13,137 research outputs found
Confucius Institute at Universitas Al Azhar, Jakarta the Unseen Power of China
China's soft power is a difficult concept to measure if the Confucius Institute is the only source relied on. Joseph Nye's concept of soft power puts a strong emphasis on āthe power of attractionā as a tool to persuade or āto shape the preferences of othersā in the worlds of business and politics. To understand how this soft power - or the Confucius Institute - works, we have to determine the āobservableā power of the āintangibleā attraction embedded in it. This observable but intangible attraction is assumed to be āembeddedāin the language and culture offered by the Institute, namely so-called āshared valuesā. However, without having attended its classes, it is difficult to see which values are being shared with the local students. Despite this handicap, it is very apparent that the image of China itself has acted as an attraction. An attraction to China was visible already, even before the Confucius Institute was established. For Indonesians, China is a big country which has exerted its power there for a long time through its diaspora and/or exports. Therefore, the Confucius Institute is just one of the many forms of Chinese-ness within their purview. Certainly, the Confucius Institute might have assisted in adjusting negative impressions and expelling some of the reservations the Indonesians have about China. Nevertheless, its influence extends to only a limited number of people who are closely engaged with the Institute
Munawir Aziz, Lasem Kota Tiongkok Kecil; Interaksi Tionghoa, Arab, dan Jawa dalam Silang Budaya Pesisiran. YOGYAKARTA: Ombak, 2014, 212 Pp. ISBN: 9786022581666. Price: IDR 50,000 (Soft Cover).
Heterogeneity, Politics of Ethnicity, and Multiculturalism What is a Viable Framework for Indonesia?
Indonesia is a plural society that consists of several hundred ethnic and sub-ethnic groups. One of its generic characteristics is heterogeneity. In the last ten years after the implementation of regional autonomy, we have witnessed the emergence of strong ethnic and religiously flavoured local identity politics in various places in Indonesia that created open and vicious conflicts. This periodical violence exploded especially during the election of district and provincial heads. The intimate relation multiculturalism, with the actual political praxis of everyday life as an alternative to the existing paradigm of the āhomogenizationā of nationhood, has not been discussed. I believe it is time to discuss the strategic junctures between heterogeneity, politics of ethnicity (and religion) and multiculturalism as well as their possible realization at the local and national levels in order to find a viable framework for a future Indonesia
Tunable negative permeability in a three-dimensional superconducting metamaterial
We report on highly tunable radio frequency (rf) characteristics of a
low-loss and compact three dimensional (3D) metamaterial made of
superconducting thin film spiral resonators. The rf transmission spectrum of a
single element of the metamaterial shows a fundamental resonance peak at
24.95 MHz that shifts to a 25 smaller frequency and becomes
degenerate when a 3D array of such elements is created. The metamaterial shows
an \emph{in-situ} tunable narrow frequency band in which the real part of the
effective permeability is negative over a wide range of temperature, which
reverts to gradually near-zero and positive values as the superconducting
critical temperature is approached. This metamaterial can be used for
increasing power transfer efficiency and tunability of electrically small
rf-antennas.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
The cytoplasmic adaptor protein Caskin mediates Lar signal transduction during Drosophila motor axon guidance
The multiprotein complexes that receive and transmit axon pathfinding cues during development are essential to circuit generation. Here, we identify and characterize the Drosophila sterile Ī±-motif (SAM) domain-containing protein Caskin, which shares homology with vertebrate Caskin, a CASK [calcium/calmodulin-(CaM)-activated serine-threonine kinase]-interacting protein. Drosophila caskin (ckn) is necessary for embryonic motor axon pathfinding and interacts genetically and physically with the leukocyte common antigen-related (Lar) receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase. In vivo and in vitro analyses of a panel of ckn loss-of-function alleles indicate that the N-terminal SAM domain of Ckn mediates its interaction with Lar. Like Caskin, Liprin-Ī± is a neuronal adaptor protein that interacts with Lar via a SAM domain-mediated interaction. We present evidence that Lar does not bind Caskin and Liprin-Ī± concurrently, suggesting they may assemble functionally distinct signaling complexes on Lar. Furthermore, a vertebrate Caskin homolog interacts with LAR family members, arguing that the role of ckn in Lar signal transduction is evolutionarily conserved. Last, we characterize several ckn mutants that retain Lar binding yet display guidance defects, implying the existence of additional Ckn binding partners. Indeed, we identify the SH2/SH3 adaptor protein Dock as a second Caskin-binding protein and find that Caskin binds Lar and Dock through distinct domains. Furthermore, whereas ckn has a nonredundant function in Lar-dependent signaling during motor axon targeting, ckn and dock have overlapping roles in axon outgrowth in the CNS. Together, these studies identify caskin as a neuronal adaptor protein required for axon growth and guidance
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