Community-based approaches to marine and coastal resources management in the Philippines: a policy perspective

Community involvement, Resource management, Resource conservation, Natural resources, Governments, Philippines,

HOTEL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: THE CASE OF THE PHILIPPINES

This paper attempted to examine the extent of use of information technology among Philippine hotels, their speed in adopting technology, the degree to which these hotels actually use new technology; and to investigate factors that influence their decision to adopt or not technology. The study found that Philippine hotels, though quite late in technology adoption, own a mix of information technologies that appear to slant towards improving guest service. The intrinsic characteristics of technology seem to be the main factor in the decision to adopt technology while IT illiteracy and the prohibitive cost are the main reasons for non-adoption. The research likewise affirmed that ownership structure and firm size positively affect adoption behavior. The results manifest organizational rationalism and recognize the power of social and cultural forces to shape IT adoption behavior. Possible implications were raised regarding strategies that address IT literacy and cost, and enhancing absorptive capacity of small hotels

Tantangan Dan Hambatan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Dalam Pengendalian Penyakit Tidak Menular di Daerah Semi-Perkotaan : Sebuah Evidence Based Practice di Padukuhan Samirono, Sleman Yogyakarta

Tingginya prevalensi penyakit tidak menular merupakan beban yang sedang dihadapi di setiap negara. Pemberdayaan masyarakat merupakan salah satu strategi dalam membantu mengontol permasalahan kesehatan di masyarakat khususnya Penyakit tidak menular. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui tantangan dan hambatan melakukan pemberdayaan di daerah semi perkotaan. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain kualitatif. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara dan observasi. Subjek penelitian ini adalah masyarakat terutama kader kesehatan lansia dan para stakeholder di Padukuan Samirono. Hasil Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa tantangan dalam pemberdayaan di daerah semi perkotaan meliputi 1) Tingginya mobilitas dan padat aktivitas masyarakat, 2) Sistem birokrasi yang lama dan panjang, 3) Pengalaman intervensi terdahulu oleh beberapa institusi, 4) Minimnya data kesehatan. Hambatan yang ditemui pada saat program berlangsung, yaitu: 1) kurangnya pengalaman, keterampilan dan pengetahuan serta konsep diri kader kesehatan setempat; 2) kurangnya kesadaran masyarakat 3) karakteristik sosial dan budaya (agama, kondisi ekonomi); 4) Pesan kesehatan dari media massa; 5) Kurangnya dukungan stakeholder.  Tantangan dan hambatan memberikan dampak negatif terhadap keberlangsungan program promosi kesehatan. Perlunya peningkatan kapasitas oleh tenaga kesehatan dan masyarakat yang berkelanjutan. Kata Kunci :  Hambatan, Tantangan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat, Semi-Urba

The Community Reinvestment Act: Its Impact on Lending in Low-Income Communities in the United States

This paper reviews data and research studies that demonstrate that CRA has helped to increase lending to low-income borrowers and in low-income neighborhoods, and that expanded CRA lending has been accomplished while maintaining sound lending practices and bank profitability. The paper also discusses literature that draws alternative conclusions, as well as studies that find, despite increases in lending and banking services to low- and moderate-income areas and to minority borrowers, that disparities still exist between the services afforded to these communities and those offered to the market as a whole

Cruise passenger impacts on mobility within a port area: case of the Port of Barcelona

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Ros Chaos S, Pino Roca D, Saurí Marchán S, Sánchez‐Arcilla Conejo A. Cruise passenger impacts on mobility within a port area: Case of the Port of Barcelona. Int J Tourism Res. 2018;20:147–157. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2165], which has been published in final f orm at https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2165.This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Cruise tourism has grown rapidly worldwide over the past 30 years. This increase in cruise passengers has brought a set of economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts. In a port context, it is reflected in mobility problems with long waiting times and queues. To assess cruise passenger impacts, a mobility analysis was performed. The results of this analysis demonstrate the importance of the disembarkation operation. Passengers have to be moved in short periods of time. It is vital to organize mobility and to have sufficient transport modes to move passengers to their inland destinations quickly, safely, and efficiently.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Peripheral maintenance of the axis SIRT1-SIRT3 at youth level may contribute to brain resilience in middle-aged amateur rugby players

Physical exercise performed regularly is known to improve health and to reduce the risk of age-related diseases. Furthermore, there is some evidence of cognitive improvement in physically active middle-aged and older adults. We hypothesized that long-term physically active middle-aged men may have developed brain resilience that can be detected with the analysis of peripheral blood markers. We aimed to analyze the activation of pathways potentially modulated by physical activity in a cohort of healthy amateur rugby players (n = 24) and control subjects with low physical activity (n = 25) aged 45-65 years. We had previously reported neuropsychological improvement in immediate memory responses in the player group compared to the controls. Here, we tested the expression of selected genes of longevity, inflammation, redox homeostasis, and trophic signaling in whole blood mRNA. Analyses were also performed on blood samples of young (aged 15-25 years) control subjects with low physical activity (n = 21). Physical activity and other lifestyle factors were thoroughly recorded with standardized questionnaires. Interestingly, middle-aged control subjects showed lower levels of expression of SIRT1, SIRT3, CAT, and SOD1 than the young controls, although rugby players maintained the expression levels of these genes at a young-like level. Middle-aged players showed lower levels of IL1B than the non-physically active groups. However, there was a tendency towards a decrease in trophic and transduction factors in middle-aged groups as compared to the young controls. A statistical study of Spearman's correlations supported a positive effect of sporting activity on memory and executive functions, and on peripheral gene expression of SIRT1, SIRT3 and downstream genes, in the middle-aged rugby players. Our results indicate that the SIRT1-SIRT3 axis, and associated neuroprotective signaling, may contribute to the anti-aging resilience of the brain mediated by physical exercise

Neolit dövründə Cənubi Qafqazda keramika istehsalının yaranması və inkişafı

Aging is accompanied by a decline in memory and other brain functions. Physical exercise may mitigate this decline through the modulation of factors participating in the crosstalk between skeletal muscle and the brain, such as neurotrophins and oxidative stress parameters. We aimed to determine whether long term exercise training (35 ± 15 years) promotes memory maintenance in middle-aged men, and to characterize the changes in neurotrophic factors and lipid oxidation markers in peripheral blood samples in both middle-aged and young men. The neuropsychological analysis showed significant improvements in memory through the Free and Cued Immediate Recall tests, in the middle-aged trained individuals when compared to the sedentary ones. We found a significant decrease in the resting serum BDNF and plasma Cathepsin B (CTSB) levels in the trained groups at both middle and young ages. BDNF and CTSB levels were inversely correlated with weekly hours of exercise. We also found a significant decrease in plasma malondialdehyde, an index of lipid peroxidation, in middle-aged and young trained subjects. The positive impact of long-term exercise training by delaying the onset of physiological memory loss and the associated neurotrophic and redox peripheral modulation, suggests the effectiveness of exercise as preventive strategy against age-related memory loss and neurodegeneration.This work was supported by the following grants: Ajut Mario Sàlvia i Ferret 2014 de l’lnstitut d’Estudis Catalans “per incentivar la recerca en biomedicine i estil de vida”; PIE15/00013 from Instituto de Salut Carlos III and FEDER; SAF2016-75508 from the Spanish MINECO and FEDER; CB16/10/00435, CIBERFES; PROMETEOII2014/056 from “Conselleria de Sanitat de la Generalitat Valenciana” and EU Funded CM1001 and FRAILOMIC-HEALTH.2012.2.1.1-2 and ADVANTAGE-724099 Join Action (HP-JA) 3rd EU Health Programme

Sentinels of Seabed (SoS) indicator: Assessing benthic habitats condition using typical and sensitive species

Indicators are key tools used to assess the ecological status of the environment for ecosystem based management. Anthropogenic disturbances produce changes to habitat condition, which include modifications in species composition and their functions. Monitoring a group of sentinel species (from a taxonomic and functional point of view) provides useful insights into benthic habitat condition. Here, a new indicator, Sentinels of the Seabed (SoS) is proposed to assess state of benthic habitats using “sentinel” species (species which are characteristic of a habitat and sensitive to a given pressure). The selection of these sentinel species has two stages. First, a ‘typical species set’ is computed using intra-habitat similarity and frequency under reference conditions. Second, the ‘sentinel species set’ is generated by selecting the most sensitive species from the typical species set. This selection is made using specific indexes able to assess species sensitivity to a particular pressure. The SoS indicator method was tested on six case studies and two different pressure types (trawling disturbance and pollution), using data from otter trawl, box-corer and Remote Operate Vehicle images. In each scenario, the SoS indicator was compared to the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Margalef index and total biomass, being the only metric, which showed the expected significant negative response to pressure in all cases. Our results shows that SoS was highly effective in assessing benthic habitats status under both physical and chemical pressures, regardless of the sampling gear, the habitat, or the case study, showing a great potential to be a useful tool in the management of marine ecosystems.Versión del editor2,69