Biodiversity conservation and sustainable use: Malaysian scenario

Malaysia is in partnership to international agreements such as for Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered species, Hazardous wastes, Marine life conservation, Tropical timber 83 and Law of the sea. Like all countries in the pact, she is currently implementing the national biodiversity strategies and action plans that have been strategized. The progression has led to increase in awareness of biodiversity status and enhancement of protected areas, with current statistics of 63% acclaimed forests and woodland in contrast to 10% land use for permanent crops. In spite of this there are indicative trends that Malaysia too contributes to the 42% loss of the Southeast Asian biodiversity approaching 2100. Here we highlight the challenged in conservation efforts and three primary driving forces impacting upon biodiversity: • Conversion of natural habitat to human ecosystem • Natural disasters and climate change • Bioprospecting Malaysia's strategic location within Southeast Asia, with Thailand in the north, Singapore in the south and Brunei in the east would need a multidisciplinary approach in order to address issues of biodiversity threats which one country has on its neighbours. This will be discussed in three main components: • Invading operational activities • Domestic activities • Resources affected by international activities In summary, a realistic solution would be an overall participation from all major stakeholders and a trasboundary effort such as the international ecological footprint

Determination of the number of J/ψ events with inclusive J/ψ decays

A measurement of the number of J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector in 2009 and 2012 is performed using inclusive decays of the J/ψ. The number of J/ψ events taken in 2009 is recalculated to be (223.7 ± 1.4) × 106, which is in good agreement with the previous measurement, but with significantly improved precision due to improvements in the BESIII software. The number of J/ψ events taken in 2012 is determined to be (1086.9 ± 6.0) × 106. In total, the number of J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector is measured to be (1310.6 ± 7.0) × 106, where the uncertainty is dominated by systematic effects and the statistical uncertainty is negligible

Measurements of the center-of-mass energies at BESIII via the di-muon process

From 2011 to 2014, the BESIII experiment collected about 5 fb-1 data at center-of-mass energies around 4 GeV for the studies of the charmonium-like and higher excited charmonium states. By analyzing the di-muon process e+e- → γISR/FSRμ+μ-, the center-of-mass energies of the data samples are measured with a precision of 0.8 MeV. The center-of-mass energy is found to be stable for most of the time during data taking

Measurement of the absolute branching fraction for Λc+→Λμ+νμ

We report the first measurement of the absolute branching fraction for Λc+→Λμ+νμ. This measurement is based on a sample of e+e− annihilation data produced at a center-of-mass energy s=4.6 GeV, collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII storage rings. The sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 567 pb−1. The branching fraction is determined to be B(Λc+→Λμ+νμ)=(3.49±0.46(stat)±0.27(syst))%. In addition, we calculate the ratio B(Λc+→Λμ+νμ)/B(Λc+→Λe+νe) to be 0.96±0.16(stat)±0.04(syst)

Electrochemical and Crystallographic Aspects of Lead Granular Growth

Lead granules synthesized by the potentiostatic regime of electrolysis were characterized by the scanning electron microscopy technique. Effect of the different parameters of electrolysis, such as solution composition, overpotential of electrodeposition, and quantity of the electricity, on lead granular growth has been systematically investigated. Aside from the electrochemical aspects of lead granular growth, crystallographic aspects of the obtained granules were also analyzed. In the dependence of the electrodeposition conditions, granules of various shapes were obtained. The granules, such as octahedrons and hexagons, as well as many various types of twinned particles: single-twinned, multiply-twinned, lamellar-twinned, and many other complicated shapes denoted as polyparticles, were synthesized through regulation of the parameters of electrolysis. Increasing both the concentration of Pb2+ ions and overpotential of the electrodeposition favored the formation of more complicated forms. Formation of granules of specified crystallographic characteristics was also correlated with the basic principle of metal electrocrystallization

Measurement of the branching fractions of Ds+→η′X and Ds+→η′ρ+ in e+e−→Ds+Ds−

We study Ds+ decays to final states involving the η′ with a 482 pb−1 data sample collected at s=4.009 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. We measure the branching fractions B(Ds+→η′X)=(8.8±1.8±0.5)% and B(Ds+→η′ρ+)=(5.8±1.4±0.4)% where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. In addition, we estimate an upper limit on the non-resonant branching ratio B(Ds+→η′π+π0)<5.1% at the 90% confidence level. Our results are consistent with CLEO's recent measurements and help to resolve the disagreement between the theoretical prediction and CLEO's previous measurement of B(Ds+→η′ρ+)