An Assessment of the Capacity and Financial Performance of Microfinance Institutions: The Philippine Case

Despite the government’s credit program approach, access of poor households to microfinancial services has remained limited. This paper explains the microfinance policy environment in the Philippines and evaluates the institutional and financial capacity/performance constraints of MFIs. This also addresses four areas that will allow MFIs to be self-sustaining financial institutions for the poor.microfinance, poverty alleviation, microfinance institutions

An Assessment of the Capacity and Financial Performance of Microfinance Institutions: The Philippine Case

Despite the government’s credit program approach, access of poor households to microfinancial services has remained limited. This paper explains the microfinance policy environment in the Philippines and evaluates the institutional and financial capacity/performance constraints of MFIs. This also addresses four areas that will allow MFIs to be self-sustaining financial institutions for the poor.microfinance, poverty alleviation, microfinance institutions

uRT51: An Embedded Real-Time processor implemented on FPGA devices

In this paper we describe and evaluate the main features of the uRT51 processor. The uRT51 processor was designed for embedded realtime control applications. It is a processor architecture that incorporates the specific functions of a real-time system in hardware. It was described using synthesizable VHDL and it was implemented on FPGA devices. We describe how the uRT51 processor supports time, events, task and priorities. The performance of the uRT51 processor is evaluated using a control application as a case study. The experiments show that the uRT51 processor scheduling features outperform the ones obtained using a traditional RTOS-based real-time system.Fil: Cayssials, Ricardo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras; ArgentinaFil: Duval, M,. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras; ArgentinaFil: Ferro, Edgardo Carlos. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Alimenti, O.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras; Argentin

Microfinance In The Philippines: An Assessment of Viability, Sustainability and Outreach among Grameen Replicators

The Philippines, a country of great promise in the 1950s, has greatly lagged behind many other Asian countries. Between 1991 and 1994 urban poverty declined from 26% to 29%; but rural poverty virtually stagnated at a much higher rate: 55% and 54%, respectively. Poverty lending programs were instituted in vast numbers, but undermined the viability of the institutions while their impact remained insignificant. Large numbers of self-help groups and NGOs have been trying to fill the void. Yet those institutions that focus on the poor lack the capacity for substantial outreach to the poor, while those that possess the capacity lack the focus. Despite recent liberalization efforts, policymakers in the Philippines, unlike those in Indonesia, have relied more on government intervention and credit channeling than the self-reliant intermediation of marketoriented microfinance institutions (MFIs). In the framework of a wider UNDP-supported program of the Asian and Pacific Development Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Microfinance for the Poor in Asia-Pacific, seven MFIs were selected from the Philippines and analyzed in terms of outreach to the poor, resource mobilization, viability and sustainability: six credit NGOs and one cooperative rural bank. All but one of them use the Grameen technology in reaching the poor, replicating Prof. Yunus?s Grameen Bank model so highly successful in Bangladesh. All but one of the MFIs were found subsidy-dependent and donor-driven, though they do adhere to the creed of market rates of interest. Only the cooperative bank, which applies both the conventional individual and the Grameen-type group-group technology and was is therefore analyzed in greater detail, was found to be operationally and financially self-sufficient. Yet it showed little capacity for dynamic growth. While its Grameen-type group technology was profitable and multiplied the bank's outreach, it added so little to its overall profits that management considers its termination. One recommendation stands out from the case studies: transform credit NGOs into formal financial institutions that rely on their own internal resources and cover their costs from the margin! Stop using them as credit channels! --

STAKEHOLDERS’ EXPERIENCES ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THE BALAY PAGLAUM

This phenomenological study explored the underlying framework on the establishment and sustainability of the Balay Paglaum (House of Hope) through the lived experiences of the stakeholders which served as informants and were selected based on their first-hand ideas on the challenges encountered and strategies employed to overcome difficulties and the binding realizations they gained throughout the process of establishing and sustaining the Balay Paglaum. Stakeholders used were from the Local Government Unit, Department of Education and Indigenous Peoples’ group. Based on their shared experiences 6 themes emerged and 21 clustered themes surfaced. With its establishment, the dropout rate problem of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) was addressed and resolved. Commitment, love for the IP learners, enthusiasm of the leaders, believing the worth of the project and strong partnership made the Balay Paglaum become sustained and recognized as a shelter where hopes and dreams of the IPs are realized. It also served as the scaffold of the IP learners while pursuing their Basic Education.&nbsp

Prospective observational study of point-of-care creatinine in trauma.

Background:Patients with trauma are at risk for renal dysfunction from hypovolemia or urological injury. In austere environments, creatinine values are not available to guide resuscitation. A new portable device, the Stat Sensor Point-of-care (POC) Whole Blood Creatinine Analyzer, provides accurate results in <30 s and requires minimal training. This device has not been evaluated in trauma despite the theoretical benefit it provides. The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical impact of the POC device in trauma. Methods:40 patients with trauma were enrolled in a prospective observational study. One drop of blood was used for creatinine determination on the Statsensor POC device. POC creatinine results were compared to the laboratory. Turnaround time (TAT) for POC and laboratory methods was calculated as well as time elapsed to CT scan if applicable. Results:Patients (n=40) were enrolled between December 2014 and March 2015. POC creatinine values were similar to laboratory methods with a mean bias of 0.075±0.27 (p=0.08). Mean analytical TATs for the POC measurements were significantly faster than the laboratory method (11.6±10.0 min vs 78.1±27.9 min, n=40, p<0.0001). Mean elapsed time before arrival at the CT scanner was 52.9±34.2 min. Conclusions:The POC device reported similar creatinine values to the laboratory and provided significantly faster results. POC creatinine testing is a promising development for trauma practice in austere environments and workup of a subset of stable patients with trauma. Further study is warranted to determine clinical impact, both in hospital-based trauma and austere environments

Tomato ionomic approach for food fortification and safety.

Food fortification is an issue of paramount of importance for people living both in developed and in developing countries. Among substances listed as "nutriceuticals", essential minerals have been recognised for their involvement in several healthy issues, involving all ages. In this frame, food plants are playing a pivotal role since their capability to compartmentalise ions and proteinmetal complexes in edible organs. Conversely, the accumulation of high metal levels in those organs may lead to safety problems. In the recent years, thanks to the availability of new and improved analytical apparatus in both ionic and genomic/transcrittomics areas, it is became feasible to couple data coming from plant physiology and genetics. Ionomics is the discipline that studies the cross-analysis of both data sets. Our group, in the frame of GenoPom project granted by MiUR, is interested to study the ionomics of tomatoes cultivars derived by breeding programmes in which wild relatives have been used to transfer several useful traits, such as resistance to biotic or abiotic stresses, fruit composition and textiture, etc. The introgression of the wild genome into the cultivated one produces new gene combinations. They might lead to the expression of some traits, such as increased or reduced adsorption of some metals and their exclusion or loading into edible organs, thus strongly involving the nutritional food value. Our final goal is to put together data coming from ions homeostasis and gene expression analyses, thus obtaining an ionomic tomato map related to ions absorption, translocation and accumulation in various plant organs, fruits included. To follow our hypothesis, we are studying the ionome of Solanum lycopersicum cv. M82 along with 76 Introgression Lines (ILs) produced by interspecific crosses between this cultivar and the wild species S. pennellii. These ILs are homozygous for small portions of the wild species genome introgressed into the domesticated M82 one. They are used as a useful tool for mapping QTL associated with many traits of interest. It is worthy to note that, until now, little information is available on QTL for ions accumulation in tomato. Moreover, as our knowledge, effects of new gene combinations in introgressed lines on ions uptake related to food safety have not been extensively studied. In this presentation we show results coming from the ionome analysis, carried out on S . lycopersicum M82 and several ILs. Plants were grown in pots in a greenhouse and watered with deionised water Thirty day-old plants were left to grow for 15 days in the presence of non-toxic concentration of Cd, Pb, As, Cr and Zn given combined. Leaves of all plants were then harvested and stored at -80°C for ionome and gene expression analyses. Preliminary results of ionome analysis of S. lycopersicum M82 and several ILs, carried out using an ICP-MS, showed that traits correlated to toxic metals and micronutrients accumulation in apical leaves were significantly modified in response to specific genetic backgrounds. Those results are perhaps due to the introgression of traits linked to uptake, translocation and accumulation of useful and/or toxic metal into plant apical leaves and to interactions of the wild type introgressed genomic regions with the cultivated genome. Also, data are shown on the identification and isolation of Solanum gene sequences related to ions uptake, translocation and accumulation, useful for further real-time gene expression evaluation in both cultivated and ILs during the treatments with the above-mentioned metals

Notes on and lectotypification of Augusto Weberbauer’s collections of Peruvian Ericaceae

Se documenta las 108 colecciones de Ericaceae realizadas por Augusto Weberbauer en el Perú, 48 de las cuales están depositadas en MOL. Del total de estas Ericaceae recolectadas por Weberbauer, se designan aquí como lectotipos 18 colecciones en MOL, 7 en NY, 2 en G, 2 en US y 1 en F.The Ericaceae collections of Augusto Weberbauer from Peru are documented as 108 in number, of which 48 are currently located at MOL. Of these Weberbauer Ericaceae collections, 18 at MOL, 7 at NY, 2 at G, 2 at US, and 1 at F are herein newly designated as lectotypes