Isolation and screening of alkaline protease producing bacteria and physio-chemical characterization of the enzyme

Soil samples from different habitats including tanneries, soap industries, garden soil and soil compost were screened for the presence of alkalophilic Bacillus isolates capable of producing alkaline protease in large quantities. One hundred and eighteen (118) isolates were found having proteolytic activity on skim milk agar plates. Isolates forming larger zones, as a result of casein hydrolysis were further studied for quantitative production of extracellular alkaline protease activity in the shake flask studies. Isolate CEMB10370 gave maximum activity. Time course studies indicated that strain CEMB10370 had the highest protease activity (380 APU/mL) after 48 h of fermentation. The wild type enzyme was biochemically characterized. The enzyme exhibits optimal activity at 50°C and pH 11.5. The protease enzyme was completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl (PMSF, serine protease inhibitor) and its isoelectric point was ~9.5. The enzyme was purified by ion-exchange chromatography using CMSepharose column as a ~29 Kilo Dalton (kDa) protein.Key words: Alkaline protease, alkalophilic ,Bacillus subtili

Macroeconomic Policies Interaction & the Symmetry of Financial Markets' Responses

This concise study analyses the symmetry of financial markets` responses to macroeconomic policy interaction in the United Kingdom. Employing the Vector Auto-regression (VAR) model on monthly data of the British financial sector and macroeconomic policies from January 1985 to August 2008, this study found that the equity and sovereign debt markets showed identical symmetry in response to macroeconomic policy interaction

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on the Export Performance: Empirical Evidence for Western Balkan Countries

Recently there are many authors that have studied and analyzed the impact of foreign direct investments (FDI) on the export performance. They have different opinions about the effect of foreign direct investments on the export performance. Some of them in their papers conclude that FDI have positive effect on the export performance and some not. There are also findings that FDI do not have any impact on the export performance. Of course for economic benefit of host country it is not important only the amount of FDI, but also their structure. To measure the effect of FDI on the export performance is not easy.Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to analyze empirically the foreign direct investments and exports performance during the period of 1996-2013 in Western Balkan countries. The paper also investigates for the fixed effects and individual heterogeneity across countries and years. Based on the panel regression techniques and Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) regression method, FDI positively affect export performance in the sample countries in various model specifications.The results and conclusions of this paper we hope that will help everybody who are interested and studying this matter, especially the policy makers.  The last ones have the obligation to facilitate and promote the export if they award confirm that FDI contribute on developing their economy. 

Strategic alliance in energy sector & implications for economic growth and technical efficiency: The case of petrobras and galp

This study stemmed from the lack of evidence and uncertainties regarding the economic and political effects of a strategic alliance between leading oil companies like Petrobras and Galp on their host economies. This paper investigates whether public and private corporations in the energy sector can influence the economic growth of their respective countries. A Panel data analysis was performed by employing quarterly data from (2006-2013). We also used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to measure the technical efficiency (TE) effect of the alliance on the performance of both companies from 1999 to 2012. It was found the exploration and export of oil and gas do not play a significant role in output growth of the home economy and that exploration activities were inflationary, destabilising and inimical to growth, at least in the short-run. On another positive side, both companies showed increased technical efficiencies in the chosen time period. Petrobras enjoyed TE on average of 90% in the variables studied whereas Galp showed an average TE of 70%. These results reflect the corporate strategies of both firms, which focussed on achieving profitable and sustained growth and enhancing their efficiencies in their collective and individual activities

Sovereign bonds and flight to safety: Implications of the COVID-19 crisis for sovereign debt markets in the G-7 and E-7 economies

This study investigates the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for sovereign debt in the G-7 and E-7 economies and explores the notion of sovereign bonds as a safe haven. Using a set of panel regression and dynamic connectedness TVP-VAR approaches, our results reveal that the impact of COVID-19 global case numbers on sovereign bonds has been contingent on the level of the country's financial and economic development. More precisely, our findings suggest that G-7 countries, where economic development is typically higher, have seen a negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on sovereign bond yield: sovereign 10-year bond yields declined as the number of COVID-19 global confirmed cases increased in G-7 countries. However, in E-7 countries, where economic growth and development are typically lower, sovereign bond yields responded positively to the initial increase in COVID-19 global confirmed case numbers, but this positive effect is not statistically significant. We also find that the G-7 and E-7 economies have a strong time-varying connectedness in relation to their bond markets and this effect is more pronounced in G-7 economies. Daily Infectious Disease Equity Market Volatility is likely to be the strongest predictor of total connectedness. Concomitantly, we shed new light on the predictive power of the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths, and the Daily Infectious Disease Equity Market Volatility Tracker on the interdependence of these sovereign bond markets. Overall, this paper highlights the heterogeneous effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on sovereign bond yields in G-7 and E-7 countries and the notion that the developed economies, with their developed sovereign bond markets, are still seen as a safe haven during times of crisis

Role of Natural Resource Abundance, International Trade and Financial Development in the Economic Development of Selected Countries

Economic development in a contemporary setting encompasses a broad range of parameters. This balanced panel study of 30 countries uses two single-equation models to investigate the impacts of natural resource abundance, international trade, financial development, trade openness and institutional quality on two proxies for economic development – economic growth and a human development index. The data spans from 1990 to 2016 and the impact is assessed in aggregate as well as the countries’ level of development in three groups – Lower-middle, Upper-middle and High Income Countries. Four panel estimation approaches are used: Fixed Effects (FE), Random Effects (RE), Panel Fully Modified Least Squares (FMOLS) and Panel Dynamic Least Squares (DOLS). While natural resource abundance has a significantly positive impact on economic growth, a primarily negative and insignificant effect on human development exists. Interestingly, international trade and broad money have significantly negative impacts on economic development. Trade openness’ positive effect exceeds that of institutional quality. The findings suggest that the variables have a stronger influence on economic growth as compared to human development

A Quarter Century of Inflation Targeting & Structural Change in Exchange Rate Pass-through : Evidence from the First Three Movers

This study analyses the implications of Inflation Targeting (I.T.) for the Exchange Rate Pass-Through (ERPT) to inflation and trade balance by focusing on the first three movers i.e. New Zealand, UK and Canada. Drawing on the monthly data from October 1976 to September 2017, we employ a TVSVAR framework. Our key findings suggest that there is significant evidence of time-variation in the ERPT to inflation and trade balance in all three countries. Contrary to the notion that the ERPT to inflation has decreased under inflation targeting, in fact, there is strong evidence that if there is anything, it is the other way round. The ADF unit root test with a structural break suggests that the oscillations in coefficients for inflation show a decrease and timing corresponds with the start of I.T. However, this coincident cannot lead to infer that the ERPT has lost its significance. There is also a considerable amount of heterogeneity in the ERPT in the under-analysis countries. Specifically, in response to the positive Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) shock, the inflation fell in the UK and New Zealand whereas, in Canada, it had the opposite effect. On the ERPT to the trade balance, the results on the UK showed clear evidence of J-curve whereas in Canada, the impact was rather instantaneous, and the trade balance quickly deteriorated. In New Zealand, the trade balance also showed deterioration in response to the REER shocks, although comparatively there was milder response than Canada and the UK. Our findings have profound implications for monetary policy formulation under I.T. regimes and the influence of ERPT on price stability and external balance

The methodological problem of unit roots: stationarity and its consequences in the context of the Tinbergen debate

In this paper we highlight an important yet often neglected issue that arises within the context of the broader set of concerns set out in Keynes’s seminal critique of Tinbergen’s early work in econometrics and that is the problem of “trend” in the dataset. We use the example of conforming data to achieve stationarity to solve a problem of unit roots to highlight that Keynes concerns with the “logical issues” regarding the “conditions which the economic material must satisfy” still gains little attention in theory and practice. There is a lot more discussion of the technical aspects of method than there is reflection on conditions that must be satisfied when methods are applied. Concomitantly, there is a tendency to respond to problems of method by applying fixes rather than addressing the underlying problem. We illustrate various facets of the argument using central bank policy targeting and using examples of differencing, co-integration and Bayesian applications

Asymmetric J-curve: Evidence from Industry Trade between U.S. and U.K.

Previous research that assessed the impact of exchange rate changes on the trade balance between the U.S. and U.K. assumed the effects are symmetric. In this paper we add to the literature on the asymmetric J-curve phenomenon by considering the trade balance of 68 two-digit industries that trade between the two countries. We find short-run asymmetric effects of the real dollar-pound rate in almost all industries. However, short-run asymmetric effects were translated into significant long-run asymmetric effects in 25 industries. Indeed, the asymmetric J-curve hypothesis was supported in 18 industries

One-vortex moduli space and Ricci flow

The metric on the moduli space of one abelian Higgs vortex on a surface has a natural geometrical evolution as the Bradlow parameter, which determines the vortex size, varies. It is shown by various arguments, and by calculations in special cases, that this geometrical flow has many similarities to Ricci flow.Comment: 20 page