PERAN SAKENA FUND TERHADAP PEMBERDAYAAN PEREMPUAN DI AFGHANISTAN BIDANG PENDIDIKAN TAHUN 2018-2023

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peran dari Sakena Fund dalam sektor pendidikan terutama bagi perempuan di negara Afghanistan, dalam rentang waktu 2018-2023. Dalam hal ini pendidikan merupakan isu krusial, terkhusus bagi perempuan di salah satu negara dengan keamanan yang buruk bagi perempuan, terlebih adanya rezim Taliban yang kembali berkuasa, Sakena fund dengan program Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) menjadi NGO pelopor pertama yang menginspirasi terbukanya tempat pembelajaran lain setelah runtuhnya rezim Taliban pada 2001. Tulisan ini mengadopsi metode deskriptif-kualitatif dengan menggunakan kerangka konseptual women empowerment atau pemberdayaan perempuan, dengan tiga indikator pendukung. Diantaranya personal empowerment yang mencakup pada upaya pelatihan guru dan pengembangan keterampilan. Indikator kedua yakni relational empowerment dengan pendirian pusat pembelajaran (learning center) serta sekolah swasta, indikator ketiga social empowerment dengan memaksimalkan pemanfaatan media seperti televisi dan radio, penyediaan klinik bantuan hukum, dan pembentukan kelompok pemberdayaan bagi perempuan. Beberapa upaya tersebut merupakan peran yang tidak terlepas dari tujuan organisasi pada aspek pemberdayaan perempuan di sektor pendidikan. Pengumpulan data penulisan ialah dengan studi literatur yang bersumber dari buku, jurnal, laporan tahunan, serta sumber-sumber kredibel lainnya. Hasil dari penelitian menunjukkan bahwa meskipun dihadapkan pada berbagai tantangan seperti regulasi Taliban, dampak pandemi COVID-19, Keterbatasan dana, serta sistem konservatif dan patriarki negara, Sakena Fund sebagai NGO tetap berkomitmen kuat dalam menjalankan program pendidikan perempuan di Afghanistan dengan cukup baik

Large scale localization of protein phosphorylation by use of electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry.

We used on-line electron capture dissociation (ECD) for the large scale identification and localization of sites of phosphorylation. Each FT-ICR ECD event was paired with a linear ion trap collision-induced dissociation (CID) event, allowing a direct comparison of the relative merits of ECD and CID for phosphopeptide identification and site localization. Linear ion trap CID was shown to be most efficient for phosphopeptide identification, whereas FT-ICR ECD was superior for localization of sites of phosphorylation. The combination of confident CID and ECD identification and confident CID and ECD localization is particularly valuable in cases where a phosphopeptide is identified just once within a phosphoproteomics experiment

Defining Art in the Gozo International Contemporary Arts Festival

This chapter explores the role of identity, place, and origin of the artists in the Gozo International Contemporary Arts Festival in Gozo, Malta. Based on research conducted in July 2010 for a summer field school in sociocultural anthropology, I draw on conversations with several of the artists showing their work, as well as interactions with local organizing officials, arts instructors, and Gozitan artists and craftspeople not directly involved in the exhibit. I argue that the event is a space in which central questions of Gozitan identity are actively addressed and negotiated, focusing particularly on the manner in which the international artists participating in the festival construct both conceptual and visual images of Gozo and Malta. I suggest that the origin of the artist, in tandem with the purpose and medium of their artwork, plays a major role in how the work is incorporated into the exhibit. Framed in part as a cosmopolitan attraction alongside the historical sites of the island, the exhibition acknowledges the increasingly global nature of Gozo. Ultimately, I aim to address questions pertinent to postcolonial identity and tourism on Gozo and Malta. How is the island viewed by visitors from abroad? What cultural resources is it assumed to possess (or lack)? How do Gozitan artists interact with and respond to such expectations through events like the Arts Festival

Gap-induced reductions of evoked potentials in the auditory cortex: a possible objective marker for the presence of tinnitus in animals

Animal models of tinnitus are essential for determining the underlying mechanisms and testing pharmacotherapies. However, there is doubt over the validity of current behavioural methods for detecting tinnitus. Here, we applied a stimulus paradigm widely used in a behavioural test (gap-induced inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex GPIAS) while recording from the auditory cortex, and showed neural response changes that mirror those found in the behavioural tests. We implanted guinea pigs (GPs) with electrocorticographic (ECoG) arrays and recorded baseline auditory cortical responses to a startling stimulus. When a gap was inserted in otherwise continuous background noise prior to the startling stimulus, there was a clear reduction in the subsequent evoked response (termed gap-induced reductions in evoked potentials; GIREP), suggestive of a neural analogue of the GPIAS test. We then unilaterally exposed guinea pigs to narrowband noise (left ear; 8-10 kHz; 1 hour) at one of two different sound levels - either 105 dB SPL or 120 dB SPL – and recorded the same responses seven-to-ten weeks following the noise exposure. Significant deficits in GIREP were observed for all areas of the auditory cortex (AC) in the 120 dB-exposed GPs, but not in the 105 dB-exposed GPs. These deficits could not simply be accounted for by changes in response amplitudes. Furthermore, in the contralateral (right) caudal AC we observed a significant increase in evoked potential amplitudes across narrowband background frequencies in both 105 dB and 120 dB-exposed GPs. Taken in the context of the large body of literature that has used the behavioural test as a demonstration of the presence of tinnitus, these results are suggestive of objective neural correlates of the presence of noise-induced tinnitus and hyperacusis

Enhanced Peptide Identification by Electron Transfer Dissociation Using an Improved Mascot Percolator

Peptide identification using tandem mass spectrometry is a core technology in proteomics. Latest generations of mass spectrometry instruments enable the use of electron transfer dissociation (ETD) to complement collision induced dissociation (CID) for peptide fragmentation. However, a critical limitation to the use of ETD has been optimal database search software. Percolator is a post-search algorithm, which uses semi-supervised machine learning to improve the rate of peptide spectrum identifications (PSMs) together with providing reliable significance measures. We have previously interfaced the Mascot search engine with Percolator and demonstrated sensitivity and specificity benefits with CID data. Here, we report recent developments in the Mascot Percolator V2.0 software including an improved feature calculator and support for a wider range of ion series. The updated software is applied to the analysis of several CID and ETD fragmented peptide data sets. This version of Mascot Percolator increases the number of CID PSMs by up to 80% and ETD PSMs by up to 60% at a 0.01 q-value (1% false discovery rate) threshold over a standard Mascot search, notably recovering PSMs from high charge state precursor ions. The greatly increased number of PSMs and peptide coverage afforded by Mascot Percolator has enabled a fuller assessment of CID/ETD complementarity to be performed. Using a data set of CID and ETcaD spectral pairs, we find that at a 1% false discovery rate, the overlap in peptide identifications by CID and ETD is 83%, which is significantly higher than that obtained using either stand-alone Mascot (69%) or OMSSA (39%). We conclude that Mascot Percolator is a highly sensitive and accurate post-search algorithm for peptide identification and allows direct comparison of peptide identifications using multiple alternative fragmentation techniques

Some investigations into non passive listening

Our knowledge of the function of the auditory nervous system is based upon a wealth of data obtained, for the most part, in anaesthetised animals. More recently, it has been generally acknowledged that factors such as attention profoundly modulate the activity of sensory systems and this can take place at many levels of processing. Imaging studies, in particular, have revealed the greater activation of auditory areas and areas outside of sensory processing areas when attending to a stimulus. We present here a brief review of the consequences of such non-passive listening and go on to describe some of the experiments we are conducting to investigate them. In imaging studies, using fMRI, we can demonstrate the activation of attention networks that are non-specific to the sensory modality as well as greater and different activation of the areas of the supra-temporal plane that includes primary and secondary auditory areas. The profuse descending connections of the auditory system seem likely to be part of the mechanisms subserving attention to sound. These are generally thought to be largely inactivated by anaesthesia. However, we have been able to demonstrate that even in an anaesthetised preparation, removing the descending control from the cortex leads to quite profound changes in the temporal patterns of activation by sounds in thalamus and inferior colliculus. Some of these effects seem to be specific to the ear of stimulation and affect interaural processing. To bridge these observations we are developing an awake behaving preparation involving freely moving animals in which it will be possible to investigate the effects of consciousness (by contrasting awake and anaesthetized), passive and active listening

CFD FLOW ANALYSIS OF THE CANTILEVER MICRO-TURBINE

The article deals with a description of results from research and development of the cantilever micro-turbine designed for the ORC power plants. The experimental turbine stage and used numerical models are briefly described. In the first part the comparison of measured and CFD results is presented. The second part deals with an investigation of the outlet geometry influence on the turbine working parameters. The results are relevant for next studies in the research and development process

Targeted online liquid chromatography electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry for the localization of sites of in vivo phosphorylation in human Sprouty2

We demonstrate a strategy employing collision-induced dissociation for phosphopeptide discovery, followed by targeted electron capture dissociation (ECD) for site localization. The high mass accuracy and low background noise of the ECD mass spectra allow facile sequencing of coeluting isobaric phosphopeptides, with up to two isobaric phosphopeptides sequenced from a single mass spectrum. In contrast to the previously described neutral loss of dependent ECD method, targeted ECD allows analysis of both phosphotyrosine peptides and lower abundance phosphopeptides. The approach was applied to phosphorylation analysis of human Sprouty2, a regulator of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling. Fifteen sites of phosphorylation were identified, 11 of which are novel