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Governments often use curfews as counterinsurgency measures. Do such state actions affect citizens' political preferences? We argue that citizens' responses depend on their group alignment. Citizens who are aligned with the government are more likely to interpret state actions as serving their interests and reward the governing parties as a result. Citizens who are aligned with the insurgent movement, however, are likely to interpret these same actions as targeted and disengage from politics: they have no reason to reward the governing parties and may also be fearful of expressing support for the parties affiliated with the insurgent movement. We find support for this argument with survey data from Turkey, fielded before and during curfews. When exposed to curfews, Turks generally increase their support for the governing party. However Kurds do not increase their support for the governing party or the opposition; instead, we present strong evidence that they withdraw their support from the Kurdish opposition and become more hesitant to express any political preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Militant groups that are in armed conflict with a government often coexist with political parties that have ethnic or ideological connections to them. In this article, we explore the extent to which electoral support received by militant associated opposition parties and nationally incumbent political parties influences subnational variation in militant attacks. We argue, and empirically demonstrate, that militants strategically target localities where the levels of electoral support for the opposition party and the nationally incumbent party are close in an effort to negatively influence the electoral performance of the incumbent party. To illustrate this dynamic we examine subnational data from 1995 to 2015 Turkish legislative elections and attacks organized by the Kurdish militants within the same time period. We also examine the impact of June 2015 legislative elections on militant attacks until the snap elections in November 2015. Our empirical examination shows that militants target localities where electoral support for the governing party and Kurdish opposition party is close. Moreover, increase in violence negatively influences the electoral performance of the governing party. However, it does not consistently have a significant influence on the opposition. The findings illustrate that militants strategically choose the location of their attacks based on electoral dynamics, and attacks can pose an electoral challenge to the governing party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does anti-Muslim rhetoric by Western politicians breed radical attitudes among European Muslims? This article explores this question by conducting an experimental study in Bosnia – a European democracy, where, unlike the rest of Europe, Muslims are neither immigrants nor socio-economically disadvantaged. This helps clearly identify the radicalization potential of Western rhetoric alone, absent contextual factors such as social inferiority. Experimental evidence with Bosnian Muslims from five surveys (with a total of 2,608 participants) suggests that rhetorical attacks on Islam by Western politicians do not strengthen individuals' Muslim identity, cause higher levels of animosity toward the West or lead to condoning the use of violence. The study also finds that pro-Muslim rhetoric, while increasing positive views of the West, does not affect individuals' strength of Muslim identity or their radical sympathies. These results have important implications for the sources of radicalization and efforts to curb radical tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue that the geographic distribution of power across different levels of government influences citizens' attachments to alternative collective groups. In federal states where authority is shared between the center and regions, individuals are more likely to have attachments to multiple groups. We present evidence for the impact of state structure on collective attachments using the case of supranational European identity. We show that in countries where state structure empowers sub-state governments, individuals manifest stronger attachments to a supranational European community than they do in unitary states. This study indicates that when we examine individuals' attachments to a collective group, the political-institutional context in which these individuals are embedded is an important factor to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to investigate flowering, pollen, and fruit set characteristics of locally registered pomegranate cultivars between two consecutive years. 'Dr. Ercan 35', 'Efenar 35', 'Kamilbey 35', and 'Tezeren 35' cultivars have been developed by cross-breeding programs. Open-, cross-, and self-pollination studies were performed with these cultivars using three trees in each replicate in the field. Number of anthers per flower, number of pollen grains per anther, viability, and germination tests were conducted in the laboratory. Fruit set ratio of self-pollinated combinations were lower than open-pollination. The fruit set ratio from self-pollination was obtained from 'Dr. Ercan' (60.3%), 'Efenar 35' (62.4%), 'Kamilbey 35' (50.5%), and 'Tezeren 35' (25.2%). The highest fruit set ratio (49.7%) was obtained from 'Kamilbey 35' × 'Dr. Ercan 35' combination. The highest number of characteristics was as follows: 'Tezeren 35' (402 anthers/hermaphrodite flowers), 'Kamilbey 35' (8550 pollen/anther, male flowers in the beginning of flowering), 'Efenar 35' (84.7% pollen viability, hermaphrodite flowers), 'Kamilbey 35' (71.2%, pollen germination, hermaphrodite flowers). In conclusion, at least one, two or more, pollinator cultivars are necessary for commercial plantations using with these recently released pomegranate cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonellosis caused by non-typhodial Salmonella enterica serotypes is one of the most important food-borne diseases worldwide and biofilm structure formed by these pathogens provide a reservoir for food contamination and a source for infections. This study was performed in order to determine biofilm formation abilities of food borne Salmonella isolates on polystyrene and on air liquid interphase and their colony morphologies when grown on Congo Red Agar plates. 32 food-borne Salmonella strains isolated from retail chicken carcasses in Edirne province of Turkey and belonging to the Infantis, Enteritidis, Kentucky and Telaviv serotypes were used. The microtiter plate technique was used to determine biofilm formation abilities of the isolates on polystyrene surfaces by measuring the optical density (OD) values of the stained bacterial biofilms. The results showed that the strongest biofilm formation capacities of the isolates were observed at 22°C for 3 days of incubation. Although all isolates formed pellicle on the liquid-air interface at 22°C, only 13% of the isolates belonging to the Infantis, Kentucky and Enteritidis serovars formed pellicle at liquid-air interface at 37°C. Three different colony morphotypes (saw; smooth and white, bdar; brown, dry and rough, rdar; red, dry and rough) were determined on Congo Red Agar among the isolates. High biofilm formation abilities of the tested Salmonella isolates can lead to widespread of virulence and resistance properties, especially to medically important antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, via food chain. This situation constitutes an important concern for public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An increasing number of immigrants and rising unemployment rates are widely thought to contribute to the electoral success of extreme right parties in Western Europe. However, no study explicitly posits the causal mechanism that links the aggregate level factors of immigration and unemployment to the electoral success of extreme right parties, and systematically analyzes whether and how this mechanism works. Thus, the causal connection between immigration, unemployment and extreme right success remains at best ambiguous. I argue that the causal mechanism linking immigration and unemployment to extreme right electoral performance is the development of anti-immigrant attitudes at the individual level. In this paper, I examine how unemployment and immigration affect individuals' attitudes toward immigrants. This examination furthers our understanding of the actual dynamics of how unemployment and immigration influences the electoral success of extreme right parties. I find that greater unemployment rates increase the probability that an individual will have an anti-immigrant attitude only when immigration is already at a high level. Similarly, increasing immigration alone does not always increase the probability that an individual will have an anti-immigrant attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the factors that help EU member states to secure favourable bargaining outcomes? Although existing research highlights the importance of the member states' 'political power', scholars tend to equate this with their voting power. In this paper, I argue that proposal-making power associated with the EU presidency helps the member states to obtain preferable negotiation outcomes. Analysis of the cross-state allocation of the EU budget from 1977-2003 shows that holding the EU presidency during the time of allocation decisions brings financial benefits to individual member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between territorial representation and fiscal redistribution in the European Union. Given that small states are over-represented in both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, simple models of legislative vote-buying predict that over-represented member states will be favored in the distribution of EU transfers. We examine this proposition for each manifestation of the EC or EU since 1977 with data on agricultural, regional development, and total net transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burrill. is the most important disease affecting quince cultivation and breeding of resistant varieties is seen as the key solution. As a result of hybridizations, 223 hybrids were obtained from 9 different combinations and susceptibility indexes (SI) of these hybrids were determined by artificial inoculations. Among the tested seven parental cultivars, Ege 25, Altın 35, Zeybek 35, and Ayva B-35 were found fire blight resistant while others were detected as moderately susceptible. SI of hybrids were changed between 14.77 and 52.94% regardless of hybrid combinations and 77.60% of obtained hybrids took place in resistant (10.1–30%) group. Reciprocal combinations showed that using resistant cultivar as a male parent was more effective than using maternal parent for transferring resistance. Heterosis (Ht) rates between combinations were found significant (p < .0004), while heterobeltiosis (Hbt) were not (p < .0623). Ht and Hbt ranged between −2.82–13.54 and −4.20–6.72 in populations, respectively. The maximum and significant heterotic effect was observed in Quince A × Ayva B-35 and its’ reciprocal combination. In moderately susceptible × resistance combination, 83.33% of F1 were determined to be resistant. On the other hand, hybrids from resistance × resistance combination were distributed in three groups as resistant, moderately susceptible and susceptible. According to these results, it could be said that (1) fire blight resistance genes in quince are recessive, (2) use of resistant varieties as pollinators is more successful in transferring resistance to hybrids, (3) open pollination treatment is an essential and easy way in terms of obtaining resistant hybrids if the orchard has resistant pollinator, and (4) heterobeltiosis for fire blight resistance is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry animals and poultry associated products are important risk sources for Salmonellosis. S.Kentucky and S.Infantis are among the serovars frequently isolated from retail chickens and were reported to be isolated in Turkey. In this study, the role of plasmids carried by S.Kentucky and S.Infantis isolates in antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates and their pathogenicity on Caenorhabditis elegans nematode model system were investigated. The isolates used, 1 of Kentucky and 2 of Infantis serotypes, were selected among food-borne Salmonella isolated from chicken carcass in Edirne. All three isolates were previously shown to contain plasmids carrying multidrug resistance and were known to be pathogenic on C.elegans nematode model system. S.Kentucky A10 isolate was resistant to ampicillin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim and sulphonamide and carried one plasmid with 31.6 kb size. S.Infantis A15 isolate was resistant to ampicillin, streptomycine, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, neomycin, sulphonamide and kanamycin and carried a plasmid with 19.9 kb size while the other S.Infantis isolate (A16) was resistant to streptomycin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, trimethoprim, neomycin, sulphonamide and kanamycin and carried 3 plasmids with 42.4, 1.5 and 1.2 kb sizes. Plasmid curing experiments were performed to investigate the role of plasmids in antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity in C.elegans. Ethidium bromide (EtBr) dye was used as the plasmid curing agent. Plasmids were isolated from cultures grown in LB broth with different concentrations of EtBr (50, 75, 100, 125 µg/ml) according to the Kado-Liu method and the most effective EtBr concentration was determined as 125 µg/ml. C.elegans pathogenicity assays were carried out using plasmid cured isolates. The time 50% of the nematode die (TD50) values of the nematode groups fed with plasmid cured isolates were compared with previously obtained TD50 values of the nematode groups fed with wild type Salmonella isolates. Studentðs t-test (p< 0.05) was used to showthe level of significance between TD50 values of the two groups. TD50 values of the positive control group fed with S.Typhimurium ATCC 14028 and the negative control group fed with Escherichia coli OP50 were found as 4.0 ± 0.4 and 8.0 ± 0.02 days, respectively. The differences between TD50 values of nematode groups fed with wild type and plasmid cured isolates were statistically significant both for S.Kentucky (A10) (4.9 ± 0.04-6.2 ± 0.1) and S.Infantis (A16) (4.4 ± 0.01-6.2 ± 0.2) (p< 0.05) strains, but no significant difference was observed for the groups fed with wild type and plasmid cured S.Infantis (A15) (5.7 ± 0.39-5.8 ± 0.16) strain. Broth microdilution method was used to determine whether there was any change in minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the antibiotics for which the isolates were resistant before plasmid elimination. No significant difference was found between the MIC values of the resistant antibiotics among Salmonella isolates carrying plasmids and with cured plasmid. This study is important since the first in vivo results about the role of Kentucky and Infantis serovar plasmids on C.elegans nematode model system were presented.

Salmonellosis, caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica serovars with the consumption of contaminated food, is one of the leading food-borne disease that makes microbial food safety an important public health issue. This study was performed in order to determine the antibiotic resistance, serotyping, plasmid profiles and pathogenicity potentials of food-borne Salmonella isolates in Caenorhabditis elegans animal model system in Edirne province, located at Thrace region of Turkey. In this study, 32 Salmonella isolates, of which 26 belonged to Infantis, four to Enteritidis, one to Telaviv and one to Kentucky serovars, isolated from chicken carcasses were used. Antibiotic resistance profiles were determined by disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods. A new C.elegans nematode animal model system was used to determine the pathogenicity potential of the isolates. The antibiotic resistance profiles revealed that one (3.1%) isolate was resistant to gentamicin, two (6.2%) to ciprofloxacin, three (9.4%) to ampicillin, 18 (56.3%) to kanamycin, 19 (60.8%) to neomycin, 25 (78.1%) to tetracycline, 25 (78.1%) to trimethoprim, 26 (81.25%) to nalidixic acid, 27 (84.4%) to streptomycin and 32 (100%) to sulfonamide. All of the 32 strains were susceptible to chloramphenicol and ampicillin/sulbactam. High levels of resistance to streptomycin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, trimethoprim, sulfonamide, kanamycin and neomycin was determined. According to the plasmid analysis, six isolates (18.75%) harboured 1-3 plasmids with sizes between 1.2 and 42.4 kb. In C.elegans nematode animal model system, the time (in days) required to kill 50% (TD50) of nematodes was calculated for each experimental group. TD50 values of the nematode group fed with S.Typhimurium ATCC 14028 that was used as the positive control and another group fed with E.coli OP50 as the negative control were 4.2 ± 0.5 days and 8.0 ± 0.02 days, respectively. TD50 of the groups fed with Salmonella isolates ranged between 3.4 and 7.3 days. The significance of the differences between TD50 values of the positive control and experimental groups was analysed by using Student's t test. Ten of the isolates (31.25%), of which six belonged to Infantis and four to the Enteritidis serotypes were non-pathogenic, and the rest 22 isolates including Infantis, Kentucky and Telaviv serovars (67.75%) were found to be pathogenic for the C.elegans animal system (p< 0.05). Twenty of the isolates (90.9%) which were determined as pathogens showed multiple drug resistance and three of them possessed 1-3 plasmids, sizes between 1.2 - 42.4 kb. The overall results underlined wide distribution of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella enterica strains and provided a practical alternative for studies aiming determination of pathogenic potential of environmental and food-borne strains through new experimental animal infection model. In this study, C.elegans was utilized for the first time to determine the profiles of pathogenicity of food-borne Salmonella serotypes in Turkey.