Asian and global financial crises' effect on Malaysia CO2 emission

Malaysian economy has experienced two financial crises in less than 12 years.The Asian financial crisis started in Thailand on July 1997, which intensively affected the Malaysian Ringgit within days.The rate of the Malaysian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped to -7.36 at its nadir in 1998.In 2008, the global financial crisis hit Western countries and rapidly affected the economic growth of Malaysia.The GDP growth decreased by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2008, and reached -1.51 in a particular situation in 2009. Through a qualitative analysis, this paper investigates the CO2 emission during these financial crises by focusing on three main fuel CO2 emission, namely, coal, natural gas, and petroleum.This study shows that the rate of CO2 emission growth in Malaysia decreased despite the negative GDP during both crises, but the carbon emission trend did not decline

Comparison of biomarker responses following one dose of benzo-a-pyrene administered to three native Australian fish species

The Australian native fish pink snapper (Pagrus auratus Forster) is currently used as a bioindicator species for laboratory and field studies, but is often unavailable from hatcheries, or collected in limited numbers in the field. Consequently, mulloway (Argyrosomus hololepidotus Lacepede) and barramundi (Lates calcarifer Bloch), two Australian native fish species, were tested in an exploratory study as potential bioindicator surrogates to pink snapper. Experimental fish were i.p. injected with benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a well known biomarker inducer in fish, at a dose of 1.0f. µg/g of fish. Physiological indices i.e. condition factor (CF) and liver somatic index (LSI) and a suite of biomarkers including ethoxyresorufin-0-deethylase (EROD) activity, biliary metabolites, serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (SOH), DNA damage (Comet assay) and heat shock proteins HSP 70 were explored in the three test species. Mulloway and barramundi showed a higher response in biliary metabolite levels than pink snapper, while pink snapper showed a higher EROD induction potential relative to mulloway and barramundi. Mulloway appeared to be sensitive to hepatotoxicants, as the chemical injury sustained by the liver resulted in the release of SOH in the bloodstream of this species. All three species were significantly responsive to DNA damage. When injected with BaP, the three species showed similar response for CF, LSI and HSP 70. Initial results indicate that mulloway and barramundi are suitable surrogate bioindicator species for pink snapper in relation to exposure to BaP

Low cycle fatigue assessment tool for wrinkled energy pipelines

The majority of energy pipeline systems are buried. They may be subject to differential ground movement which as a consequence impose axial forces and bending moments onto pipeline sections that may result in local deformation of the pipeline section such as ovalization, wrinkling and buckling. For these pipelines with local plastic damage, there exists limited knowledge and guidance on the pipe mechanical integrity and remaining low-cycle fatigue life. This uncertainty influences management considerations with respect to pipe operations, repair and intervention that have potential implications for cost and safety. Using continuum finite element methods, a numerical simulation tool was developed to simulate the local damage, using an analogue “strip test” coupon, and assess the remaining low-cycle fatigue life response. The numerical modelling procedures were calibrated using third-party data and experimental investigations performed in this study, which is a unique contribution on this subject. The low-cycle fatigue response was influenced by the residual strain and incremental damage associated with strain energy during a loading cycle, which was characteristic of a Coffin-Manson type power law response. The low-cycle fatigue response was also correlated with other key parameters including damage radius of curvature to pipe wall thickness ratio, imposed stroke amplitude and opening or closing mode of deformation. Recommendations to refine the numerical modelling procedures and further establish confidence in the use of the analogue “strip test” for the assessment of low-cycle fatigue response of damaged pipelines is provided

Correlation between the concentration of air pollutants (CO, SO2 and NO2) and pulmonary function

زمینه و هدف: آلاینده های استنشاقی نقش مهمی در بیماری های ریوی دارند. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی سطح آلاینده های استنشاقی دی اکسید نیتروژن، دی اکسید گوگرد، منواکسید کربن در اراک (شهر صنعتی و آلوده) و خمین (غیر صنعتی و غیر آلوده) و تعیین چگونگی اثر آن بر عملکرد ریه در مقطع زمان اسپیرومتری انجام شد. روش بررسی: دو شهر اراک و خمین به ترتیب به ده و پنج منطقه تقسیم و آلاینده های استنشاقی دی اکسید نیتروژن، دی اکسید گوگرد و منواکسید کربن اندازه گیری شدند. همزمان به طور تصادفی در فصول مختلف سال 522 نفر از بالغ غیر سیگاری خمین و 547 نفر از اراک انتخاب و از آنان اسپیرومتری به عمل آمد و از شاخص کیفیت هوا (PSI=Poliution standard index) برای ارزیـــابی کیفیت هوا استفاده شد. میـانگین غلظت آلاینده ها و شاخص پراکندگی ظرفیت های ریوی با آزمون های آماری آنالیز رگرسیون مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفتند. یافته ها: میانگینPSI اراک 54/14±83/101 و خمین 58/18±17/89 بود (05/0>P). حداکثر جریان بازدمی (PEF) و ظرفیت حیاتی فعال (FVC) در اراک به طور معنی داری کمتر از خمین بود (05/0

Asian and Global Financial Crises' Effect on Malaysia Co2 Emission

Malaysian economy has experienced two financial crises in less than 12 years. The Asian financial crisis started in Thailand on July 1997, which intensively affected the Malaysian Ringgit within days. The rate of the Malaysian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped to -7.36 at its nadir in 1998. In 2008, the global financial crisis hit Western countries and rapidly affected the economic growth of Malaysia. The GDP growth decreased by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2008, and reached -1.51 in a particular situation in 2009. Through a qualitative analysis, this paper investigates the CO2 emission during these financial crises by focusing on three main fuel CO2 emission, namely, coal, natural gas, and petroleum. This study shows that the rate of CO2 emission growth in Malaysia decreased despite the negative GDP during both crises, but the carbon emission trend did not decline. Keywords: CO2 emission, gross domestic product (GDP), global financial crisis (GFC), Asian financial crisis (AFC) JEL Classifications: G01, Q4

Universal Financial Crisis and Association of Southeast Asian Nations CO2 Emission

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes 10 nations in Southeast Asia. Its population is approximately 600 million people with combined nominal GDP had grown to more than US$ 2.3 trillion, almost equal to the eighth largest economy in the world. Many strong economies worldwide suffered from the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 which resulted dipping in global CO2 emission. This study surveyed the consumption trend of petrol, coal, and natural gas as main carbon emissions in all 10 countries from 2002 to 2012. Economic growth and its effect on CO2 emission were illustrated. Although the effect of global financial economy varies in the different selected economies, the trend of CO2 emission was not dependent on gross domestic production (GDP) changes. In contrast to global emission, the 2008 GFC and the decrease in GDP did not result in the reduction of CO2 emission among ASEAN members. Keywords: CO2 emission, Major Asian Countries (MAC), Gross Domestic Production (GDP), Global Financial Crisis (GFC) JEL Classifications: F64, G01, Q

Optical Characterization of Polyvinyl alcohol - Ammonium Nitrate Polymer Electrolytes Films

Polyvinyl alcohol – Ammonium Nitrate polymer electrolyte films were prepared by casting method. UV-Vis Double Beam Spectrophotometer in the wavelength range (190-1100) nm were used to investigate the optical properties. The optical constants such us, transmission spectra, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant, optical band gaps, and optical conductance are found. It was found that the energy band gaps are decreased upon the increase of salts concentration. The values of the width of the tails of localized states in the forbidden gap of the films obtained from Urbach plots are varied from 0.64 to 1.16 eV. The real and imaginary part of dielectric constant of the polymer electrolyte films increases with increasing NH4NO3 concentration. The dielectric constant shows decreases abruptly in the wavelength (235-260) nm, and finally becomes constant with increase wavelength. Keywords: optical energy band gap; optical conductance; refractive index; extinction coefficient