Water refilling station: an alternative source of drinking water supply in the Philippines

Due to management problems in water utilities coupled by poor environmental conditions and occurrence of cholera outbreaks in some areas of the Philippines, a portion of the population have shifted their preference to alternative sources of drinking water. The demand at the water refilling stations - water stores that sell purified water – is now increasing. The quality of purified water conforms with the national standards for drinking water and is even better than the quality of water produced by traditional water supply systems in terms of removed impurities. To ensure water safety and prevent waterborne diseases, the government is regulating the operation of water refilling stations. Critical components are required to comply with sanitation standards and should be adequately monitored. These include the water source, the building, the water purification system, the personnel and the handling of product water

Determinants of Structural Changes of Food Exports from Developing Countries

Over the past three decades, there has been a rapid expansion of processed food exports in developing countries, replacing traditional agriculture exports such as coffee and tea. However, this development and its policy implications have received little attention in the literature. This paper aims to redress this oversight by providing an overview of key characteristics and growth patterns of processed food exports in developing countries. The determinants of structural changes toward processed food exports in developing countries are examined using panel data econometric analysis. The results suggests that trade policy openness, large domestic market, good macroeconomic management especially in terms of price stability, as well as adequate financial support and infrastructure are the key factors that influence the structural changes toward processed food products

An assessment of the community mortgage programs of the social housing finance corporation

The Community Mortgage Program (CMP) is a financing scheme that enables organized residents of slums to borrow for land purchase and housing development. It is already considered to be the most innovative and responsive government housing program in the Philippines. Nevertheless, the CMP has yet a number of weaknesses that have not been given much attention in the years of program implementation. These issues pertain to program targeting, service delivery and organization. This study aims to review the current processes and overall performance of CMP including its variants - the localized CMP and the High Density Housing Program (HDHF). It also provides recommendations on how the identified problems can be addressed

An Analysis of the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing Industry

"Nedelyn Magtibay-Ramos, Gemma Estrada, and Jesus Felipe provide an analysis of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines. The paper provides a profile of the BPO sector; makes comparisons with other large BPO providers; and uses input–output tables to estimate intersectoral linkages and the potential impact of the sector on employment. Constraints on the sector's growth are discussed.

Measuring Regional Market Integration in Developing Asia: a Dynamic Factor Error Correction Model (DF-ECM) Approach

This paper examines empirically the dynamic process of regional market integration in twelve Asian economies using a new modeling approach combining DF with ECM. This approach enables us to obtain latent regional dynamic factors which correspond well with the 'foreign' parity variables in theory when a market is imperfectly integrated and which act, in explaining domestic short-run price adjustments, as leading-indicators in an errorcorrection form. The power of the DF-ECM approach is illustrated in its application to measuring market integration in the developing Asian region using monthly data from the past decade.Law of one price; market integration; dynamic factor; error-correction model

Forecasting Inflation and GDP growth: Comparison of Automatic Leading Indicator (ALI) Method with Macro Econometric Structural Models (MESMs)

This paper compares forecast performance of the ALI method and the MESMs and seeks ways of improving the ALI method. Inflation and GDP growth form the forecast objects for comparison, using data from China, Indonesia and the Philippines. The ALI method is found to produce better forecasts than those by MESMs in general, but the method is found to involve greater uncertainty in choosing indicators, mixing data frequencies and utilizing unrestricted VARs. Two possible improvements are found helpful to reduce the uncertainty: (i) give theory priority in choosing indicators and include theory-based disequilibrium shocks in the indicator sets; and (ii) reduce the VARs by means of the general→specific model reduction procedure.Dynamic factor models, Model reduction, VAR

Empirical Assessment of Sustainability and Feasibility of Government Debt: The Philippines Case

This paper develops empirical methods of assessing the sustainability and feasibility of public debt using the No Ponzi Game criterion, using the Philippines as the testing case. Both historical data and forecasts generated by a quarterly macro-econometric model are used in the assessment. Stochastic simulations are carried out to mimic future uncertainty. The test results show that, up to the end of the present administration in 2010, the Philippine government debt is not sustainable but weakly feasible, that the feasibility is vulnerable to major adverse shocks, and that simple budgetary deficit control policy is inadequate for achieving debt sustainability or strengthening feasibility.Government debt, Ponzi game, Rollover bond portfolio

Evaluación de la influencia del efecto de la relación árido/cemento en los morteros usando hormigón reciclado

En el Trabajo de Final de Grado (TFG) en Arquitectura Técnica y Edificación que se muestra a continuación presenta un análisis de las propiedades físicas y mecánicas de los morteros con agregado de hormigón reciclado –proveniente de los residuos de la construcción– comparándolos con los morteros convencionales de áridos naturales, tanto en estado fresco como en endurecido hasta los 90 días. Los morteros se fabrican con diferentes porcentajes de sustitución (10, 20, 30, 50 y 100%) y dos tipos de relación árido/cemento para comparar los comportamientos de éstos con los del mortero de árido natural; y así poder escoger cuál es la proporción de sustitución óptima para obtener el máximo de prestaciones comunes a un mortero convencional. El trabajo de laboratorio es una de las piezas clave de este TFG; se necesita la preparación de los ensayos con su respectiva normativa y una correcta planificación del calendario. Para conseguir unos resultados fiables, se precisa de pulcritud a la hora de realizar los ensayos y una coherencia con los valores obtenidos. Con la elaboración de los morteros y los ensayos acabados, se procede a analizar los resultados del mortero en estado fresco –contenido de agua, la densidad y el contenido de aire–, y de los morteros endurecidos –resistencia a compresión y flexión, módulos elásticos estáticos y dinámicos, retracción por secado y la densidad aparente–. Estos resultados se contrastan y discuten con las publicaciones de diversos autores para así verificar o discrepar sus afirmaciones Los resultados generales obtenidos indican que morteros con reemplazo de hasta el 20% de árido reciclado de hormigón, presentan comportamientos similares al mortero convencional de árido natural; pudiendo ser factible su uso en aplicaciones en el sector de la construcción.In this Final Grade Work (FGW) in Technical Architecture and Building shown below presents an analysis of the physical and mechanical properties of mortars with recycled aggregate concrete –from the construction waste– compared with conventional mortars with natural aggregates, both in fresh and hard phase up to 90 days. These mortars are made of different percentages of replacement and two types of aggregate/cement ratio to compare the behavior of these with conventional mortar with natural aggregates; then can be choose the optimal replacement ratio for maximum common benefits to a conventional mortar. The Laboratory work is one of the key of these FGW, the preparation of these tests with their respective rules and proper planning calendar is required. To achieve reliable results, neatness is necessary when performing the test and consistency with the values obtained. When the mortars are produced and testing is finished, it proceed to analyze the results of the mortar in fresh phase –water content, density and air content– and hardened phase –compressive and flexural strength, static and dynamic modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage and bulk density–. These results are contrasted and discussed with publications of different authors, so it could be verified or disagree to their claims. The overall results indicate that replacement mortars up to 20% recycled aggregate concrete, present similar behavior to conventional mortar; use in applications in the construction industry may be feasible

Correlation of diaphragm surgical findings with preoperative CT scans in ovarian cancer

Correlation of diaphragm surgical findings in ovarian cancer patients with and without diaphragm metastases with pre-operative CT diaphragm findings to assess sensitivity and specificity for diaphragm disease. Material and Methods: A retrospective study of 120 ovarian cancer patients (60 with and 60 without diaphragm metastases at surgery), FIGO Stage IIIC or IV, undergoing cytoreductive surgery at Mayo Clinic, Arizona, between January 2000 and October 2014. All patients had preoperative imaging with CT scan of abdomen and pelvis including the lower lung fields. CTs were not reviewed retrospectively. Results: Among 60 patients with diaphragm metastases, preoperative CTs were positive for diaphragm disease in 17 patients, with a sensitivity rate of 28% (CI 95%: 0.17-0.41). All 60 patients with no diaphragm metastases had negative CTs, with a specificity of 100% (CI 95%: 94.0%-100%). When analyzed by lesion size, CTs were negative in 66.7-80% of patients with diaphragm lesions ranging from 1-15 mm. There was a trend towards increased detection rate with increasing size of lesions, but it did not reach significance (p = 0.529). CT detection rate for single metastatic lesion was 18.2% (6/33) and for multiple lesions it was 25.9% (7/27). There was no difference for CT identification of right, left, or bilateral metastases (p = 0.399). The sensitivity and specificity of CT for pleural effusion was 100% (CI 95%: 72.2%-100%) and 88% (CI 95%: 76.2%- 94.4%), respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.680 (CI 95%: 55.3%-72.2%) for CT detection of diaphragm metastases and 0.957 (CI 95%: 79.9%-95.3%) for pleural effusions. Conclusion: CT has a low sensitivity and a high specificity for the prediction of diaphragm metastases in ovarian cancer. The size, location, and number of diaphragm lesions do not significantly improve CT detection rat