9 research outputs found
Monitoring tobacco taxation in the Philippines at the TAP (Tobacco Action Patrol) of a finger
Background and challenges to implementation
In
2012, the Philippines passed the "sin tax law" restructuring its
tobacco taxation scheme from a multi-tiered to a unitary system with
annual increases in tobacco taxation planned from 2017 onwards. However,
monitoring of implementation of the sin tax law was a challenge for
government authorities due to limited resources and the country's
geography (the Philippines is an archipelago of over 7000 islands).
In
the Philippines, the population has a high penetration rate of mobile
communication services with 115.8 mobile cellular subscriptions per 100
inhabitants. Leveraging the reach of mobile technology, a crowd-sourcing strategy
was conceptualized jointly by WHO, government and civil society to
monitor tobacco products at point-of-sale.
Intervention or response
A
smart phone app was developed and youth leaders from all over the
country were convened for a workshop on tobacco control and use of the
app for price monitoring. Afterwards, these youth leaders trained and
mobilized youth volunteers from their universities to monitor tobacco
prices in the community. The app allowed users to input tobacco prices
and other details (e.g. brand, variant, quantity, tax stamps) at point-of-sale. Data was then transmitted to a central server located at the Philippine Department of Finance.
Results and lessons learnt
Over
a period of 1 month, over 6000 entries were submitted from all 17
regions, providing a snapshot national tobacco price and product survey.
Data analysis provided market intelligence for government authorities
and tobacco control advocates along with reports of violations to
policies that prohibit tobacco sales within the perimeter of schools.
Conclusions and key recommendations
The
pilot demonstrated the application of mobile communications technology
and youth mobilization as strategies for strengthening monitoring of
tobacco control initiatives whilst overcoming resource constraints
Monitoring tobacco taxation in the Philippines at the TAP (Tobacco Action Patrol) of a finger
Associations Between Quality of Life, Psychosocial Well-being and Health-Related Behaviors Among Adolescents in Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai and the Filipino Populations: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Health-related behaviors during adolescence have lifelong impacts. However, there are unclear areas regarding the associations between health-related quality of life and demographic characteristics, as well as physical and psychosocial indicators. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between quality of life and body weight, sleep outcome, social support by age, and cohabitants, given that income, self-esteem, lifestyle, emotional, social and behavioral problems were taken into account among adolescents in East and Southeast Asia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Zhengzhou of China, Hong Kong, Kansai region of Japan, Taipei of Taiwan, Bangkok of Thailand and Manila of the Philippines between 2016 and 2017 among 21,359 urban adolescents aged between 9 and 16. The results showed that adolescents who had better self-esteem and control of emotions and behaviors had much higher level of perceived quality of life. Those who were overweight or obese, sleepy in the daytime, and not living with parents had worse quality of life compared with those who were not. In conclusion, psychosocial well-being should have a higher priority in the promotion of quality of life among Asian adolescents. Nevertheless, further studies are required to explore the differences in perceived quality of life between genders and countries
Associations between quality of life, psychosocial well-being and health-related behaviors among adolescents in Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai and the Filipino populations : a cross-sectional survey
202007 bcmaVersion of RecordPublishe
NOMAD spectometer on the ExoMArs trace gas orbiter misión : part 2 - design, manufacturing, and testing of the ultraviolet and visible channel
NOMAD is a spectrometer suite on board the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which launched in March 2016. NOMAD consists of two infrared channels and one ultraviolet and visible channel, allowing the instrument to perform observations quasi-constantly, by taking nadir measurements at the day- and night-side, and during solar occultations. Here, in part 2 of a linked study, we describe the design, manufacturing, and testing of the ultraviolet and visible spectrometer channel called UVIS. We focus upon the optical design and working principle where two telescopes are coupled to a single grating spectrometer using a selector mechanism
Pan-tropical prediction of forest structure from the largest trees
Aim: Large tropical trees form the interface between ground and airborne observations, offering a unique opportunity to capture forest properties remotely and to investigate their variations on broad scales. However, despite rapid development of metrics to characterize the forest canopy from remotely sensed data, a gap remains between aerial and field inventories. To close this gap, we propose a new pan‐tropical model to predict plot-level forest structure properties and biomass from only the largest trees.
Location: Pan‐tropical.
Time period: Early 21st century.
Major taxa studied: Woody plants.
Methods: Using a dataset of 867 plots distributed among 118 sites across the tropics, we tested the prediction of the quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey’s height, community wood density and above ground biomass (AGB) from the ith largest trees.
Results: Measuring the largest trees in tropical forests enables unbiased predictions of plot‐ and site‐level forest structure. The 20 largest trees per hectare predicted quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey’s height, community wood density and AGB with 12, 16, 4, 4 and 17.7% of relative error, respectively. Most of the remaining error in biomass prediction is driven by differences in the proportion of total biomass held in medium‐sized trees (50–70 cm diameter at breast height), which shows some continental dependency, with American tropical forests presenting the highest proportion of total biomass in these intermediate‐diameter classes relative to other continents.
Main conclusions: Our approach provides new information on tropical forest structure and can be used to generate accurate field estimates of tropical forest carbon stocks to support the calibration and validation of current and forthcoming space missions. It will reduce the cost of field inventories and contribute to scientific understanding of tropical forest ecosystems and response to climate change
Pan-tropical prediction of forest structure from the largest trees
Aim: Large tropical trees form the interface between ground and airborne observations, offering a unique opportunity to capture forest properties remotely and to investigate their variations on broad scales. However, despite rapid development of metrics to characterize the forest canopy from remotely sensed data, a gap remains between aerial and field inventories. To close this gap, we propose a new pan-tropical model to predict plot-level forest structure properties and biomass from only the largest trees. Location: Pan-tropical. Time period: Early 21st century. Major taxa studied: Woody plants. Methods: Using a dataset of 867 plots distributed among 118 sites across the tropics, we tested the prediction of the quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey's height, community wood density and aboveground biomass (AGB) from the ith largest trees. Results: Measuring the largest trees in tropical forests enables unbiased predictions of plot- and site-level forest structure. The 20 largest trees per hectare predicted quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey's height, community wood density and AGB with 12, 16, 4, 4 and 17.7% of relative error, respectively. Most of the remaining error in biomass prediction is driven by differences in the proportion of total biomass held in medium-sized trees (50–70 cm diameter at breast height), which shows some continental dependency, with American tropical forests presenting the highest proportion of total biomass in these intermediate-diameter classes relative to other continents. Main conclusions: Our approach provides new information on tropical forest structure and can be used to generate accurate field estimates of tropical forest carbon stocks to support the calibration and validation of current and forthcoming space missions. It will reduce the cost of field inventories and contribute to scientific understanding of tropical forest ecosystems and response to climate change