The Role of Faith in Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution

Excerpt When we speak of the role of faith in cross-cultural conflict resolution, our challenge is to honor the diversity of the world’s humanistic and spiritual traditions while seeking common ground among them. What we aspire towards, in other words, is an agenda for research, dialogue and activism that is global in conception and responsive to common challenges of peacemaking and coexistence within and among the world’s many traditions. It is no longer sufficient for transnational peace agendas to be defined primarily by the cultural experiences and perceived security threats of a particular nation or culture. We need new frameworks for organizing knowledge about religion, culture and spirituality – frameworks that recognize the powerful role that faith and belief play in conflict and conflict resolution, and that do not privilege one culture as ‘normal’ and label another as ‘exceptional’

Localizing Peace: An Agenda for Sustainable Peacebuilding

The sophistication of peace operations and complex humanitarian missions has increased in recent decades, resulting in increased international capacity to mitigate organized violence and provide relief to suffering populations. With respect to other indicators of success, however, international peace strategies still leave much to be desired. By their very nature, externally driven efforts tend to leave local actors feeling marginalized and disempowered, and unable to fulfill aspirations for cumulative and sustainable transformations in the quality of life. The peace that local populations genuinely hope for may fail to take root, and dynamics associated with interventionism may replace one set of problems with another. To address such problems within existing peace processes and to provide a framework for broader preventive action, this paper identifies “localizing peace” as a central challenge for twenty-first century peacebuilding efforts. International and cross-cultural cooperation remain vital for tackling border-spanning problems and structural inequalities, yet the advancement of global peace depends in no small part on the enhancement of local peace capacities. Ultimately, peace must be defined and constructed locally, and peacebuilding efforts become energetic and sustainable only to the extent that they tap local resources, empower local constituencies, and achieve legitimacy within particular cultural and religious contexts. By appreciating these realities, international actors can discover more effective means of partnering with local organizations and movements, while also deriving new insights into the unity and diversity of peacemaking

Single-cylinder 125 CC stepped piston engine for mobility and portable power generation applications

Two-stroke engines is far simpler than four-stroke version from its physical perspective. For a given brake output, two-stroke is lighter, easier to work on, and provide higher power-to-weight ratio than the four-stroke, making it suitable for small platform applications. However a conventional two-stroke engine has a reputation for generating smoke and unburned fuel, a situation which does not meet many emissions regulations, now enforced around the world. Thus for many decades two-stroke engines were not favored, giving ways to four-stroke engines to dominate applications, especially for mobile power-generation purposes. In the quest to improve the potential of such an engine, a group of researchers from the Automotive Development Centre (ADC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has come up with a 125 cc, air-cooled stepped-piston engine to demonstrate the higher power-to-weight ratio feature, apart from overcoming emission reduction. The engine is designed to mitigate the problem of mixture short circuiting, which is the major hindrance to combustion efficiency, and for this to happen they have incorporated a three-port stratification strategy onto the engine. This paper provides the overview related to the earlier work done to infuse the necessary features and highlights some of the performance features of this unique engine design

Investigation into the selection of an appropriate piston head geometry for a spark ignition engine equipped direct-fuel injector

Constructors of gasoline engines are faced with higher and higher requirements as regards to ecological issues and an increase in engine efficiency at a simultaneous decrease in fuel consumption. Satisfaction of these requirements is possible by the recognition of the phenomena occurring inside the engine cylinder, the choice of suitable optimal parameters of the fuel injection process, and the determination of the geometrical shapes of the combustion chamber and the piston head. The aim of the study was to simulate flow in Direct-Injection Fuel engine with different geometrical shapes of piston head. The method of design piston head shapes was referring to existing motorcycle Demak single cylinder 200cc piston size using Solidwork and ANSYS softwarse. The parameter was shallow and deep bowl design on piston head. In term of fuel distribution throughout the combustion chamber, second model that having deeper bowl shows a better fuel distribution than first model as it manages to direct flow the fuel injected towards the location of spark plug. Therefore, second model is chosen as the best model among the two models as it can create a richer mixture around the spark plug

Modelling of Saltwater Intrusion into a Discharging Well in a Non-Homogeneous Unconfined Aquifer

Finite element method based on the Galerkin technique was used to formulate the solution for simulating a two-dimensional transient movement of saltwater in a stratified aquifer under pumping conditions. The aquifer system was unconfined, non-homogeneous and isotropic. The groundwater flow and convection-dispersion equations were transformed into two non-linear coupled partial differential equations to yield the values of the corresponding piezometric head and saltwater concentration at various points and times. These two equations were solved by Argus- ONE™ SUTRA model that employs the finite element method. The performance of the numerical model is compared with the data observed from a laboratory experimental model. Good agreement has been achieved between the numerical and experimental models for the concentration and hydraulic head as comparison showed the maximum differences of only 10% and 11% respectively

The effect of bio-based additives on engine performance and emissions of petrol and diesel engine

Fuel additives are additives that are added to fuel in small quantities to give improvement in terms of engine performance and emissions. Aftermarket fuel additives can be divided into two, chemical-based and bio-based. In this project, the effect of bio-based fuel additives on engine performance and exhaust emissions of a petrol and diesel engine is studied. The blending ratio is developed based on the instruction given on the bottle of the additives. The ratio of the fuel additives used for Vivo Racing (VR) is between 0.21% and 0.25%, Vivo Flawless (VF) is between 0.10% and 0.14% and Diesel Energy is between 0.14% and 0.18%. Constant throttle test had been done on both petrol and diesel engine. The results show that the fuel additives reduce brake power and brake specific fuel consumption while increasing brake thermal efficiency and reducing exhaust emissions. For brake power, VR0.24 is the best. For brake specific fuel consumption, the best are VR0.23 and VF0.11 for petrol and diesel engine respectively. For brake thermal efficiency, the best are VR0.24 and DE0.17. For HC composition, the lowest are VR0.25 and DE0.17. For CO composition, VR0.22 and DE0.14 are the lowest. As for NOx, the lowest are VR0.25 and DE0.17

Single-cylinder 125 cc stepped piston engine for mobility and portable power generation applications

Two-stroke engines are far simpler than four-stroke engines from a physical perspective. For a given brake output, two-stroke engines are lighter, easier to work on, and provide higher power-to-weight ratio than four-stroke engines, making them suitable for small platform applications. However, conventional two-stroke engines have a reputation for generating smoke and unburned fuel, meaning they may not meet many emissions regulations, now enforced around the world. Thus, for many decades two-stroke engines have not been not favored, giving way to four-stroke engines for dominant applications, especially for mobile power-generation purposes. In the quest to improve the potential of such an engine, a group of researchers from the Automotive Development Centre (ADC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), has developed a 125 cc, air-cooled stepped-piston engine to demonstrate the higher power-to-weight ratio feature, apart from overcoming emission reduction. The engine is designed to mitigate the problem of mixture short circuiting, which is the major hindrance to combustion efficiency. To this end, they have incorporated a three-port stratification strategy into the engine. This paper provides an overview related to the earlier work done to integrate the necessary features and highlights some of the performance features of this unique engine design

Detection of learning styles with prior knowledge data using the SVM, K-NN and Naïve Bayes algorithms

The two types of automatic learning style detection approaches are data driven (DD) and literature based (LB). Both methods of automatic learning style detection have advantages over traditional learning style detection methods because they use external data sources, such as forums, quizzes and views of teaching materials, that are more accurate than the questionnaires used in traditional styles of detection. The results of automatic detection, on the other hand, do not always reflect learning styles. This paper presents a learning style recognition method that uses data from the learner’s internal source, namely prior knowledge, to overcome these challenges. Prior knowledge is proposed because it is based on the learner’s knowledge or skills, which better reflect the learner’s characteristics, rather than on the learner’s behaviour, which tends to be dynamic. By using past knowledge, this paper presents a method for detecting automatic learning patterns. The learning style detection framework is unique in that it consists of three stages: prior knowledge question development, prior knowledge measurement and learning style detection using the Support Vector Machine (SVM), Naïve Bayes and K-Nearest Neighbour (K-NN) classification methods. The accuracy of learning style detection using prior knowledge data was higher than detection results using behavioural data or hybrid data (prior knowledge + behaviour) in this studyMetode deteksi gaya belajar otomatis dapat dibagi menjadi dua yakni Metode Data-Driven (DD) dan Literature Based (LB). Kedua metode deteksi gaya belajar otomatis tersebut memiliki kelebihan dibandingkan metode de- teksi gaya belajar konvensional, karena metode deteksi gaya belajar otomatis menggunakan sumber data eksternal seperti forum, kuis dan kunjungan bahan ajar yang lebih akurat dibandingkan dengan kuesioner yang digunakan dalam metode deteksi gaya belajar konvensional. Meskipun demikian, hasil deteksi otomatis tidak selalu mencerminkan gaya belajar.. Untuk mengatasi kendala tersebut, penelitian ini mengusulkan metode deteksi gaya belajar yang mengambil data dari sumber internal pembelajar yakni prior knowledge. Prior knowledge diusulkan karena tidak berdasarkan pada perilaku pembelajar yang cenderung bersifat dinamis, namun lebih kepada pengetahuan atau keterampilan yang dimiliki, yang lebih mencerminkan karakteristik pembelajar. Penelitian ini mengusulkan sebuah metode untuk mendeteksi gaya belajar otomatis dengan memanfaatkan prior knowledge. Kebaruannya terletak pada kerangka kerja (framework) deteksi gaya belajar yang terdiri dari tiga tahapan yaitu: tahapan pembangunan pertanyaan prior knowledge, tahapan pengukuran prior knowledge, dan tahapan deteksi gaya belajar dengan menggunakan metode klasifikasi svm, naïve bayes dan k-nn, Penelitian ini menghasilkan akurasi hasil deteksi gaya belajar dengan data prior knowledge yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan hasil deteksi yang menggunakan data perilaku dan data hybrid (prior knowledge + perilaku

Penguatan Literasi Digital Pada Generasi Millenial Dalam Menyongsong Pemilihan Umum 2024

Pemilihan Umum tahun 2024 segera digelar. Hiruk pikuk kontestasi pemilu tersebut tentunya telah bergema baik disekitar kita maupun di dunia maya. Media sosial saat ini juga menjadi wahana dan sarana bagi penyebarluasan informasi yang berkaitan dengan pemilihan umum. Tak hanya itu, di tengah arus teknologi dan informasi yang semakin dinamis, media sosial pun digunakan sebagai salah satu instrumen politik kandidat maupun partai politik yang akan berkontestasi dalam pemilihan umum tahun 2024. Keberadaan media sosial tentunya berjalan beriringan dengan demografi politik Indonesia saat ini, dimana hampir 40-60% pemilih didominasi oleh generasi muda yang sangat aktif dan dekat dengan penggunaan media sosial. Sehingga tak heran, di media sosial seringkali muncul disinformasi, hoax dan lain-lain. Terlebih menghasilkan Polarisasi yang cukup signifikan di media sosial. Kondisi ini tentunya sudah pernah kita lihat dan rasakan dalam kontestasi-kontestasi politik di masa lampau. Sehingga tujuan program Penguatan Literasi Digital pada Generasi Millenial di Kabupaten Jombang dalam menyongsong Pemilihan Umum tahun 2024 dengan mitra yakni Komunitas Ruang Inovasi Kabupaten Jombang dilakukan dengan: Pertama, Memberikan workshop terhadap komunitas generasi muda dalam upaya meningkatkan pengetahuan terhadap politik dan demokratisasi di Indonesia. Kedua, mendorong generasi muda untuk lebih memahami kondisi ruang digitalnya pada tahun-tahun politik menjelang Pemilu 2024. Untuk meningkatkan literasi digital ini memerlukan sistematika pemberantasan konten terkait penyebaran informasi sifatnya hoax maupun tidak tepat, khususnya pada generasi muda. Agar kedepannya, penyelenggaraan Pemilihan Umum tahun 2024 bisa berjalan dengan demokratis, adil, jujur serta dapat mendorong tingkat partisipasi politik pada generasi muda