Strong Significant Effect Research Articles

Environmental drivers of plankton protist communities along latitudinal and vertical gradients in the oldest and deepest freshwater lake.

Identifying which abiotic and biotic factors determine microbial community assembly is crucial to understand ecological processes and predict how communities will respond to environmental change. While global surveys aim at addressing this question in the world's oceans, equivalent studies in large freshwater systems are virtually lacking. Being the oldest, deepest and most voluminous freshwater lake on Earth, Lake Baikal offers a unique opportunity to test the effect of horizontal versus vertical gradients in community structure. Here, we characterized the structure of planktonic microbial eukaryotic communities (0.2-30 μm cell size) along a North-South latitudinal gradient (~600 km) from samples collected in coastal and pelagic waters and from surface to the deepest zones (5-1400 m) using an 18S rRNA gene metabarcoding approach. Our results show complex and diverse protist communities dominated by alveolates (ciliates and dinoflagellates), ochrophytes and holomycotan lineages, with cryptophytes, haptophytes, katablepharids and telonemids in moderate abundance and many low-frequency lineages, including several typical marine members, such as diplonemids, syndinians and radiolarians. Depth had a strong significant effect on protist community stratification. By contrast, the effect of the latitudinal gradient was marginal and no significant difference was observed between coastal and surface open water communities. Co-occurrence network analyses showed that epipelagic communities were significantly more interconnected than communities from the dark water column and suggest specific biotic interactions between autotrophic, heterotrophic and parasitic lineages that influence protist community structure. Since climate change is rapidly affecting Siberia and Lake Baikal, our comprehensive protist survey constitutes a useful reference to monitor ongoing community shifts.

HPV cervical infections and serological status in vaccinated and unvaccinated women

Understanding genital infections by Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) remains a major public health issue, especially in countries where vaccine uptake is low. We investigate HPV prevalence and antibody status in 150 women (ages 18 to 25) in Montpellier, France. At inclusion and one month later, cervical swabs, blood samples and questionnaires (for demographics and behavioural variables) were collected. Oncogenic, non-vaccine genotypes HPV51, HPV66, HPV53, and HPV52 were the most frequently detected viral genotypes overall. Vaccination status, which was well-balanced in the cohort, showed the strongest (protective) effect against HPV infections, with an associated odds ratio for alphapapillomavirus detection of 0.45 (95% confidence interval: [0.22;0.58]). We also identified significant effects of age, number of partners, body mass index, and contraception status on HPV detection and on coinfections. Type-specific IgG serological status was also largely explained by the vaccination status. IgM seropositivity was best explained by HPV detection at inclusion only. Finally, we identify a strong significant effect of vaccination on genotype prevalence, with a striking under-representation of HPV51 in vaccinated women. Variations in HPV prevalence correlate with key demographic and behavioural variables. The cross-protective effect of the vaccine against HPV51 merits further investigation.

Bioaugmentation process for the treatment of tannery effluents in Fez, Morocco: An eco-friendly treatment using novel chromate bacteria

Bioaugmentation is a promising, eco-friendly, and economical technique; it also aims at enhancing the efficiency of wastewater treatments. Moreover, this technique, which is based on microorganisms, performs an important function in the removal of contaminants from water. Therefore, the main objective of this study was isolation and identification of novel bacteria responsible of chromium removal, and then the treatment of tannery effluent through this process using the isolated strains. In fact, the isolation was from a composite tannery effluent. Regarding the bioaugmentation test, tannery effluents were inoculated with biomass and were incubated at 37 °C for 30 h. A consortium and different bacterial concentrations were studied to show their effects. Throughout incubation, several samples were taken to determine the bacterial growth, total and hexavalent chromium. As a result, Bacillus.sp, Enterobactera erogenes, and Bacillus pumilus were isolated and their bioremediation capacity was shown, especially their removal capacity of chromium. Thus, these isolated strains could be novel chromium-resistant bacteria. For each strain, total chromium removal achieved 60 % using the bacterial concentration of 2%. This removal increased to 80 % with the concentration 6%. As for Cr(VI), its removal increased from 60 % to more than 96 % when the bacterial concentration increases from 2% to 6%. Otherwise, Cr (T) and Cr(VI) removals were around 60–70 % for the consortium. Consequently, the bacterial concentration 6% had a strong significant effect on chromium removals. The isolated strains had statistically the same effect on chromium removals, whereas the consortium did not have a significant effect on chromium removals.

Determination of Green Tea Recovery Percentage and Its Relation to Different Weather Parameters

Aims: Green tea is one of the most popular drinks and millions of cups are consumed every day in entire world. In Bangladesh, people mainly prefer CTC (Crush-Tear-Curl) black tea but now-a-days health conscious people are being habituated to green tea due to its beneficial effect to health. Since our green tea production is very little compared to black tea production, our concept and knowledge about green tea is also very low. This experiment was conducted with two main objectives: to determine the green tea recovery percentage and to find its relation to different weather parameters.
 Study Design: This experiment was conducted by following Factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications.
 Place and Duration of Study: This experiment was conducted at Miniature Factory of Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) Sreemangal, Moulvibazar-3210 from March 2017 to November 2017.
 Methodology: BTRI recommended green tea manufacturing process (Green Leaves→ Steaming→ Cooling→ Rolling→ Drying) was followed in this experiment to calculate the recovery percentage. Weight of green leaves after each stage and recovery percentage were calculated. Monthly weather data of four parameters: temperature (°C), rainfall (mm), relative humidity (%) and sunshine hour were also collected. Correlation Coefficient (r) was calculated by Pearson’s mathematical formulation to quantify the degree of relationship. Linear regression equation was also generated to predict recovery percentages against different weather parameters only when the relationship was significant.
 Results: In case of BTRI recommended green tea manufacturing process the average recovery percentage was 19.19% with an average moisture content of 3.72%. Among four weather parameters, temperature (°C) has negative insignificant (correlation coefficient, r=-0.43 and P=0.2523) relation on recovery percentage. But there was a strong significant (P=0.000146) negative effect (r=-0.942) of rainfall on recovery percentage. While a moderate non-significant (P=0.322807) negative relation (r=-0.37) of relative humidity and a considerable high positive non-significant (P=0.073687) relation (r=0.62) of sunshine hour on recovery percentage was found in this study.
 Conclusion: Green tea recovery percentage was 19.19% with an average moisture content of 3.72% which can be different with different weather conditions in every month. Among four weather parameters, mainly rainfall was responsible for the variation of recovery percentages in different months.

Residents' Support for Tourism Development In a Portuguese Historic Town

This study depicts some antecedents of residents' support for tourism development (STD) underlying the importance of residents' trust in government actors involved in tourism planning and development in the context of historic towns. The study proposes a conceptual framework that explores the relationships between community attachment, local government management of tourism, perceived tourism impacts, trust in government actors, and STD. Data collection was carried out by personal survey applied to 150 residents of the small historic town of Lamego, located within the Portuguese Douro Valley World Heritage Site. Structural equation modeling method was employed to analyze the proposed model. Results suggest that residents' trust in government actors had a significant effect on STD. Residents' perceptions of the tourism benefits positively influenced their STD, and residents' perceptions of the tourism costs negatively affected their STD. The results support the relationship between community attachment and trust in government actors. Also, community attachment significantly and positively influenced tourism benefits. Perceived effective local government management of tourism had a strong significant effect on the residents' trust in government actors. Moreover, residents' perceived effective local government management of tourism was a significant determinant of perceived tourism benefits, but did not significantly predict perceived tourism costs.

Motivation among travel agents in India: The moderating role of employee’s expertise and marital status

This study contributes to the literature by offering insights over the relationship between job satisfaction and work stress with employees’ motivation among travel agencies in India. The paper aims to determine the impact of job satisfaction and work stress on employees’ motivation level with a specific focus on the moderating impact of employees’ expertise and marital status in the context of travel agencies in Southern India. A survey was conducted over employees of travel agencies in Southern India by adopting scales from the extant studies, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling through Smart PLS. The outcome of the study reveals that job satisfaction has a strong significant effect on employees’ motivation, unlike work stress and employees’ expertise has a partial significant moderating effect on the relationship between work stress and motivation. The study stressed much about the combined effects of the mediators. The present study has tested the new composite scale to measure the overall motivational level, unlike the previous studies. The survey was conducted between November 2019 and December 2019 and entails 164 respondents, the majority of the subjects are millennials between 18 and 35 years, with 43.3% having master’s degree, all were found to be pre-qualified for the investigation.

The Predictive Power of K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN): The Effect of Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Earnings Management

This study investigates the long-run effect of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management of listed companies in Nigeria and Ghana. The study uses Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) in establishing a long-run effect of good corporate mechanisms in reducing earnings management practice by corporate managers. ACO selected four major corporate governance mechanisms: Board Procedure Index, Board Disclosure Index, Ownership Structure Index, and Shareholders’ Rights Index; these were the key corporate governance mechanisms that influence the reduction in earnings management activities. KNN produced a strong significant longitudinal effect of implementing good corporate governance mechanisms in decreasing the manipulating behavior of managers. Quality corporate governance mechanisms’ implementation reduces the opportunistic behavior of corporate managers in manipulating earnings. Therefore, the study alert policymakers the urgency in setting up appropriate policies to enhance the reduction in earnings management practices to provide accurate financial information for stakeholders’ financial decision-making. The use of ACO and KNN in the study is a great novelty, which presents a calibration and prediction of the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management showing the rate of reduction.

Community participation in waste management

Improper management of waste can be a source of health and environmental problems. Community participation contributes to effective waste management. The study was aimed at analyzing community participation in waste management at Liliba Village in Kupang City. This research is an analytic study with cross sectional study approach. The population was the entire population of Liliba Village in Kupang City. There were 133 respondents participated in this study. The data were analyzed using the structural equation model test. Education and occupation had strong correlation and significant influence to community participation. Community participation had strong relation and significant effect on waste production. Population had weak correlation and insignificant effect on waste production. It is recommended that interventions should be done for invalid indicator such as of waste utilization in the form of counseling or training on waste recycling.

Determinants of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in hydroelectric countries.

In the past decades, renewable energy consumption has grown considerably because of environmental degradation caused by non-renewable energy consumption. This research aims to find the causal link between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, human capital, and non-renewable energy price for the 53 most renewable energy-consuming countries worldwide (hydroelectric) during the period 1990-2017. We use data collected from the World Bank ( http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators , 2018) and Statistical Review of World Energy ( https://www.bp.com/ , 2018). We test simultaneously two types of regressions in order to measure the degree of elasticity of the two types of energy by using econometric techniques for panel data. The results of the GLS models indicate that human capital has a stronger significant effect on renewable energy consumption at the global level, in the middle high-income countries and low-middle income countries, compared with non-renewable energy consumption. Besides, at the global level, there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between the non-renewable energy price and the two types of energy consumption. There is a long-run consumption of both types of energy. On the other hand, the one-way relationship between human capital and non-renewable energy price and renewable energy consumption is stronger than the relationship with non-renewable energy consumption. The policy implications derived from this study should be designed to promote human capital development in order to promote renewable energy consumption and increase the investment in renewable energy sources to guarantee their access to lower prices that reduce non-renewable energy consumption.

Effects of Risk Assessment, Control Environment and Control Activities on Performance of Listed Banks in Ghana

Globally, internal controls serve many important purposes for public private and public help organizations. There is however an increasing call for better and improved internal control systems especially in firms that are listed on public market. However, internal control systems, irrespective of how well conceived and implemented cannot provide absolute assurance of management and boards regarding the achievement of objectives. This research focused on the three components of internal control systems namely control environment, risk assessment, and control activities. This study therefore formulated four objectives and investigated how risk assessment, control activities, and control environment affects the performance of Ghanaian banks. In this quantitative study, representatives from twelve listed banks were engaged. Descriptive and regression analysis was performed on the field data. The study result shows while Risk assessment has a strong significant effect on financial performance, Control environment and Control activities, have a weak significant effect on financial performance. The practical implication of the study is that, when assessing the performance of banks, risk areas must be examined critically to reduce or eliminate their impacts on bank performance.

The Relationship Between Media Marketing Advertising and Encouraging Jordanian Women to Conduct Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Cancer is a malignant disease, and breast cancer is classified as one of the most critical types of cancer especially for the women. Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases that cause death among respect entity. However, a large proportion of them is unaware of its seriousness and the importance of early breast cancer screening. This study aims to highlight the effects of marketing ads on encouraging Jordanian women to carry out an early examination of breast cancer to attain the goal of the study, the researchers worked on comparing the results of previous studies in this field. Therefore, the results showed that marketing ads have a strong significant effect on encouraging women to early examination. Several resources were used for these marketing advertisements that educate women about early detection of breast cancer. Also, traditional media methods such as radio and television, and modern methods such as the Internet, smartphones, and social media were largely preferred. Moreover, the researchers further suggested that there should be more advertising campaigns that can enhance audience predilection concerning early detection of breast cancer. Keywords: Marketing ads, Females, Breast Cancer, JBCP, Jordan, Media. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-12-11 Publication date: April 30 th 2020

An analysis of the impact of Newcastle disease vaccination and husbandry practice on smallholder chicken productivity in Uganda

A number of studies have demonstrated the clear beneficial impact that vaccinating against Newcastle disease (ND) can have on reducing the frequency and severity of ND outbreaks. Here we go one step further and analyse the additional benefits in terms of improved production that result from vaccination.Data were collected from a cross sectional survey in Uganda of 593 chicken-rearing smallholders (for the purpose of this study this was defined as a farm with fewer than 75 chickens). Consenting participants were administered a detailed questionnaire covering a range of aspects of chicken production and management. These data were subsequently analysed in a generalised linear model framework with negative binomial error structure and the total offtake over the previous 12 months (chicken sales + chicken consumption + chickens gifted) was included as the dependent variable. Different measures of flock size were tested as independent variables and the model was also offered the district of the flock, ND vaccine adoption, use of poultry housing, provision of supplementary feed and use of dewormers as potential independent variables. We also developed an analogous model for the offtake of eggs (sale and consumption).The total size of the flock (counting chickens of all ages) was the measure of flock size that had the strongest association with offtake and was a significant but weak effect with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 1.011 (95 % Confidence intervals (CIs) = 1.007–1.015). ND vaccine adoption had a strong significant positive effect on offtake with an IRR of 1.571 (95 % CIs = 1.363–1.808). Use of a poultry house also had a significant effect (IRR = 1.365, 95 % CIs = 1.193–1.560). In the model of egg production, the number of hens was the demographic determinant with the lowest Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) (IRR = 1.094, 95 % CIs = 1.056–1.136) and ND vaccine adoption had a strong positive effect on egg offtake (IRR = 1.801, 95 % CIs = 1.343–2.412).Vaccinating against ND has a clear beneficial impact on the productivity of the flock, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Socio-economic determinants of agripreneurship choice among youths in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The study determined effects of socio-economic characteristics of the youths on agripreneurship choice. The study adopted a multistage sampling technique in eliciting data from one hundred and eighty youth agripreneurs using structured questionnaires. The study also employed percentage, mean and probit regression analysis statistics to realize the objectives. The result showed that about 60% of the youth agripreneurs in Ebonyi State, Nigeria were male who are within the mean active age of 27 years and earn a mean annual income of N77, 333 and average household size of five 5 persons. The agripreneurial choices made by most youths were; farm production (crop and livestock production), farm input supply, agro-processing, and marketing/distribution. Age, marital status, household size, education, annual income, source of capital and family agripreneurial history have strong significant effect on the agripreneurial choice among the youth. Agripreneurship education and training should be introduced at tri-aggregates levels of agribusiness to ensure capacity building among the youth for diverse agro-enterprises.Keywords: Farm production, agripreneurship choice

Effect of Zebularine on p16INK4a, p14ARF, p15INK4b, and DNA Methyltransferase 1 Gene Expression, Cell Growth Inhibition, and Apoptosis Induction in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma PLC/PRF5 and Pancreatic Cancer PA-TU-8902 Cell Lines.

Tumorigenesis must be understood as a summary of altered genetic and genomic changes resulting in the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs). One of the characterizations of epigenetic alterations is DNA methylation. Epigenetic alteration of the p16INK4a, p14ARF, p15INK4b, and DNA methyltransferase 1 gene (DNMT1) expression occurs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pancreatic cancer frequently. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTIs), such as zebularine, play a significant effect on the demethylation and reactivation of TSGs. This study aimed to investigate the effect of zebularine on p16INK4a, p14ARF, p15INK4b, and DNA methyltransferase 1 gene expression, cell growth inhibition, and apoptosis induction in HCC PLC/PRF5 and pancreatic cancer PA-TU-8902 cell lines. Both cell lines were cultured and treated with zebularine at different times. The MTT assay, real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and flow cytometry were used to determine cell viability, gene expression, and apoptotic cells, respectively. The result indicated that zebularine inhibited cell growth of both cell lines significantly as time- and dose-dependent manner (P < 0.007). The agent induced significant down-regulation of DNMT1 and up-regulation of p16INK4a, p14ARF, p15INK4b (P < 0.028). Besides, it had a significant apoptosis effect on both cell lines (P < 0.001). This compound had a strong significant effect on PLC/PRF5 in comparison to PA-TU-8902 cells. Concluding, zebularine inhibited PLC/PRF5 and PA-TU-8902 cell growth and induced apoptosis in these cell lines. The most likely mechanism underlying the zebularine played its role involves down-regulation of DNMT1 and up-regulation of p16INK4a, p14ARF, and p15INK4b genes.

Effect Of System Quality and Information Quality on Crisis Management - An Empirical Study on Jordanian Mobile Telecommunications Companies.

This study attempts to identify the impact of system quality and information quality on crisis management in Jordanian mobile telecommunication companies. A survey method was applied through a questionnaire. Zain, Orange and Umniah are Jordanian mobile telecommunications companies that are working in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. A sample of 80 managers participated in this study. The data was analyzed by a descriptive statistics method using the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS). The results showed a strong statistical significant effect of system quality and information quality on crisis management in the targeted telecommunication companies. The study concluded that 85.3 % of the variation in crisis management are explained by both (system quality &amp; information quality) This is an high percentage which illustrates the importance of (system quality &amp; information quality) and their impact on crisis management. The study recommends paying more attention and focus on studying the different factors of quality measurement in information systems and their impact on crisis management. Keyword: System Quality, Information Quality, Crisis management DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/12-1-07 Publication date: January 31 st 2020

Seasonal variation in Arctic marine mammal acoustic detection in the northern Bering Sea

AbstractDeclines in Arctic sea ice cover are influencing the distribution of protected endemic marine mammals, many of which are important for local Indigenous Peoples, and increasing the presence of potentially disruptive industrial activities. Due to increasing conservation concerns, we conducted the first year‐round acoustic monitoring of waters off Gambell and Savoonga (St. Lawrence Island, Alaska), and in the Bering Strait to quantify vocalizing presence of bowhead whales, belugas, walruses, bearded seals, and ribbon seals. Bottom‐mounted archival acoustic recorders collected data for up to 10 months per deployment between 2012 and 2016. Spectrograms were analyzed for species‐typical vocalizations, and daily detection rates and presence/absence were calculated. Generalized additive models were used to model call presence as a function of time‐of‐year, sea surface temperature, and sea ice concentration. We identified seasonality in call presence for all species, corroborating previous acoustic and distribution studies, and identified finer‐scale spatiotemporal distribution via occurrence of call presence between different monitoring sites. Time‐of‐year was the strongest significant effect on call presence for all species. These data provide important information on Arctic endemic species' spatiotemporal distributions in biologically and culturally important areas within a rapidly changing Arctic region.

Determinants of Exports: A Gravity Model Analysis of the Bangladeshi Textile and Clothing Industries

The purpose of this study is to find out the determinants and issues influencing Bangladeshi textile and clothing (T&amp;C) exports. A unique data set has been generated and used to estimate the panel gravity model of Bangladeshi T&amp;C export flows to a total of its 40 trade partners over a period of 27 years, spanning from 1990 to 2017. The results show that the gross domestic product (GDP), real exchange rate and per capita GDP of the importers have appeared to be major determinants of Bangladesh’s textile exports trade. Also, Bangladesh and World Trade Organization membership have a strong positive significant impact on T&amp;C exports. The geographical distance has no strong significant effect on textile trading. It is found that European Union and North American Free Trade Agreement countries are the two important export destinations for the garments of Bangladesh. This study is a novel and significant contribution for a couple of reasons: First, Bangladesh’s major trading partners are covered in this study sample. Second, the article’s focus on the gravity panel data analysis fills up a major research gap on the determinants of exports of the Bangladeshi garments. This study will thus pave the new avenues for further research in future.

The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction: A Study on Four Selected Insurance Companies in Hossana Town, Hadiya Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia

The liberalization of the economic system in Ethiopia enabled the emergence of private insurance companies and had created competitive environment in the insurance industries. The motives of this study was examiningthe effects of service quality on customer satisfaction in four selected insurance companies of Hosanna town, SNNPR. This research was carried out through cross-sectional survey design and mainly based on data collected through questionnaires. The correlation and multiple regressions were used to analyse collected data. The result of individual companies and total Gap analyses indicates that the mean score of customers’ expectations exceeded perceptions in all five dimensions while, findings suggest that selected insurance companies need to improve all the dimensions of service quality.Therefore,regression analyses responsiveness had relatively strong significant and direct effect on customer satisfaction with beta value of .376 and followed by reliability with beta value of .327, tangibility with beta value of .187, empathy with beta value of .149, and assurance with beta value of .113 respectively.Based on the research results, it is recommended for the selected insurance companies to improve their Service. Keywords: Tangibility, Reliability, Assurance, Responsiveness, Empathy DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-22-06 Publication date : August 31 st 2019

Does agricultural sector foreign direct investment promote economic growth of Pakistan? Evidence from cointegration and causality analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the linkage between agricultural sector foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in Pakistan over the period from 1991 to 2013.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the stationary analysis is performed by using Phillips–Perron and Dickey–Fuller generalized least squares unit root tests and Johansen cointegration technique to determine the long-run linkage among the studied variables. The robustness of long-run linkage is checked by employing autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), fully modified ordinary least square method (FMOLS) and the canonical cointegration regression (CCR). The causal linkage between the selected variables is investigated by the VECM Granger causality test.FindingsThe results of the Johansen cointegration test confirmed a cointegrating association between the variables. In addition, the results of the ARDL, DOLS, FMOLS and CCR showed that agricultural sector FDI has a strong positive significant effect on economic growth in long run. Moreover, the findings of the present empirical study revealed that there exists bidirectional Granger causality between the agricultural sector FDI and economic growth in both short run and long run.Originality/valueThe present empirical study filled the literature gap of applying the Granger causality based on error-correction model to examine this relevant issue for Pakistan.

Peningkatan Kepuasan Mahasiswa Melalui Kualitas Jasa Pendidikan: Studi Pada Mahasiswa di STIE Indonesia Banking School

This research discusses the service quality through service performance affect customer satisfaction at STIE Indonesia Banking School (IBS). In this study, the variable of the service performance is measured through three dimensions: interaction quality, environmentalquality and quality of results. Each of these dimensions will be partially tested on how it affects customer satisfaction. In addition, this study also wanted to know which the most influential dimension to customer satisfaction. The research sample was 214 students who studied at least one year in STIE Indonesia Banking School. The observations will be analyzed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS). The results from the study showed that the three dimension of service performance have a strong significant effect on customer satisfaction