Governing the teak furniture business: A global value chain system dynamic modelling approach

Javanese teak forest constitutes more than 35% of world teak forests. It provides employment and livelihood to millions of people. This paper describes the use of systems dynamics to mimic the value chain of teak from forest to final furniture market using phases of conceptual design, model specification, model evaluation and model uses. The model comprises Perhutani plantation teak, community agroforest, teak log trading, furniture manufacturing and market. From the model we observe baseline trends of teak forest and incomes to various actors participating in teak business including forest state enterprise Perhutani, local communities, brokers, manufacturers and retailers. We use the model to produce governance scenarios of fair trade and vertical integration, their impacts on actors' income and the sustainability of teak plantations.     

Real-time detection of changes in network with OpenFlow based on NetFPGA implementation

Sketch-based algorithms are extensively applied in a wide range of networking applications. This work develops the compact implementation of a system for detecting changes in traffic in real time with OpenFlow on a NetFPGA 1G (4 × 1G) platform. The system can monitor network traffic at a line rate of up to 4 Gbps with the required detection accuracy needed with limited memory on-board. The system utilizes a one-pass method to determine when the flow exceeds a predefined threshold. Based on the flow IDs identified, actions are issued immediately to switches to respond properly according to the OpenFlow protocol.     

Modern residential energy inequalities in Indonesia: spatial and income analyses

ABSTRACT

This study put forward the inequality issues in modern residential energy consumption from both income and spatial viewpoints, with special regard to the Indonesian case. Energy inequality was viewed from the perspective of energy justice in both distribution and recognition. This study employed qualitative analysis with Theil’s, Gini, and mixed-Gini index methods. The energy usage inequalities have declined, both overall and by the dimensions of spatial and income levels, except in urban areas. However, this paper found that some groups were susceptible to fall into energy-poor, especially residents in rural areas, remote areas, and eastern Indonesia. Besides improving a more stable electricity grid, the government should continue the energy-saving solar lighting (LTSHE) program and promote small-scale decentralized technologies. LPG distribution should be improved. A program such as the cheap clean stove needs to be developed to reach those without access to clean cooking fuel.     

Reusable high performance of calcined Mg/Al hydrotalcite for the removal of Navy Blue and Yellow F3G dyes

Water pollution with dye chemicals from apparel industries is a serious problem in the world.Since most of dyes are potentially have toxic and carcinogenic effects on human,it is important to remove them before they are discharged to the environment.Among many methods available for dyes removal in water,adsorption is the easiest and economically feasible that has no major obstacle for practical appli-cations.In the present study,we tested calcined Mg/Al hydrotalcite (Mg/Al CHT) prepared by co-precipitation technique as an adsorbent for the removal of Navy Blue (NB) and Yellow F3G (YF3G) dyes.Mg/Al CHT was characterized by using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer,an X-ray diffrac-tometer (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM).The results showed that Mg/Al CHT was highly effective as an adsorbent for the removal of NB and YF3G under mild-acidic condition (pH 4) with removal capacities (b) according to Langmuir isotherm model were 7.97 × 10-4 and 5.80 × 10-4 mol·g-1,respectively.Kinetics study showed that the adsorption of NB and YF3D on Mg/Al CHT followed pseudo-second order with rate constant (kp2) 11.57 × 103 and 11.75 × 103 g·mol-1·min-1,respectively.The spent adsorbent can be easily regenerated by simply calcining it at 450 ℃ for 3 h.Adsorption test on the mix-ture of NB and YF3G showed that the adsorption capacity of Mg/Al CHT was eightfold higher than that of Mg/Al HT and the value was maintained with repeated use.     

Photofermentative hydrogen production using Rhodobium marinum from bagasse and soy sauce wastewater

A marine photosynthetic bacterial consortium was studied for its capability of hydrogen production using treated soy sauce wastewater and bagasse as a sole carbon source. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles showed that the dominant bacterium in the bacterial consortium was Rhodobium marinum. The effects of treatments of soy sauce wastewater were tested for hydrogen production. The feedstock treatments included dilution, sterilization, neutralization and by adding sodium bicarbonate and yeast extract. The maximal cumulative hydrogen production was achieved up to 200 ± 67 mL H₂ in the medium containing soy sauce and 41 ± 16 mL H₂ from the hydrolyzed bagasse as substrate.     

Geranylgeraniol Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation in Mouse-Derived MG6 Microglial Cells via NF-κB Signaling Modulation

Persistent inflammatory reactions in microglial cells are strongly associated with neurodegenerative pathogenesis. Additionally, geranylgeraniol (GGOH), a plant-derived isoprenoid, has been found to improve inflammatory conditions in several animal models. It has also been observed that its chemical structure is similar to that of the side chain of menaquinone-4, which is a vitamin K₂ sub-type that suppresses inflammation in mouse-derived microglial cells. In this study, we investigated whether GGOH has a similar anti-inflammatory effect in activated microglial cells. Particularly, mouse-derived MG6 cells pre-treated with GGOH were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Thereafter, the mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined via qRT-PCR, while protein expression levels, especially the expression of NF-κB signaling cascade-related proteins, were determined via Western blot analysis. The distribution of NF-κB p65 protein was also analyzed via fluorescence microscopy. Thus, it was observed that GGOH dose-dependently suppressed the LPS-induced increase in the mRNA levels of Il-1β, Tnf-α, Il-6, and Cox-2. Furthermore, GGOH inhibited the phosphorylation of TAK1, IKKα/β, and NF-κB p65 proteins as well as NF-κB nuclear translocation induced by LPS while maintaining IκBα expression. We showed that GGOH, similar to menaquinone-4, could alleviate LPS-induced microglial inflammation by targeting the NF-kB signaling pathway.     

Synthesis of high-purity zircon,zirconia, and silica nanopowders from local zircon sand

High-purity zircon (ZrSiO₄) nanopowder was successfully produced from Indonesian natural zircon sand using a low-cost purification approach via magnetic separation, immersion in HCl, and reaction with NaOH, followed by a top-down nanosizing process using wet ball-milling for 10?h and annealing at 200?°C for 2?h. Furthermore, polymorph zirconia (ZrO₂ – amorphous, tetragonal, and monoclinic) and silica (SiO₂ – amorphous and cristobalite) nanopowders were also successfully derived from the purified zircon powder using a bottom-up method via alkali fusion and co-precipitation processes followed by calcination. The crystallite size of the powders was estimated from X-ray diffraction (XRD) data analysis to give 40, 31, 61, and 149?nm, respectively, for the zircon, tetragonal- and monoclinic-zirconia, and cristobalite. Microstructural characteristics of the zircon, silica, and zirconia nanopowders were revealed in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images which confirmed that the average sizes of the particles were in a good agreement with the XRD estimated values.     

Eco-green portable wireless power charger design with low-voltage,high-current fuel cell power source features

Since portable wireless power charger devices have grown rapidly in the market, this device has potential to become standard power charger for portable electronic devices. It offers enhanced consumer convenience and experience. This article presents an innovative portable wireless power charger that is more environmental-friendly because it uses a hydrogen gas fuel cell as the power source. Compared with fossil energy, the fuel cell is clean and renewable, which does not contribute a negative impact on the environment. A wireless power transmission (WPT) system was developed based on the electromagnetic induction technique in order to propagate electromagnetic energy from the transmitter to the receiver with operating frequency at 110 kHz. A four-cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) planar module with open type at cathode side was applied to provide 4.11 W with its low-voltage and high-current features. A single-cell PEMFC produces output voltage ranging from 0.6 to 0.7 V and configures in serial to form a four-cell PEMFC planar module. Two DC-DC boost converter module in a parallel configuration was used to convert to a suitable voltage and current to the WPT module. The experimental validation shows that the developed system provides power around 1.6 W to the device battery under recharging with power efficiency delivery up to 70%. The charging experiment reveals the device battery capacity under recharging (cell phone) increases 1% in 3.3 minutes and it consumes the hydrogen at around 1.2 L.