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! --

Influence of structural distortions on the Ir magnetism in Ba2-xSrxYIrO6 double perovskites

We explore the relative strengths of spin orbit coupling and crystal field splitting in the Ir5+ compounds Ba2-xSrxYIrO6. In the case of strong spin orbit coupling and regular Ir5+ octahedra, one expects a nonmagnetic J = 0 state; in the case of distorted octahedra where crystal field effects dominate, the t2g manifold splits into a magnetic ground state. We report the results of continuously transitioning from the cubic Ba2YIrO6 double perovskite with ideal octahedra to the monoclinic Sr2YIrO6 double perovskite with distorted octahedra. We see no emergence of an enhanced Ir5+ magnetic moment in the series on increasing the structural distortions, as would have been the case for significant crystal field splitting. The near-constant magnetic moment observed through the Ba2-xSrxYIrO6 series reinforces the notion that spin-orbit coupling is the dominant force in determining the magnetism of iridium-oxygen octahedra in perovskite-like structure

Gold-Gold Bonding: The Key to Stabilizing the 19-Electron Ternary Phases LnAuSb (Ln = La-Nd and Sm) as New Dirac Semimetals

We report a new family of ternary 111 hexagonal LnAuSb (Ln = La-Nd, Sm) compounds that, with a 19 valence electron count, has one extra electron compared to all other known LnAuZ compound. The "19th" electron is accommodated by Au-Au bonding between the layers; this Au-Au interaction drives the phases to crystallize in the YPtAs-type structure rather than the more common LiGaGe-type. This is critical, as the YPtAs structure type has the symmetry-allowed band crossing necessary for the formation of Dirac semimetals. Band structure, density of stats, and crystal orbital calculations confirm this picture, which results in a nearly complete band gap between full and empty electronic states and stable compounds; we can thus present a structural stability phase diagram for the LnAuZ (Ln = Ge, As, Sn, Sb, Pb, Bi) family of phases. Those calculations also show that LaAuSb has a bulk Dirac cone below the Fermi level. The YPtAs-type LnAuSb family reported here is an example of the uniqueness of gold chemistry applied to a rigidly closed shell system in an unconventional way.Comment: 32 pages, 8 Figure

Quantized electronic fine structure with large anisotropy in ferromagnetic Fe films

We report on the spectroscopic observation of a quantized electronic fine structure near the Fermi energy in thin Fe films grown on W(110). The quantum well states are detected down to binding energies of $\sim$10 meV by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The band dispersion of these states is found to feature a pronounced anisotropy within the surface plane: It is free-electron like along the $\bar{\Gamma \rm{H}}$-direction while it becomes heavy along $\bar{\Gamma \rm{N}}$. Density functional theory calculations identify the observed states to have both majority and minority spin character and indicate that the large anisotropy can be dependent on the number of Fe-layers and coupling to the substrate.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Microfinance in the Philippines An Assessment of Microfinance Institutions Banking with the Poor

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 market-oriented microfinance institutions (MFis). In the framework of a wider UNDPsupported 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 using the Grameen technology in reaching the poor. Virtually all are subsidy-dependent and donor-driven, though they do adhere to the creed of market rates of interest. Only the cooperative bank was found to be operationally and financially self-sufficient, yet 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

Potential ring of Dirac nodes in a new polymorph of Ca3_3P2_2

We report the crystal structure of a new polymorph of Ca$_3$P$_2$, and an analysis of its electronic structure. The crystal structure was determined through Rietveld refinements of powder synchrotron x-ray diffraction data. Ca$_3$P$_2$ is found to be a variant of the Mn$_5$Si$_3$ structure type, with a Ca ion deficiency compared to the ideal 5:3 stoichiometry to yield a charge-balanced compound. We also report the observation of a secondary phase, Ca$_5$P$_3$H, in which the Ca and P sites are fully occupied and the presence of interstitial hydride ions creates a closed-shell electron-precise compound. We show via electronic structure calculations of Ca$_3$P$_2$ that the compound is stabilized by a gap in the density of states compared to the hypothetical compound Ca$_5$P$_3$. Moreover, the calculated band structure of Ca$_3$P$_2$ indicates that it should be a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal with a highly unusual ring of Dirac nodes at the Fermi level. The Dirac states are protected against gap opening by a mirror plane in a manner analogous to graphene. The results suggest that further study of the electronic properties of Ca$_3$P$_2$ will be of interest

Effects of a multi-component exercise program and calcium–vitamin-D3-fortified milk on bone mineral density in older men : a randomised controlled trial

Summary We examined the independent and combined effects of a multi-component exercise program and calcium&ndash;vitamin-D3-fortified milk on bone mineral density (BMD) in older men. Exercise resulted in a 1.8% net gain in femoral neck BMD, but additional calcium&ndash;vitamin D3 did not enhance the response in this group of older well-nourished men.Introduction This 12-month randomised controlled trial assessed whether calcium&ndash;vitamin-D3-fortified milk could enhance the effects of a multi-component exercise program on BMD in older men.Methods Men (n&thinsp; =&thinsp;180) aged 50&ndash;79 years were randomised into: (1) exercise + fortified milk; (2) exercise; (3) fortified milk; or (4) controls. Exercise consisted of high intensity progressive resistance training with weight-bearing impact exercise. Men assigned to fortified milk consumed 400 mL/day of low fat milk providing an additional 1,000 mg/day calcium and 800 IU/day vitamin D3. Femoral neck (FN), total hip, lumbar spine and trochanter BMD and body composition (DXA), muscle strength 25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were assessed.Results There were no exercise-by-fortified milk interactions at any skeletal site. Exercise resulted in a 1.8% net gain in FN BMD relative to no-exercise (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001); lean mass (0.6 kg, p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.05) and muscle strength (20&ndash;52%, p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001) also increased in response to exercise. For lumbar spine BMD, there was a net 1.4&ndash;1.5% increase in all treatment groups relative to controls (all p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.01). There were no main effects of fortified milk at any skeletal site.Conclusion A multi-component community-based exercise program was effective for increasing FN BMD in older men, but additional calcium&ndash;vitamin D3 did not enhance the osteogenic response.<br /

Progression of myopathology in Kearns-Sayre syndrome

We report on the progression of myopathology by comparing two biopsies from a patient with a Kearns-Sayre-Syndrome. The first biopsy was taken in 1979 and showed 10% ragged-red fibers. Myopathic changes were slight including internal nuclei and fiber splitting in 10% of the fibers. Electron microscopy revealed typical mitochondrial abnormalities with regard to number and shape. In 1989 a second biopsy was performed for an extended analysis of mitochondrial DNA. This time less than 5% of all fibers were ragged-red. Severe myopathic changes could be detected which so far has rarely been reported in mitochondrial cytopathy