Variability of the PM10 concentration in the urban atmosphere of Sabah and its responses to diurnal and weekly changes of CO, NO2, SO2 and Ozone

This paper presents seasonal variation of PM10 over five urban sites in Sabah, Malaysia for the period of January through December 2012. The variability of PM10 along with the diurnal and weekly cycles of CO, NO2, SO2, and O3 at Kota Kinabalu site were also discussed to investigate the possible sources for increased PM10 concentration at the site. This work is crucial to understand the behaviour and possible sources of PM10 in the urban atmosphere of Sabah region. In Malaysia, many air pollution studies in the past focused in west Peninsular, but very few local studies were dedicated for Sabah region. This work aims to fill the gap by presenting the descriptive statistics on the variability of PM10 concentration in the urban atmosphere of Sabah. To further examine its diurnal and weekly cycle pattern, its responses towards the variations of CO, NO2, SO2, and ozone were also investigated. The highest mean value of PM10 for the whole study period is seen from Tawau (35.7±17.8 μg m-3), while the lowest is from Keningau (31.9± 18.6 μg m-3). The concentrations of PM10 in all cities exhibited seasonal variations with the peak values occurred during the south-west monsoons. The PM10 data consistently exhibited strong correlations with traffic related gaseous pollutants (NO2, and CO), except for SO2 and O3. The analysis of diurnal cycles of PM10 levels indicated that two peaks were associated during the morning and evening rush hours. The bimodal distribution of PM10, CO, and NO2 in the front and at the back of ozone peak is a representation of urban air pollution pattern. In the weekly cycle, higher PM10, CO, and NO2 concentrations were observed during the weekday when compared to weekend. The characteristics of NO2 concentration rationed to CO and SO2 suggests that mobile sources is the dominant factor for the air pollution in Kota Kinabalu; particularly during weekdays

Saturation and parabolic effects of Langley Calibration at different altitude levels

The performance of the well-known Langley plot technique, used for the calibration of ground-based sunphotometers, has been investigated at three observatory sites of different altitudes. All solar measurements were collected using a portable LED-type sunphotometer programed to a constant measurement protocol to allow direct comparison between different days and sites. Our results show that evaluation on the correlation R-value and slope AOD-value alone is not robust enough to guarantee a good Langley plot. Statistical analysis on global, diffuse and direct component also fails to select a perfect Langley plot within a pool of data available. Instead, examination on the evolution of diffuse component and direct component against global component actually provides a good representation of the performance of Langley plot. Diurnal evolution of diffuse component and direct component was found closely matching to the global component in a similar increasing trend. Our results also highlighted two important effects that greatly govern the performance of Langley plot, which are saturation effect and parabolic effect. Saturation effect occurs for the state when little to no more signal increase can be legibly reflected on Langley plot. It is dominant in low airmass region where the change of airmass is relatively too small for the increase in signal detected by the sunphotometer. Parabolic effect is preceding effect of signal saturation and becomes severely erroneous when high air masses are included in Langley plot

Solar Radiation Resources Under Climate Change Scenarios - A Case Study in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Solar power is the third major renewable energy after hydropower and biopower. It constitutes an increasingly important element of the global future that is less carbon energy investment. However, the generation capacity, availability, and intermittency of this renewable energy source is strongly climate dependent. Therefore it makes this renewable energy supply system more vulnerable to climate variability and changes. When considering solar energy as a sustainable energy solution, it is important to not only quantify the present solar resource but to also anticipate how the solar resource as the indicator in electricity production potential will change under future climate change scenarios. In this study, we evaluate the climate change impact on solar photovoltaic (PV) power potential in Kota Kinabalu, a rapidly developing city in Malaysia, using the Weather Research Forecast Model (WRF) climate projections under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 together with a PV Power Production Model (1MW). The projected median solar radiations were 193.6 Wm-2 and 211.9 Wm-2 in 2100 under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 respectively. The changes in solar radiation were statiscally significant at 95% percentile for both climate scenarios. In comparison with the present day scenarios (181.8 Wm-2), the projected future mean solar radiations were also increased to 202.8 Wm-2 (RCP4.5) and 210.9 Wm-2 (RCP8.5), an increase of about 12% and 16% respectively. Results also indicated that the calculated annual average solar radiation for Kota Kinabalu at present-day and future scenarios were 1589.7 kWh/h2 (2014), 1773.4 kWh/h2 (2100-RCP4.5), and 1844.2 kWh/h2 (2100-RCP8.5), which are equivalent to 54.4 MW (2014), 60.7 MW (2100-RCP4.5), and 63.1 MW (2100- RCP8.5). Increases in energy production under future climate change scenarios show a promising trend and indicates a positive potential for solar energy to be harnessed in the Kota Kinabalu city area

Missing Value Imputation for PM10 Concentration in Sabah using Nearest Neighbour Method(NNM) and Expectation-Maximization (EM) Algorithm

Missing data in large data analysis has affected further analysis conducted on dataset. To fill in missing data, Nearest Neighbour Method(NNM) and Expectation Maximization(EM) algorithm are the two most widely used methods. Thus, this research aims to compare both methods by imputing missing data of air quality in five monitoring stations (CA0030, CA0039, CA0042, CA0049, CA0050) in Sabah, Malaysia. PM10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic size below 10 microns) dataset in the range from 2003-2007(Part A) and 2008-2012 (Part B) are used in this research. To make performance evaluation possible, missing data is introduced in the datasets at 5 different levels(5%, 10%, 15%, 25% and 40%). The missing data is imputed by using both NNM and EM algorithm. The performance of both data imputation methods is evaluated using performance indicators(RMSE, MAE, IOA, COD) and regression analysis. Based on performance indicators and regression analysis, NNM performs better compared to EM in imputing data for stations CA0039, CA0042 and CA0049. This may be due to air quality data missing at random (MAR). However, this is not the case for CA0050 and part B of CA0030. This may be due to fluctuation that could not be detected by NNM. Accuracy evaluation using Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) shows that NNM is more accurate imputation method for most of the cases

Trans-boundary air pollution in a Southeast Asian megacity: Case studies of the synoptic meteorological mechanisms and impacts on air quality

Local and regional sources contribute to degraded air quality in many urban areas, however, the influence of trans-boundary air pollution on surface PM2.5 is still poorly characterized in Southeast Asia (SEA) megacities. This study, for the first time, utilizes multi-platform datasets to elucidate two trans-boundary PM2.5 episodes in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam, over the periods 25–29 Oct 2013 and 05–08 Oct 2015. Both events persisted with limited diurnal fluctuations and more than 60% of the Air Quality Index (AQI) values at an unhealthy level. PM2.5 concentrations during the events were 100% and 115% higher on average compared to local accumulation periods in the same months, highlighting the importance of trans-boundary pollution to local HCMC air quality. Backward trajectories, MERRA-2 AOD data, and CALIPSO images revealed the origin and synoptic meteorology conditions facilitating both trans-boundary pollution events. Anthropogenic PM2.5 emissions in continental East Asia fed the 2013 event, which was then transported by strong northeasterly winds triggered by an upper-level ridge near the Tibetan Plateau and a low-pressure system in western Pacific Ocean. In contrast, the 2015 event was the result of Indonesia biomass burning (BB), which was enhanced and transported by a westward propagating Western Pacific Subtropical High triggered by a strong El Nino ˜ event. Future climate change will likely increase the number of extreme El Nino ˜ events, leading to the increase of transboundary Indonesia BB events to HCMC. This study lays the groundwork for detailing the impact of trans-boundary pollution on local air quality in SEA megacities

Albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Harmony Outcomes): a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action, and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of albiglutide in preventing cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 610 sites across 28 countries. We randomly assigned patients aged 40 years and older with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (at a 1:1 ratio) to groups that either received a subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30–50 mg, based on glycaemic response and tolerability) or of a matched volume of placebo once a week, in addition to their standard care. Investigators used an interactive voice or web response system to obtain treatment assignment, and patients and all study investigators were masked to their treatment allocation. We hypothesised that albiglutide would be non-inferior to placebo for the primary outcome of the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, which was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. If non-inferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% CI for a hazard ratio of less than 1·30, closed testing for superiority was prespecified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02465515. Findings: Patients were screened between July 1, 2015, and Nov 24, 2016. 10 793 patients were screened and 9463 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to groups: 4731 patients were assigned to receive albiglutide and 4732 patients to receive placebo. On Nov 8, 2017, it was determined that 611 primary endpoints and a median follow-up of at least 1·5 years had accrued, and participants returned for a final visit and discontinuation from study treatment; the last patient visit was on March 12, 2018. These 9463 patients, the intention-to-treat population, were evaluated for a median duration of 1·6 years and were assessed for the primary outcome. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 (7%) of 4731 patients at an incidence rate of 4·6 events per 100 person-years in the albiglutide group and in 428 (9%) of 4732 patients at an incidence rate of 5·9 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·68–0·90), which indicated that albiglutide was superior to placebo (p<0·0001 for non-inferiority; p=0·0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (ten patients in the albiglutide group and seven patients in the placebo group), pancreatic cancer (six patients in the albiglutide group and five patients in the placebo group), medullary thyroid carcinoma (zero patients in both groups), and other serious adverse events did not differ between the two groups. There were three (<1%) deaths in the placebo group that were assessed by investigators, who were masked to study drug assignment, to be treatment-related and two (<1%) deaths in the albiglutide group. Interpretation: In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. Evidence-based glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. Funding: GlaxoSmithKline

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass