Assessment of Community Banks in Nigeria

This study on community banks in Nigeria was undertaken in June 2004 by the FAO Investment Centre, with financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department for International Development (DFID), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Ford Foundation (FF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank (WB), and in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The objective of the study was to assess the past and present performance of community banks, in particular rural-based banks, and to propose a first framework for their support. --

An analysis of graduate attitudes towards EYs brand and their competitors

CEM

Essays on Charitable Organizations and Public Policy

The dissertation analyzes public policies of subsidization and regulation in three contexts. Chapter 1 develops a dynamic bunching empirical design and uses it to estimate the compliance cost that IRS reporting requirements impose on public charities. Chapter 2 estimates the effects of tax and enforcement provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 on charitable foundations and their donors. Chapter 3 estimates the impact of Pell Grant aid on student attainment and borrowing

Организация строительного контроля при реализации инвестиционных проектов ПАО «Газпром» на примере магистрального газопровода «Сила Сибири»

Объектом исследования является строительство магистрального газопровода «Сила Сибири». Цель работы – разработать процесс организации строительного контроля на основе реализованных проектов ПАО «Газпром» и осуществить проведение строительного контроля при строительстве магистрального газопровода «Сила Сибири». В процессе исследования проводились анализ литературных источников, рассмотрение и анализ различных схем организации строительного контроля. В результате исследования была разработана модель и схема организации строительного контроля, рассчитаны оптимальные параметры проведения строительного контроля, разработаны мероприятия по охране труда и промышленной безопасности, охране окружающей среды. Степень внедрения: внедрена с 2015 года. Область применения: объекты ПАО «Газпром».The object of study is the construction of the gas pipeline "Power of Siberia". Purpose – to develop a process of organization building control on the basis of the completed projects of PJSC "Gazprom" and carry out the construction control during the construction of the gas pipeline "Power of Siberia". In the process of investigation the analysis of literature sources, review and analysis of various schemes of the organization of building control. In the result of the study a model was developed and diagram of building control, the calculated optimal parameters for building control, measures on labor protection and industrial safety, environmental protection. Level of implementation: implemented in 2015. Scope: the objects of PJSC "Gazprom"

Founder Replacement and Startup Performance

We provide causal evidence that venture capitalists (VCs) improve the performance of their portfolio companies by replacing founders. Using a database of venture capital financings augmented with hand-collected founder turnover events, we exploit shocks to the supply of outside executives via 14 states’ changes to non-compete laws from 1995 to 2016. Naive regressions of startup performance on replacement suggest a negative correlation that may reflect negative selection. Indeed, instrumented regressions reverse the sign of this effect, suggesting that founder replacement instead improves performance. The evidence points to the replacement of founders as a specific mechanism by which VCs add value

Abundance and vicariance of epigeic opilionids of an inundation forest in the 'Mainzer Becken', Germany (Arachnida: Opiliones)

Zwischen November 2003 und Januar 2004 wurde in einem Auwald bei Ingelheim am Rhein mittels Bodenfallen die Weberknechtfauna untersucht. Hierbei konnten insgesamt 1643 Individuen determiniert werden, welche sich auf 6 Arten aus 3 Familien verteilten. Besonders bemerkenswert sind die thermophilen Arten Astrobunus laevipes, Nemastoma dentigerum und Trogulus martensi. Zusätzlich wurden Bodenfallen eines benachbarten Auwaldes von Juni bis Oktober 2004 ausgewertet, die zusätzliche Daten zur Phänologie einiger stenochroner Arten erbrachten. Biotopansprüche, Vikarianzen und Konkurrenzvermeidung werden diskutiert.From the beginning of November 2003 to January 2004 the opilionid fauna was collected in a floodplain forest of the Rhine valley west of Mainz. Altogether 1643 individuals were captured in pitfall traps; these belong to six species representing three families. The thermophilous species Astrobunus laevipes, Nemastoma dentigerum and Trogulus martensi are noteworthy for this habitat. Results on the phenology of three stenochronous species over the sample periods are presented, and both activity abundance and dominance were measured. Additionally survival strategies for flooding periods are proposed and vicariance and concurrence with related species are discussed

Overexpression of the riboflavin biosynthetic pathway in Pichia pastoris

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High cell density cultures of <it>Pichia pastoris </it>grown on methanol tend to develop yellow colored supernatants, attributed to the release of free flavins. The potential of <it>P. pastoris </it>for flavin overproduction is therefore given, but not pronounced when the yeast is grown on glucose. The aim of this study is to characterize the relative regulatory impact of each riboflavin synthesis gene. Deeper insight into pathway control and the potential of deregulation is established by overexpression of the single genes as well as a combined deregulation of up to all six riboflavin synthesis genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overexpression of the first gene of the riboflavin biosynthetic pathway (<it>RIB1</it>) is already sufficient to obtain yellow colonies and the accumulation of riboflavin in the supernatant of shake flask cultures growing on glucose. Sequential deregulation of all the genes, by exchange of their native promoter with the strong and constitutive glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter (P_<it>GAP</it>) increases the riboflavin accumulation significantly.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The regulation of the pathway is distributed over more than one gene. High cell density cultivations of a <it>P. pastoris </it>strain overexpressing all six <it>RIB </it>genes allow the accumulation of 175 mg/L riboflavin in the supernatant. The basis for rational engineering of riboflavin production in <it>P. pastoris </it>has thus been established.</p

The pseudoscorpion-fauna (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) of a floodplain close to Ingelheim/Rhine, with special reference to the effects of the dry-warm winter 2006/2007

From the beginning of May 2005 to September 2007 the pseudoscorpion fauna in a hardwood floodplain forest of the Rhine valley near Ingelheim was investigated. Altogether 587 individuals representing two species from two families were captured using pitfall traps, trunk eclectors and by litter sieving. The warm, dry winter 2006/2007 exhibited a strong influence upon the activity of Neobisium carcinoides (Hermann, 1804). This winter event was followed by an extreme drought in April 2007, which affected the activity maximum of the corticolous species Chernes hahnii (C.L. Koch, 1839). In 2005 and 2006 the activity maximum of C. hahnii was observed in July, whereas in 2007 maturity was achieved earlier in May. Furthermore 31 individuals of N. carcinoides were captured in trunk eclectors. This climbing behaviour correlates with the presence of Lepidocyrtus lignorum (Collembola: Entomobryidae) on the trunks. Keywords: activity, Collembola, drought, false scorpions, Germany, prey captur