GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT: THE VIEWS FROM WASHINGTON

Summary Three Washington?based institutions have distinctive perspectives on issues of good government in developing countries. The US government is concerned mainly with issues of democracy and civil rights; the International Monetary Fund with reducing military expenditure; and the World Bank with a broader but less clearly defined agenda of governance issues. The article explores these different perspectives; the circumstances which gave rise to them; and the ethical, technical and practical issues raised by attempts to implement them, with special reference to Africa. If the new emphasis on governance in the aid relationship is to be constructive, it is important that the institutions promoting it be clear about their goals, realistic about their capacities, and accountable for their actions both to their own publics and to the people in those countries whose political environments they are trying to shape. Résumé Trois institutions basées à Washington offrent des perspectives distinctives sur ce qui devrait cerner la bonne pratique gouvernementale — la gouvernance, ou l'art de gouverner — dans les pays en voie de développement. Le gouvernement des Etats?Unis se concerne principalement des questions de démocratie et des droits civils; le Fonds monétaire international, de la réduction des dépenses militaires; et la Banque mondiale, d'un programme de questions relatives à la gouvernance qui seraient, dans un même temps, de plus grande envergure mais moins bien définies pour l'instant. L'article explore les différences entre ces perspectives; les circonstances qui y ont mené; ainsi que les questions morales, techniques et pratiques que soulèveraient les tentatives de les mettre en vigueur, surtout dans le contexte africain. Si l'emphase nouvelle sur l'art de la gouvernance dans les rapports d'aide veut être constructive, il est important que les institutions qui tentent de la promouvoir aient des idées à la fois claires en ce qui concerne leurs objectifs et réalistes en ce qui concerne leurs capacités, tout en sachant répondre de leurs actions devant leurs propres publics et devant les habitants des pays dont ils tentent d'encadrer les environnements politiques. Resumen Tres instituciones diferentes localizadas en Washington tienen claras perspectivas respecto del buen gobierno en países en vías de desarrollo. El gobierno de los EE UU está interesado principalmente en asuntos de democracia y derechos civiles; el Fondo Monetario Internacional, en cambio, está interesado en la reducción de gastos militares, y el Banco Mundial en una agenda más amplia pero no tan claramente definida, de asuntos de buen gobierno. El artículo explora estas perspectivas diferentes, las circunstancias que las originaron, y los aspectos éticos, técnicos y prácticos surgidos de intentos por implementarlas, con referencia especial al Africa. Para que el nuevo énfasis en el ‘buen gobierno’ en las relaciones de ayuda sea constructivo, es importante que las organizaciones que lo promueven tengan claras sus metas, sean realistas en cuanto a sus capacidades, y reponsables por sus acciones delante de su propio público y de los ciudadanos de los países cuyo ambiente político están tratando de formar

Announcement Effects on Bank Stock Prices: Citicorp\u27s Increase in Loan Loss Reserves For Third World Debt

Citicorp\u27s announcement of a sizeable increase to its loan loss reserve account was a landmark public admission of possible loan default by Third World debtor nations. This paper analyzes the impact of the announcement on Citicorp, the banking industry, and the stock market. The results provide evidence of a positive response to Citicorp\u27s action. There is additional evidence that the size of the market response is related to an individual bank\u27s degree of international loan exposure

An Examination of Value Line’s Long-term Projection

Unlike previous papers, which have focused on the timeliness ranks, we examine Value Line’s 3–5 year projections for stock returns, earnings, sales and related measures. We find that Value Line’s stock return and earnings forecasts exhibit large positive bias, although their sales predictions do not. For stock returns, Value Line’s projections lack predictive power; for other variables predictive power may exist to some degree. Our findings suggest the spectacular past performance of the timeliness indicator reflects either close alignment with other known anomalies or data mining, and that investors and researchers should use Value Line’s long-term projections with caution

Maintaining a Flexible Payout Policy in a Mature Industry: The Case of Crown Cork and Seal in the Connelly Era

As related in these pages, the history of Crown Cork and Seal (hereafter known as “Crown”) provides us with a case of a company that stopped paying dividends but establish a disciplined share repurchase policy and did so for all the right reasons. Under family ownership in the 1950s, Crown lost market share and was on the brink of bankruptcy when its largest shareholder, John Connelly, was elected chairman of the board in 1957. Under John Connelly’s leadership, the firm restructured its operations and began a payout policy based solely on stock repurchases. During the Connelly era, the firm did not pay a penny of common dividends, which is remarkable for a mature firm in a slow growth industry. Using share repurchases instead, Crown managed the agency and information problems that beset public companies with outside shareholders. In what follows, we show how a flexible payout policy can result in superior returns to shareholders over three decades. When faced with declining prospects in its industry, Crown pursued a focused and disciplined growth strategy. Crown’s high degree of managerial ownership resulted in more focused investments than the diversification strategies pursued by Crown’s competitors. To fund its acquisitions, the firm used internally generated cash flow, avoided external financing, and maintained very low levels of leverage. Crown’s flexible financial policy allowed the firm to pursue value-increasing investments that represent the legacy of the Connelly era (and whose payoffs are depicted graphically in Figure 1)

Reducing Health Disparities In Communities of Color: Perspectives from Professions in Healthcare

While people of underrepresented ethnic groups (URGs) represent 40% of the nation\u27s population, less than 5% of admissions to PT, OT, and SLP programs are students from URGs. Suggestions for this disparity include lack of academic, social, financial, and mentoring support as barriers to enrolling URGs in health professions programs. Research indicates that health care providers who are from URGs are more likely to serve patients of color, indigent patients, and work in medically underserved communities. In addition, patients are more likely to report greater satisfaction with care from providers that share their racial/ethnic background. This presentation includes our initiative to address the lack of diversity in healthcare through a program we have developed named TRIUMPH- the Tennessee Recruitment to Increase Underrepresented Minorities into Professions of Health. This program is designed to serve as a UT system pipeline to increase URGs admissions from UT Knoxville into the University of Tennessee Health Science Center\u27s PT, OT, and SLP programs. This ultimately will assist in healing and health in communities of color. Presentation outline: The state of representation of persons of color in health care professions and its impact on communities of color Barriers that contribute to lack of representation in health care professions Explanation of the TRIUMPH program developed at UTHSC to increase the representation of URGs in PT/OT/SLP programs which will ultimately assist with health and healing in communities of color

A Novel Approach to Interprofessional Education: Interprofessional Day, the Four-Year Experience at the Medical University of South Carolina

Background: In order to introduce students to different disciplines and promote interprofessional teamwork, the Medical University of South Carolina developed an innovative educational program, Interprofessional (IP) Day, for all first- and second-year health professions students. The IP Day Committee, composed of representatives from each of the six colleges (pharmacy, nursing, medicine, graduate studies, health professions, and dental medicine), coordinates the day's activities. The morning session (for second-year students only) and the afternoon session (for first-year students only) each begin with a large group meeting where an invited speaker details the concept and implementation of interprofessional teamwork. Following the speaker, students divide into small discussion groups containing at least one student from each of the six colleges and led by a faculty member and student facilitators. The first-year session introduces the role of each discipline (e.g., occupational therapy, nursing). The second-year session promotes teamwork among the professions via a case discussion.Methods and Findings: We assessed the students' satisfaction with the program and measured their attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Results from a formative evaluation of the IP Day suggest improved knowledge about other healthcare professions after participating in interprofessional day, particularly for first-year students.Conclusions: IP Day lays the groundwork for our students' successful interprofessional collaborative experience at MUSC, a paramount university goal

Cerebral organoids model human brain development and microcephaly

The complexity of the human brain has made it difficult to study many brain disorders in model organisms, and highlights the need for an in vitro model of human brain development. We have developed a human pluripotent stem cell-derived 3D organoid culture system, termed cerebral organoid, which develops various discrete though interdependent brain regions. These include cerebral cortex containing progenitor populations that organize and produce mature cortical neuron subtypes. Furthermore, cerebral organoids recapitulate features of human cortical development, namely characteristic progenitor zone organization with abundant outer radial glial stem cells. Finally, we use RNAi and patient-specific iPS cells to model microcephaly, a disorder that has been difficult to recapitulate in mice. We demonstrate premature neuronal differentiation in patient organoids, a defect that could explain the disease phenotype. Our data demonstrate that 3D organoids can recapitulate development and disease of even this most complex human tissue

The effectiveness of interventions to change six health behaviours: a review of reviews

Background: Several World Health Organisation reports over recent years have highlighted the high incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer. Contributory factors include unhealthy diets, alcohol and tobacco use and sedentary lifestyles. This paper reports the findings of a review of reviews of behavioural change interventions to reduce unhealthy behaviours or promote healthy behaviours. We included six different health-related behaviours in the review: healthy eating, physical exercise, smoking, alcohol misuse, sexual risk taking (in young people) and illicit drug use. We excluded reviews which focussed on pharmacological treatments or those which required intensive treatments (e. g. for drug or alcohol dependency). Methods: The Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and several Ovid databases were searched for systematic reviews of interventions for the six behaviours (updated search 2008). Two reviewers applied the inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the quality of the reviews. The results were discussed in a narrative synthesis. Results: We included 103 reviews published between 1995 and 2008. The focus of interventions varied, but those targeting specific individuals were generally designed to change an existing behaviour (e. g. cigarette smoking, alcohol misuse), whilst those aimed at the general population or groups such as school children were designed to promote positive behaviours (e. g. healthy eating). Almost 50% (n = 48) of the reviews focussed on smoking (either prevention or cessation). Interventions that were most effective across a range of health behaviours included physician advice or individual counselling, and workplace- and school-based activities. Mass media campaigns and legislative interventions also showed small to moderate effects in changing health behaviours. Generally, the evidence related to short-term effects rather than sustained/longer-term impact and there was a relative lack of evidence on how best to address inequalities. Conclusions: Despite limitations of the review of reviews approach, it is encouraging that there are interventions that are effective in achieving behavioural change. Further emphasis in both primary studies and secondary analysis (e.g. systematic reviews) should be placed on assessing the differential effectiveness of interventions across different population subgroups to ensure that health inequalities are addressed.</p

Human papillomavirus infection in “young” versus “old” patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) represents a potential risk factor for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN). We evaluated the prevalence of HPV DNA in patients with SCCHN diagnosed at the University of Michigan from 1994–1996. Methods Patients were stratified by age at diagnosis as “young” (50 years; median, 66). Fourteen “young” and 14 “old” were matched for tumor site, and 4 additional “old” patients were included. Specimens were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction for HPV DNA using 2 sets of consensus primers. HPV sequences were confirmed by Southern blot hybridization and typed with type-specific probes. Results Overall, 15 of 32 (46.9%) samples contained HPV sequences. HPV 16 was detected in 9 of 15 (60%), HPV-18 in 1 of 15 (6.6%), and 5 of 15 (33.3%) remained untyped by multiple methods. When stratified, 7 of 14 (50%) “young” were HPV-positive compared with 8 of 18 (44.4%) “old” ( p = .76). Survival in patients with HPV-positive SCCHN was significantly longer than that for HPV-negative patients. Conclusions The incidence of HPV in “young” versus “old” is not significantly different, suggesting similar roles for both groups. Patients with HPV-positive tumors may have a survival advantage relative to patients with HPV-negative tumors. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Head Neck 22: 649–657, 2000.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35115/1/2_ftp.pd