Isu Kesetaraan Laki-Laki dan Perempuan (Bias Gender)

Senyata-nyatanya Allah SWT telah menciptakan manusia (laki dan perempuan) dari dzat yang sama, tetapi secara biologis dan fisiologis mempunyai kodrat yang berbeda. Kodrat merupakan ketetapan Allah yang mutlak dan bersifat universal, sedangkan kesetaraan gender merupakan pembagian peran antara laki-laki dan perempuan yang diatur oleh manusia (masyarakat) itu sendiri yang bersifat dinamis, dan sangat mungkin berbeda dari satu masyarakat ke masyarakat lain.Dalam realita kehidupan, hampir semua tugas gender dapat dilakukan oleh kedua kaum laki-laki dan perempuan (kecuali yang bersifat mutlak, melahirkan misalnya). Namun dalam stereotip masyarakat (terutama Indonesia), masih sering terjadi kesalahan pemaknaan terhadap perbedaan gender sebagai kodrat fisiologis dan biologis. Sehingga muncul isu bias gender yang dilatarbelakangi oleh adanya ketidakpuasan perlakuan terhadap kaum perempuan. Implikasi bias gender secara tidak langsung dapat merugikan masyarakat secara menyeluruh. Apabila perempuan diposisikan tertinggal, maka akan sulit bagi perempuan untuk menjadi mitra sejajar laki-laki, sehingga hubungan keduanya akan menjadi timpang. Ketimpangan yang dapat berakibat negatif, selanjutnya dapat dihindari dengan mengisi kehidupan yang “harmoni dalam berbeda”

Myelin figures: the buckling and flow of wet soap

Myelin figures are interfacial structures formed when certain surfactants swell in excess water. Here, I present data and model calculations suggesting myelin formation and growth is due to the fluid flow of surfactant, driven by the hydration gradient at the dry surfactant/water interface; a simple model based on this idea qualitatively reproduces the various myelin growth behaviors observed in different experiments. From a detailed experimental observation of how myelins develop from a planar precursor structure, I identify a mechanical instability that may underlie myelin formation. These results indicate the mixed mechanical character of the surfactant lamellar structure, where fluid and elastic properties coexist, is what enables the formation and growth of myelins.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E. Corrected figures/typo

Structures of K0.05Na0.95NbO3 (50–300 K) and K0.30Na0.70NbO3 (100–200 K)

Rietveld refinement using neutron powder diffraction data is reported for the potential lead-free piezoelectric material KxNa1 - xNbO3 (x = 0.05, x = 0.3) at low temperatures. The structures were determined to be of rhombohedral symmetry, space group R3c, with the tilt system a-a-a- for both compositions. It was found that some of the structural parameters differ significantly in the two structures, and particularly the NbO6 octahedral strains as a function of temperature. The 300 K profile for K0.05Na0.95NbO3 shows the coexistence of rhombohedral and monoclinic phases, which indicates that the phase boundary is close to room temperature; the phase boundary for K0.30Na0.70NbO3 is found to be at approximately 180 K

Strong Aperiodic X-ray Variability and Quasi-Periodic Oscillation in X-ray Nova XTE J1550-564

We report the discovery of strong aperiodic X-ray variability and quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the X-ray light curves of a new X-ray Nova, XTE J1550-564, and the evolution of the observed temporal properties during the rise of the recent X-ray outburst. The power spectral analysis of the first observation reveals strong aperiodic X-ray variability of the source (~28%), as well as the presence of a QPO at ~82 mHz with fractional rms amplitude ~14% over the 2-60 keV energy range. Also apparent is the first harmonic of the QPO with the amplitude ~9%. As the X-ray flux increases, the source tends to become less variable, and the QPO frequency increases rapidly, from 82 mHz to 4 Hz, over the flux (2-50 keV) range of 1.73-5.75 x 10^{-8} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1}. The amplitude of the fundamental component of the QPO varies little, while that of the harmonic follows a decreasing trend. The fundamental component strengthens toward high energies, while its harmonic weakens. Initially, the power spectrum is roughly flat at low frequencies and turns into a power law at high frequencies, with the QPO harmonic sitting roughly at the break. In later observations, however, the high-frequency portion of the continuum can actually be better described by a broken power law (as opposed to a simple power law). This effect becomes more apparent at higher energies. The overall amplitude of the continuum shows a similar energy dependence to that of the fundamental component of the QPO. Strong rapid X-ray variability, as well as hard energy spectrum, makes XTE J1550-564 a good black hole candidate. We compare its temporal properties with those of other black hole candidates.Comment: 12 pages, including 5 figures. To appear in ApJ Letters, vol. 512 (1999

Obscuring Gender-Based Violence: Marriage Promotion and Teen Dating Violence Research

This article argues that United States public policies have prioritized marriage and healthy relationship promotion over research and education about gendered violence in adult and teen relationships, despite evidence of the prevalence of intimate partner and teen dating violence that disproportionately impacts women and girls. The lack of a gender-based analysis reflects a shift from a feminist framing of violence that focuses on the safety and well-being of women and girls based on an analysis of gender, power, and structural inequalities, to ward a conservative focus on individualistic solutions to gendered social problems like poverty and violence

Possible complex annihilation and B -> K pi direct CP asymmetry

We point out that a sizable strong phase could be generated from the penguin annihilation in the soft-collinear effective theory for B meson decays. Keeping a small scale suppressed by O(Lambda/m_b), Lambda being a hadronic scale and m_b the b quark mass, in the denominators of internal particle propagators without expansion, the resultant strong phase can accommodate the data of the B^0 -> K^-+ pi^+- direct CP asymmetry. Our study reconciles the opposite conclusions on the real or complex penguin annihilation amplitude drawn in the soft-collinear effective theory and in the perturbative QCD approach based on k_T factorization theorem.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, added reference

Kemampuan Manajerial Pengurus Organisasi dalam Upaya Meningkatkan Kinerja Organisasi Islam Perempuan di Jawa Barat

Ormas (organisasi massa) Islam perempuan di Jawa Barat ternyata telah berperan aktif dalam mendukung pembangunan Indonesia, ke arah terwujudnya “izzul Islam wal muslimin menuju baldatun thoyyibatun wa robbun ghofur”. Prinsip yang telah ditetapkan itu, tentunya, harus mendasari dan mewarnai berbagai aktivitas organisasi yang dilaksanakannya. Keberhasilan organisasi dalam mencapai tujuan dan berbagai sasarannya serta kemampuan menghadapi berbagai tantangan, baik yang sifatnya internal maupun eksternal, sangat ditentukan oleh kemampuan mengelola sumber daya manusia dengan setepat-tepatnya.Sumber daya manusia merupakan unsur penting dan terpenting dalam suatu organisasi, karena melalui sumber daya manusialah aktivitas penting organisasi, terutama dalam pengambilan keputusan, penentuan tujuan, pelaksanaan pekerjaan dan evaluasi pekerjaan dilakukan. Dalam rangka mewujudkan organisasi yang efektif inilah, para pengurus ormas Islam perempuan di Jawa Barat perlu memiliki keterampilan khusus dalam aspek manajerial

ηc\eta_c mixing effects on charmonium and BB meson decays

We include the $\eta_c$ meson into the $\eta$-$\eta'$-$G$ mixing formalism constructed in our previous work, where $G$ represents the pseudoscalar gluball. The mixing angles in this tetramixing matrix are constrained by theoretical and experimental implications from relevant hadronic processes. Especially, the angle between $\eta_c$ and $G$ is found to be about $11^\circ$ from the measured decay widths of the $\eta_c$ meson. The pseudoscalar glueball mass $m_G$, the pseudoscalar densities $m_{qq,ss,cc}$ and the U(1) anomaly matrix elements associated with the mixed states are solved from the anomalous Ward identities. The solution $m_G\approx 1.4$ GeV obtained from the $\eta$-$\eta'$-$G$ mixing is confirmed, while $m_{qq}$ grows to above the pion mass, and thus increases perturbative QCD predictions for the branching ratios $Br(B\to\eta'K)$. We then analyze the $\eta_c$-mixing effects on charmonium magnetic dipole transitions, and on the $B\to\eta^{(\prime)}K_S$ branching ratios and CP asymmetries, which further improve the consistency between theoretical predictions and data. A predominant observation is that the $\eta_c$ mixing enhances the perturbative QCD predictions for $Br(B\to\eta'K)$ by 18%, but does not alter those for $Br(B\to\eta K)$. The puzzle due to the large $Br(B\to\eta'K)$ data is then resolved.Comment: 12 pages, version to appear in PR