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Indonesia’s defense acquisition strategy
Get PDFIndonesia is a huge archipelagic state, whose maritime security faces a growing strategic challenge from China. Jakarta's ability to respond, however, is hampered by its low share of military expenditure in national income. The resultant unaffordability means that military capability is dependent on loans from overseas’ contractors and banks to fund weapons acquisition. Consequently, Indonesia’s acquisition strategy has been focused on closing the gap between capability aspirations and budgetary reality. It represents a case study of unorthodox funding options, comprising export credits, countertrade and institutional loans. In turn, Indonesia’s acquisition pathways have been shaped by budgetary inadequacy, and include 2nd hand equipment markets, barter and international technology-sharing programs. Future acquisition policy reform is essential to remove the inefficiencies associated with the present cost-minimization approach.Asian Securit
Efficient few‐shot learning in remote sensing: fusing vision and vision‐language models
No full textRemote sensing has become a vital tool across sectors such as urban planning, environmental monitoring, and disaster response. Although the volume of data generated has increased significantly, traditional vision models are often constrained by the requirement for extensive domain‐specific labelled data and their limited ability to understand the context within complex environments. Vision Language Models offer a complementary approach by integrating visual and textual data; however, their application to remote sensing remains underexplored, particularly given their generalist nature. This work investigates the combination of vision models and VLMs to enhance image analysis in remote sensing, with a focus on aircraft detection and scene understanding. The integration of YOLO with VLMs such as LLaVA, ChatGPT, and Gemini aims to achieve more accurate and contextually aware image interpretation. Performance is evaluated on both labelled and unlabelled remote sensing data, as well as degraded image scenarios that are crucial for remote sensing. The findings show an average MAE improvement of 48.46% across models in the accuracy of aircraft detection and counting, especially in challenging conditions, in both raw and degraded scenarios. A 6.17% improvement in CLIPScore for comprehensive understanding of remote sensing images is obtained. The proposed approach combining traditional vision models and VLMs paves the way for more advanced and efficient remote sensing image analysis, especially in few‐shot learning scenarios.Applied AI Letter
From tragedy to training: multi-dimensional leadership learning through the K2 mountain simulation
No full textThis paper introduces the Multi-Dimensional Leadership Learning in Extreme Contexts (MLLEC) framework, a multidimensional model for leadership development in volatile, high-stakes educational settings. Centered on a simulation of the 2008 K2 Mountain tragedy, the pedagogical design activates five integrated dimensions: transformative learning, psychological safety, sensemaking, embodied cognition, and ethical decision-making. Grounded in experiential learning theory, MLLEC is depicted as concentric layers linking immersive simulation to developmental systems and leadership capabilities. Based on over 40 facilitated sessions with senior-level participants, we report qualitative insights and descriptive outcomes aligned with each MLLEC component. The framework offers a replicable model for simulation-based leadership education that bridges theoretical and practical dimensions, equipping educators with a structured approach to cultivate adaptive judgment, moral reflexivity, and emotional regulation in VUCA environments.The International Journal of Management Educatio
Anaerobic digestion of tannery sludge and tannery waste: a systematic review
No full textThis review investigated the application of anaerobic digestion (AD) as a sustainable solution for managing waste generated by the leather industry and sludge from the treatment of tannery effluents. The novelty of this review is the classification and discussion of the application of AD for both sludge and solid tannery waste, either as mono- or co-digestion with other substrates. The review underscored the potential of AD as a sustainable management of tannery waste and sludge, highlighting the feasibility of AD application to address the environmental challenges of the tanning industry. The application of AD represents a promising perspective in the leather industry, due to the specific nature and the high production volumes of tannery waste and sludge. The review highlighted the impacts of tannery sludge and waste origin and characteristics on biogas yields and digestion performance. The review also indicated the limited experience on mono-digestion of tannery sludge and tannery waste, and the key challenges as process instability, the seasonal variability of feedstock and the potential inhibition due to the presence of heavy metals. Co-digestion with other substrates was identified as a promising approach to improve efficiency and yields, as well as an opportunity to stimulate the implementation of AD in the tannery sector. The experiences on AD of tannery sludge and waste remain largely at laboratory scale, and this can hinder the scale-up of applications. The review discussed the research which made substantial contributions in this area and examined the treatment opportunities for a better understanding of the topic.This study was funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, in the framework of the iNEST – Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem (iNEST ECS_00000043 – CUP H43C22000540006).Environmental Technology Review
Crown-tulip trigger mechanisms to improve crashworthiness design of composite tubular structures
No full textThis article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Composites: Fabrication, Properties and ApplicationsBackground: This article presents the design development of a new crown-tulip trigger mechanism to initiate progressive failure and reduce initial collapse load in comparison with the existing trigger designs of bevel and tulip in tubular composite structures. Objectives: Through experimental impact testing, comparisons are drawn to the existing designs, such as the 45° bevel and 4T90° tulip trigger mechanism. Methods: This experimental testing design phase demonstrated a significant improvement in the crush force efficiency of crown-tulip trigger mechanisms compared to the previously established Tulip trigger design (4T90°). The experimental results were utilised to develop equivalent numerical models in LS-DYNA. Results: The validated models were employed for further design development, studying the influence of increased bevel angles (30°, 45°, and 60°), tulip angles (90°, 100°, 120°, 140°, and 160°), crown notch depth, crown notch angle, and number of tulip tips/crown notches on the crashworthiness and force response. Conclusions: This culminated in the numerical design development of the 4T160°-40°-2 mm crown-tulip trigger, which achieved 20% higher specific energy absorption, a 22% increase in crush force efficiency, and a 36% higher mean force compared with the 4T90° Tulip-triggered specimen. The outcomes of this research will be implemented in automotive, aerospace, and defence sub-structures.Journal of Composites Scienc
Sum-rate maximization for ISAC systems with backscatter RFID tags
No full textThis paper investigates an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system incorporating backscattering radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. In this configuration, a base station (BS) simultaneously serves multiple users through a communication beam while utilizing a sensing beam to detect the presence of an RFID tag. A joint beamforming design problem is formulated to maximize the sum-rate for the users while ensuring the minimum quality of service (QoS) for the tag detection and the minimum QoS of all communication users. To tackle the non-convex nature of objective function the Lagrangian dual transform technique is employed. Due to the coupling of variables, an alternating optimization (AO) based algorithm is proposed with guaranteed convergence. Through numerical simulations, we validate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm. Additionally, we assess the impact of several key parameters on system performance, including the number of transmitting antennas at the BS, the available transmit power at the BS, the minimum QoS for the communication users, and the number of communication users.Ministry of Education, National Science and Technology Council, National Science and Technology CouncilThis work was supported in part by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan under Grants NSTC 113-2218-E-110-009 and NSTC 113- 2222-E-110-008-MY3, and also in part by the Sixth Generation Communication and Sensing Research Center funded by the Higher Education SPROUT Project, the Ministry of Education of Taiwan.ICC 2025 - IEEE International Conference on Communication
Reimagining salmon supply chains: a sustainability comparison of 3D-printed and traditional production
No full textThe seafood industry faces growing sustainability challenges, including overfishing, resource inefficiency, and environmental degradation, necessitating innovative production alternatives. While traditional SCs benefit from established infrastructure and consumer trust, their high resource demand and operational inefficiencies highlight the need for sustainable alternatives. This study compares traditional and 3D-printed salmon SCs, using process mapping by flowcharting and sustainability metrics to evaluate their environmental, economic, and social impacts. Findings indicate that 3D-printed salmon reduces carbon emissions by up to 86% and freshwater consumption by 95%, primarily by eliminating farming, feed production, and long-distance cold storage. Additionally, localized production lowers logistical costs and enhances resource efficiency. Despite challenges related to consumer acceptance, regulatory approval, and scalability, 3D printing presents a promising complement to aquaculture, supporting long-term sustainability in seafood production.IFAC-PapersOnLin
The Female FTSE Report 2008: A Decade of Delay
Get PDF2008 marks our tenth index and report with a slight, incremental increase ofdirectorships held by women on the FTSE 100 corporate boards, bringing the totalnumber to 131. Ten years ago there were only 66 women on the FTSE 100 boards.The most meaningful increase has occurred in the 39 companies that now each havetwo or more women on their boards
An experimental method of determining explosive equivalency when scaled distance approaches zero
Get PDFThe ability to compare explosives is fundamental. Numerous methods are used and while simple conversion factors are often used, the use of TNT Equivalency (TNTe) is not a simple subject as explosives exhibit very different equivalencies depending on whether the pressure or impulse are being considered as well as other conditions. The scaled distance has been found to have a significant effect on the TNTe but due to the difficulty of taking measurements at very close ranges, no TNTe have been quoted for charges in direct contact (Z=0). This paper describes the use of a ballistic pendulum to measure the impulse from contact charges and presents some surprising results that require a two-stage propulsion, as originally described by Backofen, to be explained.This work was sponsored by Alford Technologies Ltd who provided logistics and technical resources for the research but played no role in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, the writing of the report and the decision to submit the paper for publication.2024 ISEE Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Techniqu
Low-power vibrothermography for detecting and quantifying defects on CFRP composites
No full textDetecting and quantifying barely visible impact damage (BVID) in carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials is a key challenge in maintaining the safety and reliability of composite structures. This study presents the application of low-power vibrothermography to identify and quantify such defects. Using a long-wave infrared (LWIR) camera, thermal data were captured from the CFRP specimens that inhibit BVID. How image processing, specifically principal component analysis (PCA) and sparse principal component analysis (SPCA), can enhance thermal contrast and improve the accuracy of defect size is also explored. By combining low-energy excitation with advanced data analysis, this research aims to develop a more accessible and reliable approach to non-destructive testing (NDT) for composite materials.This research was funded by Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) of the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia grant number 20210222226064.18th International Workshop on Advanced Infrared Technology and Applications (AITA 2025)Proceeding