Analysis of the 60-Hz power system at KSC: The Orsino substation

An analysis of the Orsino Substation, a component (50 percent) of the 60-Hertz electric power system at the Kennedy Space Center, is presented. Presented here are separate single-line diagrams of the sixteen feeder circuits to permit easy access to information on the individual feeders for future planning. The load condition of each feeder and load break switch are presented and a heuristic reliability analysis of the system is performed. Information is given about the system fashion useful for decision making purposes. The beauty of it is in the simplified manner by which information about the system can be obtained

Reaction of Banks and Insurance Companies’ Stocks to Acts of Terrorism - An Event Study Approach

The paper examines the reaction of banks and insurance companies’ stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Market to two major terrorist events (the bomb blast on October 1, 2010-Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary day, and the bombing of the United Nation’s (UN) embassy office on August 26, 2011, all in Abuja). The data stream for the study consisted of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Daily Official list on some selected banks and insurances stocks over the event period of eight (8) days for both the United Nation’s (UN) embassy office bombing and the October 1 bomb blast respectively. Using the standard event study methodology and the single-factor market model, the study finds that of the two terrorist events, only the October 1, 2010 attack resulted in significant negative abnormal returns in the Nigerian stock market. The UN office bombing, though expectedly resulted in a negative abnormal return, the abnormal return was however not statistically significant at 5% level and only occurred a day after the event day, suggesting that the stock prices reacted rather slowly. The study therefore recommends that the federal government of Nigeria should explore ways of reducing the frustration of her citizens because the consistent neglect by successive governments to improve on the well-being of the commoners in this oil-rich nation has always led to frustration and aggression, and these are popular substratum for terrorism. Keywords: Terrorism, banks, insurances companies, event study, stock market

Global assessment of drought characteristics in the Anthropocene

Contemporary understanding of the impacts of climate change on global drought characteristics (e.g., intensities, extents) is still limited and not well understood. This knowledge is critical because projected changes in climate are expected to impact on future water availability as well as influence decisions on how water resources are allocated. The main aim of this study is to improve understanding of drought characteristics (extents and duration) in the Anthropocene where rapid changes in the environment are caused by the composite influence of human activities and climate change. Multi-scale earth observation data (1980−2020) and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 climate models, which incorporate the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (2040−2070and 2070−2100) are used to assess these characteristics as well as identify climatic hotspots where changes in drought characteristics could drive groundwater hydrology. Results show that towards the end of the 21st century, global land areas under drought will significantly decrease but their durations will not. Generally, there is evidence of significant decline in the proportion of areas that will experience various drought intensities (moderate, severe and extreme drought) in the future and for each category, drought affected areas will not reach 30% on average. Moreover, some regions are potential hotspots of climate–groundwater interactions where drought events could directly impact on groundwater. This is because of the varying degree of strong correlations (positive and negative) between climate and groundwater data in some areas (e.g., Australia, Europe, Southern Africa, Asia). The relatively strong negative correlations in some of these hotspots are indicative of the presence of considerable lags, that could be caused by aridity as well as human groundwater footprints