Financial literacy is a crucial determinant of making sound and prudent financial decisions. However, a global study revealed that the majority of the world’s population is financially illiterate. From these precepts, this study was conducted to evaluate the level of financial literacy among 40 MSME business owners in the Municipality of San Jose, Negros Oriental, Philippines. The results will be used to decide if a university extension program could be started. This research made use of a descriptive methodology and collected data using five-point Likert scale survey method. The results of the study showed that MSME business owners have high levels of debt management, utilization of savings account, and reduce spending knowledge. On the other hand, MSME business owners need to improve in the overall personal financial management, long-term planning, emergency and risk. The researcher recommends the development of a comprehensive financial training program, sharing of best practices, and the provision of avenues for financial consultations. Improving financial literacy can help microbusiness owners better manage their finances, reduce financial stress, and increase the chances of their business's success
BackgroundHighly migratory species are usually expected to have minimal population substructure because strong gene flow has the effect of homogenizing genetic variation over geographical populations, counteracting random drift, selection and mutation. The migratory locust Locusta migratoria belongs to a monotypic genus, and is an infamous pest insect with exceptional migratory ability – with dispersal documented over a thousand kilometers. Its distributional area is greater than that of any other locust or grasshopper, occurring in practically all the temperate and tropical regions of the eastern hemisphere. Consequently, minimal population substructuring is expected. However, in marked contrast to its high dispersal ability, three geographical subspecies have been distinguished in China, with more than nine being biologically and morphologically identified in the world. Such subspecies status has been under considerable debate.ResultsBy multilocus microsatellite genotyping analysis, we provide ample genetic evidence for strong population substructure in this highly migratory insect that conforms to geography. More importantly, our genetic data identified an unexpected cryptic subdivision and demonstrated a strong affiliation of the East China locusts to those in Northwest/Northern China. The migratory locusts in China formed three distinct groups, viz. (1) the Tibetan group, comprising locusts from Tibet and nearby West China high mountain regions; this is congruent with the previously recognized Tibetan subspecies, L. m. tibetensis; (2) the South China group, containing locusts from the Hainan islands; this corresponds to the Southeast Asia oriental tropical subspecies L. m. manilensis; (3) the North China group, including locusts from the Northwest and Northern China (the Asiatic subspecies L. m. migratoria), Central China and Eastern China regions. Therefore, the traditional concept on Locusta subspecies status established from Uvarov in 1930s needs to be revised. The three groups of locusts probably have separate evolutionary histories that were most likely linked to Quaternary glaciations events, and derived from different ancestral refugial populations following postglacial expansions.ConclusionThe migratory locust populations in China have differentiated into three genetically distinct groups despite high dispersal capability. While this clarified long-standing suspicions on the subspecific diversification of this species in China, it also revealed that the locusts in the vast area of East China are not the oriental subspecies but the Asiatic subspecies, an unexpected substructuring pattern. The distribution pattern of the three locust groups in China may be primarily defined by adaptive differentiation coupled to Quaternary glaciations events. Our results are of general significance both for locust research and for phylogeographical study of flora and fauna in China, illustrating the potential importance of phylogeographical history in shaping the divergence and distribution patterns of widespread species with strong dispersal ability.
Abstract. The earliest known drawing of sunspots appears in The Chronicle of John of Worcester, which was compiled in the first half of the twelfth century. In this medieval chronicle, the Latin text describing the sunspots is accompanied by a colourful drawing, albeit idealised, which shows the apparent positions and sizes of two sunspots on the solar disk. The date of this observation of sunspots from Worcester, England is firmly established as AD 1128 December 8. Assuming that the drawing was prepared fairly carefully, the angular diameters of the two sunspots are at least about 3 arcmin and 2 arcmin in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. Similarly, the heliographic latitudes of both sunspots are within the approximate range of 25°–35°. About five days after this observation of sunspots on the solar disk, on the night of AD 1128 December 13, a red auroral display was observed from Songdo, Korea (the modern city of Kaesong). This auroral observation was recorded in the Koryo-sa, the official Korean chronicle of the period. In addition, five Chinese and five Korean descriptions of auroral displays were recorded in various East-Asian histories between the middle of AD 1127 and the middle of AD 1129. The ten oriental auroral records in this particular interval correspond to six distinct auroral events, which provide evidence for recurrent, though possibly intermittent, auroral activity on a timescale almost exactly equal to the synodic-solar-rotation period (approximately 27 days). The six distinct auroral events were apparently associated with two series of recurrent geomagnetic storms, both of which were sufficiently intense to produce mid-latitude auroral displays in East Asia. These ancient solar and auroral observations are interpreted in terms of present-day understanding of solar-terrestrial physics. Con-temporary ground-based and satellite measurements during the last few decades have indicated that recurrent geomagnetic storms are usually a feature of the declining phase of the solar cycle. In addition, the strength of such recurrent geomagnetic storms has been classified as moderate rather than intense. The recurrent geomagnetic storms occurring during the interval AD 1127–1129 must have been sufficiently intense to produce mid-latitude auroral displays over China and Korea, some of which appeared or extended south of the observing site. This last statement remains true even after proper allowance is made for the fact that during the twelfth century, the north geomagnetic pole was probably situated at the usual high geographic latitude, but in the same geographic longitude range as East Asia. Therefore, it may be inferred that the two series of intense recurrent geomagnetic storms occurred near a medieval maximum in the "eleven-year" solar cycle. Moreover, the overall level of solar activity appears to have been especially high at the end of the second decade of the twelfth century. b>Key words. Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; storms and substorms) – Solar physics, astrophysics and astronomy (photosphere and chromosphere)