Performance of Islamic and conventional exchange traded funds in Malaysia

ETFs have attracted many investors as one of the most innovative products of financial engineering. By virtue of the nascent nature of MyETF-DJIM Titan 25 and FBM 30ETF in Malaysia, comparative performance studies are essential during a financial crisis. MyETF is different from FBM 30ETF in terms of investment scope and ShariÑah governance structure. While MyETF has achieved its objective in tracking its index, FBM 30ETF has failed in this respect. Despite its higher total risk, MyETF performed better than its index. The same applies in the case of FBM 30ETF. Although MyETF has bigger net assets, economies of scale, and better diversification, the performances of the two funds are lacklustre and similar, with FBM 30ETF performing somewhat better. Notwithstanding their success to outperform their respective benchmarks, both ETFs had comparable negative performance, with decline in prices and NAV. The negative returns have caused abnormality in their measurements.Islamic Capital market, Islamic ETF, MyETF, FBM 30ETF, Trading, Performance

A Chandra Proper Motion for PSR J1809-2332

We report on a new Chandra exposure of PSR J1809-2332, the recently discovered pulsar powering the bright EGRET source 3EG J1809-2328. By registration of field X-ray sources in an archival exposure, we measure a significant proper motion for the pulsar point source over an ~11 year baseline. The shift of 0.30+/-0.06" (at PA= 153.3+/-18.4) supports an association with proposed SNR parent G7.5-1.7. Spectral analysis of diffuse emission in the region also supports the interpretation as a hard wind nebula trail pointing back toward the SNR.Comment: To Appear in the Astrophysical Journal, Sept 1 (v. 756

Culture, Income, and CO2 Emission

Given the devastating effects of global warming, the problem of human-induced climate change, and in particular carbon dioxide emissions, has been high on the global policy agenda. In this study, we examine the relationship between national culture, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic growth in the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Applying system GMM panel estimator across 69 developed and developing countries, we confirm the existence of EKC and show that culture significantly affects the income-emission relationship. Moreover, the effects of the six cultural dimensions on EKC can be collapsed into two: (i) masculinity, power distance and indulgence move the EKC upward and shift the income turning point to the left; and (ii) individualism, uncertainty, and long-term orientation move the EKC downward while shifting the income turning point to the right. The impact of culture on EKC remains also robust for alternative specifications. Future policy and global initiatives in sustainable development should incorporate the multidimensional impact of culture on national behavior towards environment and economic growth, a relationship that has been largely ignored in economic decision-making models

CFD investigation into seakeeping performance of a training ship

The numerous ship accidents at sea have usually resulted in tremendous loss and casualties. To prevent such disastrous accidents, a comprehensive investigation into reliable prediction of seakeeping performance of a ship is necessarily required. This paper presents computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis on seakeeping performance of a training ship (full scale model) quantified through a Response of Amplitude Operators (RAO) for heave and pitch motions. The effects of wavelengths, wave directions and ship forward velocities have been accordingly taken into account. In general, the results revealed that the shorter wavelengths (λ/L ≥ 1.0) have insignificant effect to the heave and pitch motions performance of the training ship, which means that the ship has good seakeeping behavior. However, the further increase of wavelength was proportional with the increase of RAO for her heave and pitch motions; whilst it may lead to degrade her seakeeping quality. In addition, the vertical motions behavior in the following-seas dealt with higher RAO as compared with case of the head-seas condition. Similarly, the subsequent increase of the ship forward velocity was prone to relatively increase of the RAO for her heave and pitch motions especially at λ/L ≥ 2.0. It was merely concluded that this seakeeping prediction using CFD approach provides useful outcomes in the preliminary design stage for safety assessment of the training ship navigation during sailing

Rings and Jets around PSR J2021+3651: the `Dragonfly Nebula'

We describe recent Chandra ACIS observations of the Vela-like pulsar PSR J2021+3651 and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN). This `Dragonfly Nebula' displays an axisymmetric morphology, with bright inner jets, a double-ridged inner nebula, and a ~30" polar jet. The PWN is embedded in faint diffuse emission: a bow shock-like structure with standoff ~1' brackets the pulsar to the east and emission trails off westward for 3-4'. Thermal (kT=0.16 +/-0.02 keV) and power law emission are detected from the pulsar. The nebular X-rays show spectral steepening from Gamma=1.5 in the equatorial torus to Gamma=1.9 in the outer nebula, suggesting synchrotron burn-off. A fit to the `Dragonfly' structure suggests a large (86 +/-1 degree) inclination with a double equatorial torus. Vela is currently the only other PWN showing such double structure. The >12 kpc distance implied by the pulsar dispersion measure is not supported by the X-ray data; spectral, scale and efficiency arguments suggest a more modest 3-4 kpc.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, Accepted to Ap

Numerical simulation on the reflection characterisation and performance of a solar collector - a case study of UPM solar bowl

A numerical simulation of UPM Solar Bowl is presented in this paper. The numerical analysis considered a general model of solar bowl, which was divided into three modules:(a) reflection characterisation of the bowl, (b) solar flux density along the receiver, and (c) radiation contour mapping of the receiver. The governing equations are resolved in a segregated manner using Matlab programming environment. The influence of the tropical clear sky irradiance on the collector was numerically studied, whereas the collector performance in time domain was also quantified. Single reflection is a major element in thermal concentration. It was observed that solar flux density of collector substantially deteriorated during off solar noon hour, in which during 08:00 and 16:00 under clear sky of tropics, the percentage reduction of flux density is over 82% at all points of the receiver. The simulated radiation contour mapping of the receiver supports the finding. Other results of the UPM Solar Bowl simulation model are also shown and discussed