Review of Structural Adjustment in the Philippines

This article has been delivered during the Central Bank Diamond Jubilee celebration on November 21,1988. It reviews the issues of Philippine structural adjustments with a focus on the identification of elements in the past Philippine efforts that appear to be critical in the future adjustment endeavor. It also discusses the problems and the potentials of policy-based lending in support of future structural adjustment efforts in the Philippines.tax structure, agrarian reform, liberalization, structural adjustment, balance of payments, structural reforms, policy adjustment, industrialization

Review of Structural Adjustment in the Philippines

This article has been delivered during the Central Bank Diamond Jubilee celebration on November 21,1988. It reviews the issues of Philippine structural adjustments with a focus on the identification of elements in the past Philippine efforts that appear to be critical in the future adjustment endeavor. It also discusses the problems and the potentials of policy-based lending in support of future structural adjustment efforts in the Philippines.tax structure, agrarian reform, liberalization, structural adjustment, balance of payments, structural reforms, policy adjustment, industrialization

Three Complications in Asian Economic Recovery

Summary Three features in the Asian economic crisis complicate recovery. First, because the crisis is centred in the private sector, the recognition and workout of losses, especially on the part of stock?holders of financial companies, have been slow. Second, the credit?centredness of the Asian economic crisis demands a significant supply of political will and cohesion, and the supply of both has been sharply curtailed by the crisis. Third, exchange rates (which have overadjusted and are generally believed to be at grossly undervalued levels) have been unstable over an extended period and international markets have enforced more fragility in response to domestic efforts to reflate economies

Macroeconomic Adjustment in the Philippines, 1983-1985

This paper investigates the most recent Philippine balance of payments crisis that has started in October 1983. A lengthy discussion is made on the main macroeconometric features of the economy with a follow-up account on the adjustment programs implemented from 1983-1985. An assessment of the program is provided in some detail and policy alternatives to the actual program are suggested.macroeconomic stabilization, macroeconomic adjustments

Sistema de percepción de alta precisión para sistemas inteligentes de transporte

Robocity2030 7th Workshop. Móstoles. Spain. Oct, 2010. Visión en Robótica (2010).Este trabajo describe el sistema de percepción de alta precisión implementado sobre un autobús articulado para su conducción automática a través de un carril guía. Entre las infraestructuras de transporte más prometedoras de los sistemas de transporte automáticos, el bus articulado presenta un costo bajo relacionada con la cantidad de pasajeros que puede transportar, además del confort de los mismos relacionados con otros medios de transporte masivo. La plataforma experimental que se presenta en este trabajo consiste en un vehículo móvil y un circuito privado dentro de las instalaciones del CSIC. El sistema de percepción que se presenta en este trabajo está basado en dos escáneres láser 2D, donde la principal objetivo radica en la detección de un carril guía construido en el circuito, mediante un algoritmo híbrido eficiente de extracción de líneas, y la detección de obstáculos posibles sobre el recorrido del circuito.Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del proyecto Robocity2030-II S2009/DPI-1559 subvencionado por la Dirección General de Investigación de la Consejería de Educación y Cultura de la Comunidad de Madrid e IMADE PIE/62/2008 (Comunidad de Madrid, ALDESA CONSTRUCCIONES SA, MAXIMASDE), y la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) en el marco del proyecto FORTUNA D/026706/09. El Dr. Héctor Montes agradece el apoyo recibido de la Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá y del CSIC bajo el Programa JAE-Doc.Peer reviewe

Small particle-size talc is associated with poor outcome and increased inflammation in thoracoscopic pleurodesis

Rationale: Talc is very effective for pleurodesis, but there is concern about complications, especially acute respiratory distress syndrome. Objectives: It was the aim of this study to investigate if talc with a high concentration of small particles induces greater production of cytokines, and if pleural tumor burden has any influence on the local production and spillover of cytokines to the systemic circulation and eventual complications. Methods: We investigated 227 consecutive patients with malignant effusion submitted to talc pleurodesis. One hundred and three patients received 'small-particle talc' (ST; containing about 50% particles <10 ¿m) and 124 received 'large-particle talc' (with <20% particles <10 ¿m). Serial samples of both pleural fluid and blood were taken before and 3, 24, 48 and 72 h after thoracoscopy. Also, mesothelial cells were stimulated with both types of talc in vitro. Measurements and Results: Interleukin-8, tumor necrosis factor-¿, vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor and thrombin-antithrombin complex were measured in all samples. Early death (<7 days after talc) occurred in 8 of 103 patients in the ST and in 1 of 124 in the 'large-particle talc' group (p = 0.007). Patients who received ST had significantly higher proinflammatory cytokines in pleural fluid and serum after talc application, and also in supernatants of the in vitro study. Pleural tumor burden correlated positively with proinflammatory cytokines in serum, suggesting that advanced tumor states induce stronger systemic reactions after talc application. Conclusions: ST provokes a strong inflammatory reaction in both pleural space and serum, which is associated with a higher rate of early deaths observed in patients receiving it. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.Peer Reviewe

Use of Urea and Ammonia to Produce High-Strength PM Aluminium Parts

Two methods to obtain bulk nanostructured aluminium parts are compared. The first one consists on milling Al powder in an ammonia gas atmosphere. In the second method, the Al powder is milled in vacuum with the addition of solid urea. In both cases, the milled powders are consolidated to full density by a conventional press-and-sinter powder metallurgy (PM) technique. The produced composites consist on a nanostructured aluminium matrix reinforced with self-forming nanocrystalline nitrides dispersoids. Consolidated compacts reach full densification, and show a high tensile strength (up to 550 MPa) and an outstanding high-temperature behaviour.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación DPI2009-0829

Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression in Bladder Cancer and Patient Prognosis: Results from a Large Clinical Cohort and Meta-Analysis

Aberrant overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) is observed in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). Studies evaluating COX2 as a prognostic marker in UCB report contradictory results. We determined the prognostic potential of COX2 expression in UCB and quantitatively summarize the results with those of the literature through a meta-analysis. Newly diagnosed UCB patients recruited between 1998–2001 in 18 Spanish hospitals were prospectively included in the study and followed-up (median, 70.7 months). Diagnostic slides were reviewed and uniformly classified by expert pathologists. Clinical data was retrieved from hospital charts. Tissue microarrays containing non-muscle invasive (n = 557) and muscle invasive (n = 216) tumours were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using quantitative image analysis. Expression was evaluated in Cox regression models to assess the risk of recurrence, progression and disease-specific mortality. Meta-hazard ratios were estimated using our results and those from 11 additional evaluable studies. COX2 expression was observed in 38% (211/557) of non-muscle invasive and 63% (137/216) of muscle invasive tumors. Expression was associated with advanced pathological stage and grade (p<0.0001). In the univariable analyses, COX2 expression - as a categorical variable - was not associated with any of the outcomes analyzed. As a continuous variable, a weak association with recurrence in non-muscle invasive tumors was observed (p-value = 0.048). In the multivariable analyses, COX2 expression did not independently predict any of the considered outcomes. The meta-analysis confirmed these results. We did not find evidence that COX2 expression is an independent prognostic marker of recurrence, progression or survival in patients with UCB.The work was partially supported by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (G03/174, 00/0745, PI051436, PI061614 and G03/174); Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer- RD06/0020-RTICC; Consolider ONCOBIO; EU-FP6-STREP-37739-DRoP-ToP; EU-FP7-HEALTH-F2-2008-201663-UROMOL; EU-FP7-HEALTH-F2-2008-201333-DECanBio; USA-NIH-RO1-CA089715; and a PhD fellowship awarded to MJC from the ‘‘la Caixa’’ foundation, Spain, and a postdoctoral fellowship awarded to AFSA from the Fundación Científica de la AEC