Back to the brink in Pakistan

S. Mahmud Ali argues the current protests in Pakistan are symptomatic of systemic dysfunction. Despite the peaceful democratic handover of power last year, the essence and purpose of the Pakistani state remain contested and an overarching national identity remains incomplete

2015: Pakistan’s year of mixed fortunes

S. Mahmud Ali looks back on what proved to be a turbulent and often difficult year for Pakistan. Renewed Islamist violence shook the civilian government’s authority, tensions with India rumbled on, and Islamabad’s Afghan policy was coloured by profound insecurity. The year was not without its positives, most notably Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit which was coupled with promises of substantial investment. However, as 2016 gets under way it remains to be seen whether Pakistan can prevent the multiple threats it faces from escalating

The energy demand in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan: some further results

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The purpose of this study was to re-examine the role of energy in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan using a Partial Equilibrium Approach. GL restricted cost function along with the factor demand equations were estimated using Zellner's iterative procedure. Higher energy prices do not seem to adversely affect investment in capital. Substitution possibilities between energy and non-energy inputs are very limited and therefore energy price hikes may directly affect the cost of production. Inter-fuel cross price elasticities indicate that there are substitution possibilities between electricity and gas. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: Q41

Analisis Perbedaan Hasil Belajar Matematika Siswa Sebelum Menggunakan Modul Dengan yang Sesudah Menggunakan Modul Pokok Bahasan Integral Pada Siswa Kelas XII SMA Swasta Teladan Binjai Tahun Pembelajaran 2007/2008

Abstract: Analisis perbedaan hasil belajar siswa sebelum menggunakan modul dengan yang sesudah menggunakan modul pokok bahasan integral pada siswa kelas II SMA Teladan Binjai tahun pembelajaran 2007/2008. Skripsi, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perbedaan hasil belajar siswa sebelum menggunakan modul dengan yang sesudah menggunakan modul pokok bahasan integral pada siswa kelas II SMA Teladan Binjai Tahun Pembelajaran 2007/2008. Untuk memperoleh data yang diperlukan pada penelitian ini digunakan test objektif yaitu  untuk melihat perbedaan hasil belajar siswa sebelum menggunakan modul dengan yang sesudah menggunakan modul. Dari hasil analisis data diperoleh skor rata-rata data siswa sebelum menggunakan modul yaitu 7,05 dengan simpangan bakunya 1,43. Rata-rata data siswa sesudah menggunakan modul 7.983 dengan simpangan bakunya 1,25. Hasil ini menunjukkan bahwa pengajaran dengan menggunakan modul pada penguasaan materi pokok bahasan integral kelas II SMA Teladan Binjai Tahun Pembelajaran 2007/2008. Dengan demikian, terdapat perbedaan rata-rata dengan persentase sebelum menggunakan modul 76,6 % dan yang sesudah menggunakan modul 93,3 % dengan kenaikan 16,7 %. Jadi, rata-rata data siswa menggunakan modul lebih tinggi 16,7 % dari pada rata-rata data siswa sebelum menggunakan modul.Keywords: Hasill belajar Matematika sebelum dan sesudah mengunakan modu

Environment Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions: A cointegration analysis for China

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This study examines the long-run relationship between carbon emissions and energy consumption, income and foreign trade in the case of China by employing time series data of 1975–2005. In particular the study aims at testing whether environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship between CO2 emissions and per capita real GDP holds in the long run or not. Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology is employed for empirical analysis. A quadratic relationship between income and CO2 emission has been found for the sample period, supporting EKC relationship. The results of Granger causality tests indicate one way causality runs through economic growth to CO2 emissions. The results of this study also indicate that the carbon emissions are mainly determined by income and energy consumption in the long run. Trade has a positive but statistically insignificant impact on CO2 emissions. & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Coherently controlled entanglement generation in a binary Bose-Einstein condensate

Considering a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential, a method to generate a Bell state consisting of two spatially separated condensates is suggested. For repulsive interactions, the required tunnelling control is achieved numerically by varying the amplitude of a sinusoidal potential difference between the wells. Both numerical and analytical calculations reveal the emergence of a highly entangled mesoscopic state.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, epl2.cl

Trends and challenges in neuroengineering: toward "Intelligent" neuroprostheses through brain-"brain inspired systems" communication

Future technologies aiming at restoring and enhancing organs function will intimately rely on near-physiological and energy-efficient communication between living and artificial biomimetic systems. Interfacing brain-inspired devices with the real brain is at the forefront of such emerging field, with the term "neurobiohybrids" indicating all those systems where such interaction is established. We argue that achieving a "high-level" communication and functional synergy between natural and artificial neuronal networks in vivo, will allow the development of a heterogeneous world of neurobiohybrids, which will include "living robots" but will also embrace “intelligent” neuroprostheses for augmentation of brain function. The societal and economical impact of intelligent neuroprostheses is likely to be potentially strong, as they will offer novel therapeutic perspectives for a number of diseases, and going beyond classical pharmaceutical schemes. However, they will unavoidably raise fundamental ethical questions on the intermingling between man and machine and more specifically, on how deeply it should be allowed that brain processing is affected by implanted "intelligent" artificial systems. Following this perspective, we provide the reader with insights on ongoing developments and trends in the field of neurobiohybrids. We address the topic also from a "community building" perspective, showing through a quantitative bibliographic analysis, how scientists working on the engineering of brain-inspired devices and brain-machine interfaces are increasing their interactions. We foresee that such trend preludes to a formidable technological and scientific revolution in brain-machine communication and to the opening of new avenues for restoring or even augmenting brain function for therapeutic purposes

Analisiskebijakanwalikotadalam Program Bantuanpendidikanmasyarakat Kota Surakarta (Bpkms) di Kota Surakarta

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji kebijakan walikota dalam program bantuan pendidikan masyarakat kota Surakarta (BPKMS) Di kota Surakarta. Dari hasil penelitian di dapatkan bahwa implementasi kebijakan BPMKS mulaidari proses penetapan penerima dana BPMKS, pengalokasian dana, laporan pertanggungjawaban dana, dan monitoring penggunaan dana BPMKS sudah berjalan dengan baik dan sesuai demgan PERWALI Surakarta Nomor 11A Tahun 2012. Dari hasil penelitian di dapatkan bahwa implementasi kebijakan BPMKS mulaidari proses penetapan penerima dana BPMKS, pengalokasian dana, laporan pertanggungjawaban dana, dan monitoring penggunaan dana BPMKS sudah berjalan dengan baik dan sesuai demgan PERWALI Surakarta Nomor 11A Tahun 2012. Pelaksanaan BPMKS sudah memberikan hasil yang berdampak positif terhadap obyek kebijakan yaitu masyarakat Kota Surakarta selaku penerima dana BPMKS. Faktor yang mendukung implementasi kebijakan BPMKS antara lain: kondisi sumber daya manusia yang kompeten, saranadan prasarana yang lengkap, teknis pelaksanaan yang baik, dan tingginya motivasi dari lembaga pelaksana BPMKS. Pelaksanaan BPMKS sudah memberikan hasil yang berdampak positif terhadap obyek kebijakan yaitu masyarakat Kota Surakarta selaku penerima dana BPMKS. Faktor yang mendukung implementasi kebijakan BPMKS antara lain: kondisi sumber daya manusia yang kompeten, saranadan prasarana yang lengkap, teknis pelaksanaan yang baik, dan tingginya motivasi dari lembaga pelaksana BPMKS. Factor penghambatnya antara lain: komunikasi antar semua lembaga terkait yang kurang harmonis, kurangnya alokasi waktu dalam pembuatan laporan pertanggungjawaban BPMKS, pencairan dana BPMKS yang terlambat, dan belum adanya Unit khusus yang menangani BPMKS Factor penghambatnya antara lain: komunikasi antar semua lembaga terkait yang kurang harmonis, kurangnya alokasi waktu dalam pembuatan laporan pertanggungjawaban BPMKS, pencairan dana BPMKS yang terlambat, dan belum adanya Unit khusus yang menangani BPMKS Kata Kunci : kebijakan walikota, program BPKMS kota Surakarta Kata Kunci : kebijakan walikota, program BPKMS kota Surakart