The relationships between interest rates and inflation changes: An analysis of long-term interest rate dynamics in developing countries

Interest rates lie at the centre of monetary policy, not just as passive reflectors on money supply but rather as one of the main policy instruments. Interest rates have played a central role macroeconomic policy. In developing countries, interest rates have also enjoyed high popularity as policy instruments. For instance, high interest rate has been an essential component of many stabilization programs in countries with chronic inflation during the 1980s. This paper deals with theoretical and empirical aspects of the interactions between interest rates and inflation in developing countries. In the theoretical part reviewing literature revealed that many researchers argue that increasing inflation rate results in increasing interest rate. It is also argued that increasing product costs by increasing interest rate raises product’s prices and consequently inflation. This research examines the causal relationship between the interest rate and inflation rate in a panel of 40 selected Islamic countries using new causality approach and applying panel data methodology over the 2002 – 2005 periods. The results of this study show a unidirectional causality from interest rate to inflation rate in 40 Islamic countries. The findings have practical policy implications for decision makers in the area of macroeconomic planning particularly in Islamic countries. The results imply that banks must reduce interest rate to decrease the inflation

Use of GIS to Estimate Recharge and Identification of Potential Groundwater Recharge Zones in the Karstic Aquifers, West of Iran

Estimating and studying groundwater recharge is necessary and important for the management of water resources. The main aim of this work is to estimate the value of the annual recharge in some parts of the Kermanshah and Kurdistan province located in the west of Iran. There are many approaches available for estimation of the recharge, but RS (remote sensing) and GIS (geographic information system) have provided and combined a lot of effective spatial and temporal data of large areas within a short time. For this purpose, nine information layers including the slope, aspect of slope, lithology, lineament density, drainage density, precipitation, vegetation density, soil cover, and karst features were prepared and imported to the ArcMap software. After preparing the information layers, they have to weigh based on their effects on the value of the recharge. In order to be weighted the different parameters, methods of judgment expert, reciprocal influences of parameters, and AHP were used. Using GIS, the results obtained from the final map indicated the average value for the recharge based on the average calculated coefficient of recharge. The annual recharge coefficient in the study area was estimated to be between 30% and 80%

Knowledge, attitudes and behavioral intentions of agricultural professionals toward genetically modified (GM) foods: a case study in Southwest Iran

While there has been a number of consumers' studies looking at factors that influence individuals' attitudes and behavior toward GM foods, few studies have considered agricultural professionals' intentions in this regard. This study illuminates agricultural professionals' insights toward GM foods in Southwest Iran. A random sample of 262 respondents was studied. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents had little knowledge about GM foods. They perceived few benefits or risks of GM foods. Their perceived benefits and trust in individuals and institutions had positive impacts on the behavioral intentions of the agricultural professionals. The results also revealed that the low knowledge level of the respondents had a negative impact on the behavioral intentions toward GM foods. This state of affairs is problematic, either GM foods have serious problems or the knowledge conveyed to the Iranian agricultural experts is inappropriate. We recommend a well defined communication strategy to provide information in such a way that allows individuals to feel adequately informed about GM foods. Furthermore, the development of trust and knowledge regarding GM foods can be greater when risk analysis frameworks are transparent, risk assessment methodologies are objective, all stakeholders are engaged in the risk management process, and risk communication focuses on consumers

Effects of trichostatin A on FHIT and WWOX genes expression, cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induction in hepatocellular carcinoma WCH 17 cell line

Previously, we evaluated the effect of trichostatin A (TSA) on the expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Fragile histidine triad (FHIT) and WW domaincontaining oxidoreductase (WWOX) are two of the most common down-regulated genes in many cancers located on chromosome 3p14.2 and 16q23.3–24.1 respectively. The aim of the current study was to assess the effect of TSA on these genes expression, cell growth, and apoptosis in HCC WCH 17 cell. The cells were seeded and treated with TSA at different times. Then, MTT assay, flow cytometry, and qRT-PCR were achieved to determine viability, apoptosis and gene expression respectively. Cell growth was significantly inhibited, 92 to 36% after 24 h, 86 to 28% after 48 h, and 78 to 24% after 72 h. The results of flow cytometry confirmed that TSA increased apoptosis compared to the control group, the apoptosis percentage increased to 12%, 16%, and 18% in comparison to control groups (2%). Significant up-regulation of the genes was observed in all treated groups. We concluded that reexpression of silenced WWOX and FHIT genes could be achieved by TSA resulting in cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induction in WCH 17 cell

Un estudio sobre el impacto de la destreza, el género y tipo de actividades sobre las estrategias de la comunicación

This paper reports on the study of the frequency of communication strategies, their relationship to task types, and gender differences in the use of CSs. A CS questionnaire was administered to 227 students at elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate levels. The results indicated that a) language proficiency does not influence the frequency of the CSs b) the task type has a significant impact on the type of CS employed, c) gender differences in the use of CSs are only significant for circumlocution, asking for clarification, omission, comprehension check, use of fillers, and over explicitness.En este artículo se hace un estudio sobre la frecuencia de estrategias de la comunicación, su relación con las diferentes clases de actividades y las clases de género en las mismas. Para este estudio fue aplicado e l cuestionario CS a 227 estudiantes de los niveles elemental, pre-intermedio e intermedio obteniéndose los siguientes resultados: a) la destreza de la lengua no influye en la frecuencia de los CSs, b) las diferentes actividades tienen un gran impacto en la clase de CS que se emplean y c) las diferentes clases de género que se utilizan en los CSs sólo son importantes para la circunlocución, a la hora de hacer preguntas para clarificar ideas y comprobar el nivel de comprensión

Chemical Composition of the Essential oil of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge. from Iran

Due to various usages of Satureja species or their oils, we were interested in studying essential oil contents and compositions of Satureja species in Iran. So, the essential oil of aerial parts of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge. growing in Iran was obtained by hydrodistillation and was analyzed by GC-MS. Twenty eight compounds constituting 99.80% of the oil were identified and yield of the oil was 2.7% (V/W). The major components were found to be thymol (65.1%), γ-terpinene (15.0%), β-caryophyllene (4.85%), p-cymene (4.4%), linalool (3.5%) and borneol (3.05%)

Examining the Fairness of the University Entrance Exam: A Latent Class Analysis Approach to Differential Item Functioning

Measurement has been ubiquitous in all areas of education for at least a century. Various methods have been suggested to examine the fairness of education tests especially in high-stakes contexts. The present study has adopted the newly proposed ecological approach to differential item functioning (DIF) to investigate the fairness of the Iranian nationwide university entrance exam. To this end, the actual data from an administration of the test were obtained and analyzed through both traditional logistic regression and latent class analysis (LCA) techniques. The initial DIF analysis through logistic regression revealed that 19 items (out of 70) showed either uniform or non-uniform DIF. Further examination of the sample through LCA showed that the sample is not homogeneous. LCA class enumeration revealed that three classes can be identified in the sample. DIF analysis for separate latent classes showed that three serious differences in the number of DIF items identified in each latent class ranging from zero items in latent class 3 to 43 items in latent class 2. The inclusion of the covariates in the model also showed that latent class membership could be significantly predicted from high school GPA, field of study, and acceptance quota. It is argued that the fairness of the test might be under question. The implications of the findings for the validity of the test are discussed in detail