Geochemical sediment of the tropical Pinang River, Malaysia was carried out with the aim at documenting elemental concentrations and pollution level assessment. Concentration of selected heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, ...Geochemical sediment of the tropical Pinang River, Malaysia was carried out with the aim at documenting elemental concentrations and pollution level assessment. Concentration of selected heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn and Mn), rare earth elements, TOC and grain size distribution of sediments were determined at 100 m sampling interval along the river. Sediment size showed a positive correlation with ∑REE and Mn and medium correlations with TOC, Zn, Cu, Cr and Pb contents showing enrichment in the clay size fraction. Results of enrichment factor and geoaccumulation index showed that most of the elemental sources were natural (especially REE) and mostly likely represented background values. However, pollution load index revealed the higher levels of Cr, Cd, Zn and Pb, and, therefore, indicating to the anthropogenic sources (i.e. fishing activities) especially in the downstream locations. Thus, the Pinang River is classified as moderately to highly polluted.展开更多
This article explores nineteenth-century Penang＇s Hokkkien merchants and their secret society or hui-the Klan Teik Tong diande Tang）--which had a variety of roles and an extensive network. It contextualizes the merc...This article explores nineteenth-century Penang＇s Hokkkien merchants and their secret society or hui-the Klan Teik Tong diande Tang）--which had a variety of roles and an extensive network. It contextualizes the merchants＇ secret society as a transnational socioeconomic and political organization rather than as an overseas Chinese criminal group in the wider Penang area. By recovering Klan Teik Tong and its network, it can be shown how these merchants secured and mobilized labour, capital, and allies in a way that cut across linguistic, ethnic, class and state boundaries in order to establish control of coolies and the lucrative opium, tin, and rice businesses, in order to exert political influence in the colonial and indigenous milieus of the nineteenth-century Penang region. They established a social contract through their Klan Teik Tong relief activities and initiation rituals, and thus were able to recruit thousands of members who were mainly labourers. With such a substantial social force, the merchants launched organized violence against their rivals to attain dominance in opium revenue farming and tin mining businesses in Penang, Krabi, and Perak. The widespread and strategic location of the Klan Teik Tong in Burma also enabled the same merchants to monopolize the Penang-Burma rice trade. The versatility of the Klan Teik Tong＇s functions allowed them to operate as an alternative political order vis-a-vis the colonial and indigenous powers. This arrangement allowed the Hokkien merchants to gain significant political clout in confronting the Siamese and Dutch authorities.展开更多
Even though Malaysia is relatively safe from the direct path of tropical cyclones nevertheless the passage of such systems over the neighbouring seas and their tail effect present a unique challenge for forecasters. I...Even though Malaysia is relatively safe from the direct path of tropical cyclones nevertheless the passage of such systems over the neighbouring seas and their tail effect present a unique challenge for forecasters. In rare situations, tropical cyclones had made landfall on Malaysian shores such as Typhoon Vamei in 2001 and Tropical Storm Greg in 1996. Hence it is vital to forecast the severity of the heavy rainfall events associated with low pressure systems to assist the disaster management agencies in decision making. Towards this endeavour, the Malaysian Meteorological Department(MMD) utilises a nowcasting system called Radar Integrated Nowcasting System(RaINS) which uses a combination of radar data and Numerical Weather Prediction(NWP) data. RaINS was adapted from SWIRLS(Short-range Warning of Intense Rainstorms in Localised Systems) developed by the Hong Kong Observatory(HKO) and operationalised in MMD in August 2017. This paper studies the cyclonic vortex and synoptic features during the heavy rainfall event that caused major flooding in Penang, Malaysia on 5 November 2017. This paper also investigates the performance of RaINS in predicting the rain cloud distribution and intensity during that event. It is found that RaINS is capable of forecasting the rain cloud distribution and intensity reasonably well in the very short-term period of 1-3 hours. The forecasts are verified by comparing the RaINS forecast data with observed radar echo.展开更多
P02MEN’S HEALTH: AN EMERGING CONCEPT CHAL LENGES FOR MEN TODAYLouis Gooren Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsThe challenges ahead with regard to the aging male are tremendous. In the year 2...P02MEN’S HEALTH: AN EMERGING CONCEPT CHAL LENGES FOR MEN TODAYLouis Gooren Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsThe challenges ahead with regard to the aging male are tremendous. In the year 2000, there were more than 400 million people aged 65 and over in the world-projected to increase to展开更多
文摘Geochemical sediment of the tropical Pinang River, Malaysia was carried out with the aim at documenting elemental concentrations and pollution level assessment. Concentration of selected heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn and Mn), rare earth elements, TOC and grain size distribution of sediments were determined at 100 m sampling interval along the river. Sediment size showed a positive correlation with ∑REE and Mn and medium correlations with TOC, Zn, Cu, Cr and Pb contents showing enrichment in the clay size fraction. Results of enrichment factor and geoaccumulation index showed that most of the elemental sources were natural (especially REE) and mostly likely represented background values. However, pollution load index revealed the higher levels of Cr, Cd, Zn and Pb, and, therefore, indicating to the anthropogenic sources (i.e. fishing activities) especially in the downstream locations. Thus, the Pinang River is classified as moderately to highly polluted.
文摘This article explores nineteenth-century Penang＇s Hokkkien merchants and their secret society or hui-the Klan Teik Tong diande Tang）--which had a variety of roles and an extensive network. It contextualizes the merchants＇ secret society as a transnational socioeconomic and political organization rather than as an overseas Chinese criminal group in the wider Penang area. By recovering Klan Teik Tong and its network, it can be shown how these merchants secured and mobilized labour, capital, and allies in a way that cut across linguistic, ethnic, class and state boundaries in order to establish control of coolies and the lucrative opium, tin, and rice businesses, in order to exert political influence in the colonial and indigenous milieus of the nineteenth-century Penang region. They established a social contract through their Klan Teik Tong relief activities and initiation rituals, and thus were able to recruit thousands of members who were mainly labourers. With such a substantial social force, the merchants launched organized violence against their rivals to attain dominance in opium revenue farming and tin mining businesses in Penang, Krabi, and Perak. The widespread and strategic location of the Klan Teik Tong in Burma also enabled the same merchants to monopolize the Penang-Burma rice trade. The versatility of the Klan Teik Tong＇s functions allowed them to operate as an alternative political order vis-a-vis the colonial and indigenous powers. This arrangement allowed the Hokkien merchants to gain significant political clout in confronting the Siamese and Dutch authorities.
文摘Even though Malaysia is relatively safe from the direct path of tropical cyclones nevertheless the passage of such systems over the neighbouring seas and their tail effect present a unique challenge for forecasters. In rare situations, tropical cyclones had made landfall on Malaysian shores such as Typhoon Vamei in 2001 and Tropical Storm Greg in 1996. Hence it is vital to forecast the severity of the heavy rainfall events associated with low pressure systems to assist the disaster management agencies in decision making. Towards this endeavour, the Malaysian Meteorological Department(MMD) utilises a nowcasting system called Radar Integrated Nowcasting System(RaINS) which uses a combination of radar data and Numerical Weather Prediction(NWP) data. RaINS was adapted from SWIRLS(Short-range Warning of Intense Rainstorms in Localised Systems) developed by the Hong Kong Observatory(HKO) and operationalised in MMD in August 2017. This paper studies the cyclonic vortex and synoptic features during the heavy rainfall event that caused major flooding in Penang, Malaysia on 5 November 2017. This paper also investigates the performance of RaINS in predicting the rain cloud distribution and intensity during that event. It is found that RaINS is capable of forecasting the rain cloud distribution and intensity reasonably well in the very short-term period of 1-3 hours. The forecasts are verified by comparing the RaINS forecast data with observed radar echo.
文摘P02MEN’S HEALTH: AN EMERGING CONCEPT CHAL LENGES FOR MEN TODAYLouis Gooren Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsThe challenges ahead with regard to the aging male are tremendous. In the year 2000, there were more than 400 million people aged 65 and over in the world-projected to increase to
