Production and characterization of activated carbon from wood wastes

Cedarwood (Cedrela Angustifolia) and teak (Tectona Grandis) woods are typically used for furniture manufacture because they have high durability, are light and easy to work. During these manufacturing process, large amount of these wastes is generated causing disposal environmental problems. In this paper, the residual wastes (sawdust) of Cedar (C) and Teak (T) are transformed into an activated material. The chemical composition of both biomass (C and T) was determinate by TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis). Activated materials were characterized in surface area following the BET (Brunauer, Emmett and Teller) method, morphology using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and to know their functional groups a FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) analysis was done. Their adsorption capacity was evaluated by removal of Methylene Blue (MB) and Congo Red (CR) from aqueous solutions. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Psychological and Pedagogical Foundations for Future Seafarers’ English-Language Communicative Competency Development

The general tendency of the present to regard the foreign language as a socially and personally important factor steps up the possibilities for the specialist’s self-realization and ensures his career success. It should be noted that a good command of the English language, as future seafarers’ working language and a universal means for their mutual understanding during professional and everyday communication on board a vessel takes a key role. Seafarers’ maritime English communicative competence is undoubtedly one of the fundamental indicators of their general professional competency as well as an essential feature of their identity with the profession

Technology responsiveness for digital preservation: a model

Digital preservation may be defined as the cumulative actions undertaken by an organisation or individual to ensure that digital content is usable across generations of information technology. As technological change occurs, the digital preservation community must detect relevant technology developments, determine their implications for preserving digital content, and develop timely and appropriate responses to take full advantage of progress and minimize obsolescence. This thesis discusses the results of an investigation of technology responsiveness for digital preservation. The research produced a technology response model that defines the roles, functions, and content component for technology responsiveness. The model built on the results of an exploration of the nature and meaning of technological change and an evaluation of existing technology responses that might be adapted for digital preservation. The development of the model followed the six-step process defined by constructive research methodology, an approach that is most commonly used in information technology research and that is extensible to digital preservation research. This thesis defines the term technology responsiveness as the ability to develop continually effective responses to ongoing technological change through iterative monitoring, assessment, and response using the technology response model for digital preservation

Women in the Middle East, 1250-1920

Most of the studies on women in the Middle East between 1250 and 1920 depend on literary material, documents, court records, and, to some extent, accounts of European visitors. Although feminists are showing new interest in studying women’s lives during this period, the picture of Middle Eastern (ME) women is still inadequate. This is partly because almost all the descriptions of ME women’s lives are written by men; a few are written by European females who visited the area

The Rise of Fundamentalism and the Role of the ‘State’ in the Specific Political Context of Palestine

One notable feature of the Islamist discourse is that, despite appearances, it is not monolithic. Within the main discourse, there are multiple discourses that implicitly, if not openly, challenge each other to some degree while adhering to the main lines of their common discourse. Badran1 believes that we need to adopt a fl exible defi nition of Islamism because such an approach allows us to understand the ambivalences and contradictions within this discourse; it even enables us to ‘see the more liberal and progressive’ signals in this phenomenon. It helps us to see the ‘ways in which Islamism is being challenged and eroded from within and thus bears some seeds of its own destruction’

KAJIAN PENGETAHUAN, SIKAP DAN TINDAKAN PETERNAK KERBAU TERHADAP DAMPAK KETERPAPARAN FLY ASH DI DESA SEKITAR PLTU NAGAN RAYA

KAJIAN PENGETAHUAN, SIKAP DAN TINDAKAN PETERNAK KERBAUTERHADAP DAMPAKKETERPAPARAN FLY ASH DI DESA SEKITAR PLTU NAGAN RAY

Flexibility versus rigidity in the practice of Islamic Family law

The last decades have witnessed a sustained critique of the mainstream Orientalist notion that classical Islamic family law was rigid, inflexible, and homogeneous. Many historians have used innovative methods to demonstrate that jurists and judges in precodification times enjoyed the intellectual space to translate the principles of the Qur an and Sunna into socially workable rules. Yet, perhaps unwittingly, these authors have presented classical Islamic family law as flexible by contrasting it with postcodification legal practice. The latter is represented as characterized by rigidity and textuality due to, among other things, the prominent role of the nation-state in many Muslim countries. On the basis of extensive fieldwork in 2002–2003, this article juxtaposes the claim of inflexibility with ethnographic material in order to properly conceptualize the present-day practice of Islamic family law. I argue that the role of the state should not be overemphasized at the expense of the analytical significance of actors’ agency, including that of the judges, in effecting change. The analysis shows that, despite codification, Islamic family law in many Muslim countries is still characterized by flexible, heterogeneous, and context-bound implementation

Negotiating Custody Rights in Islamic Family Law

Introduction The following examines the application of Islamic family law with regard to custody and custody rights in the Gaza city sharī‘a courts.1 Four objectives are pursued in the paper. First, it identifies areas of gender asymmetry in the legal code, which distinguishes female-oriented physical care of the ward (hadāna) from male-oriented guardianship (wilāya). Second, while examining the strategies adopted by men and women in claiming (or refraining from claiming) custody rights, the paper identifies areas of tension between the textually prescribed custody rights and their highly differentiated social construction. Thirdly, in fulfilling these objectives, it demonstrates the ways in which judges deal with various aspects of custody, and how, in the process, a knowledge of social norms overshadows the text; it will argue that today’s judges are still loyal to the heritage of Islamic jurisprudence, which asserts the concepts of fairness, consideration of the context, and protection of the weak. Finally, the conduct of judges is elaborated with reference to the notion of ijtihād (independent reasoning) in the contemporary application of Islamic family law. An illustrative case is presented to argue these points

House of Obedience: Social Norms, Individual Agency and Historical Contingency

Based on 14 months of fieldwork, this paper examines the influence of social norms, individual agency, and historical contingency on the practice of House of Obedience (bayt al-ta‘a) in the shari‘a courts of the Gaza Strip. It argues that the text of Islamic family law is only one dimension in the administration of House of Obedience. Aspects concerning the wider sociopolitical context are crucial, notably the preeminence of the notion of family honor (sharaf), the mutually constitutive relation between the shari‘a court and the community, and the specificities of court cases. As an ideological construct, the law does not necessarily correspond to a social milieu full of inconsistencies, oppositions, contradictions, and tensions. Thus, the practice of law has always been characterized by pluralism, flexibility, and a degree of ambiguity, whereas the text remains characterized by rigidity, restriction, stability, and in some aspects, superficial clarity