STUDY OF CONNECTION BETWEEN STOCK MARKET AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIAN CONTEXT

The focus of the study is to test the stock market performance influence on the economic growth for time series for the period of 2002 to 2018 on quarterly basis. In this study, the performance measures included standard deviation which is measure of volatility, total value traded shared as measure of liquidity, turnover ratio as measure of liquidity, and stock market capitalization ratio as a measure of the size. The focus of the study is the Malaysian stock exchange market. The study utilized real GDP as an indicator of economic growth. The exchange rate and the interest rates are used as control variables. The study used Vector Autoregressive model and the Granger causality test are utilized for finding the directional relationship between the stock market and economic growth connection. Results states that variables are statistically insignificant and there is no meaningful relationship found

High Internal Phase Emulsion As A Reaction Medium For Fabrication Of Brushite Crystal

This present work was aimed at fabrication of porous brushite crystals using oil-in-water high internal phase emulsion stabilized by synthesized palm-based nonionic surfactant as a reaction medium. This research work was divided into four categories. The first part of the work involved synthesizing palm-based nonionic surfactants. Palm oil derivatives, lauryl, palmityl and stearyl alcohols as renewable resources, were ethoxylated with an average of three, six (or eight or nine) and 100 moles of ethylene oxide. The critical micelle concentration of the synthesized surfactants was found to decrease with increasing ethylene oxide head groups due to intertwist amongst the head groups. This phenomenon enhances surfactant-surfactant interaction rather than surfactant-solvent interaction which increases the rate of micellization as proven by the Gibbs energy. The increase in the surfactant tail length had minimal effect on micellization. The second part of the work was to stabilize the high internal phase emulsion using the synthesized surfactants. The oil phase was vegetable oil, namely olive and olein oils. These UPLOAD emulsions, with dispersed phase of more than 75 wt%, were easily prepared by one-pot homogenization. Due to the high oil volume fraction, the oil droplets were no longer spherical but were squeezed to take the shape of polyhedral. Light scattering results showed that the droplet size increased with increasing ethylene oxide chain length. The rheology of the emulsions was governed by droplet size and oil volume fraction. The emulsions exhibited high stability as indicated by the rheological measurements even after storage at 40oC for three months. The third part of the work was on the fabrication of brushite crystals with high degree of porosity using the high internal phase emulsion as a reaction medium. The porosity of the crystals was manifested by precursor concentration, surfactant concentration, oil volume fraction, mixing method, mixing time, aging temperature, precursor type, mode of recovery and surfactant head group. Pore size of the brushite crystals was less than 5 μm. The mechanism for the formation of porous brushite crystals was postulated schematically based on the small angle x-ray scattering analysis. The fourth and final part of this work was related to the application of the porous brushite crystals as drug delivery devices. Prior to the controlled release study, the crystals were subjected to cytotoxicity test to ensure their compatibility with synoviocytes, which are cells that line the knee joints of rabbits. The crystals were found to enable cell growth for up to five days. Sodium ampicillin, a wide spectrum antibiotic, was successfully loaded into the pores of the crystals and subsequently released in vitro for 14 days. This work underlines the simplicity of using highly stable high internal phase emulsion as a reaction medium for the fabrication of porous brushite crystals, in which when loaded with drug, exhibited potential as localized bone treatment demonstrated by the promising controlled release rate

Monetizing Housing Equity to Generate Retirement Incomes

The public housing program and the unique way of financing housing through the mandatory savings system in Singapore have created a class of homeowners. This paper compares the instruments available to different flat owners to monetize their assets, including the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS), subletting, downsizing and reverse mortgage. We estimate the present value of retirement incomes derived from these options by incorporating the survival probability which is forecasted using the Lee-Carter demographic model. We compare the monthly payouts that can be unlocked and discuss the tradeoffs of adequate retirement with the elderly preference for leaving a bequest and ageing in place. Our results show that LBS is the most attractive option. It allows the elderly to age-inplace while generating a steady stream of monthly drawdown and possibility of leaving a bequest. Subletting releases housing equity while retaining the asset. This helps the elderly to fulfill their bequest motive. Reverse mortgage is the least attractive option, yielding the lowest retirement income due to high loading factors.

Medical Savings Accounts in Singapore: How much is adequate?

While many studies have examined the cost-containment aspect of Medical savings accounts (MSA), few have investigated the adequacy of MSA to finance the health care expenditure. This paper estimates the present value of lifetime healthcare expenses (PVHE) of the Singaporean male and female elderly upon retirement at age 62. The estimation involves calibrating the stream of future healthcare expenditure; stochastic forecasting of cohort survival probabilities; and discounting the projected lifetime healthcare expenditure. Estimated values of the PVHE under various scenarios are used to assess the adequacy of the government-decreed minimum saving to be maintained in the MSA.medical savings accounts, present value of lifetime health care expense, cohort survival probabilities

MTSU Alternative Fuel Research

Hydrogen and solar powered vehicles, biodiesel fuels, and plug in hybrid technology are among the cutting edge research projects on campus.hydrogen, solar, vehicle, biodiesel, plug in hybrid, alternative fuel, automotive manufacturing, research, hybrid, MTSU