Evaluation of the APEC environmental goods initiative: A dominant supplier approach

The paper evaluates the feasibility of sectoral liberalization of environmental goods for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Using the model originally developed by Wonnacott, it argues for the liberalization of goods predominantly supplied by APEC members, thereby minimizing the free rider problem that usually afflicts most favored nation liberalization. The paper then ranks the different items in the APEC list of environmental goods according to economic advisability, given the predominant supplier framework. It thus demonstrates the economic rationale why APEC, as a whole, should consider liberalizing a number of environmental goods. The paper also examines the distributional impact of the proposed scheme on the individual members, particularly on the trade interest of the Philippines

Cultivating humanity?

Various studies suggest that major changes are required in predominant human values during the next two generations, to ensure politically and environmentally sustainable societies and a sustainable global order: away from consumerism to a focus on quality of life; away from a certain type of possessive individualism, towards more human solidarity; and away from an assumption of domination of nature, towards a greater ecological sensitivity. The paper reviews evidence on the scale of these challenges. Second, it analyses their implications and the possibilities of change at personal, societal and global levels, with special reference to education and the respective roles and mutual entanglement of personal change and system change. Thirdly, it discusses possible lessons and contributions of internationally oriented postgraduate education, drawing some suggestions from experience in the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague

Pembuatan Snack Bar dari Tepung Pisang Kepok (Musa paradisiaca formatypica) dan Pure Pisang Ambon Hijau (Musa paradisiaca sapientum)

Snack bar was a solid rod-shaped food, made from a mixture of dry ingredients such as cereals, nuts, grains and fruits which can be consumed as a snack.  Binder is needed in making a snack bar.  Puree can be used as binder in making snack bar.  The snack bar in this research was made from kepok plantain flour and ambon hijau banana puree.  The purpose of this research was to obtain the best ratio of kepok plantain flour and ambon hijau banana puree in making snack bar with the best chemical and sensory characteristics.  This research used a completely randomized design of one factor with four different formulations; kapok plantain flour and ambon hijau banana puree composite in the ratio of 50:50 (TP1), 40:60 (TP2), 30:70 (TP3) and 20:80 (TP4) mixed with other snack bar ingridients. Treatments with 4 replicat, which followed by Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT) at level 5%.  The result showed that the ratio of kepok plantain flour and ambon hijau banana puree significantly affected the parameters except fat content and protein content, while sensory assessment had a significantly effected except the parameters of color and density hedonic.  Based on the results, the ratio of kepok banana flour : ambon hijau banana puree (40:60) was chosen as the best formula which had chemical characteristics of 25.55% moisture content, 1.33% ash content, 10.47% fat content, 1.47% protein content, crude fiber content 4.83%, and carbohydrate content of 56.35% and the panelists preferred hedonically with a description of yellowish brown, banana flavored, sweet taste and solid texture

Generation of Bessel-like beams with reduced sidelobes for enhanced light-sheet microscopy

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi through the SPARC project. KD acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the H2020 FETOPEN project “Dynamic”.Bessel beams have found important applications due to their propagation invariant nature. However, the presence of sidelobes has proven a hindrance in key imaging and biophotonics applications. We describe the design and generation of sidelobe-suppressed Bessel-like beams (SSBB) that provide enhanced contrast for light-sheet imaging. The sidelobe suppression is achieved by the interference of two Bessel beams with slightly different wavevectors. Axicon phase functions for each Bessel beam are combined into a single phase function using the random multiplexing technique. This phase function is realised using a spatial light modulator to generate a SSBB. The generated beam at 633 nm has a 1/e2 radius of 44 µm and a propagation invariant distance of 39 mm which is more than four times that of the Rayleigh range of a Gaussian beam with the same 1/e2 radius. Within this distance, the overall peak intensity of the sidelobes of the SSBB is less than 10% that of the main lobe peak intensity. In addition, through numerical simulation for the recovery of spatial frequencies, we show that the SSBB improves image contrast compared to a Bessel beam for light-sheet imaging. We also show that the designed phase function can be realised using a meta-optical element.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe