Hunger Incidence in the Philippines: Facts, Determinants and Challenges

The high level of hunger incidence in the country is perhaps one of the most pressing issues that need to be addressed by our policy makers. Official government statistics and data from self-rated hunger surveys show an increasing trend in hunger incidence among Filipino households. Data from National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) show that the percentage of subsistence poor in the country increased to 14.6 percent in 2006 from 13.5 percent in 2003. The Social Weather Stations (SWS) quarterly surveys on hunger incidence also show an increasing trend in the percentage of families that experienced hunger, reaching an alarming level of 24 percent in December 2009, representing about 4.4 million households. One probable cause of the increasing trend in hunger is the rising food prices akin to what the country experienced in 2008. This paper aims to determine the impact of food inflation and underemployment on hunger incidence in the Philippines, using the hunger incidence data from the SWS quarterly surveys on hunger. A vector autoregressive (VAR) model is used to determine the effect of a shock or increase to food inflation and underemployment on total involuntary hunger. Results from the model show that an increase in food prices at the current quarter will increase hunger incidence for a period of five quarters, starting with immediate quarter after the shock occurred. Shocks to underemployment will also increase hunger incidence but the effects last for only two quarters, also starting with immediate quarter after the shock. The results of this study provide relevant information that will be useful in crafting policies related to the Hunger Mitigation Program of the government.hunger; food inflation; underemployment; vector autoregressive models

Hunger Incidence in the Philippines: Facts, Determinants and Challenges

The high level of hunger incidence in the country is perhaps one of the most pressing issues that need to be addressed by our policy makers. Official government statistics and data from self-rated hunger surveys show an increasing trend in hunger incidence among Filipino households. Data from National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) show that the percentage of subsistence poor in the country increased to 14.6 percent in 2006 from 13.5 percent in 2003. The Social Weather Stations (SWS) quarterly surveys on hunger incidence also show an increasing trend in the percentage of families that experienced hunger, reaching an alarming level of 24 percent in December 2009, representing about 4.4 million households. One probable cause of the increasing trend in hunger is the rising food prices akin to what the country experienced in 2008. This paper aims to determine the impact of food inflation and underemployment on hunger incidence in the Philippines, using the hunger incidence data from the SWS quarterly surveys on hunger. A vector autoregressive (VAR) model is used to determine the effect of a shock or increase to food inflation and underemployment on total involuntary hunger. Results from the model show that an increase in food prices at the current quarter will increase hunger incidence for a period of five quarters, starting with immediate quarter after the shock occurred. Shocks to underemployment will also increase hunger incidence but the effects last for only two quarters, also starting with immediate quarter after the shock. The results of this study provide relevant information that will be useful in crafting policies related to the Hunger Mitigation Program of the government.Hunger, food inflation, underemployment, vector autoregressive models.

Urban land expansion and spatial dynamics in Globalizing Shanghai

pre-printUrban land expansion in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, more work is needed to apply spatial modeling to understanding the mechanisms of urban growth from both institutional and physical perspectives. This paper analyzes urban expansion in Shanghai and its development zones (DZs). We find that, as nodes of global-local interface, the DZs are the most significant components of urban growth in Shanghai, and major spatial patterns of urban expansion in Shanghai are infilling and edge expansion. We apply logistic regression, geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR) and spatial regime regression to investigate the determinants of urban land expansion including physical conditions, state policy and land development. Regressions reveal that, though the market has been an important driving force in urban growth, the state has played a predominant role through the implementation of urban planning and the establishment of DZs to fully capitalize on globalization. We also find that differences in urban growth dynamics exist between the areas inside and outside of the DZs. Finally, this paper discusses policies to promote sustainable development in Shanghai

TIP-1 Translocation onto the Cell Plasma Membrane Is a Molecular Biomarker of Tumor Response to Ionizing Radiation

Tumor response to treatment has been generally assessed with anatomic and functional imaging. Recent development of in vivo molecular and cellular imaging showed promise in time-efficient assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of a prescribed regimen. Currently, the in vivo molecular imaging is limited with shortage of biomarkers and probes with sound biological relevance. We have previously shown in tumor-bearing mice that a hexapeptide (HVGGSSV) demonstrated potentials as a molecular imaging probe to distinguish the tumors responding to ionizing radiation (IR) and/or tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment from those of non-responding tumors.In this study we have studied biological basis of the HVGGSSV peptide binding within the irradiated tumors by use of tumor-bearing mice and cultured cancer cells. The results indicated that Tax interacting protein 1 (TIP-1, also known as Tax1BP3) is a molecular target that enables the selective binding of the HVGGSSV peptide within irradiated xenograft tumors. Optical imaging and immunohistochemical staining indicated that a TIP-1 specific antibody demonstrated similar biodistribution as the peptide in tumor-bearing mice. The TIP-1 antibody blocked the peptide from binding within irradiated tumors. Studies on both of human and mouse lung cancer cells showed that the intracellular TIP-1 relocated to the plasma membrane surface within the first few hours after exposure to IR and before the onset of treatment associated apoptosis and cell death. TIP-1 relocation onto the cell surface is associated with the reduced proliferation and the enhanced susceptibility to the subsequent IR treatment.This study by use of tumor-bearing mice and cultured cancer cells suggested that imaging of the radiation-inducible TIP-1 translocation onto the cancer cell surface may predict the tumor responsiveness to radiation in a time-efficient manner and thus tailor radiotherapy of cancer

Human Decision Making in AI Augmented Systems: Evidence from the Initial Coin Offering Market

The growing consensus that human intelligence and artificial intelligence are complementary has led to Human-AI hybrid systems. As digital platforms incorporating human-AI hybrids, platform designers need to evaluate the influence of AI on human judgment, and how such hybrid systems perform. In this paper, we investigate: Are human decisions influenced by AI agents in high uncertainty environments, such as evaluating ICO projects? Under what situations are humans able to mitigate AI agents-induced errors? Our results suggest that in general, humans are influenced by AI agents. Humans tend to use AI as a filter to rule out low quality projects, while a high AI rating triggers human expert to apply their own judgment