Impact of the 2007 financial crisis on the Malaysian banking stocks

The objective of this study is to examine whether the current global financial crisis has impacted the Malaysian banking stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was used as a proxy for the crisis and it was ascertained that there was a strong relationship between the DJIA and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI).Statistical analysis was then performed on the KLCI and selected banking stocks which indicated that there was a strong and positive correlation between the two variables. The findings support the aim of this study - that the 2007-2008 financial crisis has indeed impacted the Malaysian banking stocks

Convergence Analysis of the Grad's Hermite Approximation to the Boltzmann Equation

In (Commun Pure Appl Math 2(4):331-407, 1949), Grad proposed a Hermite series expansion for approximating solutions to kinetic equations that have an unbounded velocity space. However, for initial boundary value problems, poorly imposed boundary conditions lead to instabilities in Grad's Hermite expansion, which could result in non-converging solutions. For linear kinetic equations, a method for posing stable boundary conditions was recently proposed for (formally) arbitrary order Hermite approximations. In the present work, we study $L^2$-convergence of these stable Hermite approximations, and prove explicit convergence rates under suitable regularity assumptions on the exact solution. We confirm the presented convergence rates through numerical experiments involving the linearised-BGK equation of rarefied gas dynamics

Cooling curves and initial models for low-mass white dwarfs (<0.25 Msun) with helium core

We present a detailed calculation of the evolution of low-mass ($< 0.25~M_\odot$) helium white dwarfs. These white dwarfs (the optical companions to binary millisecond pulsars) are formed via long-term, low-mass binary evolution. After detachment from the Roche lobe, the hot helium cores have a rather thick hydrogen layer with mass between 0.01 to 0.06$~M_\odot$. Due to mixing between the core and outer envelope, the surface hydrogen content is 0.5 to 0.35, depending on the initial value of the heavy element (Z) and the initial secondary mass. We found that the majority of our computed models experience one or two hydrogen shell flashes. We found that the mass of the helium dwarf in which the hydrogen shell flash occurs depends on the chemical composition. The minimum helium white dwarf mass in which a hydrogen flash takes place is 0.213$~M_\odot$ (Z=0.003), 0.198$~M_\odot$ (Z=0.01), 0.192$~M_\odot$ (Z=0.02) or 0.183$~M_\odot$ (Z=0.03). The duration of the flashes (independent of chemical composition) is between few $\times 10^6$ years to few $\times 10^7$ years. In several flashes the white dwarf radius will increase so much that it forces the model to fill its Roche lobe again. Our calculations show that cooling history of the helium white dwarf depends dramatically on the thickness of the hydrogen layer. We show that the transition from a cooling white dwarf with a temporary stable hydrogen-burning shell to a cooling white dwarf in which almost all residual hydrogen is lost in a few thermal flashes (via Roche-lobe overflow) occurs between 0.183-0.213$~M_\odot$ (depending on the heavy element value).Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables, submitted to MNRA

Local stresses in plated structures

Imperial Users onl

Kyiv's gas strategy: closer cooperation with Gazprom or a genuine diversification. OSW Commentary No. 110, 2013-07-16

In recent months Kyiv has been intensifying its efforts to diversify Ukraine’s gas supply routes with a view to reducing the country’s dependence on imports from Russia. One of the steps which Kyiv has taken has been to make the unprecedented decision to start importing gas from its Western neighbours. In November 2012, Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz began importing gas through Poland under a two-month contract with RWE (the imports continued into 2013 under a separate deal), while in the spring of 2013 Ukraine started importing gas from Hungary. Kyiv is also currently looking into the possibility of purchasing gas from Slovakia. Furthermore, since 2010 the Ukrainian government has been working on the construction of an LNG terminal near Odesa. The authorities have declared that this will allow Ukraine to import up to 5 billion m3 of LNG a year by 2015. The government has also taken measures to increase domestic production, including from non-traditional sources, and it plans to replace gas-based with coal-based technologies in local power stations. Finally, in January 2013, the government signed a 50-year production sharing agreement with Shell. This paves the way for the development of Ukraine’s shale gas deposits

The transformation of agriculture in Ukraine: From collective farms to agroholdings. OSW Commentary No. 127, 06.02.2014

In recent years, Ukraine’s agriculture has been consistently improving and has been the only part of the country’s economy to buck the recession. According to preliminary estimates, in 2013 agricultural production increased by 13.7% - in contrast to a 4.7% decline in the industrial sector. According to official statistics, Ukraine’s industrial production was up 40% in the final months of 2013 when compared to the same period of 2012. This translated into an unexpected gain in fourth-quarter GDP growth (+3.7%) and prevented an annual drop in GDP. Crop production, and particularly the production of grain, hit a record high: in 2013, Ukraine produced 63 million tonnes of grain, outperforming its best ever harvest of 2011 (56.7 million tonnes). The value of Ukraine’s agricultural and food exports increased from US$4.3 billion in 2005 to US$17.9 billion in 2012, and currently accounts for a quarter of Ukraine’s total exports. Economic forecasts suggest that in the current marketing year (July 2013 - June 2014) Ukraine will sell more than 30 million tonnes of grain to foreign markets, making it the world’s second biggest grain exporter, after the United States

Lipofuscin-mediated photodynamic stress induces adverse changes in nanomechanical properties of retinal pigment epithelium cells

Abstract Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is an important part of the blood-retina barrier (BRB) that separates the retina from the choroid. Although melanin granules contribute to the mechanical stability of the BRB complex, it is unknown if the age pigment lipofuscin affects mechanical properties of the tissue. To address this issue the effect of sub-lethal photic stress mediated by phagocytized lipofuscin granules, isolated from RPE of human donors, on morphology and mechanical properties of ARPE-19 cells was investigated. Nanomechanical analysis using atomic force spectroscopy revealed that irradiation of cells containing lipofuscin granules with blue light induced significant softening of the cells, which was accompanied by substantial reorganization of the cell cytoskeleton due to peroxidation of cellular proteins. Our results indicate that lipofuscin-mediated photic stress can cause significant modification of the RPE cells with the potential to disturb biological function of the BRB complex