Post Disaster Environment Management Practices (Emp) On Energy Conservation (A Case Study Of Japan Stay Sakura Hotel, Tokyo)

Amalan Pengurusan Persekitaran telah menjadi satu amalan penting dalam organisasi hari ini. Kebanyakan organisasi memulakan amalan ini untuk menjimatkan kos, meningkatkan reputasi, atas kehendak kerajaan and sebagainya. EMP has become an important practice in organizations today. More organization start to practice to save cost, improve reputation, required by government and so on

Comparative genomic of methicillinresistant staphylococcus aureus PR01 (MRSAPR01) and methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus SA D22901 (MSSA SAD22901) and methicillin resistant derivatives of the latter

Staphylococcus aureus is a major contributor of nosocomial infections of humans in the world. This study elucidates the genomic sequences of an MRSA (MRSA PR01) isolate from a patient with septicaemia in Kuala Lumpur, a clinical methicillinsusceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolate (SA D22901), and two in vitro generated strains CR and COR which are derivatives of SA D22901 that developed resistance to antibiotics. CR and COR were isolated by exposing SA D22901 to become resistant to the antibiotics ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin and oxacillin, respectively. These S. aureus strains were sequenced using a second generation sequencing platform. A combination of de novo and comparative assemblies, annotation and genome finishing was then applied to sequenced data to obtain the finished or draft genomes. The MRSA PR01 genome was sequenced to “noncontiguous- finished” status, whereas MSSA SA D22901 was sequenced to “improved high-quality draft” status and the derivatives CR and COR were assembled using reference mapping to MSSA D22901. MRSA PR01 has an extended antibiotic resistance pattern, and is resistant to many classes of antibiotics. Multi locus sequence typing analysis determined it to be of type ST239, a prevalent healthcare lineage across the world. SA D22901 contains a novel MLST profile, and is phylogenetically diverse from other S. aureus strains found in Malaysia. Genomic analysis of MRSA PR01 provides evidence of its adaptation to survive in a health care setting through acquisition of drug and antiseptic resistance genes encoded on mobile genetic elements, large chromosomal insertions and point mutations in housekeeping genes. Comparative analysis of the clinical MRSA and MSSA strains showed the importance of genes involved in cell wall synthesis in the acquisition of methicillin resistance. Variant analysis of the in vitro generated strains has uncovered mutations and mechanisms important in the evolution of ciprofloxacin and oxacillin resistance in S. aureus. Ciprofloxacin resistance was attained via mutations in two topoisomerase genes, while mutations in genes involved in cell wall synthesis and cell adhesion were found in the oxacillin-resistant COR strain. In conclusion, this study provided the whole genome sequences of several clinical and laboratory generated S. aureus strains and identified several key features that are involved in conferring antibiotic resistance

Study on C02 Absorption in Single MEA and Mixed MEA & DEA

Theoverall effect of greenhouse warming caused by increasing amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has lead to growing interest in research for new methods to reduce the C02 emissions. One such alternative is to recover C02 from flue gas by chemical absorption with alkanolamines, which can be then used for CO2 sequestration. Alkanolamines have long been used for removing CO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from natural gas streams. The classes of alkanolamines are divided into primary amines (monoethanolamine, MEA), secondary amines (diethanolamine, DEA) and tertiary amines (monodiethanolamine, MDEA). The objectives of this study are to study the effect of solvent flow rate and amine concentration in effective CO2 removal as well as to recommend optimum percentage of mixed primary and secondary amines for efficient C02 absorption. The use of mixture of primary and secondary amines would maximize the individual properties of the single amines. The experiment was conducted in a wetted wall gas absorption column with variousMEA concentrations, varying solvent flow rate and varying mixtures of amines. From the experiment, the effect of increasing solvent flow rate would lead to overall better CO2 removal. For solvent concentration, an increase of amine concentration would increase the maximum overall CO2 removal efficiency. The optimum blend of amines from this study is reported as DEA-25wt% and MEA-10.2wt% based on the maximum total moles of C02 effectively removed with this blend. From this study, the main factor which drives the C02 absorption process in a mixed amine system is the concentration of MEA in the mixture. A decrease in MEA concentration would lead to a decrease in the total moles of CO2 removed

Gas-phase reaction of 1,2-dichloroethane with hydrogen in a tubular flow reactor

We have studied the reaction of 1,2-dichloroethane with H2 in three tubular flow reactors of different diameters at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range of 550° C to 1000°C. The kinetic parameters and product distribution were experimentally determined for each size reactor. The wall and bulk reaction rate constants were decoupled via analysis of three different surface to volume reaction data. The experimental reactor was an isothermal tubular flow reactor that operated within the domain of plug flow region. The reaction was found to follow first-order kinetics with respect to 1,2-dichloroethane when in the presence of excess hydrogen. The resulting rate constants were then used to determine the Arrhenius\u27 plot. Activation energy and frequency factor were determined and put in the form of a reaction rate constant equation. These equations are as follows: for d = 0.4 cm.ID k = 4.4 x 107 Exp(-32,000/RT) (1/sec) for d = 1.05 cm.ID k = 4.6 x 107 Exp(-33,000/RT) (1/sec) for d = 1.6 cm.ID k = 5.0 x 107 Exp(-33,000/RT) (1/sec) For the case of a reactor with internal diameter of 1.05 cm, the GC analysis showed an appreciable conversion of 1,2-dichloroethane above 550°C. The conversion was found to be proportional to both temperature and residence time. Chlorinated by-products, which all had lesser number of chlorine atoms than the reagent, were observed to increase with temperature from 550°C to 675°C. The major chlorinated products observed were vinyl chloride and chloroethane. Trace amounts of 1,1-dichloroethane and methyl chloride were found by GC/MS analysis. When the temperature reached 700°C, the only chlorinated by-products observed was vinyl chloride. Complete destruction of 1,2-dichloroethane was observed above 850°C for residence time of 1 sec. Benzene was also observed above 800°C in very small amounts. The major products of 1,2-dichloroethane and H2 reaction were methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, vinyl chloride, chloroethane and HCl. The hydrocarbons production increased with temperature. Applying the Arrhenius\u27 equation to the values of kb and kw obtained from the equation derived by Kaufman (1), for each temperature range examined, yielded the following rate constants expressions for wall and bulk reaction: kb = 4.8 x 107 Exp(-34,000/RT) (1/sec) kw = 2.0 x 106 Exp(-31,000/RT) (cm./sec

Improving social sustainability through context-specific mixed-use high-rise apartments in Tiong Nam

Generation gap is a very significant component of social sustainability. The traits of this gap depend heavily on the context. Tiong Nam settlement is one of the oldest Chinese residential and commercial areas in Kuala Lumpur. Over the years, the younger generations had moved out, leaving behind the older generations. The lack of public spaces and parks also causes the social interaction as well as communal living to be little to non-existent. Social sustainability plays an important role in forming a vibrant and culturally strong social place. It can be achieved by the connectivity between places and people, making the place as a bonding medium for the people. Despite being one of the oldest Chinese residential areas in Kuala Lumpur, the area is not socially sustainable. The aim of this research was to explore the possibilities of context-specific mixed-use high rise apartments that can improve the social sustainability of Tiong Nam by proposing certain architectural design strategies. The main objectives were first to identify the socio-cultural activities of the existing communities in Tiong Nam, Kuala Lumpur, then, to identify the typologies of communal spaces that can accommodate these socio-cultural activities, and finally to determine design strategies to improve social sustainability through mixed use building on the basis of seven parameters determined through field survey. To achieve the objectives, data were through site observation, interview, questionnaire as well as case studies. The collected data was then analysed through site synthesis, statistical analysis and content analysis. The study found that eating and recreational activities are the major activities of the existing community. It also found that lack of public spaces that can accommodate these context specific activities are the major lacking in this area. Finally, based on the seven parameters, certain design strategies were proposed. It also proposed that a highrise accommodation suitable for the new generation combined with the referred public space could be the best urban solution for this community. The significance of this research lies on the fact that a single mixed use high-rise apartment could be the best architectural solution to bridge the generation gap between the young and old generations of Tiong Nam

Process intensification of nitrous gas absorption

The absorption of nitrogen oxides in water has important applications in nitric acid manufacture and pollution control. The design for optimum absorption efficiency and air pollution control has made necessary the installation of large reaction chambers and absorption towers for the adequate oxidation and absorption of nitrous gases. The worldwide production of weak acid has seen the progression of the process from the use of low through medium- to high-pressure technology in the efforts of achieving a more compact construction and avoiding the need for catalytic tail-gas treatment in plants with ever increasing capacities. Even at high pressures (8 bar), absorption columns employing sieve plates can reach up to 40 m in height for large-tonnage plants, and the relatively large pressure drop across the plates at these pressures leads to high power consumption and increased costs. As the dimensions of the absorption tower are typically governed by the conditions required for NO oxidation and thermal design, intensification of the process via miniaturisation can address the issues above through the high surface area to volume ratio offered by microreactor technology. The substantial improvement in heat and mass transfer due to the increase in effective exchange surface leads to an acceleration of the slow NO oxidation reaction and the enhancement of absorption rates. In addition to the development of such novel equipment for process intensification, the flow of the process can also be structured to improve process efficiency. An interesting method would be the replacement of the nitrogen ballast typically used in industry with steam, as the concentration of the gases upon condensation can lead to improved gas phase reaction rates. Furthermore, the provision of increased residence times due to the decrease in gas velocity upon condensation also makes the process more efficient. In this way, the size of the absorber can be significantly reduced and the high capital and operating costs associated with the employment of compressors in high pressure plants can be reduced. The objective of this thesis is to gain a fundamental understanding of the complex behaviour of nitric acid production in microchannels and obtain data for the development of a model used for process design and optimisation. Experiments on the oxidation and absorption of xviii nitrogen oxides have been conducted for a wide range of nominal residence times (0.03 – 1.4 s), gas compositions (5 – 10% NO, 5 – 49% O2, 46 – 82% H2O, balance argon), system pressures (2 – 10 bar absolute), mass fluxes (1.5 – 30 kg m-2 s-1), coolant mass fluxes (66 kg m-2 s-1 and 341 kg m-2 s-1), and coolant temperatures (23 – 51ºC) in circular tubes with internal diameters of 1.4 and 3.9 mm. Absorption efficiencies of up to 99% have been achieved without the use of counter-current flow typically employed in conventional nitric acid plants. The use high steam fractions was shown to cause significant improvements in gas phase reaction rates such that the usual industrial practice of applying high system pressures to enhance the NO oxidation reaction becomes unnecessary. Absorption efficiency can also be increased by increasing system pressures, but there are certain limits to which this can be done; a decline in performance may result when pressures are increased sufficiently high such that mass transfer becomes limiting. In addition to decreasing the tube diameter, increasing both the NO concentration and cooling duty also led to improved nitric acid yields. A simple model of condensing two-phase shear-driven annular flows, in which both laminar and turbulent regimes are valid and the vapour-liquid interface is assumed to be smooth, have been constructed and compared against experimental data. The model qualitatively captures most of the effects observed, but the presence of uncertainties in model parameters and the use of particular assumptions on the flow pattern and structure of the interface had to be compensated for through the use of a model fitted parameter iAθ. Larger corrections to the model were required in cases where the fluid was tending towards slug or plug flow, such as systems employing high H2O/NO ratios, since the interfacial area between vapour and liquid would be larger than that obtained if annular flow was assumed to occur under the same conditions. Higher values of iAθwere also found to give better fit to the experimental data at short nominal residence times (< 0.10 s) for absorption carried out under high system pressures, high oxygen partial pressures or high NO partial pressures, presumably due to incorrect representation of the overall heat and mass transfer flux under these conditions, among other things such as the parameter uncertainties, the presence of interfacial waves and the possibility of a flow regime transition from annular to intermittent flow. On the other hand, interfacial area multipliers less than unity were better suited to larger xix channels due to the possibility of flow stratification which acts to decrease the interfacial area and hence the nitric acid yield. The predictions of the model were subsequently used to determine the operating conditions optimal for the production of nitric acid in microreactors on a larger scale. In most of the cases considered, the pressure drop across the absorber length was found to be relatively small, hence much smaller channels can be utilised for increased absorption efficiency without considerable loss in pressure. It was also shown that most of the heat liberated near the inlet of the absorber stems from the release of latent heat of condensation, while chemical reactions account for most of the heat released downstream of the reactor. The absorption volume required for the commercial production of nitric acid in microchannels was compared against that typically employed by current industrial absorbers. The volume of the microreactor system was found to be about 2 orders of magnitude smaller than its larger counterpart. Although additional volume may be required for distillation of the weaker acid produced from the smaller system, substantial reduction in plant size can still be achieved since the volume of the cooler-condenser was excluded from the industrial plant calculations while the physical and chemical reactions involved in the cooler-condenser are already inherent in the microreactor system. In summary, the results of the experiments and model simulations have demonstrated that the absorption of nitrous gases in microchannels with the use of a steam ballast and close-to-stoichiometric quantities of oxygen can lead to intensification of the process, thus presenting an opportunity for a paradigm shift in nitric acid production

Gromov-Witten invariants of blow-ups along submanifolds with convex normal bundles

Given a submanifold Z inside X, let Y be the blow-up of X along Z. When the normal bundle of Z in X is convex with a minor assumption, we prove that genus-zero GW-invariants of Y with cohomology insertions from X, are identical to GW-invariants of X. Under the same hypothesis, a vanishing theorem is also proved. An example to which these two theorems apply is when the normal bundle is generated by global sections. These two main theorems do not hold for arbitrary blow-ups, and counter-examples are included.Comment: 34 page

The Genus 0 Gromov-Witten Invariants of Projective Complete Intersections

We describe the structure of mirror formulas for genus 0 Gromov-Witten invariants of projective complete intersections with any number of marked points and provide an explicit algorithm for obtaining the relevant structure coefficients. The structural description alone suffices for some qualitative applications, such as vanishing results and the bounds on the growth of these invariants predicted by R. Pandharipande.Comment: two conjectures added; typos corrected 61 pages, 3 figures, 4 table

Corporate Governance and Internationalization of Malaysia Public Listed Companies

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the corporate governance on Internationalization for a sample 46 listed companies from 2008 to 2011 which have the reported international operations abroad. The study proposes that corporate governance mechanisms such as directors’ compensation and characteristics of the board could influence firms' decision to internationalization. The measurement for internationalization is foreign sales (FS) and foreign assets (FA). The empirical results indicate that Internationalization by measuring FS is negative and significant related to board size. While measuring by FA indicate the negative and insignificant result. On the other hand, FA and FS are positive and significant related to executive compensation. However, it also found insignificantly related to CEO duality and board independent. According to MCCG requirement, the role of CEO and chairman should remain as non-duality to avoid CEO overpower and board to consist of 1/3 of independent board directors. As result, corporate governance characteristics especially board size and director remuneration does influence firm internationalization