Month: February 2021

On the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University has collaborated with Creden Asia Co.Ltd., a business information provider, to build TBS Triple C platform. The 3C represents “Cash Conversion Cycle” or financial cycle that compiles the liquidity index of all businesses across the country and, for the first time, such information is accessible to everyone without any cost.

Data from almost 500,000 companies has been collected and processed as a “TBS Triple C” index. TBS Triple C index is used to understand the liquidity of the business, especially with an economic condition that the suppliers are lacking liquidity.

“Normally, this index is used to observe liquidity of members in the Supply Chain. However, this year, Creden, a financial service provider, showed information of 500,000 companies that registered under the Ministry of Commerce in terms of national level, regional level, provincial level and business sector as each of them is distinct,” said Associate Professor Dr. Ruth Banomyong, Dean of Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University.

“Moreover, we can also look at the company’s size and found that some areas are adverse in terms of financial status or company’s scale. The biggest problem for SMEs or Start-Up is money as they need to have money or cash generation procedure in order to survive”, Dr.  Banomyong added.

Mr.Thanit Kuneepong, Business Data & Strategy, Creden Asia Co.Ltd., revealed, “In the future, the company plans to collect data from TBS Triple C and uses it to evaluate loans for businesses, to utilize for drafting governmental policy, or to assess business competitiveness. The data that the company acquired has been collected for a number of years. Therefore, this index will indicate how well large and small businesses are doing via creden.co/creditscore website.”

“When we open the website, we can look for data from all companies in Thailand. We can see who the director of the company is, when it is registered, the status of its financial, cash flow, etc,” he added.

Triple C data is available and accessible for everyone who desires to know where it stands and where the competitors are.  There are two types of published data. Firstly, macro data is the data from NESDC, Bank of Thailand, and Ministry of Commerce. Secondly, intellectual data is the consumer’s confidence survey which is based on their perceptions.

“What we lack is the knowledge of organization’s financial data since, in the past, these data are normally disclosed to the public. To be able to access these kinds of information, it will enable small and medium entrepreneurs to understand their positions in the business and among their competitors and able to improve their business strategies and growth plan,” he concluded.

Chulalongkorn University‘s Chula General Education Center (GenEd Chula), in collaboration with Pacrim Education, is offering a new elective course, “Learning and Embracing Life Skills”.

The course is based on the principles of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People, for Students” developed by the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey, founder of the FranklinCovey Institute.

The course, “Learning and Embracing Life Skills”, aims to help students increase life skills, develop the thinking process, learn skills to interact with others, and become qualified individuals who are able to accelerate, and succeed in any career.

Chula students will find out how to study with the highest efficiency while improving their leadership skills for the future.

Based on the world-acclaimed principles of ‘The 7 Habits’, students enrolled in the course will learn about proactive thinking methods, setting life goals, planning daily life activities, useful listening skills, negotiation techniques, and how to be a lifelong learner.

The United States based-Stanford University has recently published a list representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists in various disciplines from around the world.

Six scientists from Sunway University – Professor Sibrandes Poppema, Professor Edward Tiekink, Professor Saidur Rahman, Professor Mohamed Kheireddine, Professor Yau Kok Lim, and Associate Professor Dr Adarsh Kumar Pandey were named within the list.

President of Sunway University, Professor Sibrandes Poppema was listed in the subject category of immunology under the sub-field of oncology and carcinogenesis in clinical medicine. Over the years, he published over 240 articles on topics relevant to Immunology, Haematology and Oncology, which have been cited more than 18,500 times.

Professor Tiekink, Distinguished Professor and Head of Research Centre for Crystalline Materials (RCCM), School of Medical and Life Sciences was listed under the subject category for inorganic and nuclear chemistry under the sub-field of organic chemistry.

Research in the RCCM headed by Professor Tiekink pursues two key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) themes, namely SDG No. 3 Good Health and Well-being and SDG No.13 Climate Action, on the development of novel therapeutics based on metal-based drugs – to face the global challenges of drug resistance to anti-microbials, the meet the needs of curing cancer and other diseases.

“I hope to utilize the state-of-the-art facilities at Sunway University to pursue all research efforts. We are excited with the development of the Sunway Medical School as well as translating the laboratory work into clinical studies,” shared Professor Tiekink.

Professor Saidur, Distinguished Research Professor and Head of Research Centre for Nanomaterials and Energy Technology, School of Engineering and Technology was ranked in the subject category of Energy under the sub-field of Mechanical Engineering & Transports.

Professor Kheireddine, who is the Associate Dean (Research) for the School of Engineering and Technology and Head of Research Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilisation was listed in the subject category of chemical engineering.

Ranked in the subject category of artificial intelligence and image processing under sub-field of networking and telecommunications was Professor Yau from the Department of Computing and Information Technology, School of Engineering and Technology.

With the recognition, Professor Yau hopes to set up a research centre that facilitates and promotes interaction between local and international research scholars and industry to pursue academic excellence, as well as creating research opportunities for solving industrial world problems.

From the Research Centre for Nanomaterials and Energy Technology, School of Engineering and Technology, Associate Professor Dr Adarsh field of research focused on advanced energy storage materials, renewable energy technologies and nanomaterials.

Dr Adarsh believes innovation in research is the main driver of the advancement of society,  “With the recognition, I intend to bring forward my research by developing more efficient advanced energy storage materials, to provide a more efficient and affordable solar energy to society.”

International news headlines frequently portray China’s interactions with other countries in terms of potential conflict, an attempt to achieve dominance, or as part of a strategy of exploitation. But how full and realistic is this picture? And can other perspectives give a more multifaceted and useful understanding?

This September, Lingnan University’s School of Graduate Studies will be launching a new MA in China and Regional Studies. To enrich its analysis of China’s engagement with its neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as with African countries, the programme incorporates courses from a range of disciplines, including Political Science, Cultural Studies, Sociology, Economics, and Urban Studies.

“China has a vision for a new world order,” explains Programme Director Prof Yu Kar Ming. He accepts there may well still be some debate over whether the country’s intentions are benign or whether it is aiming for dominance. “But we would like to get our students thinking ahead about the types of changes that will come about due to the rise, and influence, of China.”

Features of the program

One of the unique aspects of this program is the way in which it will touch upon current issues, Prof Yu says. Some of these issues may be manifestations of longstanding bones of contention, such as the territorial disputes with Japan, or with regard to the status of Taiwan. Others are relatively new, like the US military presence in the South China Sea or, indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic.

One complication arising from the pandemic is the way in which Africa has become caught up in what has been dubbed ‘vaccine diplomacy’ – a race between the world’s great powers to deliver vaccines to less developed countries. “This has given China an opportunity to show its leadership within the region,” notes Dr Padmore A Amoah, the MA’s Associate Programme Director.

So as to provide a deeper understanding of these issues, the program will examine them in the context of international relations theory and also require students to take part in a related simulation exercise. “Students will play a role – for example, as the UN, the United States or China – to discover how a crisis should be handled,” Prof Yu says.

Dr Amoah points to another noteworthy feature of the MA.  “We also branch out to introduce the students to the cultural differences and similarities between China and other regions, and how these cultural precepts influence international relations and people-to-people engagements.”

In this regard, Lingnan’s physical and cultural location, in Hong Kong, at the nexus between East and West, gives it a unique advantage.

Not all the courses are lecture-based, some take the form of experiential learning, and some revolve around international academic conferences, featuring speakers specializing in relevant fields. “These scholars are invited to share their latest research with the students,” Dr Amoah says.

Through their course selection, students can choose to develop a concentration in China and Africa Studies or China and East Asian Studies.

Supporting an international career path

Participation in this program will equip students with the type of knowledge that enables them to critically analyze China’s global and regional political, security, technological, and economic relations in East Asia and Africa, and open up a number of employment opportunities for them.

The knowledge graduates gain can be of tremendous use to those seeking to work in a wide range of fields, including the civil service, journalism, and publishing, international private or public sector organizations, NGOs, education, tourism, cultural organizations, and public relations.

Dr Amoah offers a more specific example. He says the program could be very attractive to, say, engineers from the East Asia region who may be planning on working in, somewhere such as, Africa. “They may want to understand how these African societies operate and how they can fit in better.”

Flexible and resilient learning modes

The MA in China and Regional Studies can be pursued in a one-year full-time or two-year part-time mode, but, given that there are still uncertainties around the future course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has even greater flexibility built into its structure.

Currently, Lingnan is successfully implementing a hybrid model of teaching, so students can choose to pursue their learning online or in-person on campus, and the university is constantly working to further enhance this approach.

Circumstances permitting, students on this program will undertake fieldwork and site visits in the Asia Pacific region for their research projects. But if it proves impossible to make cross-border trips, these elements can be replaced with virtual tours and online alternatives.

“We also have a Teaching and Learning center to support our blended learning and online teaching delivery, and we have a Quality Assurance Committee in place to monitor our teaching quality,” Prof Yu adds.

Amidst the various intersecting crises of 2020 – especially the total lockdown experienced worldwide due to Covid-19, UiTM Solar Research Institute (SRI) has brought upon the key side of the climate change issues in its 2nd Climate Smart and Disaster Resilient ASEAN (CSDRA) Virtual International Conference 2020. UiTM Solar Research Institute (SRI) and Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute (ECCRI), Philippines, held this one-day international conference on 26th October 2020 with the support from the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) Malaysia, ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) .

This one-day international conference was determined to uphold the resolution for discussing an urgent, powerful, high-impact commentary on the environmental issue among the ASEAN countries.

With the theme to “Empowering Leaders for Climate Smart and Disaster Resilient ASEAN”, this event brought together leading academic scientists, researchers, scholars, government agencies, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders to share their experiences and research results on aspects of climate change and disaster risks in South East Asia.

It provides a trans-disciplinary platform for relevant stakeholders to present and discuss innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered in the field of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and management.

Officiated by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation, Prof. Dr Mohd Nazip Suratman, and moderated by the CSDRA Chair, Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nofri Yenita Dahlan, the morning forum began with a perceptive insight of climate change issue by Sci. Dpl. Glenn Banaguas from ECCRI Philippines and Dr. Bjorn Santos, the University President of the De La Salle Araneta University Philippines.

An insightful special message was conveyed by Datuk Ir. Dr. Siti Hamisah Tapsir, the General Secretary from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia and H.E. William Dar, the Secretary of Department of Agriculture Philippines.

The first forum kicked-off with the Climate Change Policy and Governance topic and the aim was to demonstrate the importance of programs and projects that are aligned to the policies in order to strengthen climate and disaster resilience.

Moderated by Dr. Nam Hoang Nguyen from Vietnam, three speakers from the policy and governance background, Mr. Beni Suryadi, Manager of ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE & ACCEPT), Mr. Ahmad Farid Mohammed, Deputy Undersecretary of Climate Change Division from Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) and Dr. Ria Persad, Founder and CEO of StatWeather and Fellow, Cambridge Commonwealth Society get together in this one-hour discussion.

The event continued with the second forum with the topic on Climate Smart Science, Technology and Innovation for Low Carbon Technologies moderated by Dr. Kampanart Silva from Thailand. This second session was deliberated by Ir. Dr. Sanjayan Velautham, Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Malaysia, Prof. Dr. Sulaiman Shaari, Secretary General of ASIAN Photovoltaic Industry Association (APIA) and Dr. Khamarrul Azahari Razak, Director of Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Center, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

The second session highlighted the research that supports climate change adaptation and low carbon technologies management strategies and provided information on the innovative technologies and smart design.

The event was then forged ahead by the last forum session moderated by Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan from Indonesia with the topic of Finance, Investment and Grants for Climate Smart and Disaster Resilient. This last session aimed to demonstrate the importance of accessing international and local funds to attain resiliency with the help of development partners and institutions.

It also aimed to incentivize the private sector to invest in green technologies, and climate-smart and disaster-resilient platforms, infrastructures, and services. The dialogue was delivered by Ahmad Zafuan Mohamed Kassim, National Expert from United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Quintin Pastrana, President of WEnergy Power Pilipinas and Arch. Giovanni Carino, President and CEO of Prodigyae Inc.

CSDRA 2020 concluded with ten parallel sessions for 70 research papers. This international conference on the climate-smart and disaster-resilient is the first of its kind focusing on the climate change issue in ASEAN, with collaborative efforts from various ASEAN countries.

The CSDRA was not only the platform to share knowledge and experience but also as the beginning of a long and fruitful cooperation and networking among fellow researchers, government agencies, and industries in ASEAN.

First-year students of M.Sc Nursing and Medical-Surgical Nursing, Chitkara University under the guidance of Dr. Vinay Kumari, Vice Principal, Department Of Nursing organized an event on “World Cancer Day”.

The theme for the event was, ”I am and I will” and was organized to spread awareness about cancer.

The event talked about how people, as a community, can work together to reduce cancer risk factors. They can overcome barriers through early diagnosis, treatment, and palliative care. The event also addressed how people can work together to improve cancer control and achieve global objective to reduce premature mortality from cancer and NCDs.

There were various activities organized in the Community Health Centre, Kalomajra, Rajpura and a virtual eQuiz was arranged for undergraduate Nursing students.

It came out to be a successful event that did not just help in spreading knowledge but creating awareness as well.

Professor Sun Young Park’s team, School of Earth System and Sciences at Kyungpook National University, reports in international joint research with Bristol University in the U.K. and other researchers that Freon Gas (CFC-11), which had been increasing in eastern China, decreased in 2019 and recovered to pre-2013 levels. The study was published on February 10 (local time) in Nature, a world-renowned international journal.

Under the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement on the production and regulation of ozone-destructive substances, Freon gas has been banned since 2010, but it has been reported to academia that emissions are increasing again globally in 2018. However, the exact area and amount of emissions have not been determined.

In this regard, Professor Park’s team announced to Nature in 2019 that since 2013, Freon gas emissions have increased by more than 7,000 tons per year in eastern China, which is the result of new products and uses not reported by the UNEP(UN Environment Programme) and the Ozone Secretariat.

In the latest study, Professor Park’s team analyzed the concentration of prion gas in the atmosphere on Jeju Island and Hateruma Island in Japan using an atmospheric chemistry model. As a result, it confirmed that Freon gas emissions in eastern China decreased to pre-2013 levels in 2019. This represents about 60% of the global reduction in Freon gas emissions in 2019.

Also, Professor Park’s team confirmed that emissions from materials involved in Freon gas production in eastern China have been higher than expected since 2013 based on previous reports such as the United Nations, and that emission reductions occurred between 2017 and 2018, a year earlier than Freon gas reduction.

It explained that Freon gas was produced and used even after 2010 when production was banned, and that production has been reduced and suspended since 2017.

Professor Sun Young Park said, “It is very encouraging that the global environmental threatening Freon gas emissions have decreased again. The immediate response of academia, the international community and the Chinese government to the increase in Freon gas emissions has not slowed down.”

“However, Freon gas emissions observed over the years are likely to be part of the total production, and additional emissions from buildings and equipment filled with Freon gas could continue for decades to come,” she added.

The study was conducted with support by the Ministry of Science and ICT and National Research Foundation of Korea.

The researchers of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) together with their colleagues from Russian and foreign scientific centers have found a way to estimate the temperature of a chemical reaction activated by pseudo-particles – plasmons.

Two organic molecules served as ultra-small sensors or thermometers. According to scientists, the experiments are of great fundamental importance: beyond the mere fact of evaluating the temperature with the use of molecules, it was possible to demonstrate that properties of plasmon serving as an activator of chemical reactions depend not only on thermal effects. The results of the study were published in Chemical Science journal (IF: 9, 346; Q1).

Plasmon is a pseudo-particle that represents a combination of vibrating electrons and an associated electromagnetic field. Plasmons originate from nanoscale solid-state bodies, in the vicinity of their surface. Their use as chemical catalysts makes it possible to carry out transformations at a room temperature under the action of sunlight.

“That is, if the reaction normally proceeds, for example, at 100°C, then using the plasmon energy allows it to be carried out at a room temperature. This is both more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. But why does plasmon trigger chemical reactions? How does it promote them? These apparently simple questions provoke heated discussions in the scientific community; there is no an unambiguous answer to them, and the catalytic nature of plasmon is not clear. We are trying to find answers,” Pavel Postnikov, Associate Professor at the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, one of the contributors to the paper says.

“The results published by our research team in the Chemical Science journal have become a big commitment.”

According to the main theories, plasmons play the role of catalysts due to their thermal effects, or, to the contrary, their function is in no way related to temperature. In the first case, a metal nanoparticle acts as a small nanoboiler. It heats molecules locally and for a short period of time, but this heating cannot be traced via standard methods, it is simply invisible.

“Some researchers agree that a combination of different effects plays a key role. Our team is among them. In the course of our previous work, we have already questioned the pivotal role of heating. Besides, we needed a way to measure the reaction temperature in the vicinity of a single molecule to understand whether there was a temperature build-up or not,” the scientist says.

“Researchers previously used physical methods, but we first proposed the use of specific molecules – alkoxyamines – as sensors or thermometers. The experiment was carried out using a well-studied reaction of their homolysis. This represents a bond-breaking reaction; in this case, two particles – radicals – are obtained from the alkoxyamine molecule,” Pavel Postnikov adds.

To conduct the experiment, the researchers took gold nanoparticles, to which they chemically “tied” molecules of alkoxyamines having different chemical structures. Then, they were irradiated with a laser to “trigger” the action of plasmons (they are generated under the action of light) and, accordingly, the reaction of breaking bonds within alkoxyamine molecules. It turned out that two molecules decomposed at different rates, and the local temperature was calculated from the reaction rate. For one molecule, the temperature was 96°C, while for the other – 118°C.

“What does this temperature difference tell us? Since the molecules of alkoxyamines are different in structure, they should react differently without heating, and when heated — at the same rate. That is, if the plasmon worked only as a boiler, and the only point of its work was to heat the molecule, then the reaction temperature would be the same. Nevertheless, it is different, so it means that the plasmon does something else to speed up the reaction. What exactly —we’ll have to find out,” he says.

It is a serious key question, the answer to which will make it possible to understand the mechanism of plasmon operation better and then to predict and control the process. Whereas, it will become a fundamental basis for developing new methods and obtaining materials,” Pavel Postnikov explains.

The contributors to the paper include the researchers from Aix-Marseille University (France), the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (Czech Republic), and N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry Russian Academy of Sciences. The research was supported by a grant from the TPU Competitiveness Enhancement Program.