The political economy of microfinance: a Nicaraguan case study

This thesis eschews an econometric approach to the analysis of microfinance initiatives in favour of a wider, political economy approach. It paints a picture of the international financial and socio-economic environment in which microfinance as a practice has developed since the mid-1970s, and the introduction outlines the political agendas that fuel the theoretical debate over development, and the manner in which the self-proclaimedly objective scientific rationale that underlines the dominant neoliberal hegemony is in reality no such thing. The introduction is followed by a methodological explanation of the necessity to examine microfinance in such a context, and then deals with the combination of approaches included in the thesis, sources, and data-collection methods of the fieldwork in Nicaragua. The next three chapters comprise the body of theoretical and literary evidence in support of this methodology, from the international down to the sectoral level within Nicaragua. Having located the Nicaraguan microfinance sector within a theoretical, international and national context, the subsequent chapter moves to examine the local context. The fieldwork in Nicaragua culminates in a combined map- and questionnaire-based exercise set in Masaya, a city some 27 kilometres roughly south of Managua, the capital. The chapter examines the structure and functions of two local microfinance organisations, FAMA and ADIM, and conducts a close examination of the population amongst which these microfinance organisations operate. The survey of the socioeconomy of households within the Masaya area concludes by casting doubts on, traditional methods of microfinance impact assessment, and suggests a different approach to studying microfinance. The thesis concludes by suggesting that the current vogue for envisaging microfinance initiatives as purely financial operations to be analysed as an accounting phenomenon is not only mistaken, but has potentially damaging consequences. The thesis argues that microfinance must be seen within local, national and international political contexts, and that doing so will help avoid costly errors. The thesis also suggests that the demand for new client-orientated initiatives will be assisted by taking the political economic reality into account, and by using methods such as those suggested by this thesis

Evidences for Extreme Wave Events in Velanganni Coast, Southeast of India

The present study focuses on sediment grain size, microfossil content and heavy minerals present in the sediments collected from a trench in the southeast coast of India in order to identify the frequent extreme wave events (e.g. storm surge, cyclone, tsunami, etc.). Two different depositional events were identified at different depths with distinct sedimentological, mineralogical and microfossil characteristics. These geological features further improve the understanding of depositional sequences in this region

Key myths about corruption (Briefing Paper)

Corruption has been one of the major international concerns of the past decade. It is an issue that affects all countries, rich and poor, in different ways and to differing degrees. Exactly how corruption affects particular societies has, however, been the subject of some discussion in the literature. The major international institutions promoting governance reforms have, for example, persistently argued that corruption has a direct negative impact upon overall economic growth levels and can depress the climate for attracting international investment; although these are far from universally-held assumptions, even in the mainstream economics literature. Amidst heightened international concern for tackling the abject poverty which continues to affect such large sections of humanity (expressed most clearly in the evolution of the millennium development goals or MDGs), perhaps the most important concern that has been expressed about corruption is that it disproportionately affects the poor and marginalized, through excluding them from access to services or reducing the funds available for direct use in social programmes. Donor-country fears over corruption in the handling of development aid monies may also act to erode the political will necessary to ensure adequate international funding of the actions needed to meet MDG targets, whilst within Southern countries perceptions of widespread corruption within political life can act decisively to depress popular support for state reforms and/or open democratic political systems. Clearly, then, corruption – its extent, nature, dynamics, causation and how it might be tackled – is an issue of fundamental importance to those working in the field of international development. One of the things noticeable on a first exploration of the literature on corruption and development is the singular lack of attention that was devoted to the issue for most of the period since the second world war and, in turn, the sudden rediscovery of the issue towards the end of the 1980s and the explosion of international legislative initiatives, institutional formation and academic work that has occurred since then. Clearly, the end of the bipolar geopolitical world of the cold war and the onslaught of contemporary globalization appear to have presented considerable opportunities for international collaboration in placing the issue at the centre of the international stage. Nevertheless, those very same global processes also present Preliminary version – not for citation without the permission of the authors important challenges to the international community in dealing with the issue because of the difficulties involved in tracing international flows of capital, the increasing complexity of international criminal networks and non-criminal tax evasion networks and the complex and hazy lines between the private and public sectors. Since the early 1990s large amounts of public money have been spent on the development of new legislation at national and international levels, the creation of national anti-corruption programmes and the evolution of anticorruption departments within just about every major international development institution. The impact of such measures, however, has been, at best, partial. As such, whilst the international community should continue to do what it can to raise the international profile of corruption and how it might be better combatted, we argue that it is even more important that a more detailed independent assessment of the effectiveness of existing interventions is carried out. Our position is that the first steps towards such a review of international anticorruption initiatives must involve subjecting the ways in which the issue has been constructed in the mainstream development arenas to closer scrutiny. This workshop is intended to be a first step in this direction. As such, this paper is intended to generate debate about the meaning of corruption, its complexity, how it relates to particular areas of development policy intervention and the means whereby it might be combated (if indeed this is considered feasible or even desirable). Given this, what follows is (i) deliberately provocative, (ii) deliberately broad and (iii) deliberately polemical. We thought long and hard about how best to organize this session and in the end decided to organize it around the presentation of a series of key myths which we have identified as important amongst those involved in anticorruption activities and research. Some of these myths relate to the academic community, some to a kind of general common sense amongst development practitioners and some to those involved in the implementation of anti-corruption initiatives. Here, they are organized into four broad sections dealing with (a) basic definitions, (b) states and markets, (c) actors and anticorruption initiatives and (d) economic factors

Modelling socio-technical transition patterns and pathways

We report on research that is developing a simulation model for assessing systemic innovations, or 'transitions', of societal systems towards a more sustainable development. Our overall aim is to outline design principles for models that can offer new insights into tackling persistent problems in large-scale systems, such as the European road transport system or the regional management of water resources. The systemic nature of these problems is associated with them being complex, uncertain and cutting across a number of sectors, and indicates a need for radical technological and behavioural solutions that address changes at the systems level rather than offering incremental changes within sub-systems. Model design is inspired by recent research into transitions, an emerging paradigm which provides a framework for tackling persistent problems. We use concepts from the literature on transitions to develop a prototype of a generic 'transition model'. Our prototype aims to capture different types of transition pathways, using historical examples such as the transition from horse-drawn carriages to cars or that from sailing ships to steam ships. The model combines agent-based modelling techniques and system dynamics, and includes interactions of individual agents and sub-systems, as well as cumulative effects on system structures. We show success in simulating different historical transition pathways by adapting the model's parameters and rules for each example. Finally, we discuss the improvements necessary for systematically exploring and detailing transition pathways in empirical case-study applications to current and future transitions such as the transition to a sustainable transport system in Europe

Human airway smooth muscle maintain in situ cell orientation and phenotype when cultured on aligned electrospun scaffolds

Human airway smooth muscle (HASM) contraction plays a central role in regulating airway resistance in both healthy and asthmatic bronchioles. In vitro studies that investigate the intricate mechanisms that regulate this contractile process are predominantly conducted on tissue culture plastic, a rigid, 2D geometry, unlike the 3D microenvironment smooth muscle cells are exposed to in situ. It is increasingly apparent that cellular characteristics and responses are altered between cells cultured on 2D substrates compared with 3D topographies. Electrospinning is an attractive method to produce 3D topographies for cell culturing as the fibers produced have dimensions within the nanometer range, similar to cells' natural environment. We have developed an electrospun scaffold using the nondegradable, nontoxic, polymer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) composed of uniaxially orientated nanofibers and have evaluated this topography's effect on HASM cell adhesion, alignment, and morphology. The fibers orientation provided contact guidance enabling the formation of fully aligned sheets of smooth muscle. Moreover, smooth muscle cells cultured on the scaffold present an elongated cell phenotype with altered contractile protein levels and distribution. HASM cells cultured on this scaffold responded to the bronchoconstrictor bradykinin. The platform presented provides a novel in vitro model that promotes airway smooth muscle cell development toward a more in vivo-like phenotype while providing topological cues to ensure full cell alignment

Thermodynamics with long-range interactions: from Ising models to black-holes

New methods are presented which enables one to analyze the thermodynamics of systems with long-range interactions. Generically, such systems have entropies which are non-extensive, (do not scale with the size of the system). We show how to calculate the degree of non-extensivity for such a system. We find that a system interacting with a heat reservoir is in a probability distribution of canonical ensembles. The system still possesses a parameter akin to a global temperature, which is constant throughout the substance. There is also a useful quantity which acts like a {\it local temperatures} and it varies throughout the substance. These quantities are closely related to counterparts found in general relativity. A lattice model with long-range spin-spin coupling is studied. This is compared with systems such as those encountered in general relativity, and gravitating systems with Newtonian-type interactions. A long-range lattice model is presented which can be seen as a black-hole analog. One finds that the analog's temperature and entropy have many properties which are found in black-holes. Finally, the entropy scaling behavior of a gravitating perfect fluid of constant density is calculated. For weak interactions, the entropy scales like the volume of the system. As the interactions become stronger, the entropy becomes higher near the surface of the system, and becomes more area-scaling.Comment: Corrects some typos found in published version. Title changed 22 pages, 2 figure

Obesity is not associated with progression to end stage renal disease in patients with biopsy-proven glomerular diseases

Background: Body mass index (BMI) is associated with renal disease progression in unspecified CKD. The relationship between BMI and primary glomerular disease (GN) may be more complex. We aimed to evaluate the association between BMI and renal disease progression in patients with primary glomerular disease (GN). Methods: This was a single-centre retrospective cohort study performed in adult patients with biopsy-proven primary GN (excluding minimal change disease) from January 2000 to December 2015, with follow-up data until June 2017. BMI at time of biopsy was categorised as ≤25 kg/m2, > 25 to ≤30 kg/m2 and > 30 kg/m2. We used univariate and multivariate survival analyses to evaluate factors associated with progression to a composite endpoint of stage 5 CKD or renal replacement therapy (Major Adverse Renal Event - MARE) censoring for competing risk of death using Fine and Gray subdistribution hazards model. Results: We included 560 patients with biopsy-proven primary GN and available BMI data: 66.1% were male with median age 54.8 (IQR 41.1–66.2) years and BMI 28.2 (IQR 24.9–32.1) kg/m2. Those with BMI 25-30 kg/m2 (n = 210) and with BMI > 30 kg/m2 (n = 207) were older (p = 0.007) with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures (p = 0.02 and 0.004 respectively) than those with BMI < 25 kg/m2 (n = 132). There was a greater proportion of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in those with higher BMI (3.9% in BMI < 25 kg/m2, 7.9% in BMI 25–30 kg/m2 and 10.7% in BMI > 30 kg/m2 of biopsies (p = 0.01)), but similar proportions of other GN diagnoses across BMI groups. Baseline eGFR (p = 0.40) and uPCR (p = 0.17) were similar across BMI groups. There was no interaction between BMI and time to MARE (log-rank p = 0.98) or death (log-rank p = 0.42). Censoring for competing risk of death, factors associated with progression to MARE were: younger age, lower baseline eGFR and higher uPCR, but not BMI (SHR 0.99, 95%CI 0.97–1.01, p = 0.31) nor blood pressure or GN diagnosis. Conclusion: BMI was not associated with progression to MARE in this patient cohort with primary GN. Efforts should be directed to managing other known risk factors for CKD progression

Auger electron angular distributions following excitation or ionization of the I 3d level in methyl iodide

Auger electron spectra following excitation or ionization of the I 3d level in CH3I have been recorded with horizontally or vertically plane polarized synchrotron radiation. These spectra have enabled the Auger electron angular distributions, as characterized by the β parameter, to be determined. The I 3d photoionization partial cross section of CH3I has been calculated with the continuum multiple scattering approach, and the results show that in the photon energy range over which Auger spectra were measured, the I 3d cross section exhibits an atomic-like behavior and is dominated by transitions into the εf continuum channel. In this limit, the theoretical value of the alignment parameter (A20) characterizing the core ionized state in an atom becomes constant, independent of photon energy. This theoretical value has been used to obtain the Auger electron intrinsic anisotropy parameters (α2) from the β parameters extracted from our normal (non-resonant) molecular Auger spectra. The resulting anisotropy parameters for the M45N45N45 transitions in CH3I have been compared to those calculated for the corresponding transitions in xenon, and the experimental and theoretical results are in good agreement. Anisotropy parameters have also been measured for the M45N1N45, M45N23N45, and M45N45O23 transitions. For the M45N1N45 and M45N23N45 Auger decays in CH3I, the experimentally derived angular distributions do not exhibit the strong dependence on the final ionic state that is predicted for these transitions in xenon. Resonantly excited Auger spectra have been recorded at 620.4 and 632.0 eV, coinciding with the I 3d5/2 → σ* and 3d3/2 → σ* transitions, respectively. The resulting Auger electron angular distributions for the M4N45N45 and M5N45N45 decays were found to exhibit a higher anisotropy than those for the normal process. This is due to the larger photo-induced alignment in the neutral core excited state. For a particular Auger transition, the Auger electron kinetic energy measured in the resonantly excited spectrum is higher than that in the normal spectrum. This shift, due to the screening provided by the electron excited into the σ* orbital, has been rationalized by calculating orbital ionization energies of I 3d excited and I 3d ionized states in CH3I

Mapping the UK research & innovation landscape: Energy & development

The UK is already a major player in terms of research and innovation into low carbon transitions within the countries of the developing world. However, there are significant opportunities for the UK to enhance its presence within these markets whilst also making a major contribution to meeting international development targets and climate commitments. At the core of the research analysed in the report is that it reflects disparate, research initiatives funded with different research/innovation targets in mind; much latent strength in UK research for low carbon energy for development therefore is implicit in linkage possibilities enhancing systemic effectiveness, particularly by cross-fertilizing innovations taking place in the private sector. Gaps and weaknesses are reflected as much in the lack of collaborative initiatives and ‘siloization’ as in the absence of actual research/funding. The Low Carbon Energy for Development Network (LCEDN) is currently taking the initiative in one aspect of this through the provision of a programme of capacity building and partnership activities to support the development of DfID’s Transforming Energy Access research initiative. What is required of UK energy for development research for the purposes of building a functional system, however, is that the discrete areas of research outlined in this report be re-assembled as coherent, overall research narratives addressing the apparent contradiction of increasing energy access whilst transitioning to the low-carbon economy. Part of this work involves identifying the state and dynamics of UK research capacity in this sector, facilitating greater integration between research funders active in this area, evaluating gaps and key research needs and mapping potential future directions for research interventions and collaborations that build on, and develop, existing UK research capacity. It is expected that this will lead to a range of UK-led energy innovations developed, tested and scaled across developing countries by 2020. The much-needed harmonization of energy access and low carbon transition as a UK research theme however has ultimately to be created out of rethinking research fields from a combination of existing research, plus demand known to be ‘out there’ but which has yet to enter the field of vision of research-funders. This report presents the first part of this work with an overview of current UK research and innovation capacity in a widely defined ‘Energy and International Development’ research area. It identifies key institutions and research centres, thematic areas of excellence, research funding trends over the last decade, emerging research themes plus an overview of grant funding for innovation on the ground. A number of key areas/questions for potential further development of UK research and innovation capacity have been identified and are up for discussion and consultation. The work has been undertaken by LCEDN in partnership with the Knowledge Transfer Network, Energy 4 Impact and IOD PARC

Upregulation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in hepatitis C virus infection

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is induced by proinflammatory cytokines and by CTLA-4-expressing T cells and constitutes an important mediator of peripheral immune tolerance. In chronic hepatitis C, we found upregulation of IDO expression in the liver and an increased serum kynurenine/tryptophan ratio (a reflection of IDO activity). Huh7 cells supporting hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication expressed higher levels of IDO mRNA than noninfected cells when stimulated with gamma interferon or when cocultured with activated T cells. In infected chimpanzees, hepatic IDO expression decreased in animals that cured the infection, while it remained high in those that progressed to chronicity. For both patients and chimpanzees, hepatic expression of IDO and CTLA-4 correlated directly. Induction of IDO may dampen T-cell reactivity to viral antigens in chronic HCV infectio