Reactions with hydrazonoyl halides: Part XVIII-Synthesis of pyrrolidino[3,4-c] pyrazole, pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine, imidazo-[1,2-a ]pyridine, pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and other heterocyclic derivatives

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Wheat Germ Oil Restores Testicular Function Through Modulation of Oxidative Stress in Male Adult Rats Exposed to Chromium VI

This research was outlined to assess the protective and therapeutic role of wheat germ oil against chromium VI -induced oxidative stress and testicular dysfunction in male adult rats through evaluation of semen picture, measuring the sex hormone levels, oxidative stress markers, DNA fragmentation percentage and histopathological changes in the testes. Twenty-eight adult Wister male rats were assigned into four equal groups: Group 1; Control, group 2; Cr VI, group 3; Cr VI + WGO, and group 4; WGO. WGO showed a significant increment in the RBC, Hb, Ht, WBC and Plts. WGO restored the levels of testicular antioxidant enzymes, NO, MDA as well as GSH. Also, WGO in-combination with Cr VI showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the levels of testosterone, LH, GnRH hormones and 17β-HSD enzyme, while, FSH was decreased. Data showed that treatment of male rats with WGO and Cr VI caused an increase in sperm count, motility, and decrease in sperm abnormality. Combination of WGO with Cr VI revealed a decrease in the levels of TL, TC, TG and LDL–C, while, HDL–C was increased. Rats administrated with WGO in-combination with Cr VI exhibited a slight improvement in testicular DNA integration compared to Cr VI-treated group. Further, co-administration of WGO + Cr VI revealed a slight improvement in the pathological alterations; the cellular layers of the seminiferous tubules more or less near to the normal structure. It was concluded that wheat germ oil can be an effective antioxidant in modulating Cr VI-induced male infertility, and may lead to improve the male reproductive performance

Islamic Governance, National Governance, and Bank Risk Management and Disclosure in MENA Countries

This paper examines the relationships among religious governance, especially Islamic governance quality (IGQ), national governance quality (NGQ), and risk management and disclosure practices (RDPs); and consequently ascertains whether NGQ has a moderating influence on the IGQ-RDPs nexus. Using one of the largest datasets relating to Islamic banks from 10 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries from 2006 to 2013, our findings are three-fold. First, we find that RDPs are higher in banks from countries with higher NGQ. Second, the results also show that IGQ is positively related to RDPs. Finally, we find evidence that suggests that NGQ has a moderating effect on the IGQ-RDPs nexus. These results are consistent with the predictions of our multi-theoretical framework that incorporates insights from agency, signalling, legitimacy, institutional, and resources dependence theories. Our findings also are robust to alternative calculation procedures for the RDPs and to alternative estimation techniques. These results confirm the notion that the disclosure quality depends on the nature of the macro-level factors, such as religion and national governance that have remained unexplored in business and society research, and therefore have important implications for policy-makers

Assessing the Use of Gold as a Zero-Beta Asset in Empirical Asset Pricing: Application to the US Equity Market

This paper examines the use of the return on gold instead of treasury bills in empirical asset pricing models for the US equity market. It builds upon previous research on the safe-haven, hedging, and zero-beta characteristics of gold in developed markets and the close relationship between interest rates, stock, and gold returns. In particular, we extend this research by showing that using gold as a zero-beta asset helps to improve the time-series performance of asset pricing models when pricing US equities and industries between 1981 and 2015. The performance of gold zero-beta models is also compared with traditional empirical factor models using the 1-month Treasury bill rate as the risk-free rate. Our results indicate that using gold as a zero-beta asset leads to higher R-squared values, lower Sharpe ratios of alphas, and fewer significant pricing errors in the time-series analysis. Similarly, the pricing of small stock and industry portfolios is improved. In cross-section, we also find improved results, with fewer cross-sectional pricing errors and more economically meaningful pricing of risk factors. We also find that a zero-beta gold factor constructed to be orthogonal to the Carhart four factors is significant in cross-section and helps to improve factor model performance on momentum portfolios. Furthermore, the Fama–French three- and five-factor asset pricing models and the Carhart model are all improved by these means, particularly on test assets which have been poorly priced by the traditional versions. Our results have salient implications for policymakers, governments, central bank rate-setting decisions, and investors

Modeling for the Relationship between Monetary Policy and GDP in the USA Using Statistical Methods

The Federal Reserve has played an arguably important role in financial crises in the United States since its creation in 1913 through monetary policy tools. Thus, this paper aims to analyze the impact of monetary policy on the United States' economic growth in the short and long run, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Vector Autoregressive (VAR) method explores the relationship among the variables, and the Granger causality test assesses the predictability of the variables. Moreover, the Impulse Response Function (IRF) examines the behavior of one variable after a change in another, utilizing the time-series dataset from the first quarter of 1959 to the second quarter of 2022. This work demonstrates that expansionary monetary policy does have a positive impact on economic growth in the short term though it does not last long. However, in the long term, inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is affected by expansionary monetary policy. Therefore, if the Federal Reserve wants to cease the expansionary monetary policy in the short run, this should be done appropriately, with the fiscal surplus, to preserve its credibility and trust in the US dollar as a global store of value asset. Also, the paper's findings suggest that continuous expansion of the Money Supply will lead to a long-term inflationary problem. The purpose of this research is to bring the spotlight to the side effects of expansionary monetary policy on the US economy, but also allow other researchers to test this model in different economies with different dynamics

The Impact of Multi-Layer Governance on Bank Risk Disclosure in Emerging Markets: The Case of Middle East and North Africa

This study examines the impact of multi-layer governance mechanisms on the level of bank risk disclosure. Using a large dataset from 14 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries over a period of 8 years, our findings are three-fold. First, our results suggest that the presence of a Sharia supervisory board is positively associated with the level of risk disclosure. Second and at the bank-level, we find that ownership structures have a positive effect on the level of risk disclosure. At the country-level, our evidence suggests that control of corruption has a positive effect on the level of bank risk disclosure. Our study is, therefore, a major departure from much of the existing accounting literature that offers new crucial insights that show that firms’ disclosure choices are not mainly shaped by firm-level (internal) governance arrangements, but also country-level (external) governance and religious factors. Our findings have important implications for corporate boards, investors, regulatory authorities, standards-setters and governments relating to the development, implementation and enforcement of corporate and national governance standards

Are bank risk disclosures informative? Evidence from debt markets

This study examines whether financial reporting with a specific focus on risk disclosures have a predictive (informative) effect on banks’ credit ratings (BCRs) and, consequently, ascertains whether governance structures can moderate such an association. Using one of the largest banklevel datasets collected from 12 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries over the 2006-2013 period to-date, our findings are as follows. First, we find that risk disclosures have a predictive effect on BCRs. Second, we find that the relationship between risk disclosures and BCRs is contingent on the quality of governance structures. Specifically, we find that the informativeness of risk disclosures on BCRs is higher in banks with larger board size, greater independence, higher government ownership, and better Shariah supervisory board, but lower in banks with greater block ownership, higher foreign ownership and the presence of CEO duality. The central tenor of our findings remains unchanged after controlling for a number of firm- and country-level factors, alternative risk disclosure measures, firm- and national-level governance proxies, different types of banks, and potential endogeneities. The findings have important implications for investors, especially bondholders, standard-setters, regulators, and central government