Targets and indicators in World Bank population projects

In reviewing World Bank evaluations of the impact of population projects, the author explains the nature and uses of four families of performance indicators. Two measure inputs: Project implementation indicators, which are project-specific, are the principal measures used in Bank supervision. They measure success in creating sources capable of conducting certain desired activities. Process (or activity) indicators measure performance of a project's intended activities but tell nothing about the yield or output of those activities. Two measure output: Performance (or intermediate-output) indicators measure the yield or output-performance of a project or program. For family planning, the principal indicator in this category is acceptor figures, normally with details about methods used plus the age, parity, and geographical distribution of acceptors. Quality may or may not be good and coverage may or may not be comprehensive. These indicators do not directly measure ultimate demographic impacts - lower fertility and slower population growth. Demographic outcome (or impact) indicators do measure demographic impacts, usually the contraceptive prevalence rate and age-specific and total fertility rates. One can use a desired value of any comparator as a target, but a target is only one possible comparator. Two more widely used comparators for family planning are trends (comparing current with past performance) and international performance (an external comparison). The author recommends strengthening the Bank's use of world (successful developing country) standards and of trend analysis rather than increasing its use of target setting. The Bank's primary interest is normally the performance of the borrower's national program, so more attention should be given to program-level rather than to project-level performance - except for pilot projects. The author recommends: that the Bank standardize its terminology about these four families of indicators; that the Population and Human Resources Department periodically prepare comparator tables and graphs for use in Bank project and sector reports; that the Bank discontinue Project Performance Audit Reports on population projects, as they seldom add much to information and judgments contained in Project Completion Reports - the money saved could be applied to more effective evaluation research; that operational staff show more concern for a program's contraceptive mix; that more attention be paid to a program's service quality; and that the use of demographic and health surveys be the rule, not the exception, in Bank population and health projects.Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Research,Health Economics&Finance,Scientific Research&Science Parks

Hawks\u27 Herald -- February 5, 2015

Strategy for Tomorro

Examination of Policy Alternatives to Promote the Expansion of Natural Gas Vehicle Refueling Stations in the United States

In the United States, nearly a third of our energy is consumed by gasoline and diesel fueled vehicles which emit harmful by-products such as nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and 28% of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, concerns about these emissions have created interest in alternative and innovative transportation options. One developing option is the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) to operate vehicles. Natural gas is the cleanest of all fossil fuels, and can be used to reduce transportation sector-related carbon monoxide emissions by 90-97%, carbon dioxide emissions by 25%, and nitrogen oxide emissions by 35%. Additionally, the increased use of natural gas can reduce pollutants in non-attainment areas, and also support our country’s effort to meet the National 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 17%. The natural gas vehicle (NGV) market can be economically viable due to relatively inexpensive equivalent natural gas prices of $2/gallon including taxes. One outstanding obstacle in this market’s development is the inadequate number of fueling stations in this country. Despite the 11% annual growth rate for CNG fueling stations in the U.S. since 2009, the number of these stations as compared to retail gasoline outlets remains less than 1%. The capital intensive nature and associated risk of investing in these fueling stations has resulted in an under-developed refueling system network. Absent policy support to subsidize the investment for publicly accessible fueling stations, this network remains generally unavailable to most automobile operators, and fails to maximize the full societal benefit of using natural gas in the transportation sector. This public use will be impossible to achieve without continued efforts from the private sector, and increased federal, state and local policy participation from government. It will be important to integrate these components to form a comprehensive economic and environmental solution to today’s existing high vehicle fuel prices, and transportation sector emissions. The expansion of a publicly accessible CNG refueling station network to sustain this market will entail significant collaboration, investment and sharing of associated risk

The Third World Professional and Collective Self?Reliance—Towards the Barefoot Accountant?

Summary The economic recession of the last few years has reduced the volume of migration of Third World professionals, affording an opportunity to consider the underlying question: the nature of the professions and of professional training in and for less developed countries. The professions as they stand are quite functional in relation to effective demand as expressed in the market place, but would become disfunctional if an attempt were made to shift to a system based on satisfying needs. Any government seriously committed to moving towards collective self?reliance would need to embark at an early stage on remoulding the professions, which at the moment constitute an important potential obstacle to such a strategy. Resume L'autonomie professionnelle et collective dans le Tiers Monde—verrons?nous les comptables pieds nus? La récession économique de ces dernières années a entrainé une diminution du volume de l'émigration des professions libérales des pays du Tiers Monde, ce qui permet d'examiner la question fondamentale, à savoir, la nature des professions et de la formation professionnelle dans les pays moins développés ou pour eux. Les professions libérales telles qu'elles sont à l'heure actuelle sont assez fonctionnelles en ce qu'elles répondent à la demande réelle telle qu'elle s'exprime sur le marché, mais elles deviendraient vite inadaptées si l'on s'avisait de passer à un systême visant à satisfaire les besoins. Tout gouvernement ayant pris sérieusement l'engagement de promouvoir l'autonomie collective devrait entreprendre suffisamment tôt la restructuration des professions libérales, qui, telles qu'elles sont à l'heure actuelle, constituent un obstacle en puissance à une telle stratégie. Resumen El Profesional del Tercer Mundo y la Autosuficiencia Colectiva: ¿hacia el contable descalzo? La recesión económica de los últimos años ha reducido el volumen de emigración de profesionales del Tercer Mundo, proporcionando la oportunidad de estudiar la cuestión de fondo: el carácter de las profesiones y de la formación profesional en los países menos desarrollados y para ellos. Las profesiones, según su situación actual, son bastante funcionales en relación con la demande efectiva, expresada en el mercado, pero dejaría de ser funcional si se intentase el movimiento hacia un sistema basado en la satisfacción de las necesidades. Cualquier gobierno seriamente comprometido a avanzar hacia la autosuficiencia colectiva necesitaría embarcarse, en una fase bastante temprana, en remodelar las profesiones, que de momento constituyen un obstáculo importante potencial de una estrategia de esta índole

The Mental Health Act 1983 in action: what evidence exists for psychological treatment of people subject to detention, how are sentencing decisions made in relation to R v Vowles, and are these decisions influenced by diagnosis or beliefs about the origin of mental health problems?

Aims: The systematic review in this thesis portfolio aimed to investigate the efficacy of psychological interventions for those detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) (1983). The empirical research project aimed to explore how Vowles sentencing criteria is applied to detention under the MHA and how beliefs about the origins of mental health and diagnostic labels, were associated with sentencing outcomes. Methods: The systematic review synthesised all psychological outcome data reported from Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), Non-Randomised Controlled Trials (NRCTs) and Before and After Studies (B&As) for psychological interventions delivered under the MHA in England and Wales. The empirical research project used an experimental vignette to measure consistency of agreement with Vowles criteria, the associations between diagnosis and Vowles ratings and final sentencing outcome. Mediating beliefs about the origin of mental health difficulties were also measured. Results: Forty-three studies (n = 5512) were included in the systematic review. The evidence was sparse, however the data showed improvements associated with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and group interventions in forensic settings. The empirical project found sentencing outcomes were inconsistent; 77.27% had a custodial element, 22.73% did not. Beliefs about the origins of mental health difficulties appeared to mediate some Vowles criteria ratings and were associated with different sentencing outcomes depending on diagnosis: biogenetic beliefs increased the likelihood of hospital for emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) and of custodial sentences for schizophrenia. Conclusions: The systematic review suggests that larger scale RCTs are needed in secure, acute and LD inpatient settings with longer term follow up, blind assessors and a combination of self-report and clinician measures, as well as incident, readmission and reoffending rates. The empirical research project findings suggest that the sentencing of mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) requires additional safeguards against personal bias; further exploration in a senior judiciary sample is now required

Employment and Training Patterns of Native Americans on the Osage Reservation

Sociolog

Verifiable Process Monitoring Through Enhanced Data Authentication

To ensure the peaceful intent for production and processing of nuclear fuel, verifiable process monitoring of the fuel production cycle is required. As part of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-EURATOM collaboration in the field of international nuclear safeguards, the DOE Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Directorate General-Energy (DG-ENER) developed and demonstrated a new concept in process monitoring, enabling the use of operator process information by branching a second, authenticated data stream to the Safeguards inspectorate. This information would be complementary to independent safeguards data, improving the understanding of the plant's operation. The concept is called the Enhanced Data Authentication System (EDAS). EDAS transparently captures, authenticates, and encrypts communication data that is transmitted between operator control computers and connected analytical equipment utilized in nuclear processes controls. The intent is to capture information as close to the sensor point as possible to assure the highest possible confidence in the branched data. Data must be collected transparently by the EDAS: Operator processes should not be altered or disrupted by the insertion of the EDAS as a monitoring system for safeguards. EDAS employs public key authentication providing `jointly verifiable' data and private key encryption for confidentiality. Timestamps and data source are also added to the collected data for analysis. The core of the system hardware is in a security enclosure with both active and passive tamper indication. Further, the system has the ability to monitor seals or other security devices in close proximity. This paper will discuss the EDAS concept, recent technical developments, intended application philosophy and the planned future progression of this system.JRC.E.9-Nuclear security (Ispra