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Factors influencing smartphone usage of rural farmers: Empirical analysis of five selected provinces in China
No full textThe increasing usage of smartphones by practitioners in various fields of expertise is attracting global attention. However, scanty evidence exists on smartphone usage among rural farmers in developing countries. Using data collected from 1286 rural farming households in five provinces in China, this study investigates the factors influencing rural farmers’ decisions to use smartphones. The findings from a Probit model reveal that education, health condition, asset ownership, income levels, peers’ smartphone usage, internet access, cooperative membership, access to credit, and off-farm work participation are the main factors driving smartphone usage of rural farmers. The age of the farmer rather affects smartphone usage negatively and significantly. Further heterogeneous analysis shows that the influences of factors on smartphone usage vary across the survey provinces
Serratia spp. bacteria evolved in Aotearoa-New Zealand for infection of endemic scarab beetles
Get PDFThe Melolonthinae branch of the beetle family Scarabaeidae has evolved in isolation in Aotearoa, radiating into >100 endemic species, since Aotearoa separated from Gondwanaland 82 million years ago. The group includes important pasture pests, such as the New Zealand grass grub Costelytra giveni and the manuka beetle Pyronota festiva. These beetles, like other organisms, host their own distinctive microflora including beneficial microbial symbionts and pathogens. A wide range of microbial pathogens infect the Scarabaeidae, but in Aotearoa the bacteria Serratia entomophila, S. proteamaculans and S. quinivorans (Enterobacteriaceae) are frequently found causing natural disease epizootics in C. giveni. S. entomophila is widespread in Aotearoa pasture soils, with only rare isolations of S. entomophila documented in other countries. In contrast S. proteamaculans and S. quinivorans are globally ubiquitous, and are widely distributed within Aotearoa, with some isolates active against either C. giveni or Pyronota spp. larvae, or both. Virulence determinants that impart differential host specificity and potency are located on variants of the amber disease associated plasmid (pADAP). The host specificity of the Serratia-scarab system and the absence of similar systems in other geographies, suggests that the relationship between Serratia spp. and endemic scarabs has evolved in Aotearoa
On the propagation mechanism of international real interest rate spillovers: Evidence from more than 200 years of data
No full textThis article analyzes the real interest rate transmission mechanism across the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom over a period of more than 200 years. Based on a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) connectedness methodology, the empirical results suggest that the size of the international real interest rate spillovers ranges between 30% and 75% across the sample period. Furthermore, it is shown that these spillovers increase during crisis periods, such as the two World Wars, the Great Depression of 1929, the 1980 and 1990 recessions, or the Great Financial Crisis of 2009. More interestingly, our findings illustrate the position of each of these eight countries as net transmitters or receivers of monetary policy shocks over time. Our analysis contributes to the debate on whether the conduct of monetary policy in a country should consider its international spillovers, suggesting the need for more coordinated monetary policies especially during periods of economic crises
Microbiomes in action: multifaceted benefits and challenges across academic disciplines
No full textMicrobiomes combine the species and activities of all microorganisms living together in a specific habitat. They comprise unique ecological niches with influences that scale from local to global ecosystems. Understanding the connectivity of microbiomes across academic disciplines is important to help mitigate global climate change, reduce food insecurity, control harmful diseases, and ensure environmental sustainability. However, most publications refer to individual microbiomes, and those integrating two or more related disciplines are rare. This review examines the multifaceted benefits of microbiomes across agriculture, food manufacturing and preservation, the natural environment, human health, and biocatalyst processes. Plant microbiomes, by improving plant nutrient cycling and increasing plant abiotic and biotic stress resilience, have increased crop yields by over 20%. Food microbiomes generate approximately USD 30 billion to the global economy through the fermented food industry alone. Environmental microbiomes help detoxify pollutants, absorb more than 90% of heavy metals, and facilitate carbon sequestration. For human microbiomes, an adult person can carry up to 38 trillion microbes which regulate well being, immune functionality, reproductive function, and disease prevention. Microbiomes are used to optimize biocatalyst processes which produce bioenergy and biochemicals; bioethanol production alone is valued at over USD 83 billion p.a. However, challenges, including knowledge gaps, engaging indigenous communities, technical limitations, regulatory considerations, the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical issues, must be overcome before the potential for microbiomes can be more effectively realized
Acute and chronic effects of plyometric exercise performed with hypoxia on post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE)
Get PDFIn the literature, no study is available either to investigate the effects of conditioning activity (CA) applied in hypoxic conditions on post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) or to examine whether hypoxic long-term training can affect PAPE. This study aims to test the effects of plyometric exercise applied under hypoxia on PAPE, which is the acute effect; and to test the same effect again after an 8-week plyometric training, which is a potential chronic effect on the acute performance improvement after an adaptation with training. Nineteen team-sports athletes received 8-week drop-jump (DJ) training in Low-Normobaric Hypoxia (Low-NH, n = 8), Normobaric-Normoxia (NN, n = 6), or High-Normobaric Hypoxia (High-NH, n = 5) conditions (SpO2 of 90%, 97–100%, and 80%, respectively) two times per week. PAPE was tested at the 2nd and 4th minutes of recovery after normoxic and hypoxic CA with 1x5 DJs at the pre-test, and tested after an 8-week training period following a normoxic and hypoxic CA with 1x8 DJs at the post-test. As a result of repeated measures ANOVA to identify the acute effects, only under normoxic conditions, DJ-height was significantly higher in the 2nd (31.7 ± 4.9 cm) and 4th minute (31.6 ± 4.3 cm) than baseline (30.1 ± 4.7 cm) (p < 0.05). Regarding the chronic-effect results, only the High-NH group significantly increased DJ-height from baseline (31.6 ± 4.5 cm) to the 2nd (33.7 ± 5.9 cm) and 4th minutes (34.5 ± 4.6 cm) (p < 0.05), without testing condition (hypoxic/normoxic) separately, at the end of the 8-week training period. It is concluded that plyometrics with acute hypoxic CA have no beneficial effect on PAPE responses, but 8 weeks of plyometric training with normobaric hypoxia may lead to an adaptation to induce improved PAP
Decoding brewing yeast signatures: a MALDI-TOF MS approach to strain identification and beer style correlation
No full textAims: Brewing yeast strain selection and management are critical in beer production, influencing flavor profiles and overall quality. This study investigates the potential of MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry) for characterizing and differentiating brewing yeast strains associated with various beer styles.
Methods and results: We analyzed 77 commercial yeast strains used to produce ale, lager, cider, mead, and low-alcohol beer, using MALDI-TOF MS in both high (m/z 2000–20 000) and low (m/z 500–4000) mass ranges. Spectra were analyzed using informatics-assisted hierarchical cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling (MDS), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to evaluate strain relationships and beer style associations. Results demonstrated that high mass range data formed an excellent basis for species-level identification, while low mass range data was more diverse and represented information that was more strain-specific.
Conclusions: Both MDS and hierarchical clustering of combined low- and high-range MALDI-TOF spectra identified relationships between certain strains that correlated with their brewing recommendations. However, the use of LDA presented the clearest correlation of strain relationships with beer styles recommended by the commercial yeast producer
National innovation systems and corporate intangible investment as a driver of sustainable development: A cross-country study
Get PDFWe investigate the impact of national innovation systems (NIS) on corporate intangible investment, which is a crucial factor in economic growth and sustainable development. Using a comprehensive international sample of 25,974 firms from 77 countries during 2011–2019, we find a positive impact of NIS on corporate intangible investment and corporate intangible value growth. Our results suggest that governments can stimulate growth in intangible assets at the firm level by fostering innovation at the national level. The impact persists in different components of NIS, including human capital and research, infrastructure, technology and creative outputs, and business and market sophistication. Further analysis suggests that the impact is more pronounced in small firms, firms with high growth, and firms depending more on intangibles. At the macro level, the effect of NIS seems to be largely stronger in developed countries, weakened under income inequality while being supported by a younger workforce and strong rule of law. Our findings have practical implications for policymakers regarding how national innovation forms corporate intangible asset growth and contributes to sustainable economic development
How does biodiversity risk exposure affect corporate regulatory intensity?
Get PDFThis paper investigates the impact of biodiversity risk on corporate regulatory intensity of firms in the United States during 2007-2020. Using text-based measures of biodiversity risk and regulatory intensity extracted from corporate disclosures and public media, we provide empirical evidence of a positive impact of biodiversity risk exposure on corporate regulatory intensity. The finding suggests that more corporate exposure to biodiversity risk increases the regulatory intensity and cost of regulatory compliance. Further empirical analysis suggests that the impact of biodiversity risk exposure on regulatory intensity is less pronounced in firms with headquarters located in states with poorer institutions, and in vertically integrated firms
Petrol prices, food prices, and inflation perceptions in New Zealand—Evidence from a threshold analysis
No full textInflation perceptions shape inflation expectations. However, little is known about the factors influencing these perceptions. In this study, we address this gap by employing threshold regressions to analyze the associations between changes in petrol and food prices—two of the most conspicuous prices—and inflation perceptions in New Zealand. Findings reveal a positive association between petrol and food price inflation on the one hand and inflation perceptions on the other, with some evidence suggesting closer associations for food price inflation. Furthermore, the relationships do not change when high inflation rates are considered instead of low inflation rates. Finally, inflation perceptions are more closely related to petrol and food price inflation over the previous year than just the most recent quarter