The Effect of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Surfactant on Pipeline Corrosion in CO2 Environment

The effect of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) surfactant on the pipeline corrosion in CO2 environment is not clear although the usage of EOR surfactant becoming more popular. The objective of the project is to evaluate the characteristics of EOR surfactant towards corrosion behavior in CO2 environment. The characteristic of the commercial EOR surfactant used in this project was investigated using FTIR and the corrosion behavior was analyzed by electrochemical Linear Polarization Resistance (LPR) technique by varying the concentration of EOR surfactant from 50 to 5000 ppm. The surface morphology was examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX). In general, the additional of EOR surfactant reduces the corrosion rate in range of 70% to 97% depending on the concentration of EOR surfactant. The highest reduction of 97% was achieved with the additional of 5000 ppm and reducing the corrosion rate from 1.86 mm/year to 0.06 mm/year. Based on the results, the additional of EOR surfactant react with the sample surface similar to corrosion inhibitor as shown by SEM images. In conclusion, the EOR surfactant behaves similar to corrosion inhibitor and able to reduce effectively the corrosion rate of the pipeline in CO2 environment

Informal Finance and Women in Egypt: "Banks" within Banks

Specialized credit programs for women have emerged recently in many low-income countries. Based on experience in earlier credit programs for other disadvantaged groups, one might expect that these programs for women will encounter difficulties. Relying on research done in Egypt in mid-1993 we suggest an alternative strategy for providing formal financial services to women. Our research focused on informal finance among employees of the Principal Bank for Development and AgriculturaI Credit (PBDAC). Two types of informal finance were studied: self-help financial groups that are called gam’iyas in Egypt, and merchant credits. The study involved a census of gam'iyas operating in 4 village banks, 2 branch banks, one governorate bank, and half the departments in the head office of the PBDAC system. The study covered about 2,500 of PBDAC's 40,000 employees and also included several case studies of bank employees who sold goods to other bank employees on credit. In addition, a case study was done of one community to clarify the extent to which informal finance permeated rural areas. The study found that about 4 in 5 of PBDAC's employees were members of gam'iyas operating within the Bank and that about 9 out of 10 of the households with PBDAC employees participated in gam'iyas. The average person put about $30 each month in gam'iyas, which amounted to 10 to 20 percent of their total bank compensation. Although most of the employees had bank accounts, the majority of these accounts were moribund. In addition, many of the Bank employees also bought goods from other employees on credit. The village study showed that nearly two-thirds of the households participated regularly in gam'iyas, that many of them bought goods from merchants on credit, and that numerous women stored their savings with informal moneykeepers. Many of the merchants in the community competed by selling merchandise and farm inputs on credit. The amount of informal finance found was surprising, given the number of banking facilities that operated in the area studied. We were also surprised by the amount of informal saving that was occurring among people of modest means. The research showed that PBDAC was neither satisfying the financial requirements of its employees nor the demands for financial services by most villagers, especially women. Many Egyptians make deposits in gam'iyas and with moneykeepers and likewise extensively use small and short-term loans from gam'iyas as well as from merchants. Using informal finance as a proxy, banks in general, and PBDAC in particular, are not providing some of the types of financial services that are most popular in Egypt, particularly among women. At the same time, women play a prominent role in many popular forms of informal finance, demonstrating that many of them are financiaIIy literate. PBDAC and other hanks in Egypt are providing few financial services to their own employees, thus encouraging the operation of informal banks within banks. If formal banks cannot compete with informal finance in their own offices, they will be unable to effectively compete with informal finance in the rest of the economy. It appears that PBDAC has opportunities to expand their female client base, especially in rural areas. They might do this by assigning female employees to seek more women clients, especially as depositors. Some of these depositors might later qualify as borrowers if the bank adjusts its lending technology to provide more small and short-term loans. PBDAC might also indirectly expand the informal credit available for women by increasing its formal lending to rural merchants. A moderately successful PBDAC program that attracted women clients would result in millions of Egyptian women having sustained access to formal financial services. In contrast, targeted credit programs for women will likely have difficulties in providing sustained credit access for several thousand women in the country

Pengaruh Intellectual Capital terhadap Kinerja Perusahaan (Studi Kasus pada Perusahaan Industri Barang Konsumsi yang Tercatat di Bei Tahun 2012-2014)

Competition among businesses has been increasing at the era of globalization. Growingconsumer demand encourages manufacturers to improve themselves in order to survive incompetition. One effort that can be done is to improve managerial performance and innovation.Therefore, companies need to consider not only the tangible assets but also intangible assetstowards knowledge-based businesses.This study aims to determine whether there is influence between Intellectual Capital(Human Capital, Structural Capital and Capital Employed) on the performance of the consumergoods industry companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the year 2012-2014. Type ofthis study use explanative type. Technique sampling from this study is saturation sampling. Thepopulation used a total of 35 consumer goods industry companies listed on the Indonesia StockExchange in 2012-2014. This study use SPSS for Mac version 21.Results from the study showed that there is no significant relationship between HumanCapital and Corporate Performance, as well as the Structural Capital is no significant effect onthe Company's Performance. However, Capital Employed has a significant impact on theCompany's Performance. Based on these results it can be said that the performance can beaffected by the Company's Capital Employed which means the relationship between the companyand external parties can better improve the company's performance. The recommendation iscompanies should pay attention to manage intangible assets, especially Capital Employed becauseit can affect the performance of companies

Tari Monamot dalam Pemahaman Masyarakat Desa Bunobogu Kabupaten Buol

ABSTRAKSebagai tarian kreasi baru, Tari Monamot hadir dalam kehidupan masyarakat Desa Bunobogu, Kabupaten Buol, untuk menggambarkan rasa kegembiraan. Penyajiannya dalam beberapa ragam acara dapat mengandung ekspresi yang berbeda sebagai penggambaran suasana dan maksud setiap acara. Hal ini mengasumsikan fungsi tari Monamot sebagai tari hiburan, yang di sisi lain sangat mungkin terkandung makna- makna terpendam dalam setiap penyajiannya. Kejelasan yang diungkapkan di dalam tarian ini dapat pula menguak hal-hal lain terkait peradaban masyarakat Buol, termasuk identitas budaya dan sejarahnya. Oleh karenanya, penting untuk dilibatkan secara aktif masyarakat Desa Bunobogu untuk memahami makna tari Monamot, sebagai titik tolak ekspresi kolektif masyarakat Buol menghayati kehidupan mereka. Riset ini menerapkan metode penelitian yang menitikberatkan pada konsep pengembangan atau eksploratif. Pendekatan kualitatif bidang seni dan budaya tepat untuk mengkaji fenomena terkait pemahaman masyarakat pemilik tari Monamot. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui deep-interview, sementara analisis secara mendalam atasnya dilakukan secara bersamaan dalam kajian kepustakaan. Metode deskriptif dimaksudkan untuk melukiskan keadaan objek sebagai mana adanya, namun selalu dalam kesinambungan proses analisisnya yang mengacu pada kajian literatur-literatur terkait. Makna yang diungkapkan di dalam tari Monamot menguak hal-hal penting terkait peradaban masyarakat Buol, termasuk identitas budaya, sejarahnya, dan nilai filosofisnya. Pemahaman masyarakat Desa Bunobogu terhadap tari Monamot sampai ke tingkat merefleksikan cita-cita kolektif masyarakat untuk selalu bersikap rendah hati ibarat tanaman padi yang semakin merunduk saat semakin berisi dan siap dipanen. Dalam konteks yang berbeda-beda, bentuk penyajian tari Monamot beradaptasi dengan maksud acara, tempat pelaksanaan acara, dan siapa audiensnya, namun tidak mengalami perubahan struktur gerak, properti, dan musik pengiringnya. Pemahaman masyarakat Desa Bunobogu terhadap tari Monamot juga akan terus berubah seiring berubahnya waktu yang akan memengaruhi perkembangan tari Monamot sendiri. Monamot Dance in the Understanding of the Community of Bunobogu Village, Buol Regency ABSTRACT As a new dance creation, Monamot presents in the life of the people of Bunobogu Village, Buol Regency, to describe a sense of joy. Its presentation in several types of events can contain different expressions as a description of the atmosphere and the purpose of the respective event. This assumes that Monamot is merely an entertainment dance, which on the other hand it is very likely to contain hidden meanings in every presentation. The clarity expressed in this dance can also reveal other things related to the civilization of the Buol people, including their cultural and historical identity. Therefore, it is important for the people of Bunobogu village to be actively involved in understanding the meaning of the Monamot, as a starting point for the collective expression of the Buol people in living their lives. This study applies research methods that focus on the concept of development or exploratory. The qualitative approach in the arts and culture is appropriate to examine phenomena related to the understanding of the people who own the Monamot. Data collection is carried out through deep interviews, while in-depth analysis is carried out simultaneously in the literature review. The descriptive method is intended to describe the state of the object as it is, but always in a continuous process of analysis that refers to the study of related kinds of literature. The expressed meanings in the Monamot reveal important things related to the Buol’s way of life, including their cultural identity, history, and philosophical values. The understanding of the people of Bunobogu Village towards the Monamot is the point of reflecting the collective aspirations of the community to always be humble like a rice plant that bends more and more when it is fuller and ready to be harvested. In different contexts, the form of presentation of the Monamot adapts to the purpose of the event, the place where the event is held, and who the audience is, but does not experience changes in the structure of motion, properties, and the accompanying music. The understanding of Bunobogu’s people toward the meaning of Monamot will also continue to change over time which will affect the development of the Monamot itself

An Observation on the Effect of Semi-Elemental Oral Nutritional Supplements on the Reduction of Small Bowel Ostomy Output

Semi-elemental oral nutritional supplements are also referred to the oligomeric, hydrolysed or peptide formula, the nitrogen source of the formulas derived from hydrolyzed oligopeptide of shorter lengths such as the dipeptides and tripeptides. The ingredient of casein and lactaalbumin hydrolysates in this formula are believed to be capable of stimulating the jejunal absorption of water and electrolytes. The postulated stimulation of improves absorption increased our curiosity on its effect on those patient with high output ostomy. We understand that this formula is more costly compared to the other polymeric formula available in the market. We would like to share an observation of two ostomies output that are managed conservatively along with the supplementation of a semi-elemental formula. We retrospectively review the case notes of two patients with small bowel ostomies and graphs were plotted to demonstrate the relationship between the output and the intake of the semi-elemental formula. We observed an interesting pattern of the ostomy output in relationship to intake volume. The ostomy output decreases as the patients increase the intake of the semi-elemental formula. From our observation, we concluded that semi-elemental formula improved clinical nutrition outcome and also quality of life in terms of stoma output reduction, making the stoma care more manageable. However, we hope that through our observation case studies, we would encourage more researchers to conduct a larger prospective and clinical study to explore the true clinical effects and also cost-effectiveness of this formula

The Use of Ammoniated Zeolite to Improve Rumen Metabolism in Ruminant

Objective of this research was to study the effects of graded level supplementation of ammoniated zeolite on rumen metabolism parameters. This in vivo experiment was conducted in a 4x4 latine square design (LSD) with 4 treatments in 4 periods, using 4 crossbreed etawa male goats. The treatments were T1 = basal diet + 0% ammoniated zeolite, T2 = basal diet + 2% ammoniated zeolite, T3 = basal diet + 4% ammoniated zeolite, and T4 = basal diet + 6% ammoniated zeolite. Level of ammoniated zeolite supplementation is based on dietary dry matter basis. The basal diet consists of 70% Napir grass and 30% concentrate. Each period of experiment consist of 2 weeks for adjustment, 1 week for preliminary, and 10 days for total collection. Result of the experiment showed that ammoniated zeolite supplementation significantly increased the total volatile fatty acids concentration and total organic acids concentration in the rumen. Improved total volatile fatty acids concentration in the rumen could be used as a good indicator for improving rumen metabolism. However, even the concentrations of ammonia in the rumen tend to increased by ammoniated zeolite supplementation the increasing is still not statistically significant. Ruminal pH measurement in this experiment revealed that the use of ammoniated zeolite not significantly affects the ruminal pH

Antimicrobial Activity of Phomopsis SP. ED2, an Endophytic Fungus Isolated From Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth

This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. ED2, which was previously isolated from the flower of the medicinal plant Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, in Penang, Malaysia. The 14 days-old fungal cultures were extracted with different organic solvents, include hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and butanol. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were tested by disc diffusion assay. Based on the results, most antimicrobial compounds were present in the ethyl acetate fraction, and this extract could significantly inhibit the activity of bacteria, yeasts and fungi. The results also indicate that the antimicrobial compounds were mainly associated with the fungal biomass and all the Gram-positive test bacteria were inhibited by the ethyl acetate extract of the fungal biomass. Notably, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aereus exhibited a high sensitivity to the extract, with a low minimal inhibitory concentration and low minimal lethal concentration. The isolate also effectively inhibited the growth of the dermatophytes Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum. Preliminary phytochemical screening also demonstrated that the extract contains phenols and steroids which possess antimicrobial activity. These results reveal that the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. is potential source of novel chemotherapeutic agent

Anti-MRSA Activity of Penicillium Minioluteum ED24, an Endophytic Fungus Isolated From Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth

Nowadays, the medical concerns with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aereus (MRSA) arised when in 2009, the proportion of S. aureus isolates that are resistant to methicilin has increased to 59.5%- 64.4% in South East Asia. Hence a new antibacterial agent from natural source is necessary to combat the infectious diseases. This study aimed to investigate the anti-MRSA activity of the endophytic fungus Penicillium minioluteum ED24, which was previously isolated from the leaf of the medicinal plant Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, in Penang, Malaysia. Methanol was used to extract the freeze-dried fungal biomass of the 14-days old fungal culture. The extract showed very significant anti-MRSA activity of disc diffusion assay with the minimal inhibitory concentration of 31.3 mg/mL and minimal lethality concentration of 250 mg/mL. Besides, 50% growth reduction of MRSA was observed at 33.2 h at the concentration of extract at MIC and 26.7 h at concentration of 2MIC. The structural degeneration of MRSA was observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM micrographs showed that the formation of cavities were observe on the extract treated cells and the cell wall structure of the MRSA was collapsed after treated with the fungal extract. The results suggesting that the bacterial cell wall is the target of the antibiotic compound(s) present in the extract. These results reveal that the endophytic fungus P. minioluteum ED24 a is potential source of anti-MRSA compound