Cracking down on bribery

Do crackdowns on bribery impact corrupt behavior in the long run? In this paper we observe the long-run impact of a short-term punishment institution (i.e., a crackdown) on bribery behavior in a lab setting. We conduct lab experiments in two countries with cultures that differ in corruption norms, and which experience very different levels of bribery: the US and Pakistan. Bribery is implemented in the laboratory as a repeated three-player sequential game, consisting of a firm, a government official and a citizen. The design contains three phases: pre-crackdown, crackdown, and post-crackdown. Results show that post-crackdown behavior is not significantly different from pre-crackdown behavior in either country. We conclude that short-term crackdowns may impact behavior in the short run, depending on the strength of the existing corruption norms in the country. More importantly, in our setting crackdowns are completely ineffective in the long run, as corrupt behavior rebounds to pre-crackdown levels

Use of Herbal Extracts for Controlling Reproduction in Tilapia Culture: Trends and Prospects - a Review

The use of synthetic chemicals in the production of food for human consumption has been condemned by many nations, due to their potential health and environmental hazards. In tilapia farming in particular, synthetic sex reversal hormones have been commonly used to produce all male tilapia progenies. Recently, several herbal extracts have been reported to possess estrogenic properties, some of which are capable of inducing antifertility, abortifacient, and sex inversion in animals. Hence, herbal extracts could be used as safe alternative agents to control precocious tilapia maturity and prolific breeding in production systems. Dietary Basella alba, Quillaja saponaria, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Glycine max and Tribulus terrestris extracts have been reported to shift tilapia sex ratio in favor of males. Moreover, Moringa oleifera, Carica papaya, Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, and Hibiscus rosasinesis extracts demonstrated a direct effect on gonad morphology and delayed maturation in some tilapia species. However, there are limitations, which make it hard for this novel development to progress from experimental trials to widespread adoption by farmers because of lack of adequate knowledge on phytoestrogen extraction methods, their extract concentrations, and identification methods. Hence, there is a need for more research to standardize every aspect concerning the use of phytoestrogens in tilapia culture. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the available studies on the use of herbal extracts as potential alternatives to control tilapia reproduction in aquaculture, while also discussing limitations in the existing knowledge and finding a way forward

Effect of Feeding Rate on Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, and Blood-Chemistry Indicators of Nutritional Status in Juvenile Gift Strain Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus L.)

This study investigated the effect of feeding rates (2-10% of body weight), on the growth performance, feed utilization, and blood-chemistry indicators of nutritional status in juvenile GIFT strain tilapia, (Oreochromis niloticus) initial weight 72.73±0.15g. The 56 day trial conducted in cages tested five groups, with three replicates each. Fish were fed twice a day. Data were analyzed using one way ANOVA. Results showed that final body weight, food conversion rate (FCR), weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), protein retention efficiency (PRE), protein efficiency ratio (PER), feed intake, and condition factor (CF) were significantly affected by the feeding rates (P0.05). Serum indicative parameters of liver-enzyme functions and food metabolism, including blood glucose (GLU), triglyceride (TG), total protein (TP) levels, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme activities were assayed. Blood glucose level of the fish was significantly affected by the feeding rates (P0.05). Feed provided at a rate of 2%-10% of body weight may meet physiological wellbeing of GIFT strain tilapia, however growth performance and other endocrine functions (IGF-I) are affected by lower and higher feeding rates. Our findings could be very useful to tilapia farmers