Sikap Indonesia terhadap Sengketa Laut Cina Selatan Pasca Putusan Permanent Court Of Arbitration 12 Juli 2017

Sengketa di Laut Cina Selatan, utamanya pada dua gugus kepulauan yaitu Spratly dan Paracell melibatkan 6 negara yaitu Cina, Taiwan, Vietnam, Filipina, Malaysia dan Brunei. Indonesia bukan merupakan negara yang bersengketa langsung namun memiliki potensi dirugikan atas klaim Cina khususnya di wilayah Natuna. Permasalahan yang diangkat dalam penelitian ini adalah bagaimana status hukum Laut Cina Selatan dan apakah yang dapat Indonesia lakukan dalam rangka menjaga kepentingan nasionalnya dan menjaga stabilitas kawasan. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa klaim Cina atas wilayah Laut Cina Selatan dinyatakan melanggar UNCLOS 1982 oleh putusan arbitrase di Den Haag pada 12 Juli 2016 sehingga secara mutlak Cina tidak memiliki hak atas wilayah Laut Cina Selatan yang diklaimnya. Untuk menjaga kepentingan nasionalnya Indonesia perlu menyatakan dukungan terhadap putusan PCA disamping terus meningkatkan kekuatan dan eksistensi di wilayah perbatasan, lalu peran Indonesia dalam menjaga stabilitas kawasan adalah dengan menginisiasi terbentuknya Code ofConduct dan draft Declaration of Conduct

An extended ice-Age sea-level equation: Incorporating water flux across sills

Summary We present a generalized theory governing gravitationally self-consistent, spatio-temporal sea-level changes within an ocean-plus-lake system that is intermittently connected by water mass flux across a sill. Our expressions for the change in sea level (defined as the difference in height of the sea surface equipotential relative to the solid surface) hold for any Earth model, and easily incorporate effects of viscoelastic deformation of the solid Earth and perturbations in both the gravitational field and rotation vector (as is now standard in ice-age sea-level calculations). In its most general form, the theory also includes an exact treatment of the evolving shoreline position in both water bodies. Our formalism involves three cases: (1) one global ocean, in which mass transfer may occur between ice sheets and the global ocean; (2) an ocean and lake separated by an exposed sill, in which mass transfer may occur between ice sheets and the global ocean, and between the ocean and lake via evaporative flux; and (3) transitional phases between these two states, when the ocean surface reaches the height of the sill from below (i.e., the sill is breached) or above (the sill is exposed). We illustrate the new theory using examples from the Black Sea flooding during the last deglacial phase (∼10 ka) and sea-level fall in the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.96-5.33 Ma). These examples demonstrate the importance of including the geophysical feedbacks associated with sea-level change in an isolated basin in the dynamics of flooding and desiccation.</jats:p

Performance of High-volume Fly Ash Self-compacting Concrete Exposed to External Sulfate Attack

The high-volume fly ash concrete, HVFAC, could be defined as any concrete mix having fly ash content larger than 50 percent of the total cementitious materials content. Due to the availability of fly ash in large quantities globally with low cost, HVFAC could be considered as a solution for the environmental impact of Portland cements. In this study the durability of two high-volume fly ash self-compacting concrete, HVFASCC, mixes exposed to the effects of two sulfate aggressive solutions was investigated. The fly ash, class F, contents for these mixes were 50 and 60 percent by weight of Portland cement. The external sulfate attack was simulated by submerging the concrete specimens in 5 percent sodium and magnesium sulfate solutions separately for 240 days. Six mixes were produced for this purpose, they were: 2 reference mixes cured in water, 2 mixes submerged in Na2SO4 solution and 2 mixes submerged in MgSO4 solution. The testing program includes: slump flow, V-funnel, L-box, weight change, XRD and the strength tests: compressive, splitting and flexural strengths. The fly ash content has a positive effect on the rheology (workability) of all tested mixtures. In other words, increasing the cement replacement level from 50 to 60 percent has enhanced the filling ability, passing ability, and segregation resistance of the investigated SCC mixes. The test results show that the magnesium solution has the higher harmful effect on all mixes than the sodium solution. The replacements of Portland cement by the assigned percentages of fly ash have significantly increased the resistance of SCC to the external sulfate attack due to lime consuming reaction

A Statistical Model to Predict the Strength Development of Geopolymer Concrete Based on SiO2/Al2O3 Ratio Variation

Geopolymer Concrete (GPC) is a new class of concrete that presents a vital improvement in sustainability and the environment, particularly in recycling and alternative construction methods. Geopolymers offer a sustainable, low energy consumption, low carbon footprint, and a 100% substitute for the Portland cement binder for civil infrastructure applications. Furthermore, many aluminosilicate materials can be obtained as by-products of other processes, such as coal combustion or the thermal pulping of wood. In addition, slag and fly ash are necessary to source materials for geopolymer. Therefore, geopolymer is considered a solution for waste management that can minimize greenhouse gas emissions. In this statistical study, the present experimental work and found experimental data were collected from local and international literature and were used to build and validate the statistical models to predict the strength development of Geopolymer concrete with binary and ternary systems of source materials. The main independent variable was R, representing the ratio of SiO2/Al2O3by weight in the source material. The investigated range of R was 1.42–3.6. Nine concrete geopolymer mixes with R in the above range represent the experimental part carried out. The targeted properties were compressive, splitting, and flexural strengths. The experimental results showed that the R ratio significantly influences the mechanical performance of the final product. The compressive strength improved by 82, 86, 93, and 95%, when metakaolin content was partially replaced by fly ash and GGBS by percentages of 30, 70, 72, 90, and 95% for mixes 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8 respectively. Also, when GGBS partially replaced fly ash content by 36% and 100% for mixes 6 and 9, compressive strength improved by 10.6% and 41.8%, respectively, compared to mix4. Furthermore, the statistical study revealed that the R ratio might be utilized to determine geopolymer strength with reasonable accuracy. The built models were developed by linear and non-linear regression analysis using SPSS software, version 25. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-03-04 Full Text: PD

The Extent of Using the Target Costing Technique by Jordanian Industrial Shareholding Companies

The current research aims at examining whether or not the Jordanian Industrial Public Corporations use the target costing technique. For this purpose the researchers distributed around 70 questionnaires, while just 52 questionnaires of them are examined. Each questionnaire encompasses 16 questions, whereas 8 of these questions are addressed to all companies; while the remaining questions are addressed to the companies those are used the target costing system. The results reveal that 35% of companies use the target costing system, whether partly 27% or totally 8% and 65% of companies don’t use this system. The study concludes that the major reasons behind not using the target costing system; are due to the lack of target costing knowledge and the management supporting is not enough in additional to the old habits in calculating value. The study recommends Jordanian companies to use the target costing, as it is deemed as an essential part of the management of total cost. Keywords: Target Costing Technique “TCT”, Shareholding Companies, Customer Satisfaction

The Protective Effect of Nitroglycerin, N-Acetyl Cysteine and Metoprolol in CCL4 Induced Animal Model of Acute Liver Injury

OBJECTIVE: The current study was designed to determine the hepatoprotective effect of well-known drugs. Nitroglycerin, N-acetyl cysteine and Metoprolol in acute liver injury induced by CCL4. The antioxidant effects of b-blockers, especially carvedilol, have been described by several investigators. However, for metoprolol, the effect is a bit query as there is only one in-vitro study showing a little hepatoprotective effect. Thus, it is worthy to re-study the hepatoprotective effect of metoprolol. AIM: To explore the possible hepatoprotective effect of Nitroglycerin, N-acetyl cysteine and Metoprolol TartrateMATERIAL AND METHODS: The normal serum values of ALP, AST, ALT, TSB and TSP were determined in 35 healthy rabbits allocated to 5 groups before CCL4 induction and at three occasions 24, 72, 120 hrs after induction by CCL4 and treatment with the tested drugs: Nitroglycerin, N-acetyl cysteine and Metoprolol for five successive days.RESULTS: Showed significant decrease in serum levels of ALP, AST, ALT and TSB with a significant increase in TSP level of all the tested drugs measured at 120 hrs compared with the control and their levels measured at 24, 72 hrs.CONCLUSION: All the tested drugs proved in having a hepatoprotective effect when they are given orally to animals. The histopathological sections of the liver tissue supported the real effect of these drugs in the management of ALI

29. No association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and congenital heart disease in Saudi Arabian population

Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are the most common birth defects in the world. It is a major cause of childhood mortality and morbidity worldwide with about 7 per 1000 live birth. Studies suggest that Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism C667T has been associated with congenital malformation; this common missense mutation in the MTHFR gene may reduce enzymatic action, and may be involved in the etiology of congenital heart defects (CHD), but the evidence remains inconclusive. The aim of this study is to determine whether this association exists in the Saudi Arabian population.MethodDNA sequencing was used to detect genotype MTHFR C677T in 75 CHD patients and 100 ethnically similar controls. The type of cardiac defect was diagnosed by cardiovascular specialist and confirmed by echocardiographic.ResultsThe distribution of the MTHFR 677C >T SNP genotypes and alleles in both CHD and control groups were 70.0% CC, 26.0% CT, 4.0% TT in cases and 70.8% CC, 25.4% CT, 3.8% TT in controls. The T allele frequency was 17.0% in cases and 16.5% in controls. The difference between genotypes and alleles was not statistically significant between controls and the CHD groups.ConclusionWe did not find sufficient evidence for an association between MTHFR C677T genotype and congenital heart disease in Saudi Arabian population. We agree that the sample size is a limitation to our above conclusions

Antenna Beam Steering For Wireless Sensors Using Real Time Phase Shifter

As part of the increasing demand for accurate, secure and robust short range wireless sensors for Smart Grid systems, we present the design and the simulation of phased array transmitter with variable delay based phase shifters. Multiple antennas are used to achieve beam steering using active beamforming technique. Our design exploits the multiple signal paths. In addition, the transmitter will provide feasible directional point-to-point communication networks via transmitting the signal to the preferred receiver with the desired coverage. The sensitivity and the accuracy of the system are enhanced in terms of object identification and location, respectively. This wireless sensor appears well suited for use in Smart Grid technologies operating at 2.4GHz ISM band with 250kbps data rate capacity where minimum cost and high integration are valued

Transition-Metal-Free Homopolymerization of Pyrrolo[2,3-d:5,4-d′]bisthiazoles via Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution

Novel methods to synthesize electron-deficient π-conjugated polymers utilizing transition-metal-free coupling reactions for the use of nonfunctionalized monomers are attractive due to their improved atom economy and environmental prospective. Herein we describe the use of iPrMgCl·LiCl complex to afford thiazole-based conjugated polymers in the absence of any transition metal catalyst, that enables access to well-defined polymers with good molecular weights. The mechanistically distinct polymerizations proceeded via nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This work demonstrates the first example of fully conjugated thiazole-based aromatic homopolymers without the need of any transition metal catalyst