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Gender discrimination, social networks and access to informal finance of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises
No full textThe issue of gender discrimination in the informal credit market is under-investigated given that existing studies largely consider formal bank loans. Using a rich dataset on access to informal loans and loan terms of Vietnamese privately-owned manufacturing small and medium enterprises over 2005-2015, this paper finds that female-run firms have a lower propensity to borrow and incur a higher cost of borrowing from informal sources than male-run counterparts. The empirical evidence on gender discrimination is robust to the control of different firm characteristics, firm-specific unobserved heterogeneity, and selection bias. With the potential to mitigate gender discrimination, extended social networks are found to work in favor of female-run firms
Is the neighbourhood context important for a tobacco retailer proximity policy?
Get PDFA spatial modelling approach was used to explore how a proximity limit (150 m, 300 m, and 450 m) between tobacco retailers may impact different neighbourhoods in New Zealand. Neighbourhoods were categorised into three density groups (0, 1–2, 3+ retailers). As the proximity limit increases, there is a progressive redistribution of neighbourhoods in the three density groups with, the 3+ density group incorporating fewer neighbourhoods and the 0 and 1–2 density groups conversely each consisting of more. The differing measures available at the neighbourhood level enabled our study to discern potential inequities. More directed policies targeting these inequities are needed
Fermentation of peanut slurry with Lactococcus lactis species, Leuconostoc and Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. globosum enhanced protein digestibility
No full textPeanuts contain nutritionally relevant levels of protein, yet are poorly digestible. Fermentation is a promising technique to boost legume protein quality, but its effect on the protein quality of raw peanuts has not been investigated. This study aimed to assess the impact of fermentation on the in vitro protein digestibility and free amino acid profile of cooked peanut slurry (peanut to water ratio 1:1). Cultures used were Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. globosum and a commercial fresh cheese culture that contained Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, lactis, lactis biovar diacetylactis, and Leuconostoc, fermenting at 38 °C for 48 h. Samples fermented with the combination of cultures showed higher protein digestibility, as well as softer texture. Significant increases were observed only in the sample fermented with the fresh cheese culture. While the fresh cheese culture improved the free amino acid profile after fermentation, the combination of the cultures decreased all free amino acid concentrations except for glutamine, alanine, and proline. The observed increases in in vitro protein digestibility and the free amino acid profile may be attributed to the proteolytic activities of the cultures
First record of eugregarines (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinorida) parasitizing the neotropical social wasp Polistes versicolor (Vespidae: Polistinae) in Brazil
No full textThe study of social wasp biology is often focused on understanding the factors involved in the evolution of social behavior. However, despite the importance of parasitism for the fitness of social insect colonies, little is known about the presence of parasitic protozoan infections in Neotropical social wasp populations. Herein, we report the first recorded occurrence of eugregarines in the midgut of the paper wasp Polistes versicolor. Our study shows 46% of the adults (n = 50) in the studied population were infected with gregarine trophozoites. No protozoans were identified in any of the sampled larvae (n = 14). This new record may indicate the existence of a new taxon within Order Eugregarinorida
In vitro inhibition of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mycelial growth and reduction of sclerotial viability by the volatile bioactive compounds of Brassicaceae crops
No full textAims: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is an important pathogen of a wide range of crops, with current control mostly relying on the use of fungicides. This study assessed the effect of biofumigation on in vitro inhibition of mycelial growth and reduction of sclerotial viability of S. sclerotiorum as an attempt to seek an alternative management strategy. Methods and results: The effect of different biofumigant crop types to inhibit mycelial growth of ten S. sclerotiorum isolates was investigated, with Brassica juncea 'Caliente 199' being the most effective biofumigant crop. The efficacy of 'Caliente 199' to inhibit mycelial growth and reduce sclerotial viability was influenced by different crop factors. Plant tissue of 'Caliente 199' harvested at 50% or 100% flowering and adjusted to 80% (w/w) moisture resulted in greater mycelial inhibition and a reduction in the sclerotial viability compared with the vegetative tissue with the same plant moisture. Mycelial inhibition and reduction of sclerotial viability were affected by tissue quantity. Whole plant tissue and shoots only resulted in a similar inhibition of mycelial growth, but whole plant tissue resulted in a greater reduction of sclerotial viability. The S. sclerotiorum isolates differed in sensitivity to the volatile bioactive compounds released by the biofumigant plant tissue.
Conclusions: The volatile bioactive compounds released by 'Caliente 199' resulted in effective mycelial inhibition but did not kill sclerotia completely
Oil price shocks and exchange rate dynamics: Evidence from decomposed and partial connectedness measures for oil importing and exporting economies
No full textThis paper introduces a novel framework of partial connectedness measures to investigate contagion dynamics between different types of oil price shocks and exchange rates. Oil price shocks are persistent net transmitters of shocks within the network. It is found that the oil shock net spillovers made up most of the net connectedness values in most countries during the pre-COVID-19 period. Both oil exporters and oil importers, without any exception, were all net receivers of shocks. However, during the COVID-19 era, there were significant differences within the groups of countries. It is also observed that the oil-risk shock transmits to the other two types of oil shocks in the pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 periods. The results may have potential implications for traders
Na yaqona kei na i tikotiko ni veivakarautaki vakavuli: Na veisataki ni i tuvatuva vakalawa kei na veiqaravi raraba | Yaqona and the school campus: Regulation versus facilitation
No full textYaqona(kava) is a culturally significant, non-alcoholic drink consumed nightly by many Fijians. Although yaqonais not consumed by primary or secondary school students, cultural protocols related to yaqonapreparation and presentation are often taught in their schools, with students then presenting this indigenous drink to acknowledge visitors to the school, open events and support fundraisers. In the early 2000s, some within the Fiji Ministry of Education began questioning whether yaqonause by teachers was negatively impacting their teaching ability, suggesting it should be banned from the school campus. In this study, Fijian teachers were cognitively tested and interviewed following an evening of yaqona consumption with the results suggesting this indigenous substance can disrupt cognition and in turn negatively impact teaching quality the morning after consumption. Although development theory prescribes prohibition and situational bans in cases where indigenous substances negatively impact productivity, the author argues that prohibiting yaqona in Fijian schools would be short-sighted as the findings show that this traditional substance is critical to the facilitation of school function, identity formation and academic achievement, all elements necessary to development
Outdoor recreation experience of mainland Chinese students in New Zealand : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University
No full textThis thesis investigates the changing role of the culture of origin as a constraint in Mainland Chinese students’ outdoor recreation experience in New Zealand. It aims to better understand their experience by further exploring the influencetial mechanism of one’s cultural background in a cross-cultural scenario.
Different countries have different understandings of and ways of practice regarding outdoor recreation. Therefore, when differences arise in cross-cultural scenarios, scholars often turn to culture to seek explanations. In the pursuit of understanding how the culture of origin influences outdoor recreation in cross-cultural scenarios, two explanatory perspectives emerged in previous research.
The first perspective regards the role of the culture of origin as the decisive constraint that contributes to the culturally coherent differences in one’s recreational involvement. In studies using this perspective, a set of cultural barriers including traditions and social norms were identified to comprehend what one needs to overcome to participate in cross-cultural scenarios. Meanwhile, the second perspective suggests that the role of culture is not this straightforward, as non-culturally coherent differences also emerge within the same cultural group. Studies from this perspective indicate that different situations, such as local support and social status, can counter the effect of cultural influence as a decisive barrier to outdoor participation. There appears to be a mechanism through which culture changes its role between decisive and situation-interfered influences in one’s practices. Yet, limited attention has been directed toward comprehending this mechanism in the research area.
This research explores this mechanism to enhance our understanding of people's outdoor recreation experiences by applying the logic of Archer's analytic dualism concerning the role of culture in cultural encounters. This logic suggests that the role of culture changes based on whether it exerts ideational or practical influence. The ideational influence of culture provides decisive guidance for one’s subsequent actions. Still, once such actions are undertaken, these guidelines turn into practical influences that are affected by other factors, determining the extent of such practices. This logic provides a way to explore the change in the role of the culture of origin embedded in the coexistence of homogeneity and heterogeneity, furthering our understanding of cultural influences.
To narrow the scope of this research inquiry to a feasible scale, the outdoor recreation experience of Mainland Chinese students (MCS) in New Zealand was selected. New Zealand and China developed different contexts for understanding and practising outdoor recreation. These differences make outdoor recreation in New Zealand a potential subject for studying the role of the culture of origin. Meanwhile, MCS hold a significant position in the local economy and labour market. A better understanding of how the cultural background affects their outdoor recreation would benefit interested parties aiming to improve the overseas experience of Chinese students or boost revenue in the recreation sectors.
Therefore, by focusing on the outdoor recreation experiences of MCS, this research employs in-depth interviews to collect data on cultural influences and their engagement with outdoor recreation. The aim is to establish a connection between the role of culture and their involvement in outdoor recreation.
The results indicate that the outdoor experiences of MCS exhibit culturally coherent interpretations of outdoor recreation and situational diversity in practising it. Influenced by their culture of origin, MCS interpret the local way of outdoor recreation as the "Kiwi way," differing from the Chinese way in three aspects: value orientation, way of practice, and the sense of outdoor settings. These cultural differences generate three types of tensions that MCS need to overcome for their participation: 1) dealing with differences in values, where MCS need to maintain their original values while engaging in outdoor activities; 2) addressing variations in the way of practice, requiring them to acquire new knowledge to participate in local outdoor activities; 3) coping with differences in the perception of outdoor environments, necessitating finding adaptable approaches. Moreover, through a comparison of MCS's actual practices, the research results demonstrate that the shared interpretations at the ideational level do not decisively constrain MCS's practices. Their specific activities depend on whether existing resources can alleviate or exacerbate the cultural tensions affecting their engagement in outdoor activities, leading to diversity at the individual practice level.
These findings indicate that the changes in the role of culture depend on whether it involves interpreting or practising outdoor recreation. Based on Archer's theoretical logic, it suggests that the influences of culture can be understood as a dualistic constraint role, involving a guiding constraint at the ideational level and a causal constraint at the practical level. At the ideational level, the role of culture involves distinguishing differences and, based on the attributes of these differences, generating diverse practice-oriented constraints. However, at the practical level, the execution of guiding constraints is influenced by environmental factors, leading the role of culture to transform into a coexisting causal constraint with other societal factors.
This research investigates how culture influences outdoor recreation, specifically among MCS in New Zealand. Using Archer's analytic dualism, the study reveals a new way to look into cultural influence as a constraint. This enriches theoretical discussions on the interplay between culture and recreational behaviour, paving the way for further exploration in cross-cultural studies. Practically, the findings have implications for enhancing the overseas experience of Chinese students and optimizing the recreation sector
Novel drivers of voluntary intake of low dry matter forages in sheep : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University
No full textFresh forages account for a significant part of the ruminant’s diet in pasture-based systems. Previous studies have suggested dry matter content below 16% reduce dry matter intake, but contemporary NZ temperate grazing systems using a range of low DM% forages are reported to have strongly positive production features, so, an experimental series (1, 2 and 3) was designed to assess DMI using fodder beet (FB), plantain, chicory and ryegrass cultivars using young sheep.
In experiment one, DMI, water intake, urine volumes and mineral (Na, K, Ca, Mg, P) balance were measured with young sheep using metabolism crates and fresh harvested FB to represent a total diet DM% below 14%, with grass silage (GS) as a control. Eight (49±1.75 kg) Coopworth hogget rams were fed one of the three treatments, sequentially in runs 1 to 3; treatment 1 (ad libitum GS) - FB 0%: GS 100%; treatment 2 (restricted FB) - FB 30%: GS 70%; treatment 3 (ad libitum FB) - FB 90%: GS 10%. Total diet DM% were 43.21, 30.44, and 13.56%; total diet CP% were 13.38, 13.97, and 12.18%; and total diet NDF was 57.19, 43.13, and 22.29%, respectively for runs 1, 2 and 3. In run 3 the mean daily DMI was greater at 2.74% of LWT compared to run 2 (2.21%) and run 1 (2.49%) (p<0.05). Mean daily water intake in run 3 was 239 ml/kg of LWT, fourfold higher (p<0.05) than observed in run 1 (61 ml/kg of LWT). Mean daily urine production in run 3 was 160 ml/kg LWT, significantly greater (p<0.05) than observed in run 1 or run 2. The mean daily Na intake in run 3 was 21.27 (g/d), significantly greater than runs 1 and 2 (p<0.05), with greater (p<0.05) urinary Na concentration and mean daily urinary Na output in run 3, increasing from 105 to 2090 (mg/L) and 0.14 to 17.89 (g/d) runs 1 to 3. Mean daily N intake was not different between runs, while mean daily urinary N output (g/d) was significantly lower in run 3 (6.19g/d) compared to run 1 (7.88 g/d). Urinary N% was greater in run 1 than run 2, and run 3 (0.6, 0.28 and 0.08% respectively). The N utilization (N retained/total diet N) was greater in run 3 (67%) compared with run 1 (35%) and run 2 (33%). The DMI observed in run 3 was high by comparison with other pen fed harvested forage studies, but lower than the intake observed in grazed forages of similar DM%, and neither the NDF intake nor the CP content of the diet likely limited intake. There was no evidence of rumen dysfunction, and it was concluded that, when FB was fed ad libitum, despite being a low DM% forage, high DMI could be achieved, and the very high urine volumes observed suggested a role for Na in excreting the considerable water load consumed with these DMI. However, it was not clear whether all these effects could be related to an effect of increased Na intake in ad libitum FB diet.
Plantain and chicory are low DM% forages that have higher Na content compared to ryegrass, and comparatively high N content compared to FB. Therefore, the second experiment was conducted to investigate the role of Na in DMI in low DM% forages, using eight different plantain varieties, chicory, and ryegrass, in four different sequential runs. In each run, 32 young sheep (41±7kg) were used in four groups of eight animals, with the first two runs using the same sheep and forages on a 14d delay and were conducted as sequential runs. In runs 1 and 2 the treatments were tonic, agritonic, ecotain (plantain varieties) and ryegrass, and in run 3 the treatments were tonic, captain, SF and oracle (plantain varieties), and in run 4 the treatments were tonic, tuatara, boston (plantain varieties) and chicory. In all four runs, ad libitum feed was given (refusals > 20%). Despite low DM% (8.47 to 16.56%), plantain and chicory treatments recorded significantly higher (p3g/d, while the chicory treatment was 3.5g/d, and both mean plantain and chicory values were significantly greater (p<0.05) than the mean of the grass treatments (0.43 g/d).
The plantain treatments in runs 1 and 2 had greater (p<0.05) mean daily urinary Na concentration and mean daily urinary Na outputs (g/d) compared to the grass treatments. The mean daily Na intake (3.51 g/d) was lower in the chicory treatment, and the mean daily urinary Na output for chicory treatment (3.51 g/d) was equal to the intake. Despite the plantain DM% doubling from run 1 to run 2, the mean daily total water intakes were closely similar between runs within plantain treatments (range 378-398 vs 366-376 ml/fasted LWT, respectively for run 1 and run 2). When the mean daily DMI was expressed against LWT, run 2 plantain treatments were observed to have the highest for any treatment (4.62 to 5.08% of LWT) in all four runs, and it was concluded this water intake was an effective upper physiological limit, thereby limiting DMI. The results from this experiment do not support the hypothesis that forage DM% below 16% restrict DMI, and it was concluded that a total water intake of approximately 370-400ml/ kg LWT represents a physiological upper water intake limit, and that a daily urinary Na concentration of approximately 300mg/L, and a daily urinary Na output of approximately 3.5g was required to enable corresponding urine outputs to achieve the DMI observed. It was also concluded that diet Na content and daily intakes facilitated water excretion, and that only sufficient Na intakes would therefore enable high DMI with low DM% forages.
The third experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of Na on DMI and urine production when the animals were externally dosed with Na while feeding on low DM% pasture that was originally low in Na. Twenty-four young sheep (39±5 kg) were divided into three groups of eight and three dietary treatments were used in two sequential runs in a cross-over design (grass and grass + salt treatments). The ad libitum FB treatment was maintained as the control treatment in both runs, while the other dietary treatments were grass and grass + salt (12 g of Na was added via oral drenching to achieve a daily intake similar to that of ad libitum FB feeding treatment). The mean daily DMI and the mean daily DMI/fasted LWT were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the FB treatment in both runs 1 and 2, and no significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the grass treatment or grass + salt treatments in DMI or DMI expressed against LWT. The mean daily NDF intake expressed against the LWT was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the grass treatment and grass + salt treatments compared to the FB treatment and varied from 1.14 to 1.22% from run 1 to run 2.
The mean daily urine production (ml/d) was not significantly different (p<0.05) between treatments in run 2, but in run 1 the grass + salt treatment was greater than the FB treatment. The mean daily total water intake expressed against fasted LWT were significantly higher (p<0.05) in grass and grass + salt treatments than the FB treatment, while in run 2, none of the treatments were found to be significantly different. The mean daily feed Na intake (g/d) was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the grass + salt treatment than in grass treatment in both runs. Despite the five to tenfold greater mean daily Na intake in the grass + salt compared to the grass treatment, there were no significant differences in mean daily urine production among the grass and grass + salt treatments in run 1 or 2. The urinary Na concentration was significantly increased (p<0.05) in the grass + salt treatment compared with the grass treatment (1316 vs 223 mg/L). The mean daily urinary Na mass output (g/d) was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the grass + salt treatment in both runs compared to the grass treatment. In both run 1 and run 2, grass + salt treatment had significantly higher (p<0.05) urine production (ml) and urinary Na output (g) in the early part of the diurnal period compared to that with the latter part. However, both grass and the FB treatments did not significantly differ in urine production (ml) and urinary Na output (g/d) during the diurnal period. It was concluded that supplemented Na does not necessarily increase the DMI or the urine volume in the grass + salt treatment despite the grass treatment being low in DM% (<16%), when the DMI was likely to be initially restricted by the NDF intake (1.14 to 1.22% NDF/LWT), and the excess of Na intake could have led to increase the urinary Na concentration once the minimum Na intake has been reached without necessarily increasing the urine production. It was concluded the lower DMI observed in the FB treatment was most likely a result of the CP content of the FB diet (8.06-8.38%) limiting the RDP of the diet.
From the results of this series of experiments it was concluded that when FB was fed ad libitum, despite being a low DM% forage (<16%), high DMI could be achieved, and therefore high urine volumes were associated with this intake. It was also concluded that low DM% in forages did not restrict DMI if the animals consumed sufficient daily Na intake to enable high urine outputs of a minimum Na concentration (c.300mg/L) required for diuresis, and if the animals remained below a physiological upper water intake limit of approximately 370-400ml/ kg LWT, which was observed with the DMI observed in very low DM% forages such as some plantain and chicory treatments in this study. This process required a daily Na output of approximately 3.5g to enable corresponding urine outputs allowing the DMI to be increased in low DM%. However, supplementary Na does not necessarily increase the DMI or the urine volume despite the forage being low in DM% (<16%) if the DMI is restricted by the NDF intake, suggesting Na supplementation on most NZ ryegrass pastures will not be effective. In such cases, the excess of Na intake leads to an increase in urinary Na concentration once the minimum Na intake has been reached without necessarily increasing the urine production or the DMI