Cette recherche a pour objectif d'élaborer un cadre d'évaluation de la performance d'institutions de micro-financement. Ces institutions sont mises en place pour répondre au besoin de financement de micro-entreprises initiées par des populations pauvres pour satisfaire leurs besoins de base. Ces micro-entrepreneurs, compte tenu de la précarité de leur situation économique et sociale, ont en effet été longtemps exclus du secteur bancaire traditionnel. Pour pallier ces imperfections de marché, différents modes organisationnels ont vu le jour (Organisations Non Gouvernementales, coopératives d'épargne et de crédit, banques, etc.). Habituellement, les auteurs intéressés par cette problématique recourent aux théories contractualistes pour expliquer le phénomène d'exclusion des micro-entrepreneurs du marché du crédit traditionnel et l'émergence de ces modes organisationnels spécifiques. Quoique ce cadre théorique offre des éléments d'explication intéressants pour notre problématique, notre thèse doctorale montre également ses limites. Afin de rendre compte de la multiplicité des objectifs qui peuvent être poursuivis par les membres des institutions de micro-financement (aides aux plus démunis, rentabilité des capitaux, etc.) ainsi que des mobiles qui peuvent animer ceux-ci (intérêts personnels, collectifs, etc.), nous montrons tout l'intérêt d'adopter une perspective conventionnaliste. A la suite de trois études de cas menées en profondeur au Chili, selon les principes méthodologiques de la ‘Grounded Theory', nous proposons un modèle d'évaluation de la performance des institutions de micro-financement qui présente la particularité de tenir compte du registre conventionnel adopté par les membres de ces institutions. Outre les aspects théoriques explicités plus haut, cette thèse prétend également à avoir une portée prescriptive pour les acteurs intéressés par la problématique de l'aide aux populations défavorisées.

We want to build tiny gnat-sized robots, a millimeter or two in diameter. They will be cheap, disposable, totally self-contained autonomous agents able to do useful things in the world. This paper consists of two parts. The first describes why we want to build them. The second is a technical outline of how to go about it. Gnat robots are going to change the world.

This paper presents the research and development of a 3-legged micro Parallel Kinematic Manipulator (PKM) for positioning in micro-machining and assembly operations. The structural characteristics associated with parallel manipulators are evaluated and the PKMs with translational and rotational movements are identified. Based on these identifications, a hybrid 3-UPU (Universal Joint-Prismatic Joint-Universal Joint) parallel manipulator is designed and fabricated. The principles of the operation and modeling of this micro PKM is largely similar to a normal size Stewart Platform (SP). A modular design methodology is introduced for the construction of this micro PKM. Calibration results of this hybrid 3-UPU PKM are discussed in this paper. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Aggregate properties influence different aspects of asphalt pavement performance. Aggregate polishing characteristics are directly related to pavement surface frictional properties and thus to skid resistance. Aggregate resistance to degradation (abrasion and breakage) is another important property that influences pavement performance. Aggregate degradation could take place during production due to plant operations and during compaction, leading to change in aggregate characteristics and mix properties. In addition, aggregate resistance to degradation is important in mixes such as Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) and Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) that rely on stone-to-stone contacts among coarse aggregates. Some aggregates in these mixes fracture due to the high stresses at contact points. Many test methods exist for measuring aggregate polishing and degradation, but a critical review of these methods reveals that they suffer from being time consuming, are unable to differentiate between aggregates with distinct resistance to polishing, or unable to differentiate between aggregate resistance to abrasion and breakage. New methodologies are needed to give better assessment of aggregate resistance to polishing, abrasion, and breakage. The thesis presents the development of new methods for measuring aggregate resistance to polishing, abrasion, and breakage. These methods rely on measurements using the Aggregate Imaging System (AIMS) and Micro-Deval. The new method for measuring aggregate resistance to polishing monitors change in aggregate texture as a function of polishing time. As such, it provides the initial texture, rate of polishing, and final texture. The new method for measuring aggregate degradation is capable of distinguishing between breakage and abrasion. In this method, abrasion is defined as the reduction in aggregate angularity, while breakage is defined by fracture of particles. The new methods are shown to be rapid and accurate, and they require reasonable training. Since both AIMS and Micro-Deval are used in the new methods, it was necessary to evaluate the repeatability of these two methods. Measurements using two AIMS units and two Micro-Deval machines were used to assess the variability. There was no statistical difference between the measurements of the two AIMS units or between the measurements of the two Micro-Deval units.

During the last few years there was a tremendous growth of scientific activities in the fields related to both Physics and Control theory: nonlinear dynamics, micro- and nanotechnologies, self-organization and complexity, etc. New horizons were opened and new exciting applications emerged. Experts with different backgrounds starting to work together need more opportunities for information exchange to improve mutual understanding and cooperation. The Conference "Physics and Control 2007" is the third international conference focusing on the borderland between Physics and Control with emphasis on both theory and applications. With its 2007 address at Potsdam, Germany, the conference is located for the first time outside of Russia. The major goal of the Conference is to bring together researchers from different scientific communities and to gain some general and unified perspectives in the studies of controlled systems in physics, engineering, chemistry, biology and other natural sciences. We hope that the Conference helps experts in control theory to get acquainted with new interesting problems, and helps experts in physics and related fields to know more about ideas and tools from the modern control theory.

Background: During decades people have tried to define and explain the role of a manager. Mintzberg (1973) was one of them that made studies about the manager role. He defined ten managerial roles that still are in use today. In later years more people have been interested in the work of Mintzberg. 2003 Tengblad did a replication of his work on large and medium size businesses, and 2004 Florén conducted a similar study on small size businesses. Therefore, it can be of interest to do a replication of Mintzberg’s work on micro size businesses as well. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe how the managers of micro businesses work, by doing a replication of Mintzberg’s “The nature of managerial work”. We also intend to compare our result with earlier studies by Mintzberg (1973), Tengblad (2003) and Florén (2004), to distinguish the similarities and differences in what roles top executives undertake during their working days. Method: For this thesis we use a qualitative method, and to complete the purpose of this research we collect information from four different observations of micro business managers, to be able to define the role they perform. The empirical findings that we found during the observations are analyzed together in the frame of reference which represents the basis for our conclusions. Conclusion: The conclusion we can draw from this survey is that the role micro business manager perform are very similar to a pattern of a ‘spider in a net’, because the micro business manager is a person that is involved in everything that goes on in a micro business. The manager knows everything; s/he is more or less the company.

Microfinance and micro credits are concepts that are used frequently when talking about poverty reducing actions. This paper is a case study of the poverty alleviation impacts of microfinance institutions and it contrasts the effects of Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) operating in Bangladesh. The case study examines the organisations effects in the 21st century since most of the reports have compared the effects in the past not reflecting on future conditions. The questions at issue are if Grameen Bank and BRAC can affect the poverty status of its members in a positive way and if there is a positive effect, which of the approaches are the best to use? To analyse the non monetary dimension, concepts such as health and education has been used as indicators for poverty reduction and the monetary indicator used is income through employment. Simultaneously economic models and concepts have been considered throughout the paper. The findings of this case study implied that both organisations have positive effects on reducing poverty among its members, but BRAC has the broadest view seeing to all factors investigated and therefore its approach is the best to use. Nevertheless, as previous studies have implied sustainability and cost-effectiveness within the microfinance programme is important for the long-run poverty reduction. Evaluating the economic performance of the two organisations Grameen Bank is more efficient in using its resources than BRAC, but Grameen Bank show a decreasing rate of efficiency while BRAC is improving significantly. With this in consideration BRAC is still showing the best poverty reducing result for its members today, but if the organisation does not find a way to improve its economical performance its actions will not be sustainable in the long run.

Det pågår en intensiv debatt i Sverige om revisionspliktens vara eller inte vara i små aktiebolag. Sverige är ett av få europeiska länder som fortfarande har kvar en lagstadgad revisionsplikt för samtliga aktiebolag, och debatten är även av än mer intresse när Svensk redovisnings- och revisionsstandard alltmer anpassas till internationell standard. Ett medlemsland i Europeiska Unionen har möjligheten att undanta små aktiebolag från revisionsplikt. Men på grund av rådande regler i Sverige ska alla aktiebolag följa samma regler, något som ifrågasätts i debatten. Debatten om revisionsplikten är aktuell och viktig eftersom ungefär 200 000 aktiebolag skulle påverkas om revisionsplikten skulle tas bort. Det övergripande syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra till debatten om revisionsplikt för små aktiebolag, genom att gå bakom “ja- och nejdebatte.” Vi kommer att beskriva och förklara attityderna till revisionsplikten, samt till de existerande redovisningsreglerna hos mikroföretag i två olika branscher. För att uppfylla syftet har vi genomfört en kvalitativ studie. Vi har intervjuat ägarna till sex mikroföretag från två olika branscher, nämligen organisationskonsulter och byggnadsentreprenörer. De viktigaste slutsatserna från den här studien är, att oberoende av deras respektive attityd till revisionsplikten är det ingen av respondenterna, som skulle vilja ta bort revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag. Vidare uppfattar respondenterna inom byggnadsentreprenörsbranschen redovisningsreglerna som mer komplicerade än respondenterna inom organisationskonsultbranschen och en förenkling av reglerna skulle inte förändra någon av respon-denternas attityd till revisionsplikten / There is an extensive debate going on in Sweden about the being or not being of the statutory audit for small limited companies. Sweden is one of the few European countries that still have a statutory audit for all limited companies, and the debate is even more of immediate interest when the Swedish accounting and auditing standards are converging more and more to international standards. A member state in the European Union has the possibility to exempt small limited companies from the statutory audit. But due to the current regulations in Sweden, all limited companies are to follow the same rules, which is questioned in the debate. This debate is a current and important issue due to that approximately 200 000 limited companies would be affected if the statutory audit would be abolished. The overall purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the debate about the statutory audit for small limited companies, by moving beyond the “yes and no debate”. We will describe and explain the attitudes towards the statutory audit and the existing accounting regulations among micro companies in two different business sectors. In order to fulfil the purpose, we have conducted a qualitative study. We have interviewed the owners of six micro companies from two different business sectors, namely organizational consultants and building contractors. The main conclusions from this study are that independent of their respective attitudes towards the statutory audit, none of the respondents would like the statutory audit to be abolished for small limited companies. Further, the respondents within the building contractors business perceive the accounting rules as more complicated than the respondents within the organizational consultants sector do, and a simplification of regulation would not change any of the respondents’ attitudes towards the statutory audit.

Nous présentons ici un nouveau type de capteurs chimiques dont le principe repose sur la modification des propriétés mécaniques d'une micropoutre recouverte d'une couche sensible. L'adsorption d'espèces chimiques par cette couche modifie sa fréquence de résonance mais également sa courbure. La modélisation analytique des phénomènes physiques mis en jeu a permis l'optimisation de la géométrie des structures. Pour réaliser la mesure de la fréquence de résonance des micropoutres, celles-ci ont été insérées dans un oscillateur à contre-réaction. Les résultats expérimentaux ont mis en évidence la diminution de la fréquence de résonance en fonction de la masse additionnelle lors des dépôts de la couche sensible. Enfin, des détections de vapeur d'éthanol ont été réalisées. Les résultats obtenus ont ensuite été comparés aux modèles analytiques validant ainsi les mises en équation effectuées

The purpose of this thesis is to design a physical microchannel model for micro-Couette blood flow that provides constant and controlled conditions to study and analyze Red Blood Cell (RBC) aggregation. The innovation of this work is that the Couette blood flow is created by the motion of a second fluid with different properties, thereby entraining the blood. The experimental work is coupled with three-dimensional numerical simulations performed using a research Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) Solver, Nek5000, based on the spectral element method, while the experiments are conducted using a micro Particle Image Velocimetry (μPIV) system with a double frame CCD camera and an inverted laser imaging microscope. The design of the channel (150 × 33 μm and 170 × 64 μm microchannels) is based on several parameters determined numerically, such as the velocity and viscosity ratios and the degree of miscibility between the fluids, and the resulting configurations are fabricated in the laboratory using standard photolithography methods. The microchannel designed numerically is then tested experimentally, first, with a Newtonian fluid (glycerol), then with RBC suspensions to be compared to the simulations results. It was found that, numerically, using a velocity ratio of 4 between the two fluids, a third of the channel thickness corresponds to the blood layer. Within that range, it can be concluded, that the velocity profile of the blood layer is approximately linear as confirmed by experimental tests, resulting in the desired profile to study RBC aggregation in controlled conditions. The effect of several parameters, such as the hematocrit and the shear rate, on the RBC aggregates and the velocity profile is investigated, through experiments on the RBC suspensions. The final goal of this research is to ensure the compatibility of the results between the experiments and the Newtonian numerical model for several ranges of shear rate with the future intention of finding an accurate method to be able to quantitatively analyze aggregates and determine the number of RBC in each aggregate depending on the flow conditions (the shear rate).