Investigation on the capacity of the factors of the Clinical Dimensional Personality Inventory 2 for identifying people with substance dependence

The study aimed to verify the discriminant capacity of the factors of the Clinical Dimensional Personality Inventory 2 (IDCP-2) in the identification of people with substance dependence, as well as to compare this capacity with another instrument that evaluates pathological traits, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). The sample was composed of 253 adults distributed in three groups: community sample, represented by 110 individuals with ages between 20 and 66 years (M = 32.3; SD = 10,1), 71.8% women; subclinical, 119 individual aged from 18 to 63 (M = 30.4; SD = 8.34), 61.3% women; clinical, 24 individual with ages between 19 and 59 (M = 36,4; SD = 11.2), 83.3% men. Two scales for substance dependence identification were administered (AUDIT and ASSIST), IDCP-2, and PID-5. Findings indicated that IDCP-2 is capable of discriminating between groups, mainly the extreme ones (i.e., clinical sample versus community sample). Moreover, similar discriminant capacity between IDCP-2 and PID-5 was observed. These findings are preliminary evidence that the IDCP-2 factors can identify people with substance dependence, with Hopelessness being the leading factor in the assessment of substance dependents.

Are the Financial Markets Sensitive to Hydrological Risk? Evidence from the Bovespa

This research analyzes the BOVESPA stock market response to the worst drought occurred in the last 100 years in Brazil. For this purpose, we conducted a standard event study analysis in order to assess the financial response to such hydrological risk on a sample of seven Brazilian agri-food firms. We found statistically significant negative cumulative average abnormal returns (CAARs) around the drought official announcement for different event windows used. Particularly, the highest impact was obtained for the narrowest temporary window, five days around the event disclosure. Moreover, we also found the drought announcement affects even more negatively those companies that sell perishable products, five out of seven in our sample, versus those selling nonperishable ones by running a two-sample t-test on CAARs. This study brings awareness to the climate change impact into the emerging financial markets and the risk faced by shareholders when investing in the agri-food sector, not only in Brazil but also in other Latin American countries, due to the increasing probability to suffer from droughts.

Analysis of Microbial Diversity in Soil under Ginger Cultivation

Ginger is a perennial monocotyledonous herb, which can be used as both a vegetable and a medicinal plant. However, it is susceptible to various plant pathogens. Microbial diversity in soil is related closely to the health and productivity of plant crops including ginger. In the current study, we compared microbial diversity from soil samples under ginger cultivation (disease incidence of >50% [relatively unhealthy sample] versus disease incidence of <10% [relatively healthy sample]). The bacterial and fungal taxa were analyzed by Illumina-based sequencing, with 16S and ITS identification, respectively. Both bacterial and fungal OTUs were significantly more in the healthy soil sample than the unhealthy sample. Moreover, the dominant bacterial and fungal genera were detected to be different in each sample. Rhodanobacter and Kaistobacter were the dominant bacterial genera in the healthy sample, while Rhodoplanes and Bradyrhizobium were the dominant genera in the unhealthy sample. For fungal analysis, Cladosporium, Cryptococcus, and Tetracladium were the dominant genera in the healthy sample, while Lecanicillium, Pochonia, and Rhodotorula were the dominant genera in the unhealthy sample. Collectively, the basic information of microbial diversity in ginger soil is helpful for elucidating the ginger-microbe interactions and potentially selecting suitable plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and biocontrol agents for ginger production.

Response to Johnson: A random sample versus the radical event

Timothy Johnson’s working hypothesis in his review of my latest book, The Medium of Contingency, is that I (as well as the ‘quants’ involved in the derivative pricing industry) do not understand the foundations of abstract probability theory. In this response, I show that this is not the case. On the contrary, rules and protocols which are common in the derivative pricing industry, the result of which can be an extension of abstract probability theory as it now stands, seem to elude Johnson. To address these failings, I provide theoretical reflections on probability theory and its formalisms.