Can microfinance regulation encourage mission drift? The Italian case

Achieving both financial and social objectives has proved challenging for microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in Europe. The European Union has traditionally played a role in supporting the social mission of many MFIs through favourable policies and financial support. However, differences in the microfinance regulatory environments in each of the European countries have contributed to cross-country variations in the sector’s evolution. However, the academic literature on this topic is scarce. Frequently, European MFIs have overcome regulation constraints by establishing partnerships with commercial banks. These partnerships are mostly intended to improve double bottom line management and achieve both financial and social objectives; however, these alliances can be hindered by regulatory changes. This paper aims to explore whether the introduction of microfinance regulation might affect the way in which MFIs manage their double bottom line. Given the recent passage of a microfinance law in Italy, we qualitatively explore the perceptions of a group of Italian microfinance stakeholders on the new regulatory framework and its effect on MFIs’ double bottom line management through establishing interinstitutional partnerships. Focusing on one of the regions with more microcredit programmes in Italy (Emilia Romagna), we generated data through qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with five senior managers in MFIs, two members of the Italian government who voted for the new microfinance law and one expert in the field of microcredit. Additionally, secondary data were collected for triangulation. The perceived effects of the new regulation on MFIs’ strategical partnerships and mission drift are relevant for microfinance practitioners, regulators and policymakers. Despite emerging as an attempt of market correction, regulation is perceived to undermine the ways in which MFIs can reach financially excluded individuals. These conclusions need to be taken into account to prevent unintended effects on the microfinance sector and its outreach. Although non-generalisable, the emergent saturated findings also lead to questions for academics and lay the groundwork for further longitudinal research

Computationally Guided Design of a Readily Assembled Phosphite- Thioether Ligand for a Broad Range of Pd-Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic Substitutions

A modular approach employing indene as common starting material, has enabled the straightforward preparation in three reaction steps of P-thioether ligands for the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitution. The analysis of a starting library of P-thioether ligands based on rational design and theoretical calculations has led to the discovery of an optimized anthracenethiol derivative with excellent behavior in the reaction of choice. Improving most approaches reported to date, this ligand presents a broad substrate and nucleophile scope. Excellent enantioselectivities have been achieved for a range of linear and cyclic allylic substrates using a large number of C-, N-, and O-nucleophiles (40 compounds in total). The species responsible for the catalytic activity have been further investigated by NMR in order to clearly establish the origin of the enantioselectivity. The resulting products have been derivatized by means of ring-closing metathesis or Pauson–Khand reactions to further prove the synthetic versatility of the methodology for preparing enantiopure complex structures

Difusió virtual d'itineraris de camp en ciències de la terra

El portal d'internet GEOCAMP (http://einstein.uab.es/_c_gr_geocamp/geocamp/), d'activitats de camp en Ciències de la Terra permet optimitzar el treball abans, després i durant una excursió. Fins ara aquest ha estat el contingut del recurs virtual. La gran acceptació que ha anat tenint entre els alumnes de la universitat (sobretot dels primers cursos) com en altres entorns (professorat de secundària etc.) ens ha portat a ampliar-ne el seu abast. Així doncs, ens hem plantejat dos objectius. Un primer objectiu ha estat la traducció de la web al castellà i l'anglès. Un segon objectiu ha estat desenvolupar un apartat de propostes d'itineraris de camp concrets. Aquest segon objectiu ha de contribuir a omplir de contingut el recurs web a partir de l'aportació d'itineraris que estem desenvolupant des de dins el projecte però també a partir d'aportacions externes

El GEOCAMP : un sitio web y una herramienta de edición para las actividades de campo en Geología

El GEOCAMP es un portal informático de apoyo a las actividades de campo en Geología. Es un sitio web de libre acceso a disposición de docentes y estudiantes que realizan prácticas de campo como parte de sus enseñanzas o aprendizajes. Es un espacio hipermedia que contiene materiales didácticos de producción propia y numerosos enlaces a todo tipo de informaciones relacionadas con las prácticas de campo en asignaturas de Ciencias de la Tierra. El portal incorpora una herramienta de autoedición - el GEOCAMP-EDITOR -, una aplicación informática que permite introducir desde cualquier lugar del mundo los textos y figuras que conforman la descripción de un punto o itinerario de interés geológico. A partir de la información proporcionada, se genera un documento con una maquetación propia que puede ser consultado en formato HTML o descargado como PDF y utilizado como guía de campo.GEOCAMP is a website devoted to field activities in Geology. It is a free access web site available for both teachers and students who carry out field exercises as part of their teaching or learning. It is a hypermedia resource containing original teaching materials and several links with all kind of topics related to field exercises in subjects of Earth Sciences. The website includes a desktop publishing tool - the GEOCAMP-EDITOR -, a software application that allows to download from anywhere in the world the text and images that describe a point or route of geological interest. Once the information has been downloaded, a document is automatically generated. This document can be accessed in HTML format or downloaded as a PDF document to be used as a field guide

Recurs multimedia del treball de camp en geologia

El portal Geocamp s'ha creat per aplicar-lo al procés d'aprenentatge de la Geologia al camp, enllaçant conceptes teòrics amb metodologia de treball fora de l'aula o el laboratori. S'adreça a docents i estudiants d'universitat, secundària, batxillerat, formació de professorat o públic en general. Aquest portal conté materials didàctics propis i enllaços amb tot tipus d'informacions relatives al treball de camp en Ciències de la Terra. L'element més innovador rau en la seva utilitat a l'hora de plantejar les activitats de preparació de les excursions. També hi trobem pautes metodològiques per a treballar en els afloraments, idees sobre les activitats de síntesi etc. Geocamp consta de 4 blocs: "Preparem la sortida" (elecció del lloc, transport, predicció meteorològica, material necessari, materials didàctics, enllaços d'interès etc.), "El treball de camp" (pautes d'observació, descripció i interpretació de les roques, recomanacions de seguretat etc.), "Itineraris" (exemples regionals propis o disponibles a la xarxa) i "Després de la sortida" (propostes de realització d'un informe final etc.)

Predicting serious complications in patients with cancer and pulmonary embolism using decision tree modelling: the EPIPHANY Index

Background: Our objective was to develop a prognostic stratification tool that enables patients with cancer and pulmonary embolism (PE), whether incidental or symptomatic, to be classified according to the risk of serious complications within 15 days. Methods: The sample comprised cases from a national registry of pulmonary thromboembolism in patients with cancer (1075 patients from 14 Spanish centres). Diagnosis was incidental in 53.5% of the events in this registry. The Exhaustive CHAID analysis was applied with 10-fold crossvalidation to predict development of serious complications following PE diagnosis. Results: About 208 patients (19.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 17.1-21.8%) developed a serious complication after PE diagnosis. The 15-day mortality rate was 10.1%, (95% CI, 8.4-12.1%). The decision tree detected six explanatory covariates: Hestia-like clinical decision rule (any risk criterion present vs none), Eastern Cooperative Group performance scale (ECOG-PS; = 2), O-2 saturation (= 90%), presence of PE-specific symptoms, tumour response (progression, unknown, or not evaluated vs others), and primary tumour resection. Three risk classes were created (low, intermediate, and high risk). The risk of serious complications within 15 days increases according to the group: 1.6, 9.4, 30.6%; P<0.0001. Fifteen-day mortality rates also rise progressively in low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients: 0.3, 6.1, and 17.1%; P<0.0001. The cross-validated risk estimate is 0.191 (s.e. = 0.012). The optimism-corrected area under the receiver operating characteristic curve is 0.779 (95% CI, 0.717-0.840). Conclusions: We have developed and internally validated a prognostic index to predict serious complications with the potential to impact decision-making in patients with cancer and PE

Polyamidoamine Nanoparticles for the Oral Administration of Antimalarial Drugs

Current strategies for the mass administration of antimalarial drugs demand oral formulations to target the asexual Plasmodium stages in the peripheral bloodstream, whereas recommendations for future interventions stress the importance of also targeting the transmission stages of the parasite as it passes between humans and mosquitoes. Orally administered polyamidoamine (PAA) nanoparticles conjugated to chloroquine reached the blood circulation and cured Plasmodium yoelii-infected mice, slightly improving the activity of the free drug and inducing in the animals immunity against malaria. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analysis of affinity chromatography-purified PAA ligands suggested a high adhesiveness of PAAs to Plasmodium falciparum proteins, which might be the mechanism responsible for the preferential binding of PAAs to Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes vs. non-infected red blood cells. The weak antimalarial activity of some PAAs was found to operate through inhibition of parasite invasion, whereas the observed polymer intake by macrophages indicated a potential of PAAs for the treatment of certain coinfections such as Plasmodium and Leishmania. When fluorescein-labeled PAAs were fed to females of the malaria mosquito vectors Anopheles atroparvus and Anopheles gambiae, persistent fluorescence was observed in the midgut and in other insect\u2019s tissues. These results present PAAs as a versatile platform for the encapsulation of orally administered antimalarial drugs and for direct administration of antimalarials to mosquitoes, targeting mosquito stages of Plasmodium