The rise and demise of warm-temperate Permian reefs and biostromes reflect the complex geologic history of this dynamic period. Environments suitable for reef-builders were devastated by the ...Guadalupian/Lopingian crisis, and Lopingian reefs have only been recorded at a small number of localities. The uppermost Permian limestones of the Bellerophon Formation, on the Vojsko Plateau (Slovenia), contain small, lenticular biostromes within a bioclastic wackestone/packstone lithofacies. The major biostrome builders are medium-sized coralline sponges (Demospongea and Calcarea), encrusted by smaller sponges, tube worms, sessile foraminifera, calcareous algae (Archaeolithoporella) and Shamovella (i.e., Tubiphytes), all of which are typically covered by microbial crusts. The biostromes are characteristically composed of bafflestone and bindstone, incorporating sporadic framestone. Narrow belts of floatstone surround the buildups, and sponge debris is also present in lenses within the mud matrix between metazoan bafflestones. The fossils are generally well-preserved, although the fine skeletal microstructure has been partially recrystallized. Sponges are heavily calcified, and ontogenic thickening of the skeleton can be observed in some encrusters. Framboidal pyrite, forming thin films on the inner walls of sponge chambers, suggests the presence of sulphate-reducing bacteria. These microbial symbionts may have enabled the sponges to survive in the anoxic marine environments of the uppermost Permian. The Changshingian sponge biostromes of the Vojsko Plateau represent the westernmost known occurrence of contemporary metazoan boundstones in the Palaeotethys.
•Small sponge biostromes occur in the uppermost Permian of Slovenia.•Demospongea and Calcarea acted as sediment baffles, and were often encrusted by microbes.•Pyrite framboids indicate that sponges had a symbiotic relationship with sulphate-reducing bacteria.•These symbionts helped sponges to survive in hot, anoxic environments.•Plate tectonics contributed to the loss of suitable reef habitats in the Palaeotethys in the Late Permian.
The paper compares two graphic biographies with traditional biographies of the same authors – renowned Slovenian writers Alma Karlin and Ivan Cankar. It compares the manner in which graphical and ...text-only biographies present the characters, the character’s emotions and expressions, which life events they emphasize, and how they address the criterion of objectivity. The results suggest that the biographies in the two Slovenian graphics are less objective than textual biographies due to the pictorial material. Textual biographies present more information about the subject, while graphic biographies focus more on individual events, statements, and emotions, and present them more appealingly.
Availability and accessibility of a safe COVID-19 vaccine do not necessarily guarantee an effective means to mitigate the pandemic. However, the fragile hero's or health care worker's attitude toward ...the vaccine is of paramount importance to promote its acceptance. So, the current review aims to provide the latest assessment of healthcare workers' attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccination and its contributing factor worldwide.
Peer-reviewed surveys in English indexed via an electronic database in Google Scholar, Science Direct and PubMed were systematically searched. The review was carried out per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA-2009) and registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021265534).
Originally 8039 articles were searched from three databases PubMed, Science direct, and Google scholar. Finally, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and made the root for the estimates of the attitude of COVID -19 vaccinations. In about two-thirds of the studies, respondents showed a positive attitude (≥50%) toward COVID-19 vaccination. However, in about one-quarter of the studies, a negative attitude (<50%) against vaccination was reported. Factors related to the attitude of healthcare workers toward COVID-19 vaccination include age, sex, profession, concerns about the safety of vaccines and fear of COVID-19, trust in the accuracy of the measures taken by the government, flu vaccination during the previous season, comorbid chronic illness, history of recommendation, and depression symptoms in the past week.
Although most studies report that healthcare workers have a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination, quite a few surveys mention negative attitudes towards the use of vaccines, which may reflect missed opportunities or challenges for the international efforts aimed at mitigating the pandemic. Still, we need to continue to make more efforts to change the attitudes of the uncertain healthcare workers to increase the uptake of the vaccine and deal with the multi-faceted impact of infection.
The article deals with research on the attitudes, reactions and behavior of the Slovenian population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to general trust and trust in the Slovenian ...government. To gauge the reactions of Slovenians, we conducted an online survey among the adult population of Slovenia during the period of the pandemic and related restrictive measures. The survey was conducted on a probability sample of named individuals prepared on the basis of the Slovenian Central Population Register. The results confirm our expectations: there were no significant correlations between general trust in people and adherence to preventive measures. However, we found statistically significant correlations between trust in government and all aspects of compliance with measures to limit the COVID-19 pandemic. Those with stronger trust in the government followed the measures and reported less difficulty in complying with them. The results also suggest the relevance of Sztompka's thesis on functional substitutes for trust in a situation where trust is lacking.
We collected a sediment core from the 6th (6J) Triglav Lake, a remote mountain lake in NW Slovenia, and analysed it for 25 elements, using
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-INAA). ...For Hg, we used cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). Data were analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA indicated several distinct groups of elements and sediment core samples. Ca distribution was entirely different from all other sediment components. Ba, Br, Hg, Sb and Zn were associated with organic matter (OM), with Hg showing the strongest affinity to OM. As, Cr, Fe and U formed a group of redox-sensitive elements. Two events that occurred ca. 1915 and in the 1940s/1950s, were identified in the core. They were associated with increased inputs of allochthonous material into the lake, and significantly affected the stratigraphic distributions of all elements. Some trace elements, such as As, Hg and Zn, are probably effectively retained in the catchment, whereas Cr tends to be readily exported from the catchment. Atmospheric deposition affected not only elements of anthropogenic origin (As, Ba, Br, Hg, Sb, Zn and Cr) that started to increase after the 1970s, but also those of terrestrial origin (Ca, Fe, Na). Introduction of fish into the lake in 1991 and the subsequent increase in primary production, affected the distribution of Ca and elements that are redox-sensitive and/or associated with OM (As, Ba, Fe, Sb, U, Zn). Fe minerals in uppermost 6J sediments have a strong influence on the distribution of several trace elements. As and Zn closely tracked Fe, whereas Sb was likely released after oxidation. Climate change could also have enhanced inputs of elements from the catchment, but such changes were likely overwhelmed by the effects of increased eutrophication.
For the period of predominance of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in Slovenia, February to March 2022, we estimated mRNA vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) ...COVID-19 using surveillance data. In the most vulnerable age group comprising individuals aged 65 years and more, VE against SARI COVID-19 was 95% (95% CI: 95-96%) for those vaccinated with three doses, in comparison to 82% (95% CI: 79-84%) for those vaccinated with two doses. Such levels of protection were maintained for at least 6 months.
Social isolation is a growing public health concern for older adults, as it has been associated with poor health and premature mortality. On the other hand, physical inactivity and an inadequate diet ...are important health risk behaviours associated with physical and mental health problems. Considering that there is no research examining the possible relationship between social isolation and the above mentioned health risk behaviours of European middle-aged and older adults, this cross-sectional study aims to contribute to filling this gap.
We used data from the SHARE project (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), wave 6 (2015), release 7.0.0 (N = 67,173 individuals from 17 European countries plus Israel). Statistical tests for a two-group comparison were carried out to assess the differences between highly socially isolated individuals and low/intermediate socially isolated ones. Logistic regressions by country were performed to examine whether social isolation is associated with physical inactivity and an inadequate diet in the population aged 50 + .
Our results point out that, for the majority of the countries analysed, highly socially isolated individuals are more likely than low/intermediate isolated ones to be physically inactive and to consume less fruit or vegetables on a daily basis. In 9 European countries (Austria, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Poland, Luxembourg and Estonia) highly socially isolated individuals are more likely to be physically inactive. On the other hand, in 14 European countries (Austria, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Estonia and Croatia), high social isolation increases the likelihood of having an inadequate diet.
Highly socially isolated European middle-aged and older adults are more prone to be physically inactive and to have an inadequate diet in terms of daily consumption of fruit and vegetables. The reduced social integration, social support and companionship of the highly socially isolated individuals may explain this association. Our results reinforce the importance of social and health policies targeting highly socially isolated European individuals aged 50 + .
Shallow lateral shear layers forming between flows with different velocities, though essential for mixing processes in natural streams, have been examined only in laboratory settings using smooth, ...fixed‐bed channels. This paper reports the results of an experimental study of a shear layer in a straight reach of a natural river where the layer, in contrast to the two‐dimensional structure observed in the laboratory, is highly three‐dimensional. The study included pronounced transverse pressure gradients, which influenced shear layer structure compared to flume experiments. It also introduces an analysis that complements conventional theory on mixing layers. The lateral velocity gradient between the flows downstream from a splitter plate placed in the river, the principal controlling factor, was adjusted for three experimental runs to determine the influence of different gradients on shear‐layer dynamics. In each run, detailed three‐dimensional measurements of mean and turbulent characteristics were obtained at five cross sections downstream from the splitter plate. Although experimental results agreed with conventional mixing‐layer theories with respect to turbulence, the dynamics of the shear layers were dominated by the mean lateral fluxes of momentum. After re‐examining the governing equations, we developed a parabolic equation describing the shear layer evolution and several scaling relations for essential terms of the energy budget: mean and turbulent lateral fluxes of momentum, turbulent kinetic energy, and dissipation rates. The study also provides insight into the spectral dynamics of turbulence in the shear layer and clarifies previous observations reported for confluences in natural streams.
How does cross-linguistic variation in linguistic structure affect children’s acquisition of early number word meanings? We tested this question by investigating number word learning in two unrelated ...languages that feature a tripartite singular-dual-plural distinction: Slovenian and Saudi Arabic. We found that learning dual morphology affects children’s acquisition of the number word two in both languages, relative to English. Children who knew the meaning of two were surprisingly frequent in the dual languages, relative to English. Furthermore, Slovenian children were faster to learn two than children learning English, despite being less-competent counters. Finally, in both Slovenian and Saudi Arabic, comprehension of the dual was correlated with knowledge of two and higher number words.
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