Soft Loans as an Instrument of Development Finance: A Comparative Assessment and Options for the Future

Within the framework of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, discussions on Financing for Development and the future of Official Development Assistance (ODA) have intensified. Amongst the instruments under review are soft loans. Though originally conceived as export promotion tools, development objectives have recently become more prominent in soft loan policies. Albeit regulated through the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, soft loans claim a place amongst the instruments of development policy. By means of comparative case study analysis, this paper examines the relevance of soft loans as an instrument of development policy. We discuss three characteristics of soft loan financing: (i) the institutional heterogeneity of programmes between countries, (ii) the hybrid nature of the instruments between export promotion and development objectives, and (iii) the underlying notions of development. Upon that basis, scenarios for the future use of soft loans as an instrument of development finance are presented

Surface Functionalization of Grown-on-Tip ZnO Nanopyramids: From Fabrication to Light-Triggered Applications

We report on a combined chemical vapor deposition (CVD)/radio frequency (RF) sputtering synthetic strategy for the controlled surface modification of ZnO nanostructures by Ti-containing species. Specifically, the proposed approach consists in the CVD of grown-on-tip ZnO nanopyramids, followed by titanium RF sputtering under mild conditions. The results obtained by a thorough characterization demonstrate the successful ZnO surface functionalization with dispersed Ti-containing species in low amounts. This phenomenon, in turn, yields a remarkable enhancement of photoactivated superhydrophilic behavior, self-cleaning ability, and photocatalytic performances in comparison to bare ZnO. The reasons accounting for such an improvement are unravelled by a multitechnique analysis, elucidating the interplay between material chemico-physical properties and the corresponding functional behavior. Overall, the proposed strategy stands as an amenable tool for the mastering of semiconductor-based functional nanoarchitectures through <i>ad hoc</i> engineering of the system surface

Human egress modelling in fire situations

Ce travail, mené conjointement entre CNPP et le Laboratoire d’Énergétique et de Mécanique Théorique et Appliquée, est consacré à la mise en place d’un modèle d’évacuation de personnes, dans l’optique d’une application en Ingénierie de Sécurité Incendie. Le modèle de cheminement de personnes développé dans ce manuscrit est un modèle physique reposant sur une équation de conservation de la densité de personnes. Il est basé sur des hypothèses simples et réalistes résultant de l’observation de mouvements de foule, et utilise une vision macroscopique des personnes caractérisées par une densité moyenne. Ce modèle est mis en œuvre sur des cas de vérification et de comparaison issus de la littérature. Des expériences d’évacuation sont réalisées à échelle réelle afin de récolter des données quantitatives sur le mouvement des personnes et de valider de façon pertinente le modèle de cheminement de personnes. En outre, une stratégie est proposée afin d’intégrer dans la modélisation les contraintes thermiques et optiques liées au feu ainsi que leur impact sur le processus d’évacuation. Enfin, des simulations d’évacuation intégrant les effets du feu sont effectuées sur une configuration à grande échelleThis work was conducted as a collaboration between CNPP and the laboratory LEMTA. It was devoted to the implementation of an emergency egress model offering prospects for use in Fire Safety Engineering. The pedestrian movement model described in this manuscript is a physical model relying on a people density balance equation. This model is based on three fundamental assumptions resulting from pedestrian phenomena commonly observed, especially in crowds. Its mathematical formulation assumes that people are regarded as a mean density in a macroscopic way. The pedestrian model was tested on verification and comparison cases extracted from literature. Evacuation drills were also performed at real scale without fire constraints to collect some quantitative data like egress times or flows, and to validate the people motion model. Furthermore, a mathematical strategy is propounded in order to integrate thermal and optical stresses into the evacuation model and to take into consideration their incidence on evacuation processes. Finally, egress simulations are achieved on a large-scale configuration considering different scenarios involving fire

Modélisation de l’évacuation des personnes en situation d’incendie

This work was conducted as a collaboration between CNPP and the laboratory LEMTA. It was devoted to the implementation of an emergency egress model offering prospects for use in Fire Safety Engineering. The pedestrian movement model described in this manuscript is a physical model relying on a people density balance equation. This model is based on three fundamental assumptions resulting from pedestrian phenomena commonly observed, especially in crowds. Its mathematical formulation assumes that people are regarded as a mean density in a macroscopic way. The pedestrian model was tested on verification and comparison cases extracted from literature. Evacuation drills were also performed at real scale without fire constraints to collect some quantitative data like egress times or flows, and to validate the people motion model. Furthermore, a mathematical strategy is propounded in order to integrate thermal and optical stresses into the evacuation model and to take into consideration their incidence on evacuation processes. Finally, egress simulations are achieved on a large-scale configuration considering different scenarios involving firesCe travail, mené conjointement entre CNPP et le Laboratoire d’Énergétique et de Mécanique Théorique et Appliquée, est consacré à la mise en place d’un modèle d’évacuation de personnes, dans l’optique d’une application en Ingénierie de Sécurité Incendie. Le modèle de cheminement de personnes développé dans ce manuscrit est un modèle physique reposant sur une équation de conservation de la densité de personnes. Il est basé sur des hypothèses simples et réalistes résultant de l’observation de mouvements de foule, et utilise une vision macroscopique des personnes caractérisées par une densité moyenne. Ce modèle est mis en œuvre sur des cas de vérification et de comparaison issus de la littérature. Des expériences d’évacuation sont réalisées à échelle réelle afin de récolter des données quantitatives sur le mouvement des personnes et de valider de façon pertinente le modèle de cheminement de personnes. En outre, une stratégie est proposée afin d’intégrer dans la modélisation les contraintes thermiques et optiques liées au feu ainsi que leur impact sur le processus d’évacuation. Enfin, des simulations d’évacuation intégrant les effets du feu sont effectuées sur une configuration à grande échell

Macroscopic egress model to compute emergency evacuations in fire situation

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Vapor phase fabrication of nanoheterostructures based on ZnO for photoelectrochemical water splitting

none9siNanoheterostructures based on metal oxide semiconductors have emerged as promising materials for the conversion of sunlight into chemical energy. In the present study, ZnO-based nanocomposites have been developed by a hybrid vapor phase route, consisting in the chemical vapor deposition of ZnO systems on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates, followed by the functionalization with Fe2O3 or WO3 via radio frequency sputtering. The target systems are subjected to thermal treatment in air both prior and after sputtering, and their properties, including structure, chemical composition, morphology, and optical absorption, are investigated by a variety of characterization methods. The obtained results evidence the formation of highly porous ZnO nanocrystal arrays, conformally covered by an ultrathin Fe2O3 or WO3 overlayer. Photocurrent density measurements for solar-triggered water splitting reveal in both cases a performance improvement with respect to bare zinc oxide, that is mainly traced back to an enhanced separation of photogenerated charge carriers thanks to the intimate contact between the two oxides. This achievement can be regarded as a valuable result in view of future optimization of similar nanoheterostructured photoanodes.restrictedBarreca, Davide; Carraro, Giorgio; Gasparotto, Alberto; Maccato, Chiara; Altantzis, Thomas; Sada, Cinzia; Kaunisto, Kimmo; Ruoko, Tero-Petri; Bals, SaraBarreca, Davide; Carraro, Giorgio; Gasparotto, Alberto; Maccato, Chiara; Altantzis, Thomas; Sada, Cinzia; Kaunisto, Kimmo; Ruoko, Tero Petri; Bals, Sar

An emergency egress model based on a macroscopic continuous approach

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Insights into the Plasma-Assisted Fabrication and Nanoscopic Investigation of Tailored MnO2 Nanomaterials

Among transition metal oxides, MnO2 is of considerable importance for various technological end-uses, from heterogeneous catalysis to gas sensing, owing to its structural flexibility and unique properties at the nanoscale. In this work, we demonstrate the successful fabrication of supported MnO2 nanomaterials by a catalyst-free, plasma-assisted process starting from a fluorinated manganese(II) molecular source in Ar/O2 plasmas. A thorough multitechnique characterization aimed at the systematic investigation of material structure, chemical composition, and morphology revealed the formation of F-doped, oxygen-deficient, MnO2-based nanomaterials, with a fluorine content tunable as a function of growth temperature (TG). Whereas phase-pure \u3b2-MnO2 was obtained for 100 \ub0C 64 TG 64 300 \ub0C, the formation of mixed phase MnO2 + Mn2O3 nanosystems took place at 400 \ub0C. In addition, the system nano-organization could be finely tailored, resulting in a controllable evolution from wheat-ear columnar arrays to high aspect ratio pointed-tip nanorod assemblies. Concomitantly, magnetic force microscopy analyses suggested the formation of spin domains with features dependent on material morphology. Preliminary tests in Vis-light activated photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B aqueous solutions pave the way to possible applications of the target materials in wastewater purification