Potential for enhancement of root growth and nodulation of soybean co-inoculated with Azospirillum and Bradyrhizobium in laboratory systems

The potential enhancement of root growth and nodulation in vegetable soybean (AGS190) was studied with application of Azospirillum brasilense (Sp7) and A. lipoferum (CCM3863) co-inoculated with two Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains (TAL102 and UPMR48). Significant root growth stimulation and nodulation were observed in Azospirillum as well as during its co-inoculation with Bradyrhizobium. Nodule formation is linked with the initiation of new roots; nodules were almost absent even in Bradyrhizobium inoculated plant due to the absence of new roots development in clipped rooted seedlings. Total root length, root number, specific root length, root dry matter, root hair development and shoot dry matter were significantly increased by Azospirillum alone and its co-inoculum. Co-inoculated plants significantly influenced the number of nodules and its fresh weight. A. brasilense seemed to perform better in root growth and nodule development compared to A. lipoferum

Agro-Morphological, Physico-Chemical and Molecular Characterization of Rice Germplasm with Similar Names of Bangladesh

AbstractThirty-one duplicate and similar named rice germplasms of Bangladesh were studied to assess the genetic variation for the agro-morphological and physico-chemical traits and simple sequence repeat banding patterns during 2009–2012 at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. The range of variations within the cultivar groups showed higher degree. The principal component analysis showed that the first five components with vector values > 1 contributed 82.90% of the total variations. The cluster analysis grouped the genotypes into four clusters, where no duplicate germplasm was found. The highest number (11) of genotypes was constellated in cluster I and the lowest (3) in cluster II. The intra- and inter-cluster distances were the maximum in cluster I (0.93) and between clusters I and IV (24.61), respectively, and the minimum in cluster IV (0.62) and between clusters I and III (5.07), respectively. The cluster mean revealed that the crosses between the genotypes of cluster I with those of clusters II and IV would exhibit high heterosis for maximum good characters. A total of 350 alleles varied from 3 (RM277) to 14 (RM21) with an average of 7.8 per locus were detected at 45 microsatellite loci across the 31 rice accessions. The gene diversity ranged from 0.48 to 0.90 with an average of 0.77, and the polymorphism information content values from 0.44 (RM133) to 0.89 (RM206) with an average of 0.74. RM206, RM21, RM55, RM258 and RM433 were considered as the best markers on the basis of their higher polymorphism information content values. The dendrogram from unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average clustering also classified the genotypes into four groups, where group IV comprised of 20 genotypes and group III of one genotype, but no duplicate was found. Finally, similar and duplicate named rice germplasms need to be conserved in gene bank as are distinct from each other

Impact of Sensor Networks on Aquatic Biodiversity in Wetland: An Innovative Approach

Aquatic biodiversity is in the central field of environmental conservation issues in a wetland. Yet it determinately faced aquatic conservation authorities the loss of biodiversity as a very important global issue for several years due to misuse wireless sensor technology. The study attempts to re-look at the sensor networks that affect the aquatic biodiversity within and around the Tanguar Haor- wetland study at Sunamganj district in Bangladesh. Key aquatic conservation tools provided at the Tanguar Haor and its challenges with gaps in policies for wetland management practices are highlighted. The study shows the aquatic biodiversity-related rules and regulations amended were apex in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2018. The study represents the impact of processed sensor networks on aquatic biodiversity in a wetland to be compared to larger, medium, and smaller animals in a bright, dark and optimum environment, facilitating the design and misuse of wireless sensor networks within GPS locations. Approximately 64% of the respondents agreed on the development of aquatic biodiversity for managing the wetland at Sunamganj with secure peripheral sensor networks. The research also found that the Tanguar Haor is at risk due to misuse of wireless sensor networks compared to other wetlands in the Sylhet Division. Scientific knowledge is indispensable in wetland resource management but it poorly identified such knowledge while various performances are still below par. The research is unique and represents the innovative idea to improve the existing wetland policy linking with the appropriateness for the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Strateg

Are Dow Jones Islamic equity indices exposed to interest rate risk?

The Dow Jones Islamic Market indices (DJIMI) are constructed by screening out stocks that are incompatible with Islam's prohibition of interest and certain lines of business. However, as a blunt instrument, the interest rate can affect discounted cash flows of any firm, even a firm with no financial leverage. This study reveals that the aggregate portfolio of Islamic stocks is immune to interest rate risk. However, at the sectoral level some Islamic equity portfolios demonstrate exposure to interest rate risk. Overall, evidence of interest rate risk exposure is less pronounced among Islamic sector portfolios than that of their mainstream counterparts—the Dow Jones World sector indices. The results also hold when interest rate risk is assessed in terms of the sensitivity of the DJIMI return to changes in level, slope and curvature of the interest rate term structure

Thedouble-negativeeffect onthe earnings of foreign-born females in Canada

This paper contributes to the debate over immigrant 'quality' by examining whether or not a double-negative effect on the earnings of female immigrants exists in Canada. Contrary to popular belief, this study observes that labour market adjustments occur at a faster rate for female immigrants than for male immigrants. The results indicate that immigrant women in Canada suffer from a double-negative effect mainly because of gender earnings discrimination rather than birthplace discrimination. Earnings discrimination by birthplace is more pronounced among males than females. The findings suggest that in evaluating immigrant quality, researchers should take into account the potential role of labour market discrimination.

Are Dow Jones Islamic equity indices exposed to interest rate risk?

This study is the first attempt to evaluate the interest rate sensitivity of return and volatility of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices. These indices are constructed by screening out stocks that are incompatible with Islam’s prohibition of interest and certain lines of business. However, as a blunt instrument, the interest rate can affect discounted cash flows of any firm, even a firm with little or no financial leverage. This study observes that Islamic equity index portfolios outperform their conventional counterparts in both raw and risk-adjusted returns. A novel finding of this study is that the aggregate portfolio of Islamic stocks is immune to both the change in the interest rate and the volatility of the interest rate. However, returns on some Islamic-sector portfolios are sensitive to long-term interest rates but to a lesser degree than their conventional counterparts

Australian financial firms' exposures to the level, slope, and curvature of the interest rate term structure

This study examines the risk exposure of Australian financial firms to changes in the term structure of interest rates. Non-linearity in the interest rate term structure is captured by the three-factor model of interest rate level, slope, and curvature. We observe that financial firms have negative exposures to the interest rate level, while non-financial firms have positive exposures. This finding suggests that financial firms need to hedge against rising interest rates, while non-financial firms need to hedge against falling interest rates. Small banks and insurance companies have a positive risk exposure to the slope factor, while real estate firms have a negative risk exposure to the curvature factor. Though the interest rate level is the most important factor, ignoring the slope and curvature factors could lead to underestimating a financial firm’s overall interest rate risk exposure. These findings are robust to controlling for the orthogonalized market return, time-varying equity risk premium, and the global financial crisis. This study offers practical tools to regulators, such as the Reserve Bank of Australia and Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority for assessing interest rate risk exposures of the financial and non-financial sectors

Economic Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Less Developed Countries

This study examines the economic determinants of private foreign direct investment (FDI) by using a single-equation econometric model for 36 LDCs for the year 1983. The market size of the host country as measured by per capita GDP is found to be the most important factor in attracting FDI. The other important variables which influence FDI are found to be the cost factor (such as wage cost) and the investment climate in the host country (represented by such variables as per capita debt). The inflow of per capita public aid and economic instability, proxied by the volatility of prices, are other important factors affecting the flow of FDI. While larger market size and increased inflow of public aid attract FDI, the higher wage cost, poor investment climate, and economic instability in the host countries reduce the inflow of FDI. The model used to obtain these results is found to be structurally stable across countries

International contagion through financial versus non-financial firms

The role of financial firms in the transmission of financial shocks across countries is well recognized in the literature. However, contagion through non-financial firms has not received much attention. This study examines the role of financial vis-à-vis non-financial firms in transmitting shocks across countries using a dynamic conditional correlation analysis. We provide empirical evidence from a sample of 49 countries. A novel finding of our study is that non-financial firms play a more pronounced role in the cross-market transmission of shocks than financial firms. Financial contagion is positively related to the level of equity market development and bilateral trade intensity. It is higher during periods of US economic downturns and financial crises. Given that the extent of international contagion varies across economic states and is more prevalent in the non-financial than in the financial sector, this study has implications for global sector rotation strategies

A conceptual exploration of antecedents and outcomes of socially responsible investment in equity market

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for socially responsible investment (SRI) in the context of equity markets with three possible antecedents of SRI - moral beliefs, demographic and economic factors. It is argued that these factors influence an investor’s portfolio choice in relation to socially responsible vis-à-vis mainstream shares through their impacts on preferences as well as the investment opportunity set. It follows from the proposed conceptual framework that (a) the SRI products may be held by any risk-averse investors regardless of their ethical standing due to potential portfolio diversification benefits; (b) investors with moral beliefs will allocate a larger proportion of their assets in SRI than their conventional counterparts as they derive non-pecuniary benefits by investing in socially responsible firms; and (c) investors willing to attain steady long-term returns on investment will exploit SRI investment opportunities. These assertions can be empirically examined in further research