Does Microcredit Reach the Poor and Vulnerable? Evidence from Northern Bangldesh.

The Grameen Bank's success in Bangladesh has made microcredit the hot new idea for reducing poverty. This paper uses panel data from two Bangladeshi villages to test if loan recipients are poorer and more vulnerable than non-recipients. Poverty is measured by levels of consumption. Vulnerablitiy is measured as fluctuations in consumption (associated with inefficient risk sharing). We find that loan recipients are poorer than non-recipients in both villages, but are more vulnerable than non-recipients only in the richer and more diversified village. Though microcredit programs target the landless, there is substantial leakage to the landed. Landlessness is not significangly associated with either poverty or vulnerablitiy, but female headship is. Female headed households may be a more appropriate target group for anti-poverty credit programs.POVERTY ; RISK ; ECONOMIC GROWTH

Indirect spectrophotometric determination of piroxicam and tenoxicam through oxidation with potassium permanganate

Three rapid, simple, accurate and selective validated spectrophtometric methods (A, B and C) for the determination of piroxicam (PX) and tenoxicam (TX) in bulk sample and in dosage forms are described. The methods are based on the oxidation of the studied drugs by a known excess of potassium permanganate in sulfuric acid medium and subsequent determination of unreacted oxidant by reacting it with Methylene Blue (Basic Blue 9) dye (method A), Acid Red 27 (Amaranth) dye (method B) and Acid Orange 7 (orange II) dye (method C), in the same medium at a suitable λmax = 660, 520 and 485 nm, respectively. The reacted oxidant was found to be corresponding to the drug content. Regression analysis of Beer-Lambert plots showed good correlations in the concentration ranges 1.0-8.0, 1.0-9.0 and 1.0-7.2 µg mL-1 using methods A, B and C, respectively, for PX and 0.3-7.0, 0.3-1.6 and 0.3-2.5 µg mL-1 using methods A, B and C, respectively, for TX. The stoichiometric ratios for the cited drugs to oxidant were studied. The optimum reaction conditions and other analytical parameters were evaluated. The proposed methods were applied successfully to determine the examined drugs either in pure form or pharmaceutical formulations with good accuracy and precision. The relative standard deviations were ≤ 0.33 with recoveries 98.9-101.7% for PX and ≤ 0.49 with recoveries 99.4-102.0% for TX. KEY WORDS: Spectrophotometry, Piroxicam assay, Tenoxicam assay, Redox reactions, Dosage forms Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2010, 24(1), 121-126

Development of Mission Control Unit Prototype for Small Class Satellite Payloads

In this paper, Mission Control Unit (MCU) prototype for small class satellite payloads is developed with the goal of providing schools and institutions to low cost design that could be easily integrated and augmented for mission–specific needs. Basic design platform has been developed to demonstrate the proof of concept model of MCU for small satellites by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Many commercial companies have emerged to cater this objective however most of them provide expensive on-the-shelf solution, therefore this paper proposed a low cost, compact platform design. This paper presents the design of payload-ready prototype unit of mission control subsystem that is built on Arduino based microcontroller with wireless transmission by using COTS components. This platform is intended mainly for educational purposes, specifically to expose high school and university students or researchers to satellite engineering concept. Other than that, it is developed to provide platform for spacecraft developers, researchers and others to test their scientific missions or perform their research with reduced costs. In addition, the end-product of this project can be used for public outreach mission involving local communities of amateur radio operators and school students. This project has produced a prototype that is compatible with 2U CubeSat platform standard, requires no external wiring with all subsystems, and can be customized to perform many mission themes over amateur radio band

Determinants of Treatment Outcomes among Drug-Susceptible Tuberculosis Patients on Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course at Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, South-West, Nigeria

Background: Surveillance of tuberculosis treatment outcomes is very crucial in evaluating successes of tuberculosis (TB) intervention programmes  as well as assessing progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals target of ending TB infection by 2030. The study assessed  treatment outcomes of tuberculosis and the determinants among tuberculosis patients on Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTs) at  Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta South-West, Nigeria. Methods: This was a retrospective review of treatment outcomes of patients managed for Tuberculosis at the facility between January 2015 and  December 2019. Data were retrieved from the treatment register and analysed using IBM® SPSS software version 23. Results were presented using  frequencies and percentages, while the Chi-square test was used to test for association between the treatment outcomes and the independent variables. Binary logistics regression was used to assess for determinants of treatment outcomes at a level of significance of p<0.05. Results: A total of 726 records were reviewed. The median age of the patients was 35.0 years (IQR 25). The treatment success rate (TSR) and cure  rate were 83.2% and 43.7% respectively. TB patients with negative HIV status were about two times more likely to have successful treatment  outcomes (OR=1.86, 95%CI=1.20-2.88). Conclusion: The TSR and cure rate obtained in this study were below the national targets set by the World Health Organization, and HIV co-infection  was a threat to successful treatment outcomes among TB patients. Ensuring optimized antiretroviral therapy, prompt diagnosis and  treatment of TB in HIV patients will go a long way in improving treatment outcomes

Stochastic evolution algorithm for technology mapping

A new technology mapper (SELF-Map) for Look-Up Table (LUT) based Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) is described. SELF-Map is based on the Stochastic Evolution (SE) algorithm. The state space model of the problem is defined and suitable cost function which allows optimization for area, delay, or area-delay combinations is proposed. Experimental results show that SELF-Map has an overall better performance compared to other algorithms reported in the literatur

Stochastic evolution algorithm for technology mapping

A new technology mapper (SELF-Map) for Look-Up Table (LUT) based Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) is described. SELF-Map is based on the Stochastic Evolution (SE) algorithm. The state space model of the problem is defined and suitable cost function which allows optimization for area, delay, or area-delay combinations is proposed. Experimental results show that SELF-Map has an overall better performance compared to other algorithms reported in the literatur

Wigner distribution function formalism for superconductors and collisionless dynamics of the superconducting order parameter

A technique for studying collisionless dynamics of a homogeneous superconducting system is developed which is based on Riccati parametrization of the Wigner distribution function. The quantum evolution of the superconducting order parameter, initially deviating from the equilibrium value, is calculated using this technique. The effect of a time-dependent BCS paring interaction on the dynamics of the order parameter is also studied

Dual Axis Solar Tracking System in Perlis, Malaysia

Sunlight is an abundant source of energy and this energy can be harnessed successfully using solar photovoltaic panels and convert it into electrical energy. However, the conversion efficiency of a normal PV panel is low. One of the main reasons is the power output of a PV panel is dependent directly on the light intensity. As the position of the sun is changing continuously from time to time, the absorption efficiency of an immobile solar panel would be significantly less at a certain time of the day and year. Therefore, to maximize the energy generation and improve the efficiency, a solar tracker comes into play. This paper presents the design and construction of an inexpensive active dual axis solar tracking system for tracking the movement of the sun to get the maximum power from the solar panels. It uses Light Dependent Resistors (LDR) to sense the position of the sun which is communicated to an Arduino Uno microcontroller. An algorithm is implemented to control DC geared motor’s movements which maintaining the solar PV panel position so that it will perpendicularly facing towards the sun at all the effective time. Performance for both fixed and dual-axis solar tracker was compared. Evaluation results show that the dual-axis solar tracking system performs 44.7% better than the fixed solar tracking system

Heat transfer and fluid flow analysis using nanofluids in diamond-shaped cavities with novel obstacles

This work computationally explores the two-phase flow of nanofluids and their thermal energy transport coefficients in 3D diamond-shaped cavities with square-shaped barriers having reducing dimensions. Materials with two emissivity values, ε = 0.3 and 0.9, have been considered to investigate the effect of the radiation thermal energy transport coefficient while the hot side is maintained at 400 or 500 K. Two values of the Rayleigh number, Ra = 106 and 108, are used for the study. Cu nanoparticles (NPs) with an average size of 25nm have been used at a concentration of 0.01–0.05% in the base fluid. The temperature gradients and thermal energy transport coefficient characteristics are enhanced by raising the volume concentration of nanoparticles, but the streamlines do not alter substantially. By increasing Ra, the thermal energy transport coefficient rate is further augmented. It is also found that increasing the Ra and volume concentration of NPs results in enhanced heat transfer inside a cavity, while a change in the emissivity coefficient has no significant impact on the thermal and flow characteristics of the nanofluid. For each case, there is an optimum NP volume fraction for each model that leads to the highest Nusselt number.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tcfm20am2022Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin