Concepts And Measures of Outreach and Sustainability in Microfinance Institutions: A comprehensive literature review

The terms outreach and sustainability are used in many fields of study. The terms are among the most commonly raised concepts in microfinance literature as well. The purpose of this article is therefore, to introduce the terms and their application to the academic community of the finance discipline. The article emphasizes the concepts, the measures and existing schools of taught with regard to outreach and sustainability in microfinance institutions. Keywords: Outreach, sustainability, concept, measures, and school of taugh

Microstructural and mechanical behavior of Al 6061/SiC-Al2O3 composites processed through friction stir processing

Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) reinforced in friction stir processing (FSP) has increased insights that can affectively attain the desired mechanical properties for the manufactured samples. The favorable conditions of carbides are considered for reinforcing the SiC particles into the Aluminum 6061. The methodology of fabricating Aluminum 6061 comprises of three materials, Al 6061-SiC-Al2O3. The experimental evaluation of the composite Aluminum 6061-SiC-Al2O3 includes the influence of process parameters on microhardness, tensile strength, and microstructure. As a result of the reinforcement of nanoparticles processed in FSP, the properties of composite material increased satisfactorily. The sample S3 observed to be having a maximum tensile strength of 185 MPa. The larger, the better condition is adopted to analyze the tensile strength of the fabricated samples. The optimum condition for maximum tensile strength was found at 900 RPM, 15 mm/min, and composition 3. The hardness profiles at different zones of friction stir processing (FSP), viz., Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), Thermo Mechanical Affected Zone (TMAZ), Nugget Zone (NZ) were examined. The characterization techniques deployed were optical microscope (OM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies for microstructural behavior. The result shows that the reinforcements were tightly embedded into the base material surface. The spherical grains are formed in the reinforcement region

Performance Measurement of Manufacturing industries in Ethiopia- An Analytical Study

Manufacturing sector is the heart and soul of many developed and developing country’s economy. However, the growth and contribution of the sector to the Ethiopian Economy is at its infant stage. In this study, using time series data base of the central statistics Agency (CSA), the trend in the performance of the manufacturing sector is investigated taking labor productivity as a dependent performance indicator variable. The study covers 15 manufacturing industrial groups as categorized by the CSA. Based on performance reports and related literature reviews, factors that can affect the performance were identified and their influence was analyzed using fixed effects regression model. The result of the analysis indicated that there is overall improvement in the value added growth performance of machinery and equipment, food and beverages, footwear, luggage and handbags manufacturing categories. However, despite the textile and leather industries of Ethiopia have resource based competitive advantage, their performance growth rate is not promising. The human capital, capital intensity, and the firm size (economies of scale) were found as major determinants of the performance of the sector. The average labor productivity of the sector showed incremental growth because of improvements in the educational and skill level of labor forces which has resulted from the intensive government efforts in addressing technical and vocational educations to all citizens. In Ethiopia, there is huge demand for products of manufacturing sectors, hence industries which are producing at large scale using their maximum capacities have shown improvement in their labor productivity. Keywords: value added, labor productivity, performance, manufacturin

Beneficiation Studies on Low Grade Chromite Ores using Multi Gravity Separator

Chromite is the most important mineral of chromium and is essential raw material for the production of special steel and ferrochrome alloys. From the mineral conservation point of view it is necessary to maximize the utilization of low grade ores and minimize the high grade ore consumption. Generally low grade and finely disseminated ores need fine grinding, posing problem in recovering of chromium values. In many cases the finely ground feed does respond well to process involving simple gravitational force for recovering the valuable minerals, hence processing under higher G-force may be worth investigating. Multi gravity separator (MGS) is such an equipment which uses enhanced gravitational force for processing ultrafine particles. In the present study, a laboratory Mozley MGS was used for upgrading a low grade chromite ore assaying 26.8% Cr2O3. The chromite ore under study contained gangue minerals such as olivine, serpentine, chrysotile and magnetite. Liberation study on different size fractions reveals that 80% liberation occurs at a size 150μm. Considering the mineralogical information, as received ore was ground separately to three top sizes, namely -250μm, -150μm and -75μm respectively and were subjected to concentration using MGS separately. The other parameters such as drum speed and wash water flow rate were also varied to get the optimum condition with respect to grade and recovery. Under the optimum operating conditions, low grade chromite sample was upgraded to 41.1% Cr2O3 with 62% recovery using MGS

Anti pathogenic studies of new mixed ligand metal chelates

189-196Drug discovery aimed at the methodical extermination of life-threatening bacterial infection, especially considering the emergence of multi-drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria has remained a challenge for medicinal inorganic chemistry. In this article, the mixed ligand complexes of Cu (II), Co (II), and Ni (II) containing heterocyclic ligands were synthesized and characterized by IR, LC-MS, UV, and TG-DTA. Complexes are screened for Anti-microbial activity against human pathogenic bacteria

The Vissannapeta eucrite

A wholly encrusted single stone that fell in Vissannapeta, Andhra Pradesh, India has been identified as a cumulate eucrite based on its primary texture and mineral composition: anorthite (An92.4-94.6), orthopyroxene (En49.1-51.8Fs44.2-49.7Wo1.2-4.0), and clinopyroxene (En38.8-46.8Fs14.8-33.6Wo19.6-46.4). The stone is pyramidal in shape, and the crust shows rib-like flow features indicating that it had an oriented passage through the atmosphere towards the terminal stage of its flight. Conditions of its fall, mineralogical characteristics, and results of measurements of cosmogenic radioactivity (26Al, 22Na, and 54Mn) and track density are described. Aluminum-26 and 22Na in Vissannapeta are ∼ 75% of the expected values and also lower by a similar factor compared to the activities measured in Piplia Kalan, another eucrite, which fell ∼ 18 months before Vissannapeta. Because higher activity of 22Na and 54Mn would be expected from solar cycle modulation of galactic cosmic rays, these results, as well as the track density gradient, indicate that Vissannapeta was a small body (≤ 120 kg) in the interplanetary space wherein the nuclear cascade due to galactic cosmic rays did not develop fully. Tracks, surface morphology, and crustal features indicate at least two fragmentation events in the atmosphere

Estimating Small Area Income Deprivation: An Iterative Proportional Fitting Approach

Small area estimation and in particular the estimation of small area income deprivation has potential value in the development of new or alternative components of multiple deprivation indices. These new approaches enable the development of income distribution threshold based as opposed to benefit count based measures of income deprivation and so enable the alignment of regional and national measures such as the Households Below Average Income with small area measures. This paper briefly reviews a number of approaches to small area estimation before describing in some detail an iterative proportional fitting based spatial microsimulation approach. This approach is then applied to the estimation of small area HBAI rates at the small area level in Wales in 2003-5. The paper discusses the results of this approach, contrasts them with contemporary ‘official’ income deprivation measures for the same areas and describes a range of ways to assess the robustness of the results