Search results for "Mediation."
showing 10 items of 761 documents
Governance and Scope Economies in Microfinance Institutions
2013
This paper studies the relation between board size and composition and cost savings (scope economies) from combining savings mobilization and lending by Microfinance Institutions. The findings support the hypothesis that employee representation on the board is associated with positive scope economies, possibly due to internal knowledge. However, CEO Chairman duality is associated with equal or larger probability of scope diseconomies, which is consistent with previous findings. Representation of other stakeholders on the MFI board does not affect scope economies. The results seem to support the notion that, in highly uncertain environments, group cohesion may be an advantageous mechanism of…
Governance and scope economies in microfinance institutions
2013
This paper studies the relation between board size and composition and cost savings (scope economies) from combining savings mobilisation and lending by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). The findings support the hypothesis that employee representation on the board is associated with positive scope economies, possibly due to internal knowledge. However, CEO-Chairman duality is associated with equal or larger probability of scope diseconomies, which is consistent with previous findings. Representation
Bioinspired Metal-Organic Frameworks in Mixed Matrix Membranes for Efficient Static/Dynamic Removal of Mercury from Water
2020
The mercury removal efficiency of a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) derived from the amino acid S-methyl-L-cysteine is presented and the process is characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. A feasibility study is further presented on the performance of this MOF and also that of another MOF derived from the amino acid L-methionine when used as the sorbent in mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). These MOF-based MMMs exhibit high efficiency and selectivity in both static and dynamic regimes in the removal of Hg2+ from aqueous environments, due to the high density of thioalkyl groups decorating MOF channels. Both MMMs are capable to reduce different concentration of the pollutant to …
Supramolecular complexation for environmental control
2012
Supramolecular complexes offer a new and efficient way for the monitoring and removal of many substances emanating from technical processes, fertilization, plant and animal protection, or e.g. chemotherapy. Such pollutants range from toxic or radioactive metal ions and anions to chemical side products, herbicides, pesticides to drugs including steroids, and include degradation products from natural sources. The applications involve usually fast and reversible complex formation, due to prevailing non-covalent interactions. This is of importance for sensing as well as for separation techniques, where the often expensive host compounds can then be reused almost indefinitely. Immobilization of …
Hydration and water holding properties of cross-linked lignite humic acids
2014
Abstract Lignite and lignite humic acids, which are used as soil amendments sometimes, are supposed to improve soil properties such as water holding capacity. The structure of those materials is composed of various organic molecules stabilized mostly by weak interactions. Therefore, excess of water causes only partial swelling, but most of the physical structure is destabilized. This accelerates the desiccation and hampers their application as natural hydrogel-like substances. In order to stabilize the structure of lignite humic acids and improve the water holding capacity, we applied formaldehyde cross-linking procedure based on covalent coupling of aromatic humic acids moieties. By combin…
Isolation and Characterization of Novosphingobium sp. Strain MT1, a Dominant Polychlorophenol-Degrading Strain in a Groundwater Bioremediation System
2002
ABSTRACT A high-rate fluidized-bed bioreactor has been treating polychlorophenol-contaminated groundwater in southern Finland at 5 to 8°C for over 6 years. We examined the microbial diversity of the bioreactor using three 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA)-based methods: denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, length heterogeneity-PCR analysis, and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The molecular study revealed that the process was dependent on a stable bacterial community with low species diversity. The dominant organism, Novosphingobium sp. strain MT1, was isolated and characterized. Novosphingobium sp. strain MT1 degraded the main contaminants of the groundwater, 2,4,6-trichloroph…
Réformes évolutionnistes du système des paiements internationaux : la création de systèmes des paiements supranationaux, une nécessité au regard des …
2012
At the height of the crisis, the international monetary system is powerless to reduce theinstability of exchange rates, the imbalance of the current account of balance ofpayments, instability of exchange rates and the development of speculation in financialmarkets the and the asymmetry between net exporters countries and net deficits countries.This thesis, which had the merit of opening new tracks in order to understand thecomplex relationships between global imbalances and the actual system, showed thatthese global imbalances are intrinsically linked to the failures of the internationalmonetary structure. To stop the deterioration of global imbalances, we propose that thesystem turns towar…
Establishing Usability for Interactive Music Applications that Use Embodied Mediation Technology
2009
This paper proposes a research method to address usability issues in the early stage of development of interactive or collaborative embodied music applications. The central topic is how concepts of usability testing, goal composition, game enjoyment and technology assessment can be actively incorporated in the development and improvement of music applications that use embodied mediation technology. The method presented involves discourse analysis of interviews to develop an approach to constructively use the feedback of test persons to enhance interactive music applications. This analysis is used to determine whether users can properly interact with the system, whether they understand it an…
Synthesis and Characterization of Halloysite-Cyclodextrin Nanosponges for Enhanced Dyes Adsorption
2017
Inorganic-organic nanosponge hybrids based on halloysite clay and organic cyclodextrin derivatives (HNT-CDs) were developed by means of microwave irradiations in solvent-free conditions. The HNT-CDs nanomaterials characterized by FT-IR, TGA, BET, TEM, SEM, DLS, and zeta-potential have showed a hyper-reticulated network which possesses both HNT and cyclodextrin peculiarities. The new HNT-CDs nanosponge hybrids were employed as nanoadsorbents, first choosing Rhodamine B as the dye model, and furthermore for the removal of some cationic and anionic dyes, under different pH values (1.0, 4.54, and 7.4). The collected results showed that the pH solution as well as the electrostatic interactions a…
Evaluation of adsorption ability of Cyclodextrin-Calixarene Nanosponges towards Pb2+ ion in aqueous solution
2021
Abstract Different cyclodextrin-calixarene nanosponges (CyCaNSs) have been characterized by means of FFC-NMR relaxometry, and used as sorbents to remove Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions. Considering that the removal treatments may involve polluted waters with different characteristics, the adsorption experiments were performed on solutions without and with the addition of background salts, under different operational conditions. The adsorption abilities and affinities of the nanosponges towards Pb2+ ions were investigated by measuring the metal ion concentration by means of Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (DP-ASV…