, which diminishes the economic, tourist, and environmental development of Chongqing. Using multi-scale satellite-map site verification the study confirmed the hypothesis and urban-waterside disconnect. Collected data demonstrated that the Chongqing urban zone, an area of 5292 square-kilometers and a water front of 203.4 kilometers, has only 23.49 kilometers of extension (just 11.5%) with high-quality physical and spatial urban-waterside connection. Compared with other metropolises around the world, this figure represents a significant lack of spatial development along the rivers, an issue that has not been successfully addressed in the last 10 years of urban development. On a macro scale, the study categorized the different kinds of relationships between the city and its riverbanks. This data was then utilized in the creation of an urban-waterfront relationship map that can be a tool for future city planning decisions and real estate development. On a micro scale, we discovered there are three primary elements that are causing the urban-waterside disconnect: extensive highways along the most dense areas and city center, large private real estate developments that do not provide adequate riverside access, and large industrial complexes that almost completely lack riverside utilization. Finally, as part of the suggested strategies, the study concludes that the most efficient and practical way to improve this situation is to follow the historic master-planning of Chongqing and create connective nodes in critical urban locations along the river, a strategy that has been used for centuries to handle the same urban-waterside relationship. Reviewing and implementing this strategy will allow the city to better connect with the rivers, reducing the various impacts of disconnect and urban transformation.

Keywords: Chongqing City, megalopolis, nodes, riverbanks disconnection, urban

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Authors: Keigo Ide, Toru Maruyama, Michihiro Ito, Hiroyuki Fujimura, Yoshikatu Nakano, Shoichiro Suda, Sachiyo Aburatani, Haruko Takeyama

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Understanding environmental system is one of the important tasks. In recent years, conservation of coral environments has been focused for biodiversity issues. The damage of coral reef under environmental impacts has been observed worldwide. However, the casual relationship between damage of coral and environmental impacts has not been clearly understood. On the other hand, structure/diversity of marine bacterial community may be relatively robust under the certain strength of environmental impact. To evaluate the coral environment conditions, it is necessary to investigate relationship between marine bacterial composition in coral reef and environmental factors. In this study, the Time Scale Network Analysis was developed and applied to analyze the marine environmental data for investigating the relationship among coral, bacterial community compositions and environmental factors. Seawater samples were collected fifteen times from November 2014 to May 2016 at two locations, Ishikawabaru and South of Sesoko in Sesoko Island, Okinawa. The physicochemical factors such as temperature, photosynthetic active radiation, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, salinity, chlorophyll, dissolved organic matter and depth were measured at the coral reef area. Metagenome and metatranscriptome in seawater of coral reef were analyzed as the biological factors. Metagenome data was used to clarify marine bacterial community composition. In addition, functional gene composition was estimated from metatranscriptome. For speculating the relationships between physicochemical and biological factors, cross-correlation analysis was applied to time scale data. Even though cross-correlation coefficients usually include the time precedence information, it also included indirect interactions between the variables. To elucidate the direct regulations between both factors, partial correlation coefficients were combined with cross correlation. This analysis was performed against all parameters such as the bacterial composition, the functional gene composition and the physicochemical factors. As the results, time scale network analysis revealed the direct regulation of seawater temperature by photosynthetic active radiation. In addition, concentration of dissolved oxygen regulated the value of chlorophyll. Some reasonable regulatory relationships between environmental factors indicate some part of mechanisms in coral reef area.

Keywords: coral environment, marine microbiology, network analysis, omics data analysis

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Authors: Jin Hun Choi, So Hyun Ahn, Seong Keun Wang, Ik-Seung Chee, Jung Lan Kim, Sun Woo Lee

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Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of day hospital care in hospitalized schizophrenic patients in terms of treatment adherence and treatment outcomes. Methods: Among schizophrenic patients hospitalized between 2011 and 2012, 23 day hospital care patient and 40 control subjects were included in the study. All candidates underwent Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, Drug Attitude Inventory, World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment and Psychological Well-Being Scale when their symptoms were stabilized during hospitalization, and after being discharged, 23 patients received day hospital care for two months and then changed to out-patient care while 40 patients received out-patient care immediately after discharge. At the point of two months of out-patient care, the treatment adherence of the two groups was evaluated; tracking observation was performed until February, 2013, and survival rates were compared between the two groups. Results: Treatment adherence was higher in the day hospital care group than in the control group. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a higher survival rate for the day hospital care group compared to the control group. Levels of cognitive insight and quality of life were higher after day hospital care than before day hospital care in the day hospital care group. Conclusions: Through the study, it was confirmed that when hospitalized schizophrenic patients received continuous day hospital care after being discharged, they received further out-patient care more faithfully. The study is considered to aid in the understanding regarding schizophrenic patients’ treatment adherence issues and improvement of treatment outcomes.

Keywords: schizophrenia, day hospital care, adherence, outcomes

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Authors: Dipanshu Sur, Ratnabali Chakravorty

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Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common metabolic abnormality such as changes in lipid profile, diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome occurring in young women of reproductive age. Low vitamin D levels were found to be associated with the development of obesity and insulin resistance in women with PCOS. Variants on vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have also been related to metabolic comorbidities in general population. Aim: The aim of this case-control study was to investigate whether the VDR gene polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to PCOS. Methods: Women with PCOS and a control group, all aged 16-40 years, were enrolled. Genotyping of VDR Fok-I (rs2228570), VDR Apa-I (rs7975232) as well as GC (rs2282679), DHCR7 (rs12785878) SNPs between groups were determined by using direct sequencing. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)] levels were measured by ELISA. Results: Mean serum 25(OH)D in the PCOS and control samples were 19.08±7 and 23.27±6.03 (p=0.048) which were significantly lower in PCOS patients compared with controls. CC genotype of the VDR Apa-I SNP was same frequent in PCOS (25.6%) and controls (25.6%) (OR: 0.9995; 95%CI: 0.528 to 1.8921; p= 0.9987). The CC genotype was also significantly associated with both lower E2 (p=0.031) and Androstenedione levels (p=0.062). We observed a significant association of GC polymorphism with 25(OH)D levels. PCOS women carrying the GG genotype (in GC genes) had significantly higher risk for vitamin D deficiency than women carrying the TT genotype. Conclusions: In conclusion, data from this study indicate that vitamin D levels are lower, and vitamin D deficiency more frequent, in PCOS than in controls. The present findings suggest that the Apa-I, Fok-I polymorphism of the VDR gene is associated with PCOS and seems to modulate ovarian steroid secretion. Further studies are needed to better clarify the biological mechanisms by which the polymorphism influences PCOS risk.

Keywords: vitamin D receptor, polymorphism, vitamin D, polycystic ovary syndrome

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Authors: Lorato Itumeleng Kenosi

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Background: Negative attitudes towards the mentally ill are widespread and a course for concern as they have a detrimental impact on individuals affected by mental illness. A possible avenue for changing attitudes towards mental illness is through mental health literacy. In a college or university setting, an abnormal psychology course may be introduced in an attempt to change student’s attitudes towards the mentally ill. Objective: To determine if and how students’ attitudes towards the mentally ill change as a result of taking a course in abnormal psychology. Methods: Twenty nine (29) students were recruited from an abnormal psychology class at the University of Botswana. Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) questionnaire was administered to participants at the beginning and end of the semester. SPSS was employed to analyze data. Pooled means were used to determine whether the student’s attitudes towards mental illness were negative or positive. A mean of 2.5 translated to negative attitude for both total attitude and attitudes in different domains of the scale. Paired sample t-test was then used to assess whether any changes noted in attitudes were statistically significant or not. Statistical significance was assumed at p < 0.05. Results: Students’ general attitude towards mental illness remained positive although the pooled mean value increased from 2.08 to 2.24. The change was not statistically significant. In relation to different sub scales, the values of the pooled means for all the sub scales showed an increase although the changes were not statistically significant except for the Stereotyping sub scale (p = 0.031). The stereotyping domain reflected a statistically significant change in student’s attitude from positive attitude to negative (X² = 2.06 to X² = 2.55). For the pessimistic prediction domain, students consistently showed a negative attitude (X² = 3.34 to X² = 3.55). The other 4 domains indicated that students had positive attitude toward mentally ill throughout. Discussion: Abnormal psychology students have a positive attitude towards the mentally ill generally. This could be attributed to the fact that all students in the abnormal psychology course are majoring in psychology and research has shown that interest in psychology can affect one’s attitude towards mental illness. The students continuously held the view that people with mental illness are unlikely to improve as evidenced by a high score for Pessimistic prediction domain for both pre and post-test. Students initially had no stereotyping attitude towards the mentally ill, but at the end of the course, they were of the opinion that people with mental illness can be defined in a certain behavioural pattern and mental ability. This results could be an indication that students have learnt well how to differentiate abnormal from normal behaviour not necessarily that students had developed a negative attitude. Conclusion: A course in abnormal psychology does have an impact on the students’ attitudes towards the mentally ill. The impact does not solely depend on knowledge of mental illness but also on several other factors such as contact with the mentally ill, interest in psychology, and teaching methods. However, it should be noted that sometimes improved knowledge in mental illness can be misunderstood for a negative attitude. For example, stereotyping attitudes may be a reflection of the ability to differentiate between abnormal and normal behaviour.

Keywords: attitudes, mental illness, psychopathology, students

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Authors: Asma Ansari, Afsheen Aman, Shah Ali Ul Qader

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In the past few years, numerous concerns have been raised against increased bacterial resistance towards effective drugs and become a debated issue all over the world. With the emergence of drug resistant pathogens, the interaction of natural antimicrobial compounds and antibacterial nanoparticles has emerged as a potential candidate for combating infectious diseases. Microbial diversity in the biome provides an opportunity to screen new species which are capable of producing large number of antimicrobial compounds. Among these antimicrobial compounds, bacteriocins are highly specific and efficient antagonists. A combination of bacteriocin along with nanoparticles could prove to be more potent due to broadened antibacterial spectrum with possibly lower doses. In the current study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized through biological reduction using various isolated bacterial, fungal and yeast strains. Spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed for the confirmation of nanoparticles. Bacteriocin was characterized and purified to homogeneity through gel permeation chromatography. The estimated molecular weight of bacteriocin was 10 kDa. Amino acid analysis and N-terminal sequencing revealed the novelty of the protein. Then antibacterial potential of silver nanoparticles and broad inhibitory spectrum bacteriocin was determined through agar well diffusion assay. These synthesized bacteriocin-Nanoparticles exhibit a good potential for clinical applications as compared to bacteriocin alone. This combination of bacteriocin with nanoparticles will be used as a new sort of biocide in the field of nano-proteomics. The advancement of nanoparticles-mediated drug delivery system will open a new age for rapid eradication of pathogens from biological systems.

Keywords: BAC-IB17, multidrug resistance, purification, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Mohammad Fereidoonnezhad, Seán Leen, Stephen Nash, Patrick McGarry

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From the perspective of research innovation, the tidal energy industry is still in its early stages. While a very small number of turbines have progressed to utility-scale deployment, blade breakage is commonly reported due to the enormous hydrodynamic loading applied to devices. The aim of this study is the development of computer simulation technologies for the design of next-generation fibre-reinforced composite tidal turbines. This will require significant technical advances in the areas of tidal turbine testing and multi-scale computational modelling. The complex turbine blade profiles are designed to incorporate non-linear distributions of airfoil sections to optimize power output and self-starting capability while reducing power fluctuations. A number of candidate blade geometries are investigated, ranging from spiral geometries to parabolic geometries, with blades arranged in both cylindrical and spherical configurations on a vertical axis turbine. A combined blade element theory (BET-start-up model) is developed in MATLAB to perform computationally efficient parametric design optimisation for a range of turbine blade geometries. Finite element models are developed to identify optimal fibre-reinforced composite designs to increase blade strength and fatigue life. Advanced fluid-structure-interaction models are also carried out to compute blade deflections following design optimisation.

Keywords: tidal turbine, composite materials, fluid-structure-interaction, start-up capability

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Authors: Gülden Küçükakça, Şefika Dilek Güven, Rahşan Kolutek, Seçil Taylan

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Objective: Nursing students face with stress factors affecting academic performance and quality of life as from first moments of their educational life. Stress causes health problems in students such as physical, psycho-social, and behavioral disorders and might damage formation of professional identity by decreasing efficiency of education. In addition to determination of stress experienced by nursing students during their education, it was aimed to help review theoretical and clinical education settings for bringing stress of nursing students into positive level and to raise awareness of educators concerning their own professional behaviors. Methods: The study was conducted with 315 students studying at nursing department of Semra and Vefa Küçük Health High School, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in the academic year of 2015-2016 and agreed to participate in the study. “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researchers upon the literature review and “Nursing Education Stress Scale (NESS)” were used in this study. Data were assessed with analysis of variance and correlation analysis. Results: Mean NESS Scale score of the nursing students was estimated to be 66.46±16.08 points. Conclusions: As a result of this study, stress level experienced by nursing undergraduate students during their education was determined to be high. In accordance with this result, it can be recommended to determine sources of stress experienced by nursing undergraduate students during their education and to develop approaches to eliminate these stress sources.

Keywords: stress, nursing education, nursing student, nursing education stress

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Authors: Nuno Da Camara, Victor Dulewicz, Malcolm Higgs

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Factors on employee engagement: In particular, although theorists have described the critical role of emotional cognition of the workplace environment as antecedents to employee engagement, empirical research on the impact of emotional cognition on employee engagement is limited. However, previous researchers have typically provided evidence of the link between emotional cognition of the workplace environment and workplace attitudes such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment. This study therefore aims to investigate the impact of emotional cognition of job, role, leader and organisation domains of the work environment – as represented by measures of psychological climate and organizational emotional intelligence (OEI) - on employee engagement. The research is based on a quantitative cross-sectional survey of employees in a UK charity organization (n=174). The research instruments applied include the psychological climate scale, the organisational emotional intelligence questionnaire (OEIQ) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The data were analysed using hierarchical regression and partial least squares (PLS) analytical techniques. The results of the study show that both psychological climate and OEI, which represent emotional cognition of job, role, leader and organisation domains in the workplace are significant drivers of employee engagement. In particular, the study found that a sense of contribution and challenge at work are the strongest drivers of vigour, dedication and absorption and highlights the importance of emotionally relevant approaches in furthering our understanding of workplace engagement.

Keywords: employee engagement, organisational emotional intelligence, psychological climate, workplace attitudes

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Authors: Nida B. Syed

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Following second wave of the current pandemic COVID-19, education transmission is occurring via both the modes of education, that is, online as well as offline in the college. The aim of the current study was, therefore, to bring forth the comparative analysis of both the modes of education and their impact on the levels of academic stress and states of the mental wellbeing of the students amidst the current pandemic. Measures of the constructs were obtained by the online Google forms, which consist of the Perceptions of Academic Stress Scale (PASS) by and Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-being Scale, from a sample of 100 undergraduate students aged 19-25 years studying in different colleges of Bengaluru, India. Modes of education were treated as the predictor variables whilst academic stress, and mental wellbeing constituted the criterion variables. Two-way ANOVA was employed. Results show that the levels of academic stress are found to be a bit higher in students attending online classes as compared to those taking offline classes in college (MD = 1.10, df = 98, t = 0.590, p > 0.05), whereas mental wellbeing is found to be low in students attending offline classes in colleges than those taking online classes (MD = 5.180, df = 98, t =2.340, p > 0.05 level). The combined interactional effect of modes of education and academic stress on the states of the mental wellbeing of the students is found to be low (R2 = 0.053), whilst the combined impact of modes of education and mental wellbeing on the levels of academic stress was found to be quite low (R2 = 0.014). It was concluded that modes of education have an impact on levels of academic stress and states of the mental well-being of the students amidst the current pandemic, but it is low.

Keywords: modes of education, online learning, offline learning, pandemic

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Authors: Omneya M. Helmy, Mona T. Kashef

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Aminoglycosides are used in treating a wide range of infections caused by both Gram-negative and Gram positive bacteria. The presence of 16S rRNA methyl transferases (16S-RMTase) is among the newly discovered resistance mechanisms that confer high resistance to clinically useful aminoglycosides. Cephalosporins are the most commonly used antimicrobials in Egypt; therefore, this study was conducted to determine the isolation frequency of 16S rRNA methyl transferases among third generation cephalosporin-resistant clinical isolates in Egypt. One hundred and twenty three cephalosporin resistant Gram-negative clinical isolates were screened for aminoglycoside resistance by the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method and tested for possible production of 16S-RMTase. PCR testing and sequencing were used to confirm the presence of 16S-RMTase and the associated antimicrobial resistance determinants, as well as the genetic region surrounding the armA gene. Out of 123 isolates, 66 (53.66%) were resistant to at least one aminoglycoside antibiotic. Only one Escherichia coli isolate (E9ECMO) which was totally resistant to all tested aminoglycosides, was confirmed to have the armA gene in association with blaTEM-1, blaCTX-M-15, blaCTX-M-14 and aac(6)-Ib genes. The armA gene was found to be carried on a large A/C plasmid. Genetic mapping of the armA surrounding region revealed, for the first time, the association of armA with aac(6)-Ib on the same transposon. In Conclusion, the isolation frequency of 16S-RMTase was low among the tested cephalosporin-resistant clinical samples. However, a novel composite transposon has been detected conferring high-level aminoglycosides resistance.

Keywords: aminoglcosides, armA gene, β lactmases, 16S rRNA methyl transferases

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Authors: Isaiah Oluranti Olurinola, Michael Kayode Bolarinwa, Ebenezer Bowale, Ifeoluwa Ogunrinola

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Abstract - While much literature exists on microfinancing and its impact on the development of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME), yet little is known in respect of the impact of different types of education of owner-managers on the performances as well as innovative possibilities of such enterprises. This paper aims at contributing to the understanding of the impact of different types of education (academic, technical, apprenticeship, etc) that influence the performance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME). This study utilises a recent and larger data-set collected in six states and FCT Abuja, Nigeria in the year 2014. Furthermore, the study carries out a comparative analysis of business performance among the different geo-political zones in Nigeria, given the educational attainment of the owner-managers. The data set were enterprise-based and were collected by the Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER) in the year 2014. Six hundred and eighty eight enterprises were covered in the survey. The method of data analysis for this study is the use of basic descriptive statistics in addition to the Logistic Regression model used in the prediction of the log of odds of business performance in relation to any of the identified educational attainment of the owner-managers in the sampled enterprises. An OLS econometric technique is also used to determine the effects of owner-managers' different educational types on the performance of the sampled MSME. Policy measures that will further enhance the contributions of education to MSME performance will be put forward.

Keywords: Business Performance, Education, Microfinancing, Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises

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Authors: D. Jayalakshmi, S. S. Bhosale

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This paper, in its first part, presents the state-of-the-art literature of design approaches for geosynthetic reinforced unpaved roads. The literature starting since 1970 and the critical appraisal of flexible pavement design by Giroud and Han (2004) and Jonathan Fannin (2006) is presented. The design example is illustrated for Indian conditions. The example emphasizes the results computed by Giroud and Han's (2004) design method with the Indian road congress guidelines by IRC SP 72 -2015. The input data considered are related to the subgrade soil condition of Maharashtra State in India. The unified soil classification of the subgrade soil is inorganic clay with high plasticity (CH), which is expansive with a California bearing ratio (CBR) of 2% to 3%. The example exhibits the unreinforced case and geotextile as reinforcement by varying the rut depth from 25 mm to 100 mm. The present result reveals the base thickness for the unreinforced case from the IRC design catalogs is in good agreement with Giroud and Han (2004) approach for a range of 75 mm to 100 mm rut depth. Since Giroud and Han (2004) method is applicable for both reinforced and unreinforced cases, for the same data with appropriate Nc factor, for the same rut depth, the base thickness for the reinforced case has arrived for the Indian condition. From this trial, for the CBR of 2%, the base thickness reduction due to geotextile inclusion is 35%. For the CBR range of 2% to 5% with different stiffness in geosynthetics, the reduction in base course thickness will be evaluated, and the validation will be executed by the full-scale accelerated pavement testing set up at the College of Engineering Pune (COE), India.

Keywords: base thickness, design approach, equation, full scale accelerated pavement set up, Indian condition

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Authors: Alireza Naseri, Susan L. Holdt, Charlotte Jacobsen

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In 2014, the global amount of carrageenan production was 60,000 ton with a value of US$ 626 million. From this number, it can be estimated that the total dried seaweed consumption for this production was at least 300,000 ton/year. The protein content of these types of seaweed is 5 – 25%. If just half of this total amount of protein could be extracted, 18,000 ton/year of a high-value protein product would be obtained. The overall aim of this study was to develop a technology that will ensure further utilization of the seaweed that is used only as raw materials for carrageenan production as single extraction at present. More specifically, proteins should be extracted from the seaweed either before or after extraction of carrageenan with focus on maintaining the quality of carrageenan as a main product. Different mechanical, chemical and enzymatic technologies were evaluated. The optimized process was implemented in lab scale and based on its results; the new experiments were done a pilot and larger scale. In order to calculate the efficiency of the new upstream multi-extraction process, protein content was tested before and after extraction. After this step, the extraction of carrageenan was done and carrageenan content and the effect of extraction on yield were evaluated. The functionality and quality of carrageenan were measured based on rheological parameters. The results showed that by using the new multi-extraction process (submitted patent); it is possible to extract almost 50% of total protein without any negative impact on the carrageenan quality. Moreover, compared to the routine carrageenan extraction process, the new multi-extraction process could increase the yield of carrageenan and the rheological properties such as gel strength in the final carrageenan had a promising improvement. The extracted protein has initially been screened as a plant protein source in typical food applications. Further work will be carried out in order to improve properties such as color, solubility, and taste.

Keywords: carrageenan, extraction, protein, seaweed

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Authors: Kamran Yazdanbakhsh, Somayeh Mahmoudi

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Multiple sclerosis is the most common chronic disease of the central nervous system associated with demyelination of neurons and several demyelinated parts of the disease encompasses throughout the white matter and affects the sensory and motor function. This study compared the effectiveness of two methods of cognitive therapy and supportive-expressive therapy on the efficacy and quality of life in MS patients. This is an experimental project which has used developed group pretest - posttest and follow-up with 3 groups. The study included all patients with multiple sclerosis in 2013 that were members of the MS Society of Iran in Tehran. The sample included 45 patients with MS that were selected volunteerily of members of the MS society of Iran and randomly divided into three groups and pretest, posttest, and follow-up (three months) for the three groups had been done.The dimensions of quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis scale, and general self-efficiency scale of Schwarzer and Jerusalem was used for collecting data. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean of quality of life scores at pretest, posttest, and follow-up of the experimental groups. There was no significant difference between the mean of quality of life of the experimental groups which means that both groups were effective and had the same effect. There was no significant difference between the mean of self-efficiency scores in control and experimental group in pretest, posttest and follow-up. Thus, by using cognitive and supportive-expressive group therapy we can improve quality of life in MS patients and make great strides in their mental health.

Keywords: cognitive group therapy, life style, MS, self-efficiency, supportive-expressive group therapy

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