Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Viral effects on bacterial community composition in marine plankton microcosms

Recent theory suggests that viruses influence bacterial community composition by killing the winners of resource competition. We tested aspects of this theory by growing natural marine bacteria communities in seawater microcosms that had either significantly reduced or increased virus abundances and monitoring changes in the bacterial communities. Bacterial commu- nity composition was assayed by 2 whole-community fingerprinting techniques, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (TRFLP) and automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), at the beginning and end of experiments to examine the effect of changes in viral abun- dance on bacterial community composition. Our results suggest that changes in viral abundances have mixed effects on microbial community fingerprints. Modest, but statistically significant, changes in community fingerprints were seen when most viruses were removed by filtration and bacteria sub- sequently grown over 5 d compared to growth at normal virus density. There were no significant dif- ferences between community fingerprints from microcosms grown with a normal versus 3-fold den- sity of viruses over 2 d (possibly because of slow growth rates); however, significant changes occurred over time, regardless of virus abundance, suggesting that manipulation and containment alone had a strong influence on community fingerprints, which may have masked some virus effects. Also, mod- erate natural variation in composition between replicate microcosms made it difficult to distinguish statistically significant virus effects. Given that relatively few significant changes were apparent in community fingerprints between virus treatments at the end of our experiments, it is possible that current models of virus infection and the possible roles of viruses in controlling community composi- tion need re-evaluation. The persistence of high viral abundance and apparent high turnover, in con- cert with our results, suggests that viruses and their hosts may have a more stable coexistence than is now currently thought. However, it is possible that the modest effects of viral infection observed in this short-term study could be significantly amplified over longer time-scales of weeks or months, resulting in viruses having a more substantial influence on bacterial community composition.
The Relation between Psychological Empowerment and Job Satisfaction among Nurses

Background- Empowering employees is an essential factor to reduce workplace stress, whereas its role in enhancing job satisfaction among employees is through perceived job obligation, and reducing stress. Aim- The present study endeavored to determine the relationship between Psychological Empowerment and Job Satisfaction among nurses. Methods and Materials- Cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study design carried out for a period from 5th of September/2017 till 30th of May/2018 at five hospitals in Mosul/Iraq. Non-probability sampling technique and accidental sampling method were depended to select (317) nurse as a sample of the study. An interview was the method through which data were gathered. Two instruments were used to collect data; Psychological Empowerment questionnaire “PE”, and Minnesota Job Satisfaction questionnaire “JS”. Mean, Standard deviation and stepwise regression analysis were used to present the findings of the study. Findings- Total Psychological Empowerment and Total Job Satisfaction and their domains had an acceptable level, from another side, Total Psychological Empowerment and its domains had significant relations with Total Job Satisfaction and its domains
The Efficacy and Safety of Cinnarizine in the Treatment of Vertigo in a Sample of Iraqi Patients in Al-Diwaniyah Province

Background: Vertigo is acoomon vestibular disorder in daily clinical practice that is frequently described as rotational sensation by patients and caused by a variety of causes that can be central or peripheral in origin. Treatment should be directed toward underlying etiology, but symptomatic relief is required to improve patients’ quality of life. Cinnarizine is frequently prescribed to relieve symptoms associated with vertigo; however little is known about its efficacy in daily clinical practice in Al-Diwaniyah province.Aim of the study: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of cinnarizne in the treatment of vertigo in patients visiting ENT unit at Al-Diwaniayh teaching hospital.Patients and method: The present cohort study included 66 patients of vertigo who were treated medically by cinarrizine (stugeron) and followed up for treatment response evaluation. The study was carried out in Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) unit in Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital, Mid-Euphrates region, Iraq. The study started on June 2018 and ended on July 2019. The main variables included in the study were age, residency, level of education, occupation, other associated ENT manifestations and chronic illnesses. The primary outcome was response to treatment classified into satisfactory and unsatisfactory.Results: Mean age of patients with satisfactory response was significantly less than that of patients with unsatisfactory response, 45.73 ±13.31 years versus 54.95 ±15.67 years, respectively (P = 0.016). Response to treatment was not significantly associated to gender, residency, occupation and education (P > 0.05). Response to treatment was not significantly associated to bilateral ear wax, acute otitis media, chronic suppurative otitis media, Meniere’s disease and common cold (P > 0.05); however, it was significantly in the absence of hearing impairment and tinnitus (P 0.05), but significantly better in the absence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension (P < 0.05).
Effect of temperature and ration size on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope trophic fractionation

Summary 1Stable isotope data are widely used to track the origins and transformations of materials in food webs. Reliable interpretation of these data requires knowledge of the factors influencing isotopic fractionation between diet and consumer. For practical reasons, isotopic fractionation is often assumed to be constant but, in reality, a range of factors may affect fractionation. 2To investigate effects of temperature and feeding rate on fractionation of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in a marine predator, we reared European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax on identical diets at 11 and 16 °C on three ration levels for 600 days. 3Nitrogen trophic fractionation (Δδ15N) was affected by temperature. Bass Δδ15N was 4·41‰ at 11 °C and 3·78‰ at 16 °C. 4Carbon fractionation (Δδ13C) was also affected by temperature. Bass Δδ13C was 1·18‰ at 11 °C and 1·64‰ at 16 °C. The higher lipid content in the tissues of bass reared at cooler temperatures accounted for the temperature effect on Δδ13C. When Δδ13C was determined using mathematically defatted values, there was a direct effect of ration size and Δδ13C was 2·51, 2·39 and 2·31‰ for high, medium and low rations, respectively. 5Reported Δδ15N for all treatments exceeded the mean of 3·4‰ widely used in ecological studies of fish populations and communities. This would confound the interpretation of δ15N as an indicator of trophic level when comparing populations that are exposed to different temperatures. 6The Δδ13C of 0–1‰ commonly applied in food web studies did not hold under any of the temperature or feeding regimes considered and a value of 2‰ would be more appropriate.
TAXONOMY AND ULTRASTRUCTURE OF A FRESHWATER, HETEROTROPHIC AMPHIDINIUM (DINOPHYCEAE) THAT FEEDS ON UNICELLULAR PROTISTS

Amphidinium lacustre Stein, non sensu auctt. was identified by reference to original descriptions, which differ significantly from later interpretations. Mixed cultures containing A. lacustre, cryptomonads, Spermatozopsis exsultans Korshikov, and small chlorelloid cells were examined for feeding events. The dinoflagellate ingested the cytoplasm of cryptomonads, leaving the periplast, and completely ingested Spermatozopsis and chlorelloid cells. A peduncle was used in the initial stages of prey capture, although it was not visible during food uptake. The ultrastructure of A. lacustre was typical of unarmored dinoflagellates. A single pusule per cell, consisting of one long, convoluted tube, opened directly into one of the flagellar canals. An eyespot was present, composed of presumably crystalline, vesicle‐contained units, similar to those of Gymnodinium natalense Horiguchi et Pienaar. The main components of the flagellar apparatus resembled those of other Amphidinium species, but differences were noted. The transverse basal body overlapped the proximal end of the longitudinal one at an angle of about 120°. Three connectives were distinguished between basal bodies, one of which consisted of radiating fibers linking individual triplets of the longitudinal basal body to one triplet of the transverse. Some flagellar apparatus components were closely associated to a vesicle and to a mitochondrion. A ventral ridge extended from the (incomplete) longitudinal striated collar to the peduncular striated collar. The peduncle was supported by a single strand of microtubules, which were surrounded by numerous vesicles with electron‐opaque contents.
A new subgeneric classification for Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) in southern Africa based on ITS and psbA-trnH sequence data

We use data from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear rDNA cistron and the chloroplast psbA-trnH intergenic spacer to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among southern African species of Euphorbia. The results indicate that major re-organization is necessary of the groupings within Euphorbia that have been recognised in the past, since most of them turn out to be polyphyletic. Furthermore, in its present circumscription, Euphorbia itself is not monophyletic, nor do the southern African species form a monophyletic group. Both datasets show that the southern African species fall into four major groups, which we recognise as subgenera: Chamaesyce Raf. , Esula Pers. , Euphorbia and Rhizanthium (Boiss.) Wheeler. To accommodate the southern African species, subg. Chamaesyce is divided into sect. Chamaesyce, sect. Frondosae Bruyns, sect. nov., sect. Articulofruticosae Bruyns, sect. nov. and sect. Espinosae Pax & Hoffm. Subgenus Euphorbia is divided into sect. Euphorbia, sect. Monadenium (Pax) Bruyns, sect. Goniostema H. Baill. ex Boiss. and sect. Tirucalli Boiss. To re-establish the monophyly of Euphorbia, the genera Endadenium L.C. Leach, Monadenium Pax and Synadenium Boiss. are reduced to synonymy under Euphorbia subg. Euphorbia sect. Monadenium and the species are all transferred to Euphorbia. Consequently the subtribe Euphorbiinae now consists of the single, very large, very widely distributed and very diverse genus Euphorbia. Three of the subgenera (Chamaesyce, Esula, Euphorbia) are nearly cosmopolitan, showing the great age and wide extent of the radiation that has occurred within Euphorbia. The remaining subg. Rhizanthium is mainly African.
Novel Single Hematophagous Insect RNA Detection Method Supports Its Use as Sentinels to Survey Flaviviruses Circulation

Anthropogenic actions, including deforestation, disorganized urbanization, and globalization, contribute to emergence and reemergence of arboviruses worldwide, where Flavivirus is the most prevalent, and its continuous monitoring can help in preventive control strategies. Thus, the aim of this study was to detect flavivirus RNA in single hematophagous insects, which are used as sentinels. Total RNA was extracted from six Aedes aegypti stored since 2003 and from 100 Culicidae and collected through CDC trap in a public park of a Brazilian Northwest city of São Paulo State. Flavivirus was detected through RT/PCR targeting 230–250 bp of the RNA polymerase coding sequence (NS5). PCR amplicons were sequenced by Sanger method, used in comparative analysis over Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) in GenBank, and subjected to Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic analyses. Efficiency of Flavivirus diagnosis was confirmed by detection of Dengue virus serotype 2 in Ae. aegypti. From the 100 collected insects, 19 were positive for Culex flavivirus (CxFV). NS5 partial sequence phylogenetic analysis clustered all CxFV in one branch separated from vertebrate flaviviruses, being applicable to the identification of Flavivirus species. The dipteran RNA extraction methodology described in this work supports detection of flaviviruses in single insects maintained in 80% ethanol, which can be used to constant arbovirus surveillance.
Adjusting to austerity: the public spending responses of regional governments to the budget constraint in Spain and Italy

Abstract What are the effects of fiscal imbalances, and austerity, on regional-level spending? To answer this question, we examine an original dataset of yearly spending decisions of regional governments in Italy and Spain between 2003 and 2015. We find that the rise in regional deficits has an important negative effect on regional governments’ spending. The strength of this effect is, however, mitigated by the presence of a left-wing party in regional office. In addition, we uncover an important variation in the extent of cutbacks across policy sectors: regional governments tend to protect the health sector and focus their retrenchment efforts on social assistance and running of public institutions. Partisanship matters here too, as left-wing parties tend to protect healthcare more than their right-wing rivals. These findings bear relevance for understanding the role of partisanship and policy sector in the process of public retrenchment in multi-level states.
Sustainability Status and Optimization of the Public Market Performance

The application of SNI is indeed to accelerate and facilitate the managing agency in assessing market performance, but in actual conditions in the SNI field, it still needs to be detailed because each criterion still has standards that must be met in more detail. The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance value of the Tempuran Public Market, Magelang Regency based on SNI and the detailed status for sustainability with Multidimensional Scaling (MDS). MDS analysis is used to assess the status of successful implementation and market sustainability. The result of the current combat market value status based on SNI was 56.32 while based on MDS detailing, it was 46.32 and after weighting, it became 45.17. Status improvement was carried out with various scenarios for a detailed MDS assessment. Optimal scenarios in the short term could be increased to 54.76, so that this increased the status from less sustainable (unfavorable) to sustainable (good), whereas if the overall important factor policy was applied it could be increased to 72.17. The policy scenario of the Tempuran Market management was to prioritize economic aspects, technical aspects and other aspects followed. Leverage factors from each of these aspects included increasing revenue from market management and digitization, technical management specifically for meat storage, security and community management, parking management and market cleanliness management.
Retaining the adolescent workforce in family businesses

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to critically explore the linkage between adolescent work, parent–child relationships and offspring career choice outcomes in a family business context. It examines the aforementioned in light of the stay/go decision faced by adolescent family members.Design/methodology/approachFindings are derived from semi-structured interviews with 15 individuals from five Italian families operating family catering businesses in Yorkshire (UK). The approach represents a sample spanning four generations, designed to capture data from individuals who had experienced adolescent work at the family business.FindingsThe findings offer evidence that the “familiarity” of family business impacts on offspring career choices, providing a safety net or a trap which can impede exit decisions. Returning after periods of study leave that represent the transition from adolescence to adulthood, offspring continue to use the family business as a base from which to explore their career options. Alternatively, when parent–child relationships break down, family business escape strategies assume priority for offspring.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focussed exclusively on migrant Italian families within the catering sector. The sample included different generational representations among the five families. It lays the ground for future research of a similar nature among other family business ethnicities and across other economic sectors.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to understanding offspring career choice outcomes in a family business context. The empirical evidence suggests that parent–child relationships are instrumental to understanding the stay/go decision as well as previous stages of the socialisation process of embedding in the family business.
Body size trends in a Holocene island bird assemblage

Despite the robust observation in macroecology that there are many small-bodied species, recent comparative studies have found little evidence for elevated net rates of diversification among small-bodied species within taxa. Here we examine the relationship between body size and species richness using the New Zealand land bird fauna, a well resolved palaeoecological Holocene assemblage. We test whether there is any evidence that net cladogenesis depended on body size in an assemblage prior to the impact of human-induced extinction. We also test whether net cladogenesis depends on the level at which taxa are endemic to New Zealand, to see whether there is evidence for bursts of cladogenesis following taxon establishment, and examine how the body sizes of New Zealand land birds relate to those in Australia, the most likely source pool for colonising taxa. Most New Zealand land bird species are small-bodied. We find no evidence, however, that this is due to higher net cladogenesis in small-bodied taxa. The body mass distributions of endemic and recent colonist species do not differ statistically, but recent colonists tend to be smaller-bodied than their closest endemic relative. This tendency is more marked for small-bodied than large-bodied taxa. More endemic taxa do not tend to be more species rich in New Zealand, although there is a positive relationship between level of endemism and species richness for forest taxa. The body mass distribution of New Zealand birds is very similar to that for Australia. Body mass does not dictate the likelihood that a family has colonised New Zealand from Australia, but the number of species in the family does: it is the species rich Australian families that have successfully colonised. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of body size distributions, and for the “island rule” of body size evolution on islands.
Sovereign Credit Rating Announcements and Liquidity Shocks in the Lebanese Daily Foreign Exchange Market

Sovereign credit rating announcements are usually unexpected events that can affect local financial markets either favorably or detrimentally. In Lebanon, the credit outlook witnessed a deteriorating trend since the mid of the year 2016. The major hypothesis of this paper is that the reaction to the bad credit rating announcements is statistically significant, although ephemeral, delimited to just a few days. It is through the liquidity channel that these announcements create uncertainty and affect the economy. There are two related hypotheses: (1) illiquidity shocks impact undesirably the financial markets, and (2) credit rating announcements are accompanied by a surge in illiquidity. Since the impact of these announcements is ephemeral it should be assessed by high-frequency data, or at most by daily financial data. The domestic foreign exchange market is an ideal place to study this impact. Fortunately, the central bank of Lebanon has lately made available daily foreign exchange rates for six major currencies beginning in 2010. This defines six multiple regressions that are constructed to differentiate between the short-run and the long-run responses to illiquidity. The empirical results show that the above two hypotheses are strongly supported. Moreover, it matters little whether the event window is 3, 4 or 5 days.
What is special about gambling? A comparison of public discourse on Finnish state monopolies in rail traffic, gambling, and alcohol

Finland has one of the last fully monopolistic gambling sectors in Europe. Unlike in most Western European countries, the monopoly is also consolidated and enjoys a wide support as opposed to license-based competition. This paper analyses whether this preference for monopoly provision is due to the particularities of the Finnish society or rather to those of the Finnish gambling sector. We do this by comparing public discourses in media texts (N=143) from 2014 to 2017 regarding monopolies operating in alcohol retail, rail traffic and gambling sectors. The results show that gambling appears to be special even in the Finnish national context. While the Finnish alcohol retail and railroad traffic markets have been liberalised during the study period, the gambling monopoly has been concurrently strengthened despite similar political and international pressures towards dismantling. The discussion suggests that the differing outcomes reflect the varying positions of monopolies, their stakeholders and the justifications put forward. Intertwined stakeholder interests in the gambling sector appear to amplify consensus politics and set gambling apart from the other cases.
Influencing Factors on Mid-Life Well-Being

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors which may influence a mid-life well-being.Method/Statistical Analysis: This study is a descriptive survey design using a convenience sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression using the SPSS 22.0 program.Findings: As a result of conducting the stepwise regression analysis, the explanatory power of above 4 variables was appeared to be 52.3% including positive thinking (? = .416, p<.001), depression (? = -.266, p<.001), meaning of life (? = .196, p<.001) and perceived health status (? = .110, p = .027). Improvements/Applications: This study will be used as basic data for developing nursing intervention programs that can improve well-being of middle age by establishing factors that affect well-being of middle age using variables of multilateral aspects.