Management trading in Chinese entrepreneurial firms on the ChiNext

We examine management trading in Chinese entrepreneurial firms on the ChiNext. We find that management shareholdings are considerably high, and executives tend to sell their shares after the IPOs on the ChiNext. The propensity for executives to sell shares is negatively correlated with the firms corporate governance and current operating cash flows, but the amount they sell is only positively correlated with the level of management holdings. Both the management selling decision and percentage of selling do not associate with firms earnings and sales growth. This suggests that managers are profit makers rather than informed traders in their selling activities on the ChiNext. We also find that the market reaction to management selling is substantially negative, which implies a herding effect of investors following executives to sell shares.

Effects of high salinity from desalination brine on growth, photosynthesis, water relations and osmolyte concentrations of seagrass Posidonia australis

Highly saline brines from desalination plants expose seagrass communities to salt stress. We examined effects of raised salinity (46 and 54psu) compared with seawater controls (37psu) over 6weeks on the seagrass, Posidonia australis, growing in tanks with the aim of separating effects of salinity from other potentially deleterious components of brine and determining appropriate bioindicators. Plants survived exposures of 2-4weeks at 54psu, the maximum salinity of brine released from a nearby desalination plant. Salinity significantly reduced maximum quantum yield of PSII (chlorophyll a fluorescence emissions). Leaf water potential (Ψw) and osmotic potential (Ψπ) were more negative at increased salinity, while turgor pressure (Ψp) was unaffected. Leaf concentrations of K(+) and Ca(2+) decreased, whereas concentrations of sugars (mainly sucrose) and amino acids increased. We recommend leaf osmolarity, ion, sugar and amino acid concentrations as bioindicators for salinity effects, associated with brine released in desalination plant outfalls.