The Impact of Corporate Governance and Ethics on Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)—The Case for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, 2009-2019

The paper presents and examines the impact of corporate governance and ethics in particular on sustainable development of the Zimbabwean microfinance sector in the period 2009-2019.The critical microfinance institutions(MFIs)crisis experienced in Masvingo,Zimbabwe recently was not the first one in the world in terms of its severity.The main aim of MFIs in any economy is to serve the poor and vulnerable people of a society through providing them with soft or concessional loans,insurance coverage,and facilities for savings.The study used the descriptive qualitative design to draw research data from MFIs dotted in and around Masvingo Province for presentation,analysis,and interpretation.One of the major findings of the study was that corporate governance and ethics played an indispensable role in the growth and development of MFIs’products and services.The study also realized that good corporate governance and ethical behaviours in business practices were essential for the success of any organization and vice versa and MFIs were no exception.The study therefore concluded that poor capital formation,corporate governance and ethics,human recruitment and selection procedures and fraudulent activities or misappropriation of funds were responsible for the majority of threats faced by MFIs in Masvingo in their growth and development endeavours.Therefore the study recommended that directors of MFIs should craft policies and strategies that are corporate governance and ethics oriented in their desire to grow their business towards sustainable development in the foreseeable future.

The Skills of E-C Translation： based on Hillary Clinton＇s Concession Speech

Translation is a conversion process, which helps transform a language message into another language. In the conversion of English and Chinese, mastering and understanding some skills of translation can help us better grasp and understand how to transform English into Chinese. Based on the source text of Hillary Clinton's concession speech and the Chinese target text, the thesis studies the techniques of English translation and concludes the skills of translation. The purpose is to help students master a variety of English translation methods, to accumulate English communication skills and to improve the comprehensive level of English.

Inheritance and Sustainable Development of Concession Gardens of Tianjin City,China

Through reviewing development history of concession gardens in Tianjin City,features,advantages and problems of these gardens were analyzed.It was stressed that cultural context should be inherited,and features of the city highlighted.The gardens should be protected from the perspective of development,combined with urban green space system,integrated with cultural life of local citizens,and coordinated with contemporary architectural style of the city.In addition,plant landscapes should be enriched,and infrastructure of the gardens supplemented to properly handle the relationship between urban construction and protection of historical image,and provide reference for inheriting cultural context of the city in the urban development.

Inheritance and Sustainable Development: Countermeasures for the Development of Tianjin Concession Parks

Through the overview of the development history of Tianjin Concession Parks, this paper analyzed the historical significance of Tianjin Concession Parks and put forward its existing problems, then summed up a series of strategies of sustainable development as follows: adhering to the Florence Charter; retaining the original form and texture of the Concession Parks; adopting a dynamic philosophy of protection and preservation; integrating with citizens' social life; supplementing and improving infrastructure facilities; and achieving environmental regeneration by planting. All these efforts are expected to contribute to making a balance between the development and construction of urban cities and the preservation of historical features, as well as provide lessons for inheriting urban history and culture in the future.

Implication of Household’s Income Composition on Infrastructure Maintenance in Residential Core of Akure,Nigeria

This study examines the implication of household income composition on infrastructure maintenance in the residential core of Akure,Nigeria with a view to providing suggestive recommendations that will remedy identified problems in the research locale.With regards to this,an estimated of 1%research population,amounting to 425,were served with questionnaires using systematic random sampling technique with replacement.Findings revealed that residents in the study area are low income earners with larger population influenced by market proximity,low prices of staple food items and affordable but tumbledown housing.Likewise,essential facilities are in poor state owing to poor maintenance.Besides,household income induced variables considered in the study,which accounted for 75.6%of the challenges limiting routine facilities maintenance in the study area.The study recommends skill acquisition training,resource collaborative efforts and soft loans scheme to boost the income generation of residents in this locale.

Machine learning-supported seismic stratigraphy of the Paleozoic Nubia Formation(SW Gulf of Suez-rift):Implications for paleoenvironmentpetroleum geology of a lacustrine-fan delta

Steeply dipping prograding fan deltas possess high reservoir quality facies that could be excellent targets while exploring for hydrocarbons.Due to their complex stacking nature,and limited examples,delineating their architectural elements is still challenging.In this paper we mainly performed sedimentary facies analysis;applying various disciplines e.g.sequence stratigraphy,seismic stratigraphy,GR-log motifs,and seismic waveform segmentation;so as to adequately depict the reservoir heterogeneity and quality of the Paleozoic Nubia clastics in West Esh El Mallaha Concession(southwest Gulf of Suez rift).Organic maturity prediction,to confirm the hydrocarbon charging from source units to reservoir intervals,was also of most importance in this study.Accordingly,1D basin model was established to define the past geologic events;subsidence,and thermal maturity;and their controls on sedimentary basin evolution and associated petroleum potential.We utilized several key-information scales;e.g.wireline logs,and seismic profiles.Linking different disciplines applied in this study points to a successful integrated reservoir characterization workflow capable of unfolding ancient environments and the associated hydrocarbon potential.The results show that Nubia Formation was built during the lowstandtransgressive phase of a 3rd order depositional sequence.It encompasses fluvio-lacustrine system with eight sedimentary facies associations;form source to sink.Fluvial channels and mouth bars,settled in subaerial and subaqueous settings respectively,represent the most significant reservoir facies in the area.Given best hydrocarbon-reservoir quality,the deltaic mouth bars ought to attract attention of further oilfield development plans and be considered while investigating similar settings.

Computational intelligence:From mathematical point of view

A simple but illustrative survey is given on various approaches of computational intelligence with their features, applications and the mathematical tools involved, among which the simulated annealing, neural networks, genetic and evolutionary programming, self-organizing learning and adapting algorithms, hidden Markov models are recommended intensively. The common mathematical features of various computational intelligence algorithms are exploited.Finally, two common principles of concessive strategies implicated in many computational intelligence algorithms are discussed.

Social Hierarchy of the Policemen in the French Concession of Shanghai,1911-37

The policemen in the French Concession of Shanghai were mainly composed of French,R ussian,Chinese,and Vietnamese.Through a comparative study of recruiting conditions,training courses,salaries,welfare,and job turnover,I establish that the police were a hierarchical institution based on a differentiated treatment according to race and nationality.The French policemen stood at the top of the pyramid,with the lowest number but the most influence.The Russians were cheap white labor forces and constituted the second highest class of the police.The Vietnamese and Chinese policemen were at the bottom of the pyramid and constituted the majority of the policemen in the Concession.

A Stochastic Concession Model for Infrastructure Projects Under Build-Operate-Transfer Schemes

Concession period is a key factor in the arrangement of a build-operate-transfer(BOT) contract. This paper proposes a stochastic concession period model for infrastructure projects under a BOT scheme, which takes into account the impact of risks and the risk attitudes of the private investor and the government. A hypothetical case is simulated by using the Monte Carlo simulation method to illustrate the proposed model. The results indicate that even for a project with the same estimations, the concession interval can be different and depends a lot on the risk attitudes of the private investor and the government. The proposed model provides a more reasonable concession interval based on which a specific concession period can be obtained through negotiation between the two parties.

Dispute Resolution Mechanisms of PPP Agreements in China:A Research Based on Judicial Decisions

Based on research on a number of judicial decisions regarding concession and Public-Private Partnership(PPP)agreements,this paper demonstrates the problems and dilemmas of China's current PPP dispute resolution mechanism and clarifies three fundamental issues:concessiont^PPP;concession agreement工administrative agreement;and disputes related to administrative agreements administrative disputes.On the grounds of these conclusions,the paper argues that the logical chain of China's existing PPP and concession dispute resolution mechanism is untenable.The logic of the current mechanism starts from the definition of an administrative agreement;it then classifies concession agreement as administrative agreement;and finally subjects the disputes over concession agreements to administrative litigation.Yet,this starting point is problematic because the definition of administrative agreement and the distinction between public and private law attributes are difficult to determine precisely,as they lack the necessary theoretical clarity and uniqueness.Overall,the current legal situation of PPP in China is far from being satisfactory because a statutory law on PPP is absent,the existing laws and regulations on administrative agreements are primitive,and the judicial practice has not yet established unified and clear criteria.Against this backdrop,this paper proposes a possible way out.First,we should critically reflect on the current administrative agreement and PPP agreement theory.Then,we should apply the method of legal fact research,adopt doctrinal tools of the legal relationship theory and contract construction theory,and eventually establish a multiple dispute resolution mechanism to resolve disputes effectively.

Hydrocarbon generating-potential and maturity-related changes of the Khatatba Formation, Western Desert, Egypt

The petroliferous province of the Western Desert comprises several sedimentary basins with different hydrocarbon potentiality and production capability.The middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation was proved a potential source rock in some basins and active/effective in others.The current study aims to give a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the potential organic-rich intervals of the Khatatba Formation across JG and JD fields,northeast Abu Gharadig Basin(NEAG).The hydrocarbon generating capability and sourcing of the Khatatba Formation studied through organic geochemistry calibrated with well logging.However,the efficiency of some widely used plots of geochemistry is re-evaluated according to their accuracy and consistency.Forty cuttings,thirteen cores and two oil samples obtained from three wells(JG-2,JG-3 and JD-4)were evaluated.The samples revealed total organic carbon(TOC)values ranging from 1 to 9 wt%,exhibiting a good-excellent potential source rock.A single sample in the JD-4 well attained a TOC value of 21.3 wt%with a generating potential(represented by S2 parameter)exceeding 146 mgHc/g rock required a special evaluation.Most of the samples(mainly in the JD-4 well)attained a sufficient level of thermal maturity for hydrocarbon generation with a Tmax up to 449
C.The vitrinite reflectance(%Ro)values(a common maturity-related indicator)acquired from the JD-4 well ranging between 0.76%and 0.92%.These values are tediously increasing with depth indicating a uniform geothermal regime.The Khatatba organofacies,with wide variety of kerogen types(I,II,II-S and II/III),contain marine organic matter with a slight terrigenous input,exhibiting anoxic-suboxic environmental conditions.Oil-source correlations define the organic-rich intervals responsible for charging the accumulated hydrocarbon in the NEAG concession.