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Water resources have always been a major concern, particularly in arid and semiarid parts of the world. Low precipitation and its uneven distribution in Algeria, along with fast population and agriculture activity increase and, particularly, recent droughts, have made water availability one of the country's most pressing issues. The objectives of the studies reported in this article are to investigate and forecast the meteorological and hydrological drought in Wadi Ouahrane basin (270 km2) using linear stochastic models known as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and multiplicative Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA). In particular, data from 6 precipitation stations and 1 hydrometric station for the period 1972–2018 were used to evaluate the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) for 12 months. Then, the multiplicative ARIMA model was applied to forecasting drought based on SPI and SRI. As a result, the ARIMA model (1,0,1)(0,0,1)12 for SPI and (1,0,1)(1,0,1)12 for SRI were shown to be the best models for drought forecast. In fact, both models exhibited high quality for SPI and SRI of 0.97 and 0.51 for 1-month and 12-month lead time, respectively, based on validation R2. In general, prediction skill decreases with increase in lead time. The models can be used with reasonable accuracy to forecast droughts with up to 12 months of lead time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that ESG investments have demonstrated higher resiliency to the COVID-19 pandemic shock. While the performance of mutual funds is largely documented, there is limited evidence on stocks, especially in the European market. In this paper we focus on the environmental dimension of firms and we identify a green cluster among listed companies in the EU using a comprehensive database of environmental information. We let the data speak: we identify three clusters of firms (green, non-green and brown) by using clustering techniques and we evaluate their financial performances (return, risk and liquidity) over the full sample period and around the COVID-19 Crisis. We find that green firms yielded a lower return than non-green firms, especially after the Paris Agreement. However, in March 2020, green firms performed better than the other clusters. We find evidence that the COVID-19 period is not a special case, since green firms perform generally better during market contractions. We then extend standard asset pricing models by including the Green Risk Factor, the difference between the green and brown portfolios’ returns and we find that the Factor is significant for a large fraction of firms suggesting that climate risk is priced in stocks

Up to five percent of human infants are exposed to maternal antidepressant medication by serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) during pregnancy, yet the SRI effects on infants’ early neurodevelopment are not fully understood. Here, we studied how maternal SRI medication affects cortical frequency-specific and cross-frequency interactions estimated, respectively, by phase-phase correlations (PPC) and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) in electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. We examined the cortical activity in infants after fetal exposure to SRIs relative to a control group of infants without medical history of any kind. Our findings show that the sleep-related dynamics of PPC networks are selectively affected by in utero SRI exposure, however, those alterations do not correlate to later neurocognitive development as tested by neuropsychological evaluation at two years of age. In turn, phase-amplitude coupling was found to be suppressed in SRI infants across multiple distributed cortical regions and these effects were linked to their neurocognitive outcomes. Our results are compatible with the overall notion that in utero drug exposures may cause subtle, yet measurable changes in the brain structure and function. Our present findings are based on the measures of local and inter-areal neuronal interactions in the cortex which can be readily used across species, as well as between different scales of inspection: from the whole animals to in vitro preparations. Therefore, this work opens a framework to explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental SRI effects at all translational levels.

The coexistence of separate authority files within the main databases managed by the ICCU for entities of the same kind is going to be superseded in the new SRI portal through the integration, at the level of cooperative application, of the authority files for EDIT16 and Manus OnLine with those of SBN. The clustering of authority files, made possible through batch procedures and services provided by the applicative protocol SBNMARC, is intended to the development of browsable links between different representations of the same entity. The presence of identifiers and link keys between informative objects is therefore crucial to match data from the specialised databases EDIT16 and Manus OnLine, stored in the digital aggregator Internet Culturale, and shared through the collective catalogue SBN, with diverse quality and model but referred to the same resources and entities. The cluster of entities will be built upon the SBN Index, according to the quantity of data already available in its authority file and to exploit existing services and infrastructures which make shared cataloguing possible. SBN will also provide the spine of the integrated representation of entities through the public access platform of the new portal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing rice (Oryza sativa L.) crops by direct-seeding requires less water and less labor than transplanting. However, farmers need to know the net effects of suites of practices. So, evaluations of direct-seeding should also consider its interactions with other factors, including a practice, such as seed-priming. This paper reports on an experiment conducted in 2014 and 2015 at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Three interacting factors were assessed: crop establishment by direct dry-seeding vs. transplanting of seedlings; crop management with either the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) or conventional methods, which include continuous flooding rather than alternate wetting and drying; and seed-priming, comparing no priming with both hydropriming with water and osmopriming with CaCl2. Leaf area index, leaf area duration, crop growth rate, and net assimilation rate were significantly affected by all three factors evaluated. Best performance resulted from transplanted seedlings grown from osmoprimed seeds and raised with SRI management. Overall, direct-seeding did not perform as well as transplanting, the major finding. Lower yield with direct-seeded rice (DSR) was attributable to plants having fewer productive tillers and grains after early rapid growth. Osmopriming with CaCl2 produced highest grain yield in the trials, 3.96 t ha−1 vs. 3.39 t ha−1 with no priming; highest straw yield of 13.8 t ha−1 vs. 13.3 t ha−1 with no priming; and Harvest Index of 28.7% vs. 25.6% with no priming. Hydropriming produced intermediate values. Osmopriming significantly improved phenological and grain-quality attributes. Transplanting osmoprimed seedlings under SRI management gave the highest economic benefit ($642 ha−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investors with a pro-social or sustainability agenda increasingly attempt to influence firm managers to adopt socially responsible behavior, either through positive/reward tactics or negative/punishment tactics. This paper considers how investors can use each approach to differentially influence managers to make more CSR investments. The paper uses game theory with an all-pay contest structure to model how a large institutional investor could reward firms for CSR activities by creating a socially responsible investment fund (reward contest) or punish firms via shareholder activism (punishment contest). We identify conditions under which the punishment contest induces a higher level of CSR activity among firms compared to the reward contest. Managers bearing substantial private costs stemming from the activism is one such condition. Spillover effects are seen as the other managers in the economy engage in CSR to avoid being punished by the investor's activism. This level of engagement is not the case when rewards are used—only those managers with an expectation of being rewarded increase their CSR activity in that scenario. This suggests, for example, that incorporating thresholds or tiers (e.g. gold, silver, and bronze-level winners) can increase the effectiveness of reward contests. Implications for designing both positive and negative CSR inducements are explored. We also identify the ethical dilemmas that relate to such influence attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the relatively scarce scholarly literature regarding the democratisation of the intelligence sector in post-communist Europe, with a focus on the experience and lessons that can be learned from the case of Romania. Essentially, the article addresses the impact of external pressure (derived from international cooperation, both at the national and agency level) on the reforms undertaken by Romania after 1989 and in preparation for its accession to NATO and the EU. I build upon literature in intelligence studies and civil-military relations and I analyse the two waves of legislative and institutional changes reflected in official documents, legislation, and public interviews by prominent members of the intelligence community. I also highlight the importance as well as the limits of international cooperation of Romanian agencies with their Western counterparts (NATO/EU institutions as well as agencies in member states) as a factor of democratization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nonstationary standardized runoff index (NSRI) is proposed by using the GAMLSS framework to assess the hydrological drought under nonstationary conditions. The definition of the NSRI is similar to that of SRI, but using a nonstationary Gamma distribution by incorporating meteorological variables and antecedent runoff as covariates to describe the characteristics of runoff series. The new drought index is then applied to the upper reach of the Heihe River basin. Four models are developed, in which one is stationary, and the other three are nonstationary with one, two and three covariates, respectively. Results show that, for the nonstationary runoff series, the nonstationary models are more robust and reliable than the stationary one. Among these models, the model with two covariates performs the best. For the model with one covariate, the precipitation shows better in the fitting as a covariate in rainy seasons, and the antecedent runoff shows better in dry seasons. The NSRI identifies more drought events than SRI does, and the drought conditions in our case are mainly affected by precipitation. It is proved that the proposed new drought index is a more effective method for drought assessments under nonstationary conditions. HIGHLIGHTS A nonstationary standardized runoff index is developed.; Six alternative covariates and three kinds of nonstationary models are compared.; The nonstationary model with two covariates performs the best.; Hydrological drought conditions in this case is mainly affected by precipitation.;

The digitization of the administration and the governance process implies a number of advantages that we cannot ignore, but these advantages are supported by a series of disadvantages and unforeseen situations, but by far the biggest threat is Cyberterrorism. Romania aims both to encourage the indigenous information environment and the services specific to the information society, but also to ensure the fulfilment of the objectives assumed in the area of national security and to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. Currently anyone can be the target of a cyber-attack, and the most important state institutions are usually the first ones targeted. The weak point remains the human factor, the user of the computer system. That is why in any strategy of “Cybersecurity” its awareness and training from the point of view of computer security plays a vital role. The fact that so far, no attacks have been reported with major impact on public institutions, strategic companies with state and / or private capital or critical infrastructure elements, denotes that the strategy adopted by Romania is a viable one, but must be constantly updated in depending on the dynamics of the threats.

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) operates under aerobic conditions so that helpful microbes are active and abundant. Effective N-fixing rhizobacteria and indigenous phosphate solubilizers Azotobacter and Pseudomonas grow well in the organic compost Bioorganic because it resembles their natural habitat. The purpose of this research is to find out the right dose of Bioorganic fertilizer and the most N and P doses needed to optimize the SRI method of rice crop production. This research uses a factorial randomized block design. The first factor is Bioorganic fertilizer dosage (1, 3, and 6) t ha-1. The second factor is the dose of N and P fertilizers to use (0, 25, 50, and 75)% of the recommended dosage. The results of this study inform you about Bioorganic fertilizers containing Azotobacter and Pseudomonas fluorescens indigenous. Azotobacter bacteria produce the availability of nutrients N, which functions as Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), these bacteria quickly colonize the root system, regulate hormonal balance, nutrition, and encourage resistance to pathogens. Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria acts as a provider of phosphorus and nutrients in the generative phase. Both of these microbes have a role in SRI method of rice plant metabolism to increase vegetative and generative growth of rice plants with SRI method with production reaching production of 8.80 t ha-1 in B2 (3 t ha-1) and N2P2 (50%) with the production of 9.21 t ha-1, so the use of inorganic fertilizers is more efficient. Rice soil nutrient status increased pH from slightly acidic to neutral, C-organic increased from 1.27% (low) to 9.30-10.68% (high), N total from 0.13% (low) to 0.45-0.58% (high), P- available from 13.0 ppm reaching 18.0-20.0 ppm (moderate), the Bioorganic application has not been able to increase the C: N, CEC value and base saturation. Nutrient uptake of N and P on the leaves of rice plants is better at dose B2. Bioorganic applications increase the nutrient content of paddy soils planted with the SRI method compared to initial soil nutrient analysis.

Soil salinity undergoes significant spatial and temporal variations; therefore, salinity mapping is difficult, expensive, and time consuming. However, researchers have mainly focused on arid soils (bare) and less attention has been paid to halophyte plants and their role as salinity indicators. Accordingly, this paper aimed to investigate the relationship between soil properties, such as electrical conductivity of the saturation extract (ECe) and the spectral reflectance of vegetation species and bare soil, to offer a method for providing salinity map using remote sensing. Various vegetation species and bare soil reflectance were measured. Spectral Response Index (SRI) for bare soil and soil with vegetation was measured via the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and salinity indexes. The electrical conductivity of the saturated extract, texture, and organic matter of soil samples were determined. The correlation coefficient of soil salinity with SRI, SAVI, and salinity indexes were obtained, and a model was presented for soil salinity prediction. EC map was estimated using the proposed model. The correlation between SRI and EC was higher than other models (0.97). The results showed that the salinity map obtained from the model had the highest compliance (0.96) with field findings. In general, in this area and similar areas, the SRI index is an acceptable indicator of salinity and soil salinity mapping.

In order to encourage the stability of rice production, the government set a policy to implement integrated factory management (GP-PTT) and other rice intensification action included application which System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The purpose of this study is to determine farmers' perceptions of the application of SRI cultivation methods, and to determine the relationship between farmer characteristics and perceptions of the application of the SRI method. The study was conducted from October to December 2018. The study located at Gampong Cot Kareung, Indrapuri sub-district, Aceh Besar district, Aceh Province. There were 30 members of Tani Bijeh Mata Women's Group were targeted as research respondents. The basic analytics is descriptive method and the data analyzed by spearman rank correlation. The results of this study as a whole the average perceptions of farmers members of KWT Bijeh Mata conducted have a value of 3.3 by using the Likert measurement scale indicating that the level of perception is still categorized as good. There is a relationship between age characteristics and farmers' perceptions and there is a strong relationship to the characteristics of ownership status with perception. As for income characteristics, land area, education, experience and intensity of participating in agricultural training did not have a relationship with farmers' perceptions of the SRI cultivation method.

The SRI (system of rice intensification) rice cultivation system can save water use and increase production. Besides, a controlled environment for monitoring such matters is important to be recorded to be able to investigate deeply the phenomena that occur. Therefore, a preliminary test to analyze the performance of the irrigation tank monitoring system and its environment was developed to monitor the effectiveness of rice cultivation watering at the research stage. A 400 mm × 700 mm bed planting fruit will be planted with water from two tanks with a 0.03 m3 capacity. A bed planting and tank were designed for two conditions, namely automatic and manual bed planting and tank. The control box of the monitoring system is placed in the water tank by monitoring water level, ambient temperature and humidity, water temperature, and illuminance from light. The performance test results of the monitoring system show that the device can function within normal limits. Sensors integrated with the ESP8266 NodeMCU development kit can be to record environmental conditions. The measurement data is then sent to the cloud via the internet and stored as a database. This database can be easily downloaded for further analysis if needed.

Energy-efficient retrofitting of building envelopes is necessary to reduce global carbon emissions and to reach net-zero goals. Cooling energy demand-dominated countries in the GCC region require simple and effective strategies to reduce building sector energy loads. One such approach is using high solar reflective index (SRI) paints to retrofit building roofs and walls. However, the hot and desert conditions of the region pose a barrier to maintaining consistent radiative properties throughout their life cycle. To this extent, research is limited in the region. The novelty of this work is to qualitatively assess the aging characteristics of high SRI or cool paints and estimate the energy savings for their application in residential buildings. The work encompasses comprehensive lab, pilot, and real-scale experimental studies combined with theoretical modeling for dynamic evaluation. Dynamic simulations enabled to determine the time-dependent aging effect on the energy savings performance of the building retrofitted with cool roof and wall paints. A case study on a townhouse in UAE showed annual energy savings of 34% considering cool roofs, walls, and window films. Aging studies showed SRI reduction of 36% and 25%, respectively, for cool roofs and walls during the first 3 years. The corresponding energy-saving reductions ranged from 31 to 44% for the white roof to dark wall colors. Using the initial values of SRI in energy models overestimates saving by 10% per year. Considering the aging effects, this work provides insights into cool paint retrofit potential on energy, economic savings, and CO2 reductions for four major cities in the GCC region.

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the relatively scarce scholarly literature regarding the democratisation of the intelligence sector in post-communist Europe, with a focus on the experience and lessons that can be learned from the case of Romania. Essentially, the article addresses the impact of external pressure (derived from international cooperation, both at the national and agency level) on the reforms undertaken by Romania after 1989 and in preparation for its accession to NATO and the EU. I build upon literature in intelligence studies and civil-military relations and I analyse the two waves of legislative and institutional changes reflected in official documents, legislation, and public interviews by prominent members of the intelligence community. I also highlight the importance as well as the limits of international cooperation of Romanian agencies with their Western counterparts (NATO/EU institutions as well as agencies in member states) as a factor of democratization.

Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) funds – the largest component of the fast‐expanding sustainable financial investment industry – apply environmental, social and governance (ESG) analyses to manage their investment portfolios and are particularly demanding in terms of issuers' disclosure. In this paper we take a step forward and ask whether adopting high‐quality sustainability disclosure is important also for SRI funds' holding companies. Specifically, we introduce a novel metrics on the extent of holding companies' sustainability disclosure based on the quality of their Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting. In parallel, we use a standard approach to measure a fund's ESG intensity, that is, the weighted ESG average of a fund's investments. Indeed, we find that an SRI fund's ESG intensity systematically improves when the associated holding company improves its GRI sustainability disclosure. Moreover, we show that this positive effect of holdings' disclosure on a fund's ESG intensity is larger in jurisdictions with less stringent regulation on disclosure, where the signaling value of GRI disclosure is supposedly heightened. Our results do not seem to be driven by endogeneity between a fund's ESG intensity and its holding company's GRI reporting. First, a fund's ESG investment policy and its holding company's sustainability disclosure policy lie on separate decision ladders. Second, we show that the two variables are empirically uncorrelated. Third, our results prove resilient to a battery of robustness checks. The implication of our finding is that holding companies' sustainability disclosure engagement can reap a benefit for their managed SRI funds – provided ESG ratings are reliable –, whose enhanced credibility might prove a key competitive factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide pension funds, in their capacity as large institutional investors, are under increasing pressure to take social and environmental considerations into account in their investment decision-making process. The concepts Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) are indeed ubiquitous in the current investment and pension community. This article aims to provide some insight into the conceptual relationship between SRI and ESG and its legal implications for the investment behaviour of private pension funds in the USA and the EU. Hence, the first part of the article gives some background to the distinct concepts of SRI and ESG. This leads to the finding that SRI goes one step further than ESG by prioritising moral or ethical considerations that may not be material to an investment's financial performance, whereas ESG functions as a guideline to enhance financial performance. The second part analyses the legal possibilities and constraints for responsible investment in American occupational pensions and the third part does the same for European occupational pensions. The article concludes with a summary and comparative overview of the American and European lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing nitrogen use efficiency in rice intensification (SRI) is pivotal to achieving high crop yield and reducing nitrogen losses. To find the critical value of the leaf color chart (LCC) for real-time nitrogen (N) application in rice varieties under SRI, a field experiment was laid at the Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, SKAUST-Kashmir in Kharif between 2019 and 2020. The experiment comprised two cultivars (SR-3 and SR-4) and eight LCC-based nitrogen managements (control, recommended dose of nitrogen (RDF), and three LCC scores (≤3, ≤4, ≤5 each with 20 and 30 kg N ha−1). SR-4 produced significantly higher values for growth and yield parameters, producing higher grain yield (7.02 and 6.86 t ha−1) compared to SR-3 (6.49 and 6.36 t ha−1) between 2019 and 2020, respectively. An LCC value of 5 with 30 kg N ha−1 produced maximum grain yield (7.84 and 7.70 t ha−1) in 2019 and 2020, respectively, which were statistically at par with the LCC value of 5 with 20 kg Nha−1. Pooled data revealed that the highest B: C ratio of 1.55 was recorded in cultivar SR-4 with an LCC value of 5 with 30 kg N ha−1. Furthermore, agronomic and recovery efficiency of nitrogen remained maximum in LCC 5 with 20 kg N ha−1 for both years. Grain yield recorded in LCC 3 20 kg N ha−1 was similar to recommended nitrogen. The present study highlighted the need-based N application through LCC and proved effective in increasing the N-use efficiency and yield in rice.

Drought is a multifaceted natural disaster that can impact the ecological environment, crop yield, and social economy through the hydrological cycle process. Meteorological drought occurs first, which then propagates to other forms. This study presents the propagation characteristics of meteorological to hydrological drought in different river basins of China. The main drivers of drought propagation are also quantitatively analyzed in this study. The standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized runoff index (SRI) were used to describe meteorological and hydrological drought, respectively. The Songhua and Liaohe River Basin (SLRB), Haihe River Basin (HARB), Huaihe River Basin (HURB), Yellow River Basin (YRB), Yangtze River Basin (YARB), Pearl River Basin (PRB), Southeast Basin (SEB), Southwest Basin (SWB), and Continental Basin (CB) were analyzed in this study. The precipitation and runoff datasets were used to compute the SPI and SRI, respectively. The results showed that the drought propagation time was mainly 1–3 months in China. In general, drought propagation had a stronger relationship in the central and eastern river basins of China than in the western river basins (SWB and CB). Spring and winter had a weaker drought propagation relationship than autumn and winter. Drought propagation was driven by precipitation in the HURB, YARB, SEB, and PRB; soil moisture and precipitation were drivers in the HARB and YRB; moreover, soil moisture and potential evapotranspiration were drivers in the SLRB and CB. This study improves the understanding of the characteristics and drivers of drought propagation in droughts in river basins. Therefore, this study might provide a reference to reveal the mechanism of drought.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis is projected to plunge over half a billion people (580 million) globally into extreme poverty. This exploratory paper proposes an innovative Social Synergy sukuk (Double-S sukuk) for alleviating the alarming upsurge in extreme poverty triggered by the pandemic in the face of limited resources. The Double-S sukuk is designed with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs); such as Islamic Development Bank subscribing to the sukuk at a discounted profit rate, issued by a country facing the pains of the pandemic. The profit will be paid by a charitable Non-Governmental Organization; such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as an incentive to the crises country contingent upon judicious utilization of the funds for the pre-agreed social targets achieved within timely milestones that trickle down to uplift the citizens from the pandemic pains of extreme poverty. The country will only pay the principal component. Furthermore, a suitable MDB; such as Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will issue a charitable guarantee to enhance the sukuk rating and cut issuance costs. This enhancement makes the sukuk an attractive BASEL III High-quality-liquid- asset (HQLA). Instead of begging the public for charity, the Double-S sukuk will be open to the public to invest alongside MDBs for a discounted profit rate to crowd-in the social/ethical conscious private sector to raise cheaper and larger funds for an apt synergistic crisis alleviation. The methodology used in this study is qualitative based on content analysis of relevant academic journals, industry reports and policy documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classification of huge complex datasets to extract the information needed for making informed decisions has gained a lot of importance in today's scenario due to the outspurt of data. With an increase in dataset size, the means of obtaining the desired information via data clustering techniques also became complex. This paper illustrates a framework for selecting the best combination of the Kernel function and the Lattice structure for better classification based on the size of the data. The performance of the SOM majorly depends on the choice of Kernel Function, Lattice Structures, and the size of the datasets. The types of kernel functions deployed in this study are Gaussian, Exponential, and Laplacian Kernel along with the lattice Structures such as hexagonal, Rectangular, and Square which result in nine combinations respectively. These nine combinations of the Kernel Function and the Lattice Structure have been tested on datasets ranging from small to large size using the performance metrics. A frequency table has been arrived at based on the classification of the dataset size, combinations of Kernel functions, and Lattice Structures. The results of this study infer that the combination of Gaussian Kernel -Square Lattice performs better for small-size datasets wherein the Exponential and Laplacian Kernel functions along with Hexagonal Lattice perform better for mid-size datasets, while the Laplacian Kernel – Square Lattice perform better for large size datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If ESG characteristics of companies attract loyal and resilient investors and customers, does ESG affect the stock-market connectedness during market upturns and downturns? The micro-level analysis uses the cross-quantilogram to measure quantile dependence between stocks in the S&P 1200 and the market with distinguishing factors of ESG scores. We employed the scores of seven major ESG data providers and their structural combination to capture the shared information. We found a systematic effect both on the level of multidimensional and unidimensional ESG scores. Moreover, we showed Governance scores create a counter-effect on the Environmental and Social pillars. In general, the high- and middle-ESG stocks tend to have lower dependence on the market during market downturns, with E and S scores pushing the dependence down and the G dimension pushing it up. Results suggest a lower distinguishing power of Environment and Social pillars and persistent Governance pillar power during moderate and upturn market times. [Display omitted] • We focus on tail behavior of S&P 1200 stocks using a cross-quantilogram approach. • We employ ESG ratings of 7 major data providers and their structural combinations. • In times of market downturns, ESG ratings differ better in the degree of connectedness. • The G-scores have the opposite effect as the E- and S-scores, increasing dependence. • The middle-ESG stocks' diversification properties are unjustifiably neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is the second largest consumer of fertilizers in the world. In wetland paddy cultivation, only 30-40% of nitrogen applied is fruitfully utilized as about two-third is lost through gaseous losses, runoff, and leaching or is immobilized in the soil. Deep placement of urea briquette (UB) by hand after conventional line transplanting at the rate of one UB near the centre of each four rice hills and at soil depth of 7-10 cm reduces nitrogen losses and increases fertilizer use efficiency, but is a time consuming and labour intensive process. A two-row prototype urea briquette applicator was designed, developed and evaluated under simulated condition of system of rice intensification technique (25 cm × 25 cm) in the field of ICAR-IARI in 2013-14. Row-to-row spacing was 50 cm as the distance between two furrow openers. The mechanical urea briquette applicator recorded average distance of placement of 51.44 cm in the row, depth of placement of 7.66 cm, draft of 92.41 N, field capacity of 0.05 ha/h, field efficiency of 69% and field machine index of 69.6% during the operation in the field at forward speed of 0.87 km/h.

In this paper, we explore the relationship between a firm's environmental policies and their risk-adjusted stock returns, using a sample of stock exchange-listed Australian firms over the period of 2010--2018. We observed a positive and statistically significant relationship suggesting that a firm's environmental policies partially explain their stock performance. Moreover, we found that investors in the Australian market significantly value a companies' efforts to reduce emissions, and that this primarily drives the investors' observed reaction to a firm's social corporate policies. Next, we formed portfolios and observed that portfolios formed on high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Environmental Pillar scores consistently outperformed those formed on low-ESG Environmental Pillar scores. Overall, our results lend support to the notion that investors in the Australian market value information about a firm's social policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thus, serotonin toxicity (ST) is the correct term. Analogously, we do not talk about lithium syndrome - we recognise side-effects from lithium, and lithium toxicity, but make a distinction between these dose-related phenomena. MAOI, serotonin syndrome, SRI, serotonin toxicity, SSRI Keywords: MAOI; serotonin syndrome; serotonin toxicity; SRI; SSRI EN MAOI serotonin syndrome serotonin toxicity SRI SSRI 548 549 2 10/26/23 20231101 NES 231101 Dear Editor, We would like to suggest that there are several significant problems with the rationale in this review. [Extracted from the article]

A study that was aimed to examine the effect of rice straw + tithonia pruning compost and rice husk biochar application on N, P and K uptake and rice production of SRI (System of Rice Intensification) method, was carried out from November 2019 - February 2020 in Kuranji District, Padang City, West Sumatra. This study used a randomized block design consisting of 6 treatments and 3 replications. The treatments were A = control, B = 100% K (compost), C = 75% K + 25% B (biochar), D = 50% K + 50% B, E = 25% K + 75% B, and F = 100% B. The results showed that there was an increase of N, P and K uptake by rice with the application of 25% compost + 75% biochar. The treatment increased plant height, total tiller number and grain weight by 30 cm, 25.34 stems and 5.47 t ha-1, respectively higher than that in control.

Water resources have always been a major concern, particularly in arid and semiarid parts of the world. Low precipitation and its uneven distribution in Algeria, along with fast population and agriculture activity increase and, particularly, recent droughts, have made water availability one of the country’s most pressing issues. The objectives of the studies reported in this article are to investigate and forecast the meteorological and hydrological drought in Wadi Ouahrane basin (270 km2) using linear stochastic models known as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and multiplicative Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA). In particular, data from 6 precipitation stations and 1 hydrometric station for the period 1972–2018 were used to evaluate the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) for 12 months. Then, the multiplicative ARIMA model was applied to forecasting drought based on SPI and SRI. As a result, the ARIMA model (1,0,1)(0,0,1)12 for SPI and (1,0,1)(1,0,1)12 for SRI were shown to be the best models for drought forecast. In fact, both models exhibited high quality for SPI and SRI of 0.97 and 0.51 for 1-month and 12-month lead time, respectively, based on validation R2. In general, prediction skill decreases with increase in lead time. The models can be used with reasonable accuracy to forecast droughts with up to 12 months of lead time.

Starting with 2016, the Constitutional Court of Romania issued a series of decisions whereby it repeatedly established that the interference of intelligence services in a criminal prosecution is not allowed, so that the evidence obtained with the help of these structures cannot be used in criminal proceedings, being affected by absolute nullity. This article summarizes the most relevant decisions of the constitutional court in this matter, as well as the recent practice of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which we hope will signal other courts to ensure unitary jurisprudence at the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of evidence indicates that SRI can enhance rice grain yield with substantially less water input than in conventional indsutrialized rice farms. While SRI conserves a large amount of water, it tends to endorse rice monocultures and emphasize complete eradication of weeds – practices that drastically truncate farm biodiversity. Except for a subset of "organic SRI," most SRI practitioners apply agrochemicals. SRI proponents recommend the use of cono weeder, for weeding and soil aeration. However, poor farmers find the machine to be too costly and tend to apply herbicides for weed control, to the detriment of the environment and human health. In areas where surface water is unavailable, SRI induces use of pumps, which deplete groundwater stock and emit greenhouse gases, albeit substantially less in quantity than in conventional farming. Farmers' adoption of SRI is motivated by spectacular grain yield, while environmental benefits remain a secondary consideration. This paper examines the SRI components that are discordant with the principles of agroecology and recommends redesigning of SRI methodology to conform to agroecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinity undergoes significant spatial and temporal variations; therefore, salinity mapping is difficult, expensive, and time consuming. However, researchers have mainly focused on arid soils (bare) and less attention has been paid to halophyte plants and their role as salinity indicators. Accordingly, this paper aimed to investigate the relationship between soil properties, such as electrical conductivity of the saturation extract (ECe) and the spectral reflectance of vegetation species and bare soil, to offer a method for providing salinity map using remote sensing. Various vegetation species and bare soil reflectance were measured. Spectral Response Index (SRI) for bare soil and soil with vegetation was measured via the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and salinity indexes. The electrical conductivity of the saturated extract, texture, and organic matter of soil samples were determined. The correlation coefficient of soil salinity with SRI, SAVI, and salinity indexes were obtained, and a model was presented for soil salinity prediction. EC map was estimated using the proposed model. The correlation between SRI and EC was higher than other models (0.97). The results showed that the salinity map obtained from the model had the highest compliance (0.96) with field findings. In general, in this area and similar areas, the SRI index is an acceptable indicator of salinity and soil salinity mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted during rainy season of 2014 and 2015 at Varanasi to standardize water saving and economical nitrogen management options for hybrid rice (cv. PHB 71) under system of rice intensification (SRI). The experiment was laid-out in split-plot design with 3 irrigation schedules (irrigation at 2-day after disappearance of ponded water (DADPW), 5 DADPW and 8 DADPW) in main plots and 5 nitrogen management options (100% recommended dose of nitrogen i.e. RDN 150 kg N ha- 1), 100% RDN + S. aculeata as co-culture, 75% RDN + S. aculeata as co-culture, 100% RDN + BGA and 75% RDN + BGA in sub-plots with 3 replications. The irrigation application with 5±2 cm at 2 DADPW resulted in higher plant height (126 cm), leaf-area index (LAI) (5.1), dry matter accumulation (DMA) (71.8 g hill-1), effective tillers m-2 (257), grains panicle-1 (187), 1000-grain weight (24.7 g), grain yield (6.67 t ha- 1) of rice over 8 DADPW but remained statistically at par with 5 DADPW. Among nitrogen management options, application of 100% RDN + BGA (12 kg powder ha-1) resulted in increase in plant height (129 cm), LAI (5.22), DMA (71.4 g hill-1), effective tillers m-2 (262), grains panicle-1 (190), 1000-grain weight, (24.8g), grain yield (6.78 t ha-1), straw yield (8.69 t ha-1), B-C ratio (2.08). The highest water productivity (5.07 kg lit-1 ha-1) and B-C ratio (1.99) of rice was recorded when irrigated at 8 DADPW and 5 DADPW, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India during two consecutive rainy (kharif) and winter (rabi) seasons of 2015-16 and 2016-17 in split plot design to study the effect of integrated nitrogen management (INM) [100% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN: 120 kg N/ ha), 75% RDN + 25% N through Azolla microphylla, 75% RDN + 25% RDN through NADEP compost, 75% RDN + 25% RDN through sewage sludge and 75% RDN + 25% RDN through vermicompost] in aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties (HUR-4-3, HUR-105, NDR-6093 and Rajendra Kasturi) under system of rice intensification and its residual effect on productivity of succeeding wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The results of the study revealed that the variety HUR-4-3 and the INM with 75% RDN + 25% N through Azolla microphylla were found superior in terms of enhanced growth, yield attributes, yield, nutrient uptake, milling quality and length-breadth ratio (L/B) before cooking as compared to rest of the varieties and integrated nitrogen management, respectively. It was found that soil microbial population get improved when 75% RDN was coupled with 25% N through Azolla microphylla. Further, higher gross income, net return and output-input ratio were attributed to the variety Rajendra Kasturi (177.47×103 `,₹130.35×103 `/ha and 3.79, respectively) and the application of 75% RDN + 25% N through Azolla microphylla (162.21×103 `,₹117.14×103 `/ha and 3.6, respectively). Moreover, varieties did not show marked effect on yield of the succeeding wheat while significant yield enhancement was evident as a result of nitrogen management in preceding rice with 75% RDN + 25% N through Azolla microphylla.