The State of Venture Philanthropy and Social Investment (VP/SI) in Europe: The EVPA Survey 2015/2016

Five years of data has allowed us to analyse interesting trends and evolutions in the VP/SI sector. Below we highlight the most striking ones:* Overall growth for the sector, 108 organisations allocated 6.5 billion between them since they began their operations, a 30% increase compared to Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. * Budgets remained stable. * The surveyed organisations invested an average of 7.8 million through VP/SI activities.* There is a sharp rise in co-investment between peers since FY 2013. 63% of respondents have co-invested in the past and 19% said they are interested in doing so, even if they have not co-invested yet. Of the respondents that answered both this and the last survey, the organisations that have co-invested increased from 69% to 80%. * Over FY 2015 a number of smaller players (with budgets under 2.5million) have entered the space. * VP/SI organisations have no shortage in investment opportunities and are improving their deal screening process. Over FY 2015, respondents screened 7,520 potential opportunities. On average, each VPO screened 86 organisations, did further due diligence on 17 of them, and selected 9 investees.

Financing for Social Impact The Key Role of Tailored Financing and Hybrid Finance

How can venture philanthropy organisations, social investors and impact investors, improve the way they allocate resources to their investees?To answer this question the EVPA Knowledge Centre embarked on a nine-month journey with a group of over 30 experts. The result is the new EVPA report "Financing for Social Impact – The Key Role of Tailored Financing and Hybrid Finance", launched at the EVPA Annual Conference in Oslo on 9 November 2017. This new piece of research looks at how funding can be shaped in a way that meets the financial needs of the social purpose organisation (SPO) and at how different actors can collaborate in the VP/SI space to bring more resources to SPOs. EVPA has developed a three-step process to help VP/SI organisations find the most suitable financial instrument to support a SPO. The process is known as tailored financing and it is addressed in the first part of the report.The report also focuses on hybrid finance, which is defined as the allocation of financial resources to impact-oriented investments, combining different types of financial instruments and different types of risk/return/impact profiles of capital providers.One of the main conclusions of the report is that tailored financing and hybrid finance promote a more efficient and effective deployment of resources in the VP/SI space. They can represent a way to solve the existing funding gap that prevents SPOs from gaining access to the capital needed for achieving self-sustainability and for scaling

Compressive Sensing for Dynamic XRF Scanning

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) scanning is a widespread technique of high importance and impact since it provides chemical composition maps crucial for several scientific investigations. There are continuous requirements for larger, faster and highly resolved acquisitions in order to study complex structures. Among the scientific applications that benefit from it, some of them, such as wide scale brain imaging, are prohibitively difficult due to time constraints. However, typically the overall XRF imaging performance is improving through technological progress on XRF detectors and X-ray sources. This paper suggests an additional approach where XRF scanning is performed in a sparse way by skipping specific points or by varying dynamically acquisition time or other scan settings in a conditional manner. This paves the way for Compressive Sensing in XRF scans where data are acquired in a reduced manner allowing for challenging experiments, currently not feasible with the traditional scanning strategies. A series of different compressive sensing strategies for dynamic scans are presented here. A proof of principle experiment was performed at the TwinMic beamline of Elettra synchrotron. The outcome demonstrates the potential of Compressive Sensing for dynamic scans, suggesting its use in challenging scientific experiments while proposing a technical solution for beamline acquisition software.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Coelectrodeposition of Ternary Mn-Oxide/Polypyrrole Composites for ORR Electrocatalysts: A Study Based on Micro-X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and X-ray Fluorescence Mapping

Low energy X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and soft X-ray absorption (XAS) microspectroscopies at high space-resolution are employed for the investigation of the coelectrodeposition of composites consisting of a polypyrrole(PPy)-matrix and Mn-based ternary dispersoids, that have been proposed as promising electrocatalysts for oxygen-reduction electrodes. Specifically, we studied Mn–Co–Cu/PP, Mn–Co–Mg/PPy and Mn–Ni–Mg/PPy co-electrodeposits. The Mn–Co–Cu system features the best ORR electrocatalytic activity in terms of electron transfer number, onset potential, half-wave potential and current density. XRF maps and micro-XAS spectra yield compositional and chemical state distributions, contributing unique molecular-level information on the pulse-plating processes. Mn, Ni, Co and Mg exhibit a bimodal distribution consisting of mesoscopic aggregates of micrometric globuli, separated by polymer-rich ridges. Within this common qualitative scenario, the individual systems exhibit quantitatively different chemical distribution patterns, resulting from specific electrokinetic and electrosorption properties of the single components. The electrodeposits consist of Mn3+,4+-oxide particles, accompanied by combinations of Co0/Co2+, Ni0/Ni2+ and Cu0,+/Cu2+ resulting from the alternance of cathodic and anodic pulses. The formation of highly electroactive Mn3+,4+ in the as-fabricated material is a specific feature of the ternary systems, deriving from synergistic stabilisation brought about by two types of bivalent dopants as well as by galvanic contact to elemental meta

Solitude and fear during the great coronavirus war

When you get ill, the first thing that comes to your mind is, “Will I make it? Will I survive? . COVID19 has a major impact on mental health. A sadness that inundates us like a river in flood and which we cannot hold back. But the thing that torments is the solitude. Those who struggle towards recovery do it alone, and those who do not make it die alone. An emblematic experience of a sense of loneliness, depression and death during illness is deeply described. We tell how the love of family and friends can help to recover from the abyss. Fighting this battle and winning it alone is painful. A lonely death is even more painful. We must stick together virtually and think about each other. The work done with enormous strength and tenacity by doctors and nurses is a great hope for a better time. It does raise the hope that a future generation will be able to truly take care of mankind. When all this ends, we must not go back to normal. We must be reborn, better. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Patient, Family & Community Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Mad (wo)men ou le devenir sujet féminin : historicité et généalogie d’une conscience de genre et d’une conscience féministe

Cet article examine la façon dont la série Mad Men relate les possibilités du devenir sujet féminin dans la décennie des années 1960 aux États-Unis. À partir d’une analyse approfondie du dispositif sériel et du rapport qu’il institue entre histoire et fiction, il rend compte de l’évolution des principaux personnages féminins, de leur rapport entre eux, mais aussi à d’autres protagonistes féminins plus secondaires, faisant intervenir les rapports de pouvoir liés à la race et à l’âge, ainsi qu’à leurs homologues masculins. À travers la façon dont s’articulent la « grande » histoire du genre et les histoires singulières, qui tout à la fois sont tissées par elle et contribuent à la façonner, c’est ainsi à la généalogie d’une conscience de genre, voire d’une conscience féministe, advenant par et avec la série, c’est-à-dire dans un jeu entre réalité et fiction, que l’article s’intéresse. Pour ce faire, et bien que ces deux niveaux soient susceptibles de s’imbriquer, il examine dans un premier temps la façon dont les normes de genre imposées aux femmes y sont dépeintes, avant d’analyser, dans un second temps, les différentes formes d’émancipation féminine que les protagonistes de Mad Men donnent à voir.This article examines the ways in which the TV show Mad Men depicts the possibility of becoming a subject for a woman in the 1960s in the United States. Drawing on a détailed analysis of the relationships between (his)story and fiction created by the fictional apparatus, it accounts for the main female protagonists’ evolution, their relationships, as well as those which connect them to other secondary female characters, which put at stake other power relationships such as race and age, as well as to their male counterparts. Through the exam of the ways in which the « great » history of gender meet particular histories, which are shaped by them and contribute to shape it as well, the article focuses on the genealogy of gender consciousness and feminist consciousness shown through and with the process of the TV show, i.e., in a subtle game between reality and fiction. To do so, and although the two levels are keen to overlap, it firstly examines the ways in which gender norms which weigh upon women are depicted before analyzing, secondly, the various paths of female emancipation Mad Men shows

Nano-imaging of environmental dust in human lung tissue by soft and hard X-ray fluorescence microscopy

It is well recognized that a large number of pulmonary diseases are induced by the effects of inhaled particulates. Anthracosis is defined as an asymptomatic, mild form of pneumoconiosis caused by the accumulation of \u201cblack carbon\u201d in the lungs due to repeated exposure to air pollution or inhalation of smoke or coal dust particles. Since the human population is progressively exposed to an increasing number and doses of anthropogenic micro and nano particles/compounds, there is a pressing urgency to explore toxicological impact arising from these exposures and the molecular mechanisms driving the body defense or possible related diseases. The toxicity mechanisms are clearly related to chemical composition and physical and surface properties of materials. A combination of synchrotron radiation-based (SR-based) nano X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging and soft X-ray microscopy was used to chemically characterize environmental particulates (anthracosis) in lung tissues from urban subjects with the aim of better understanding the complex nature of related lungs' deposits. High-resolution XRF analyses performed at ESRF and Elettra synchrotrons allowed discriminating single particles in the heterogeneous aggregates found in the lung tissue. The small particles have variable composition resulting from the different combinations of Ti with O, K and Si, Al and Si, or Zn and Fe with O. Interestingly, simultaneous absorption and phase contrast images showed the particulate morphology and allowed to predict the presence of very dense nanoparticles or high concentration of heavy elements

Automatic Differentiation for Inverse Problems in X-ray Imaging and Microscopy

Computational techniques allow breaking the limits of traditional imaging methods, such as time restrictions, resolution, and optics flaws. While simple computational methods can be enough for highly controlled microscope setups or just for previews, an increased level of complexity is instead required for advanced setups, acquisition modalities or where uncertainty is high; the need for complex computational methods clashes with rapid design and execution. In all these cases, Automatic Differentiation, one of the subtopics of Artificial Intelligence, may offer a functional solution, but only if a GPU implementation is available. In this paper, we show how a framework built to solve just one optimisation problem can be employed for many different X-ray imaging inverse problems

Numerical Analysis of Real Fluid Behavior Effects on a Sliding-Vane Compressor Comprehensive Model

This work presents a simulation model on a sliding vane compressor based on a lumped parameter model. The model is capable of predicting the performance of sliding-vane compressors. The model is divided into different sub-sections to evaluate the compressor's geometry, kinetics, thermodynamics, and rotor dynamics. The output of the tool includes the compressor unit's performance, such as volumetric flow rate, mechanical power, and process efficiency. The study examines the tool's ability to perform quick and efficient analyses using using either ideal or real fluid characterization, based on the REFPROP code. The code is validated against one experimental point. Simulations were conducted on a mid-size sliding-vane rotary compressor operating with three different types of working fluids from 20 °C and 1 bar (absolute) to 11 bar at 1500 rpm. In the ideal fluid case, simulations took 10–27 s, while real fluid assumptions took 1038–4329 s. The volumetric flow rate was influenced by the gas used, but changes among fluid models were not substantial, with a mean absolute percent difference of 0.5%. Mechanical power consumption was affected by the fluid choice and gas model, leading to a mechanical power difference between 0.4 and 1.1% in the ideal gas case. The specific mechanical work showed greater deviations among the fluids, with methane molar mass coherently increasing its value. Results show that the model developed is able to assess the major phenomena of sliding-vane compressors, and the ideal fluid model should be preferred when possible since computational times are significantly reduced with comparable results