Synthetic membranes play a crucial role in a wide range of separation processes, including dialysis, electrodialysis, ultrafiltration, and pervaporation, with growing interest in synthetic emulsion membranes due to their precision, versatility, and ion exchange capabilities. These membranes enable tailored solutions for specific applications, such as water and gas separation, wastewater treatment, and chemical purification, by leveraging their multi-layered structures and customizable properties. Emulsion membrane technology, particularly in pressure-driven methods like reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF), has shown great potential in overcoming traditional challenges, such as fouling and energy inefficiency, by improving filtration efficiency and selectivity. This review explores the latest advancements in emulsion membrane development, their adaptability to various industrial needs, and their contribution to addressing long-standing limitations in membrane separation technologies. The findings underscore the promise of emulsion membranes in advancing industrial processes and highlight their potential for broader applications in water treatment, environmental management, and other key sectors.

This paper investigates the impact of financial inclusion on financial stability in BRICS countries from 2004 to 2020. Using a panel smooth transition regression model, the results reveal a U-shaped relationship between financial inclusion and financial stability. Financial inclusion reduces financial stability up to a threshold of 44.7%. Beyond this point, financial inclusion contributes to greater financial stability, through gradual transitions. Enhanced financial inclusion supports banks in stabilizing their deposit funding by facilitating access to more stable, long-term funds and alleviating the negative impacts of fluctuations in returns. Furthermore, the study examines the role of institutional quality in shaping the financial inclusion-financial stability nexus, indicating a significant positive effect, especially in the upper regime. These findings provide valuable insights for financial regulatory authorities, highlighting the importance of promoting financial inclusion in BRICS economies and adapting regulations to mitigate potential risks to global financial stability.

This study examines the impact of parliamentary thresholds on the Indonesian political system through the lens of the Routine Policy Implementation Model and the Strategic Policy Implementation Model. The main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of parliamentary thresholds in managing political fragmentation, assess their impact on stability and representation in the legislative system, and understand their implementation’s technical and strategic implications. Using a qualitative approach supported by interview studies and field observations, this research combines analysis of election data in the 2009, 2014, and 2019 elections with a qualitative assessment of policy changes and political dynamics. The Routine Policy Implementation Model focuses on the technical aspects of threshold implementation, including vote counting procedures and seat allocation efficiency. Meanwhile, the Strategic Policy Implementation Model examines the broader implications of these thresholds for political consolidation, government effectiveness, and the representation of minor parties. The results show that the parliamentary threshold has significantly reduced political fragmentation by consolidating the number of parties in Parliament, resulting in a legislative system that is cleaner and easier to administer. However, this consolidation has also marginalized small parties and limited political diversity. The novelty of this study lies in its comprehensive analysis of how parliamentary thresholds affect administrative efficiency and strategic political stability in Indonesia, compared to democratic countries in transition, such as Slovenia and Montenegro. In conclusion, although parliamentary thresholds have increased political stability and government effectiveness, they have also raised concerns about the reduced representation of small and regional parties. The study recommends maintaining balanced thresholds that ensure stability and diversity, implementing mechanisms to review thresholds periodically, and involving diverse stakeholders in adjusting policies to reflect evolving political dynamics. This approach will help balance the need for a stable legislative environment with broad representation.

How are telecommunications infrastructure, institutions and poverty related in a war-torn economy such as Afghanistan? Afghanistan has been plagued by poor governance, low usage of telecommunications, and extreme poverty levels which can be termed triple-challenges. High levels of political instability affected telecommunications investment and adversely affected the adoption and diffusion of modern technology. This study examines the asymmetric effect of telecommunications and governance (institutions) on poverty reduction over the period 1989–2019 using a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. In the short run, we establish that information and communication technology, private domestic credit, governance, and educational access for males and females are essential tools that can be used for poverty reduction. In the long run, we also establish that Afghanistan can reduce poverty levels through the use of information and communication technology, governance, and educational access for both males and females. The following policy recommendations were suggested: research and development, robust policy formulation on governance and ICT, development of the ICT sector, and improved governance. These are critical in reducing the high poverty levels as well as solving the institutional challenges faced by Afghanistan.

This study examines how economic freedom and competition affect bank stability. We use data from 70 ASEAN-4 banks from 2007 to 2019 using the system generalized technique of moments. Results corroborate competition-fragility hypothesis. Market strength (or less competition) can boost bank stability. However, in the ASEAN-4 area, competition and bank stability have a non-linear relationship, suggesting that bank stability may decline after market strength exceeds a threshold. Financial and economic freedom also boosts bank stability. This implies banks in free financial and economic contexts are more stable. Banks with more market dominance in nations with more economic or financial autonomy may also be more unstable. The findings suggest that authorities should allow some competition and economic flexibility to keep banks stable. The study examined ASEAN-4 economic freedom’s effects empirically for the first time. It illuminates competitiveness and bank stability.

 Beach protection is vital to reduce the damage to shorelines and coastal areas; one of the artificial protections that can be utilized is the tetrapod. However, much damage occurred when using a traditional tetrapod due to the lack of stability coefficient (K_D). Therefore, this research aims to increase the stability coefficient by providing minor modifications to the cape of the tetrapod, such as round-caped or cube-caped. The modification seeks to hold the drag force from the wave and offer a good interlocking in between the tetrapod. This research applied physical model test research using a breakwater model made from the proposed innovative tetrapod with numerous variations in dimensions and layers simulated with several scenarios. The analysis was carried out by graphing the relationship between the parameters of the measurement results and the relationship between dimensionless parameters, such as wave steepness H/gT2, and other essential parameters, such as the K_D stability number and the level of damage in %. The result shows that the modified and innovative tetrapod has a more excellent K_D value than the conventional tetrapod. In addition, the innovative tetrapod with the cube-shaped has a recommended K_D value greater than the round shape. This means that for the modified tetrapod structure and the same level of security, the required weight of the tetrapod with the cube cap will be lighter than the tetrapod with the round cap. These findings have significant practical implications for coastal protection and engineering, potentially leading to more efficient and cost-effective solutions.