Assessing the Role of Microfinance in Fostering Adaptation to Climate Change

Much of the current policy debate on adaptation to climate change has focussed on estimation of adaptation costs, ways to raise and to scale-up funding for adaptation, and the design of the international institutional architecture for adaptation financing. There is however little or no emphasis so far on actual delivery mechanisms to channel these resources at the sub-national level, particularly to target the poor who are also often the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is in this context that microfinance merits a closer look. This paper offers the first empirical assessment of the linkages between microfinance supported activities and adaptation to climate change. Specifically, the lending portfolios of the 22 leading microfinance institutions in two climate vulnerable countries – Bangladesh and Nepal - are analysed to assess the synergies and potential conflicts between microfinance and adaptation. The two countries had also been previously examined as part of an earlier OECD report on the links between macro-level Official Development Assistance and adaptation. This analysis provides a complementary “bottom-up” perspective on financing for adaptation. Insights from this analysis also have implications for OECD countries. This is because microfinance is also being increasingly tapped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in domestic OECD contexts as well and may therefore have the potential to contribute to adaptation. The paper identifies areas of opportunity where microfinance could be harnessed to play a greater role in fostering adaptation, as well as its limitations in this context. It also explores the linkage between the top-down macro-financing for adaptation through international financial mechanisms and the bottom-up activities that can be implemented through microfinance.Microfinance, Climate Change, Financing, Adaptation, Bangladesh, Nepal

On pattern classification algorithms - Introduction and survey

Pattern recognition algorithms, and mathematical techniques of estimation, decision making, and optimization theor

Detection of Metabolites by Proton Ex Vivo NMR, in Vivo MR Spectroscopy Peaks and Tissue Content Analysis: Biochemical-Magnetic Resonance Correlation: Preliminary Results

*Aim*: Metabolite concentrations by in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy and ex vivo NMR spectroscopy were compared with excised normal human tissue relaxation times and tissue homogenate contents.

*Hypothesis*: Biochemical analysis combined with NMR and MR spectroscopy defines better tissue analysis.

*Materials and Methods*: Metabolites were measured using peak area, amplitude and molecular weights of metabolites in the reference solutions. In normal brain and heart autopsy, muscle and liver biopsy tissue ex vivo NMR peaks and spin-lattice (T1) and spin-spin (T2) relaxation times, were compared with diseased tissue NMR data in meningioma brain, myocardial infarct heart, duchene-muscular-dystrophy muscle and diffused-liver-injury liver after respective in vivo proton MR spectroscopy was done. NMR data was compared with tissue homogenate contents and serum levels of biochemical parameters.

*Results*: The quantitation of smaller NMR visible metabolites was feasible for both ex vivo NMR and in vivo MR spectroscopy. Ex vivo H-1 NMR and in vivo MRS metabolite characteristic peaks (disease/normal data represented as fold change), T1 and T2, and metabolites in tissue homogenate and serum indicated muscle fibrosis in DMD, cardiac energy depletion in MI heart, neuronal dysfunction in meningioma brain and carbohydrate-lipid metabolic crisis in DLI liver tissues.

*Conclusion*: This preliminary report highlights the biochemical-magnetic resonance correlation as basis of magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data interpretation of disease

Mosaic: Designing Online Creative Communities for Sharing Works-in-Progress

Online creative communities allow creators to share their work with a large audience, maximizing opportunities to showcase their work and connect with fans and peers. However, sharing in-progress work can be technically and socially challenging in environments designed for sharing completed pieces. We propose an online creative community where sharing process, rather than showcasing outcomes, is the main method of sharing creative work. Based on this, we present Mosaic---an online community where illustrators share work-in-progress snapshots showing how an artwork was completed from start to finish. In an online deployment and observational study, artists used Mosaic as a vehicle for reflecting on how they can improve their own creative process, developed a social norm of detailed feedback, and became less apprehensive of sharing early versions of artwork. Through Mosaic, we argue that communities oriented around sharing creative process can create a collaborative environment that is beneficial for creative growth

Two conversational languages for control theoretical computations in the time sharing mode

Two conversational languages for control theory applications on direct-access time sharing compute

Explaining the Evolution of the IPCC Structure and Process

Climate change is a problem which is global both in terms of causes and consequences. The uncertainties are large and likely to persist. Meanwhile, the political and economic stakes of both action and inaction are much higher than those in other transboundary concerns such as acid rain and ozone depletion. The public policy impact of scientific opinions on climate change, therefore, not only depends upon what is being said, but also, who is advancing those conclusions and how they were arrived at. This was the rationale behind the setting up of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. In the years since, the IPCC has attempted to walk the tightrope of being scientifically sound and politically correct. This paper examines the processes which led to its creation and how it has evolved over two assessment cycles. The paper attempts to address the question of whether such an assessment set-up was necessary, if indeed it has been relevant, and what some indicators might be to evaluate the performance of the IPCC

Adaptation, Mitigation and Innovation: A Comprehensive Approach to Climate Policy

The ultimate question that most interests policy makers is how to reduce the climate change vulnerability of socio-economic systems in the most cost-effective manner. Extended literature has investigated the different dimensions of mitigation strategies, whereas much less can be found on adaptation. Even less can be found on the interactions between adaptation and mitigation. The increasing emphasis on adaptation raises a set of still unanswered questions concerning the design of an optimal mix of mitigation and adaptation measures. This paper presents an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) that explicitly models the connections between mitigation, climate change impacts and adaptation. Compared to the few existing studies in the field, our framework provides a more detailed characterisation of adaptation processes. Adaptation activities have been distinguished from adaptive capacity building. We also provide an updated quantitative support for the calibration of adaptation costs and benefits. Using this framework, we explore issues such as the optimal timing of mitigation and adaptation, the trade-off between mitigation and adaptation, and the regional distribution of investments and residual damage.Climate change impacts, mitigation, adaptation, integrated assessment model

Zero-gravity movement studies

The use of computer graphics to simulate the movement of articulated animals and mechanisms has a number of uses ranging over many fields. Human motion simulation systems can be useful in education, medicine, anatomy, physiology, and dance. In biomechanics, computer displays help to understand and analyze performance. Simulations can be used to help understand the effect of external or internal forces. Similarly, zero-gravity simulation systems should provide a means of designing and exploring the capabilities of hypothetical zero-gravity situations before actually carrying out such actions. The advantage of using a simulation of the motion is that one can experiment with variations of a maneuver before attempting to teach it to an individual. The zero-gravity motion simulation problem can be divided into two broad areas: human movement and behavior in zero-gravity, and simulation of articulated mechanisms