Serving the Urban Poor through Public-Private-Community Partnerships in Water Supply

There are good reasons to believe that provision of water for the poor and poor communities can be a potent tool for poverty alleviation. As such, the special water supply programs intended for poor communities that were set up by the two private water concessionaires, after MWSS' privatization, in partnership with the communities, LGUs, NGOs, other private parties and the MWSS itself are laudable and should be considered for replication in other areas wherever possible.urban poor, private sector participation, public-private-community partnership, water services, water supply, water provision, water pricing

Can nonantidepressants help treat depression?

lithium, triiodothyronine (T3), and atypical antipsychotics are all effective adjuncts. Lithium (serum levels >0.5 mEq/L) can produce clinical improvement when added to ineffective antidepressant treatment (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). Thyroid supplementation using T3 at doses no higher than 50 mcg per day also increases the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy (SOR: B, meta- analysis of RCT and cohort studies). Atypical antipsychotic agents are less effective adjuncts for patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (SOR: B, meta-analysis of RCT and cohort studies)

Key Indicators for Public Expenditures in Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment

This paper develops key performance indicators of public expenditure allocation for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) with respect to the agriculture, natural resource and environment (ANRE) sector. To do this, the study reviews and analyzes the historical trends and patterns of public expenditure allocation and identifies strategic directions for public expenditure and related reforms. The observed faulty allocations of public expenditures, coupled with weaknesses in the budgetary process suggest major potential gains for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure program in ANRE. These areas of reform relate to whether: (a) public expenditures are being used to perform/provide public roles/goods vs. private ones; (b) choice of policy instruments (i.e., expenditure program vs. other market-based instruments) is most cost-effective; (c) public expenditures are optimally allocated across policy instruments, agencies and levels of government, regions, and type of expenditures; (d) mechanisms for funding and other related budgetary procedures promote efficient and effective allocation of public expenditures; and (e) cost-effective mechanisms for timely monitoring, evaluation, and impact analysis of public expenditures are adopted. The study finds that a thorough analysis, monitoring and evaluation of expenditure programs are therefore crucial in ensuring that policy objectives are attained though efficient and effective public resource allocation. The paper concludes with a list of key public expenditures indicators recommended for monitoring and evaluation of the MTPDP

Assessment of Medium-Term National Action Agenda for Productivity (MNAAP) for the Agriculture Sector

To attain productivity growth it is necessary to have proper diagnosis and analysis of the sources and causes of low or stagnant agricultural productivity. This paper highlights the major issues in agriculture, examines the MNAAP agenda on productivity and identify the remaining gaps. The paper shows how government policy and institutional interventions have contributed to the erosion of the country's competitive advantage and hence to the poor performance of the agricultural sector since the 1980's. These interventions include the price and market policy interventions, policies on property rights and the public expenditure allocations which have hindered the achievement of a higher productivity in the sector. The examination of the MNAAP 2000-2004 goals, strategies, and activities shows that as government draws a map for agriculture productivity growth, no clear steps and actions are geared towards addressing the major policy constraints besetting the sector which can be considered as a prerequisite to attainment of productivity growth

Failure to Recover from Proactive Semantic Interference Differentiates Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and PreMCI from Normal Aging after Adjusting for Initial Learning Ability

Background: There is increasing evidence that the failure to recover from proactive semantic interference (frPSI) may be an early cognitive marker of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, it is unclear whether frPSI effects reflect deficiencies in an individual’s initial learning capacity versus the actual inability to learn new semantically related targets. Objective: The current study was designed to adjust for learning capacity and then to examine the extent to which frPSI, proactive semantic interference (PSI) and retroactive semantic interference (RSI) effects could differentiate between older adults who were cognitively normal (CN), and those diagnosed with either Pre-Mild Cognitive Impairment (PreMCI) or amnestic MCI (aMCI). Methods: We employed the LASSI-L cognitive stress test to examine frPSI, PSI and RSI effects while simultaneously controlling for the participant’s initial learning capacity among 50 CN, 35 aMCI, and 16 PreMCI participants who received an extensive diagnostic work-up. Results: aMCI and PreMCI participants showed greater frPSI deficits (50% and 43.8% respectively) compared to only 14% of CNparticipants. PSI effects were observed for aMCI but not PreMCI participants relative to their CN counterparts. RSI failed to differentiate between any of the study groups. Conclusion: By using participants as their own controls and adjusting for overall learning and memory, it is clear that frPSI deficits occur with much greater frequency in individuals at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and likely reflect a failure of brain compensatory mechanisms.Fil: Curiel, Rosie E.. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Crocco, Elizabeth A.. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Raffo, Arlene. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Guinjoan, Salvador Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Nemeroff, Charles B.. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Penate, Ailyn. Mount Sinai Medical Center; Estados Unidos. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Piña, Daema. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Loewenstein, David A.. Mount Sinai Medical Center; Estados Unidos. University of Miami; Estados Unido

Water in Metro Cebu: The Case for Policy and Institutional Reforms

Over the past decade, Metro Cebu has been rapidly moving toward growth and industrialization contributing as much as 70 percent to Visayas’ industrial output. However, associated with this progress are the concerns of various sectors about the quality of water services. Only 23 percent of the total households and a very small portion of industrial and commercial sectors are serviced by the Metro Cebu Water District. Hence, the large majority of households, industrial and commercial firms have to rely on private wells and private water vendors. This paper examines the policy and institutional factors that may be preventing the efficient, equitable and sustainable Metro Cebu’s water resource management. It also provides policy areas through which policy and institutional reforms can be implemented.water sector, water allocation, governance

Thinking international relations differently - Introduction

Son muchas las voces que se alzan para enfrentarse al dominio de Occidente, al que podríamos también llamar el núcleo o el centro, en el campo de las Relaciones Internacionales. Que esta disciplina es indiferente a las prácticas académicas y a las cuestiones políticas ajenas a dicho núcleo, e incluso las desprecia, y que sus herramientas conceptuales primarias, categorías analíticas y conceptos están escasamente preparados para comprender muchos de los problemas globales más importantes, es algo que no discuten más que un número sorprendentemente pequeño de académicos, incluso de los que pertenecen a corrientes mayoritarias. Y sin embargo, la estructura centro-periferia que gobierna el aparato de producción intelectual de las Relaciones Internacionales se ha mostrado relativamente inmune a estas acusacionesA host of voices has risen to challenge Western or core dominance of the field of International relations (IR). That the field is indifferent to scholarly practices and policy issues outside the core and even dismissive of them, and that its primary conceptual tools, analytical categories, and concepts are ill-equipped for understanding many of today’s key global problems, is disputed by shockingly few scholars, even those that represent the “mainstream”. And yet, the core-periphery structure that governs the apparatus of intellectual production in IR has proven relatively immune to these charge