Wither participatory banking?: experiences with village banks in South Africa

Microfinance is widely advocated as a powerful tool to reduce poverty and improve social inclusion. How best to achieve these outcomes has been the focus of considerable debate, between supporters of minimalist finance-only and services-plus approaches, and between the merits of client-oriented models and member ownership. Many approaches to microfinance note the importance of participation within peer groups, the potential for empowerment and the support given by civil society organizations. Few studies, however, have analysed the nature and extent of participation, or whether this participation can be understood as democratic. In this paper, we examine four communities in South Africa that belong to a Village Bank, an organization that promotes member ownership and control. The paper examines members' experiences of participation and, specifically, organizational transparency and conflict resolution. We argue that microfinance holds considerable normative and symbolic appeal for members, but that participation in practice has been limited

Wither participatory banking?: experiences with village banks in South Africa.

Microfinance is widely advocated as a powerful tool to reduce poverty and improve social inclusion. How best to achieve these outcomes has been the focus of considerable debate, between supporters of minimalist finance-only and services-plus approaches, and between the merits of client-oriented models and member ownership. Many approaches to microfinance note the importance of participation within peer groups, the potential for empowerment and the support given by civil society organizations. Few studies, however, have analysed the nature and extent of participation, or whether this participation can be understood as democratic. In this paper, we examine four communities in South Africa that belong to a Village Bank, an organization that promotes member ownership and control. The paper examines members' experiences of participation and, specifically, organizational transparency and conflict resolution. We argue that microfinance holds considerable normative and symbolic appeal for members, but that participation in practice has been limited.

Dietary fish oil preserves cardiac function in the hypertrophied rat heart

Regular fish or fish oil intake is associated with a low incidence of heart failure clinically, and fish oil-induced reduction in cardiac remodelling seen in hypertrophy models may contribute. We investigated whether improved cardiac energy efficiency in non-hypertrophied hearts translates into attenuation of cardiac dysfunction in hypertrophied hearts. Male Wistar rats (n 33) at 8 weeks of age were sham-operated or subjected to abdominal aortic stenosis to produce pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy. Starting 3 weeks post-operatively to follow initiation of hypertrophy, rats were fed a diet containing 10% olive oil (control) or 5% fish oil (ROPUFA® 30 (17% EPA, 10% DHA))+5% olive oil (FO diet). At 15 weeks post-operatively, ventricular haemodynamics and oxygen consumption were evaluated in the blood-perfused, isolated working heart. Resting and maximally stimulated cardiac output and external work were >60% depressed in hypertrophied control hearts but this was prevented by FO feeding, without attenuating hypertrophy. Cardiac energy efficiency was lower in hypertrophy, but greater in FO hearts for any given cardiac mass. Coronary blood flow, restricted in hypertrophied control hearts, increased with increasing work in hypertrophied FO hearts, revealing a significant coronary vasodilator reserve. Pronounced cardiac dysfunction in hypertrophied hearts across low and high workloads, indicative of heart failure, was attenuated by FO feeding in association with membrane incorporation of n-3 PUFA, principally DHA. Dietary fish oil may offer a new approach to balancing the high oxygen demand and haemodynamic requirements of the failing hypertrophied heart independently of attenuating hypertroph

Active mud volcanoes on the continental slope of the Canadian Beaufort Sea

The major geochemical characteristics of Red Sea brine are summarized for 11 brine-filled deeps located along the central graben axis between 19°N and 27°N. The major element composition of the different brine pools is mainly controlled by variable mixing situations of halite-saturated solution (evaporite dissolution) with Red Sea deep water. The brine chemistry is also influenced by hydrothermal water/rock interaction, whereas magmatic and sedimentary rock reactions can be distinguished by boron, lithium, and magnesium/calcium chemistry. Moreover, hydrocarbon chemistry (concentrations and δ 13 C data) of brine indicates variable injection of light hydrocarbons from organic source rocks and strong secondary (bacterial or thermogenic) degradation processes. A simple statistical cluster analysis approach was selected to look for similarities in brine chemistry and to classify the various brine pools, as the measured chemical brine compositions show remarkably strong concentration variations for some elements. The cluster analysis indicates two main classes of brine. Type I brine chemistry (Oceanographer and Kebrit Deeps) is controlled by evaporite dissolution and contributions from sediment alteration. The Type II brine (Suakin, Port Sudan, Erba, Albatross, Discovery, Atlantis II, Nereus, Shaban, and Conrad Deeps) is influenced by variable contributions from volcanic/ magmatic rock alteration. The chemical brine classification can be correlated with the sedimentary and tectonic setting of the related depressions. Type I brine-filled deeps are located slightly off-axis from the central Red Sea graben. A typical " collapse structure formation " which has been defined for the Kebrit Deep by evaluating seismic and geomorphological data probably corresponds to our Type I brine. Type II brine located in depressions in the northern Red Sea (i.e., Conrad and Shaban Deeps) could be correlated to " volcanic intrusion-/extrusion-related " deep formation. The chemical indications for hydrothermal influence on Conrad and Shaban Deep brine can be related to brines from the multi-deeps region in the central Red Sea, where volcanic/magmatic fluid/rock interaction is most obvious. The strongest hydrothermal influence is observed in Atlantis II brine (central multi-deeps region), which is also the hottest Red Sea brine body in 2011 (*68.2 °C)

Discovery of a single male Aedes aegypti (L.) in Merseyside, England

© The Author(s). 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The file attached is the published (publishers PDF) version of the article

Detectionof gas hydrates infaults using azimuthal seismic velocity analysis,Vestnesa Ridge, W-Svalbard Margin

Accepted for publication in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth. Copyright 2020 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.Joint analysis of electrical resistivity and seismic velocity data is primarily used to detect the presence of gas hydrate‐filled faults and fractures. In this study, we present a novel approach to infer the occurrence of structurally‐controlled gas hydrate accumulations using azimuthal seismic velocity analysis. We perform this analysis using ocean‐bottom seismic (OBS) data at two sites on Vestnesa Ridge, W‐Svalbard Margin. Previous geophysical studies inferred the presence of gas hydrates at shallow depths (up to ~190‐195 m below the seafloor) in marine sediments of Vestnesa Ridge. We analyze azimuthal P‐wave seismic velocities in relation with steeply‐dipping near surface faults to study structural controls on gas hydrate distribution. This unique analysis documents directional changes in seismic velocities along and across faults. P‐wave velocities are elevated and reduced by ~0.06‐0.08 km/s in azimuths where the raypath plane lies along the fault plane in the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) and below the base of the GHSZ, respectively. The resulting velocities can be explained with the presence of gas hydrate‐ and free gas‐filled faults above and below the base of the GHSZ, respectively. Moreover, the occurrence of elevated and reduced (>0.05 km/s) seismic velocities in groups of azimuths bounded by faults, suggests compartmentalization of gas hydrates and free gas by fault planes. Results from gas hydrate saturation modelling suggest that these observed changes in seismic velocities with azimuth can be due to gas hydrate saturated faults of thickness greater than 20 cm and considerably smaller than 300 cm

Application of 1D and 3D Hydrodynamic Models Coupled to an Ecological Model to Two Water Supply Reservoirs

A one-dimensional (1D-DYRESM) and three-dimensional (3D-ELCOM) hydrodynamic model were coupled to a common ecological model (CAEDYM) and applied to 2 different, but inter-connected reservoirs. A 1D water quality (WQ) simulation (DYRESM-CAEDYM) of large (V=2 km3, A=82 km2, L=50 km) and deep (zmax=90 m) Lake Burragorang during a drought (1992-1995) compared well with field data. DYRESM-CAEDYM simulations of much smaller (A=5 km2), shallower (zavg=9 m) and low residence time (ca. 1 month) Prospect Reservoir over 8 years (1983-1991) were validated against a comprehensive WQ record, with no modifications to the Lake Burragorang application other than to daily forcing and bathymetry files. Lake Burragorang is subject to occasional flood events involving rapid temporal evolution of spatial variations that cannot be simulated by a 1D model. A winter flood in Jun. 1997, with comprehensive spatial monitoring, took ca. 1 week to travel to from tributary to dam wall (~ 50 km) as a nutrient-laden underflow. Grids (100-200m×100-200m×1-2m) needed for 3D model run times to follow the evolution of the flood event were too large to resolve the narrow and complex geometry of this reservoir, but by ‘straightening’ the domain, larger grid sizes with suitable run times yielded good validation results. A 3D simulation of Prospect Reservoir during the onset of seasonal stratification indicated poor WQ from the 2 inflows is ‘contained’ to below the metalimnion, where its accessibility to algae is restricted by the stratification. A simulation with a bubble plume destratification system indicated that these inflows would be inserted into the mixed layer and available to phytoplankton. This study demonstrates that physical events (e.g. floods, destratification) often dictate the dominant responses of the biogeochemistry that produce an observed pattern of WQ. This suggests accurate validation and prediction of physical processes is the basis of accurate forecasting of natural or anthropogenic influences on reservoir WQ