Digitalization and digital platforms as a facilitator for project finance access for entrepreneurs: Exploratory study

If you are not sure what digitalization is, allow us to explain it. The internet has seen a large increase in the amount of data available, and as more and more information becomes connected on the internet, we are seeing an exponential surge in the amount of data being produced and shared. This is known as 'the digital revolution'. Research defines the “digitalization” term as introducing digital technologies in business, firms, or lifestyle. This integration can enhance a firm’s competitiveness and increase their performance by offering services throughout virtual channels. Moreover, they can operationalize operations management firms. The major problem for entrepreneurs and project carriers is funding, this issue obstructs starters and funding seekers to start and develop their projects and ideas because of multiple conditions that should be respected by this target to get funding. There are a lot of funding mechanisms that have proven their effectiveness in promoting and supporting small and medium-sized projects. Countries are always seeking to give support and develop small projects to improve their idea and make it real in the market. In light of the digital revolution, many ways of funding small and medium projects are developed, by returning to the last experiences of leading countries and try to dress a new map of funding programs. This article aims to present an exploratory study of project funding through digital platforms as a facilitator for project finance access for entrepreneurs and funding seekers, and how it can be useful for entrepreneurs. Our sample is a combination of Experts, professional executives in charge of accompaniment, Engineers, and entrepreneurs. We are oriented to a qualitative approach for data collection. We will divide our study into two axes, the first axis dealt with the traditional mechanisms of funding and supporting small projects, and the second dealt with digital platforms as a facilitator of finance access for entrepreneurs and funding seekers.  Keywords: Digitalization; Digital platforms; Entrepreneurs; Funding; Facilitator. JEL Classification: M15, L26 Paper type: Empirical researchIf you are not sure what digitalization is, allow us to explain it. The internet has seen a large increase in the amount of data available, and as more and more information becomes connected on the internet, we are seeing an exponential surge in the amount of data being produced and shared. This is known as 'the digital revolution'. Research defines the “digitalization” term as introducing digital technologies in business, firms, or lifestyle. This integration can enhance a firm’s competitiveness and increase their performance by offering services throughout virtual channels. Moreover, they can operationalize operations management firms. The major problem for entrepreneurs and project carriers is funding, this issue obstructs starters and funding seekers to start and develop their projects and ideas because of multiple conditions that should be respected by this target to get funding. There are a lot of funding mechanisms that have proven their effectiveness in promoting and supporting small and medium-sized projects. Countries are always seeking to give support and develop small projects to improve their idea and make it real in the market. In light of the digital revolution, many ways of funding small and medium projects are developed, by returning to the last experiences of leading countries and try to dress a new map of funding programs. This article aims to present an exploratory study of project funding through digital platforms as a facilitator for project finance access for entrepreneurs and funding seekers, and how it can be useful for entrepreneurs. Our sample is a combination of Experts, professional executives in charge of accompaniment, Engineers, and entrepreneurs. We are oriented to a qualitative approach for data collection. We will divide our study into two axes, the first axis dealt with the traditional mechanisms of funding and supporting small projects, and the second dealt with digital platforms as a facilitator of finance access for entrepreneurs and funding seekers.  Keywords: Digitalization; Digital platforms; Entrepreneurs; Funding; Facilitator. JEL Classification: M15, L26 Paper type: Empirical researc

Life history traits variation in heterogeneous environment: The case of a freshwater snail resistance to pond drying

Ecologists and population geneticists have long suspected that the diversity of living organisms was connected to the structure of their environment. In heterogeneous environments, diversifying selection combined to restricted gene flow may indeed lead to locally adapted populations. The freshwater snail, Galba truncatula, is a good model to address this question because it is present in a heterogeneous environment composed of temporary and permanent waters. In order to test the selective importance of those environments, we proposed here to measure survival of lineages from both habitats during drought episodes. To this purpose, we experimentally submitted adults and juveniles individuals from both habitats to drought. We found a difference in desiccation resistance between temporary and permanents waters only for adults. Adults from temporary habitats were found more resistant to drought. This divergence in desiccation resistance seems to explain the unexpected life history traits differences between habitats observed

Elaboration and study of the dynamic performance of bio-sourced composites with a hybrid flax-glass architecture

L'utilisation des matériaux composites renforcés par des fibres végétales ne cesse de croitre dans divers secteurs tels que l'automobile et le packaging. Toutefois, le problème de leur sensibilité à l'humidité freine encore leur utilisation dans des applications exposées à des conditions environnementales extrêmes. Par conséquent, l'hybridation des fibres végétales avec des fibres synthétiques peut constituer une voie prometteuse pour améliorer certaines propriétés des composites à renfort végétal. C'est dans ce contexte que se situe le présent travail doctoral. Il présente une analyse expérimentale du comportement en fatigue par traction--traction et en fatigue par chocs à faible énergie de stratifiés non hybrides et hybrides lin-verre/époxyde. Une investigation de leur durabilité après un vieillissement hydrique jusqu'à la saturation est également présentée. À cette fin, plusieurs plaques des composites non hybrides et hybrides lin-verre/époxyde ont été élaborées par le procédé d'infusion sous vide. Dans un premier temps, nous avons réalisé une caractérisation en traction monotone des composites de l'étude et étudié la cinétique de diffusion de l'humidité au sein de ces matériaux. Les résultats de ces essais montrent que le remplacement de couches de lin par des couches de verre améliore nettement les propriétés mécaniques stratifié lin/époxyde et diminue également sa masse d'eau absorbée à saturation. Ensuite, des essais de fatigue cyclique ont été réalisés sur des éprouvettes composites non vieillies et vieillies. Ces essais de fatigue ont été couplés à la technique de l'émission acoustique afin d'identifier les mécanismes d'endommagement et leur chronologie d'apparition. Pour évaluer l'effet de la charge de fatigue sur la perte de rigidité, les boucles d'hystérésis et le facteur d'amortissement des composites non hybrides et hybrides ont été étudiées. L'analyse des signaux acoustique permet d'identifier trois classes de signaux acoustiques dans tous les composites étudiés. Ces trois classes sont attribuées aux principaux mécanismes d'endommagement comme la fissuration matricielle, la décohésion fibre--matrice et la rupture des fibres. Cette attribution est consolidée par des observations microscopiques obtenues à l'aide d'un microscope électronique à balayage. Enfin, des essais de fatigue par chocs à faible énergie ont été réalisés sur des échantillons composites non vieillis et vieillis. Les résultats obtenus montrent clairement que le composite lin/époxyde absorbe une grande partie de l'énergie d'impact en déformation élastique. Cependant, le stratifié verre/époxyde consomme cette énergie en endommagement et rupture. De plus, le vieillissement hydrique fragilise tous les composites étudiés et diminue leur résistance à la fatigue par chocs.The use of natural fibre-reinforced composite materials is growing in various sectors such as automotive and packaging. However, the problem of their sensitivity to humidity still hinders their use in applications exposed to extreme environmental conditions. Therefore, the hybridization of natural fibres with synthetic fibres can constitute a promising way to improve some properties of natural fibre-reinforced composites. It is in this context that the present doctoral work is situated. It presents an experimental analysis of the tensile-tensile fatigue and low-energy impact fatigue behaviour of non-hybrid and hybrid flax-glass/epoxy laminates. An investigation of their durability after water aging until saturation is also presented. To this end, several plates of non-hybrid and hybrid flax-glass/epoxy composites have been fabricated by the vacuum infusion process. First, we carried out a monotonic tensile characterization of the studied composites and evaluated the kinetics of moisture diffusion within these materials. The results of these tests show that the addition of glass layers to the flax/epoxy laminate improves its mechanical properties and also reduces its mass of water absorbed at saturation. Then, cyclic fatigue tests were performed on unaged and aged composite specimens. These fatigue tests were coupled with the acoustic emission technique in order to identify the damage mechanisms and their chronology of appearance. To evaluate the effect of fatigue loading on the loss of stiffness, hysteresis loops and the damping factor of non-hybrid and hybrid composites were investigated. The analysis of the acoustic signals makes it possible to identify three classes of acoustic signals in all the studied composites. These three classes are attributed to the main damage mechanisms such as matrix cracking, fibre/matrix decohesion and fibre breakage. This attribution is supported by microscopic observations obtained using a scanning electron microscope. Finally, low-energy impact fatigue tests were performed on unaged and aged composite samples. The obtained results clearly show that the flax/epoxy composite absorbs a large part of the impact energy and transforms it into elastic energy. However, the glass/epoxy laminate consumes this energy in damage and breakage. In addition, water aging weakens all the studied composites and reduces their resistance to impact fatigue

Influence of aestivation on the survival of Galba truncatula (Mollusca : Gasteropoda) populations according to altitude

Field and laboratory studies on 11 populations of Galba truncatula were performed to determine the survival rate of snails after aestivation, to specify the range of their shell heights, and to establish the percentage of G. truncatula which burrowed in soil when summer drying occurred. These investigations were performed using six lowland populations living in central France (alt. 206-282 m) and five highland populations, located in the Massif central (alt. 806-900 m). The survival rate of G. truncatula after flooding dried soil with water was significantly higher in the highland than in the lowland populations (69.5-80.7 % in road ditches, for example, instead of 29.3-33.0%). The mean shell heights of surviving snails and the durations of snail re-activation in water did not show any significant variation, whatever the origin of snail population. The percentages of snails buried in drying soil were higher in the highland population (13.0 % and 15.0 % of juvenile snails, for example, instead of 4.0 % and 7.7 % in lowland snails). In the lowland population only young snails buried, whereas 5.8-8.3 % of adults in the highland population were partially burrowing. The local climate of the sites studied in the Massif central, and the ability of snails to burrow into the mud when stagnant water disappeared in July, might explain the higher survival rate during aestivation

A Comparative Analysis of Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Logic Modeling in Flood Susceptibility Mapping in the Assaka Watershed, Morocco

The Assaka watershed is one of the largest watersheds in the Guelmim region in southern Morocco. It is frequently exposed to the many flooding events that can be responsible for many costly human and material damages. This work illustrates a decision-making methodology based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Logic Modelling (FLM), in the order to perform a useful flood susceptibility mapping in the study area. Seven decisive factors were introduced, namely, flow accumulation, distance to the hydrographic network, elevation, slope, LULC, lithology, and rainfall. The susceptibility maps were obtained after normalization and weighting using the AHP, while after Fuzzification as well as the application of fuzzy operators (OR, SUM, PRODUCT, AND, GAMMA 0.9) for the fuzzy logic methods. Thereafter, the flood susceptibility zones were distributed into five flood intensity classes with very high, high, medium, low, and, very low susceptibility. Then validated by field observations, an inventory of flood-prone sites identified by the Draa Oued Noun Hydraulic Watershed Agency (DONHBA) with 71 carefully selected flood-prone sites and GeoEye-1 satellite images. The assessment of the mapping results using the ROC curve shows that the best results are derived from applying the fuzzy SUM (AUC = 0.901) and fuzzy OR (AUC = 0.896) operators. On the other hand, the AHP method (AUC = 0.893) shows considerable mapping results. Then, a comparison of the two methods of SUM fuzzy logic and AHP allowed considering the two techniques as complementary to each other. They can accurately model the flood susceptibility of the Assaka watershed. Specifically, this area is characterized by a high to very high risk of flooding, which was estimated at 67% and 30% of the total study area coverage using the fuzzy logic (SUM operator) and the AHP methods, respectively. Highly susceptible flood areas require immediate action in terms of planning, development, and land use management to avoid any dramatic disaster

Ecological components and evolution of selfing in the freshwater snail Galba truncatula.

The reproductive assurance hypothesis emphasizes that self-fertilization should evolve in species with reduced dispersal capability, low population size or experiencing recurrent bottlenecks. Our work investigates the ecological components of the habitats colonized by the snail, Galba truncatula, that may influence the evolution of selfing. Galba truncatula is a preferential selfer inhabiting freshwater habitats, which vary with respect to the degree of permanence. We considered with a population genetic approach the spatial and the temporal degree of isolation of populations of G. truncatula. We showed that patches at distances of only a few meters are highly structured. The effective population sizes appear quite low, in the order of 10 individuals or less. This study indicates that individuals of the species G. truncatula are likely to be alone in a site and have a low probability of finding a partner from a nearby site to reproduce. These results emphasize the advantage of selfing in this species