Dependencia del Índice de Bonos de Mercados Emergentes en Sudeste Asiático

El objetivo es analizar relaciones de dependencia dinámica en el riesgo-país del sudeste asiático, reconociendo un comportamiento no-lineal, con dependencia asintótica y valores extremos. El método de investigación emplea el enfoque de cópulas para estudiar los índices de bonos de mercados emergentes (EMBI, por sus siglas en inglés emerging market bond index) de China, Filipinas, Indonesia, Malasia, Sri-Lanka y Vietnam entre febrero-2013 y marzo-2020. Los resultados empíricos confirman cambios variantes en las estructuras de dependencia cuya dinámica se estima mediante ventanas rodantes de 252 días. Los hallazgos permiten identificar los momentos de cambio de tales relaciones, así como reafirmar la supremacía regional del mercado chino. La originalidad del estudio, al contemplar elementos característicos de series financieras en mercados emergentes, reside en que puede servir en la elaboración de portafolios diversificados. El carácter subregional de la muestra utilizada limita la validez externa de las conclusiones

Application of LWD Multipole Sonic for Quantitative Cement Evaluation – Well Integrity in the Norwegian Continental Shelf

One of the crucial components of well integrity evaluation in offshore drilling is to determine the cement bond quality assuring proper hydraulic sealing. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) an industry standard as informative reference imposes verification of cement length and potential barriers using bonding logs. Traditionally, for the last 50 years, wireline (WL) sonic tools have been extensively used for this purpose. However, the applicability of logging-while-drilling (LWD) sonic tools for quantitative cement evaluation was explored in the recent development drilling campaign on the Dvalin Field in the Norwegian Sea, owing to significant advantages on operational efficiency and tool conveyance in any well trajectory. Cement bond evaluation from conventional peak-to-peak amplitude method has shown robust results up to bond indexes of 0.6 for LWD sonic tools. Above this limit, the casing signal is smaller than the collar signal and the amplitude method loses sensitivity to bonding. This practical challenge in the LWD realm was overcome through the inclusion of attenuation rate measurements, which responds accordingly in higher bonding environments. The two methods are used in a hybrid approach providing a full range quantitative bond index (QBI) introduced by Izuhara et al. (2017). In order to conform with local requirements related to well integrity and to ascertain the QBI potential from LWD monopole sonic, a wireline cement bond log (CBL) was acquired in the first well of the campaign for comparison. This enabled the strategic deployment of LWD QBI service in subsequent wells. LWD sonic monopole data was acquired at a controlled speed of 900ft/h. The high-fidelity waveforms were analyzed in a suitable time window and both amplitude- and attenuation-based bond indexes were derived. The combined hybrid bond index showed an excellent match with the wireline reference CBL, both in zones of high as well as lower cement bonding. The presence of formation arrivals was also in good correlation with zones of proper bonding distinguishable on the QBI results. This established the robustness of the LWD cement logging and ensured its applicability in the rest of the campaign which was carried out successfully. While the results from LWD cement evaluation service are omnidirectional, it comes with a wide range of benefits related to rig cost or conveyance in tough borehole trajectories. Early evaluation of cement quality by LWD sonic tools helps to provide adequate time for taking remedial actions if necessary. The LWD sonic as part of the drilling BHA enables this acquisition and service in non-dedicated runs, with the possibility of multiple passes for observing time-lapse effects. Also, the large sizes of LWD tools relative to the wellbore ensures a lower signal attenuation in the annulus and more effective stabilization, thereby providing a reliable bond index.

Egypt weathers COVID-19 blow but debt risks loom large

Significance The IMF praised Egypt’s “resilience” to the COVID-19 shock and encouraged Cairo to maintain its focus on fiscal consolidation while broadening structural reforms -- mainly to ease investors’ access to key opportunities in the economy -- that will help “unleash Egypt’s enormous growth potential in the medium term”. Impacts Egypt will need to go to the market again in 2021/22 through both conventional bonds and sukuk. The return of Russian tourists could generate USD3.5bn in revenues and is seen as critical to a recovery in the battered tourism sector. Egypt's inclusion in the FTSE Russell frontier index and JP Morgan’s emerging markets bond index could trigger large currency inflows.

THE BOND STRENGTH OF STEEL BAR BASE ON RIB GEOMETRY BAR IN PULLOUT TEST

This experiment's objective is to prove that the reinforcing rib's form contributes to its bond strength. The specimen is the concrete cubes measuring 150 × 150 × 150 mm; bar installed in the center of the concrete cube. Bars use 13, 16, and 19 mm diameters. For comparison, the experiment was also carried out on plain reinforcement diameter with 12 mm, 16 mm, and 19 mm. Concrete compression is fc' 34 MPa. The pullout test was also performed to increase the load in stages at a 200 kg/minute speed. Loading stopped if the reinforcement yielded, split concrete, or slipped bar. The experiment uses ASTM standards ASTM C234-91a. The study results are the bond strength on reinforcement with the surrounding concrete. Bond strength in the plain bar is lower than deformed. The reinforcement of steep rib compared to fishbone bond strength values incline to be the same. The ratio of the bond strength of plain compared to deformed is 15% - 18%. The bond index of the steep rib and fishbone rib between 0.11 - 0.16 so that the bond stress obtained is also relatively the same. The failure pattern that occurs is determined based on the bond stress-slip graph. There are two types of collapse in this experiment, namely pullout and splitting damage. The failure of each specimen based on the diameter and shape of the rib varies greatly. The splitting damage is seen visually only in the specimen of the D19 fishbone rib.

Can Cryptocurrency, Gold and Bonds Play a Role as a Safe Haven for the Indonesian Capital Market?

The purpose of this research to test the cryptocurrency, gold and bonds as safe haven assets to Indonesian capital market. The data used in this study is the daily closing data of cryptocurrency, gold (GOLDIDR) and the Indonesian Government Bond Index (IGBI) during the period on August 2015 to December 2018 obtained from Investing, Yahoo Finance, and Spindices. The analysis of the data is used Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Quantile Regression (QREG). The results found that ethereum can be a safe haven. While bitcoin, ripple, gold, and the Indonesian Government Bond Index (IGBI) cannot be a safe haven for the Indonesian capital market.

The Global Green Bond Market in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper summarizes the relevant researches in the area of the green bond market within the perspective of the performance of the global green bond market in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the rapid expansion of the green bond market during the last decade, this market has also experienced the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researches on the effect of COVID-19 and its induced crisis on the green bond markets are still fragmentary; therefore, the main purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global green bond market. To reach the purpose, the methods of literature analysis, and correlation-regression analysis are used. In the first section of the paper, the research problem is presented; in the second part the analysis of academic literature is conducted; in the third part the design of the research is described, and in the fourth part the results of the assessment of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the global green bond market are discussed. The results of the research revealed that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have a negative impact on the performance of the S&P Green Bond Index. The market reaction to deaths caused by COVID-19 infection proved to be stronger than the reaction to confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection. However, after a sufficiently significant negative shift, which was observed in the first quarter of 2020, the S&P Green Bond Index regained its upward trend, which continued for the rest of the year.

Biodegradation of Unpretreated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Stenotrophomonas sp. and Achromobacter sp., Isolated From Waste Dumpsite and Drilling Fluid

Exploring the catabolic repertoire of natural bacteria for biodegradation of plastics is one of the priority areas of biotechnology research. Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is recalcitrant and poses serious threats to our environment. The present study explored the LDPE biodegradation potential of aerobic bacteria enriched from municipal waste dumpsite and bentonite based drilling fluids from a deep subsurface drilling operation. Considerable bacterial growth coupled with significant weight loss of the LDPE beads (∼8%), change in pH to acidic condition and biofilm cell growth around the beads (CFU count 105–106/cm2) were noted for two samples (P and DF2). The enriched microbial consortia thus obtained displayed high (65–90%) cell surface hydrophobicity, confirming their potential toward LDPE adhesion as well as biofilm formation. Two LDPE degrading bacterial strains affiliated to Stenotrophomonas sp. and Achromobacter sp. were isolated as pure culture from P and DF2 enrichments. 16S rRNA gene sequences of these isolates indicated their taxonomic novelty. Further biodegradation studies provided strong evidence toward the LDPE metabolizing ability of these two organisms. Atomic Fore Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed considerable damage (in terms of formation of cracks, grooves, etc.) on the micrometric surface of the LDPE film. Analysis of the average roughness (Ra), root mean square roughness (Rq), average height (Rz), maximum peak height (Rp), and maximum valley depth (Rv) (nano-roughness parameters) through AFM indicated 2–3 fold increase in nano-roughness of the LDPE film. FTIR analysis suggested incorporation of alkoxy (1000–1090 cm–1), acyl (1220 cm–1), nitro (1500–1600 cm–1), carbonyl (1720 cm–1) groups into the carbon backbone, formation of N-O stretching (1360 cm–1) and chain scission (905 cm–1) in the microbially treated LDPEs. Increase in carbonyl index (15–20 fold), double bond index (1.5–2 fold) and terminal double bond index (30–40 fold) confirmed that biodegraded LDPEs had undergone oxidation, vinylene formation and chain scission. The data suggested that oxidation and dehydrogenation could be the key steps allowing formation of low molecular weight products suitable for their further mineralization by the test bacteria. The study highlighted LDPE degrading ability of natural bacteria and provided the opportunity for their development in plastic remediation process.

Decreased R:FR Ratio in Incident White Light Affects the Composition of Barley Leaf Lipidome and Freezing Tolerance in a Temperature-Dependent Manner

In cereals, C-repeat binding factor genes have been defined as key components of the light quality-dependent regulation of frost tolerance by integrating phytochrome-mediated light and temperature signals. This study elucidates the differences in the lipid composition of barley leaves illuminated with white light or white light supplemented with far-red light at 5 or 15 °C. According to LC-MS analysis, far-red light supplementation increased the amount of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol species 36:6, 36:5, and 36:4 after 1 day at 5 °C, and 10 days at 15 °C resulted in a perturbed content of 38:6 species. Changes were observed in the levels of phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine under white light supplemented with far-red light illumination at 15 °C, whereas robust changes were observed in the amount of several phosphatidylserine species at 5 °C. At 15 °C, the amount of some phosphatidylglycerol species increased as a result of white light supplemented with far-red light illumination after 1 day. The ceramide (42:2)-3 content increased regardless of the temperature. The double-bond index of phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine ceramide together with total double-bond index changed when the plant was grown at 15 °C as a function of white light supplemented with far-red light. white light supplemented with far-red light increased the monogalactosyldiacylglycerol/diacylglycerol ratio as well. The gene expression changes are well correlated with the alterations in the lipidome.