Private participation in the delivery of Guinea's water supply services

The Republic of Guinea has recently taken steps to restructure dramatically the urban water supply sector and to rehabilitate operations and improve financial performance. This paper outlines the theoretical arguments that are relevant to the project design, describes the institutional arrangements that were adopted, examines the key provisions of the legal documents, and explains how the major issues that arose during project preparation were addressed. It presents a general economic theory regarding the roles of the public and private sectors in providing public services. The main features and advantages of lease contracts are discussed, and the experience in Cote d'Ivoire with lease contracts and concessions for water supply is summarized. The recent history of the water supply sector in Guinea is also outlined. The paper discusses key features of the new institutional and financial arrangements with particular attention to the lease contractor selection process, the role of IDA funding, key provisions of the legal documents, and the resolution of uncertainties regarding the application of World Bank Group procurement policies to this case.Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Health Economics&Finance,Water and Industry

Family Factors that Affect the Resolution of Grief in Older Persons

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.Triche, Kathleen, D.S.W., D.S.W., Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, 1994, Coordinator, Geriatric Psychiatric Outpatient Services, Beth Israel Medical Center - "Family Factors that Affect the Resolution of Grief in Older Persons"The Ohio State University College of Social Wor

Metabolism of low-density lipoproteins by cultured hepatocytes from normal and homozygous familial hypercholesterolemic subjects

The profoundly elevated concentrations of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) present in homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia lead to symptomatic cardiovascular disease and death by early adulthood. Studies conducted in nonhepatic tissues demonstrated defective cellular recognition and metabolism of LDL in these patients. Since mammalian liver removes at least half of the LDL in the circulation, the metabolism of LDL by cultured hepatocytes isolated from familial hypercholesterolemic homozygotes was compared to hepatcytes from normal individuals. Fibroblast studies demonstrated that the familial hypercholesterolemic subjects studied were LDL receptor-negative (less than 1% normal receptor activity) and LDL receptor-de fective (18% normal receptor activity). Cholesterol-depleted hepatocytes from normal subjects bound and internalized 125I-labeled LDL (Bmax = 2.2 μg LDL/mg cell protein). Preincubation of normal hepatocytes with 200 μg/ml LDL reduced binding and internalization by approx. 40%. In contrast, 125I-labeled LDL binding and internalization by receptor-negative familial hypercholesterolemic hepatocytes was unaffected by cholesterol loading and considerably lower than normal. This residual LDL uptake could not be ascribed to fluid phase endocytosis as determined by [14C]sucrose uptake. The residual LDL binding by familial hypercholesterolemia hepatocytes led to a small increase in hepatocyte cholesterol content which was relatively ineffective in reducing hepatocyte 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity. Receptordefective familial hypercholesterolemia hepatocytes retained some degree of regulatable 125I-labeled LDL uptake, but LDL uptake did not lead to normal hepatocyte cholesterol content or 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity. These combined results indicate that the LDL receptor abnormality present in familial hypercholesterolemia fibroblasts reflects deranged hepatocyte LDL recognition and metabolism. In addition, a low-affinity, nonsaturable uptake process for LDL is present in human liver which does not efficiently modulate hepatocyte cholesterol content or synthesis. © 1986

Reducing regulatory barriers to private - sector participation in Latin America's water and sanitation services

The lack of an appropriate regulatory environment is a principal factor behind inadequate water and sanitation services in many parts of Latin America. Many governments recognize the need to improve cost recovery and accountability in services - and increasingly see private sector participation as a tool for improving efficiency and attracting commercial sources of investment finance. Consultants interviewed representatives of private companies that recently contended for contracts to provide water and sanitation services in four Latin American cities (Buenos Aires, Caracas, Mexico City, and Santiago). These private operators identify the regulatory conditions they look for deciding whether to participate in a bid. On the basis of the interviews, the authors identified nine conditions. (1) Specify key terms and conditions of regulation in the contract, leaving little discretionary power to the regulating authority. In particular, specify the key aspects of regulation (such as price, quantity, and quality) in the contract. (2) Spell out credible procedures for the fair resolution of disagreements about contractual or regulatory matters. (3) Carefully specify credible technical objectives which the contractor will be expected to achieve under the contract. (4) See that government tariff policies support the principle of cost recovery for water services - and that tariff adjustment formulas adequately reflect changes in costs, inflation, and the exchange rate. (5) If historical collection rates do not indicate consumers'willingness to pay for services such as tariffs that reflect the cost of service, allow an adequate period of time to phase in higher tariffs - and give the operator adequate protection from nonpayers (either the right to cut off service or recourse to another source of payment). (6) Review public works law, contract law, and accounting practices and, if necessary, amend them in advance to ensure that they accommodate and protect any long-term investments foreseen under build-own-transfer or concession-type arrangements. (7) Eliminate unnecessary and bureaucratic administrative requirements that make bidding expensive. (8) Make a contract and expected profits big enough to warrant the high fixed cost of bidding. (9) Provide the education and outreach needed to inform consumers and secure the support of labor interests. In addition, the firms interviewed said that host countries would be better able to attract private-sector providers if they: (a) used reputable outside technical, legal, and financial advisors; (b) allowed local and foreign banks that finance investments to review and comment on proposed contracts and participate in negotiations; and (c) reduced the cost of bidding for small contracts.Urban Water Supply and Sanitation,Infrastructure Regulation,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water and Industry,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

Lack of interferon response in animals to naked siRNAs

RNA interference (RNAi) is rapidly becoming the method of choice for the elucidation of gene function and the identification of drug targets. As with other oligonucleotide-based strategies, RNAi is envisioned to ultimately be useful as a human therapeutic. Unlike previous nucleic acid therapeutics, small interfering RNAs have the potential to elicit immune responses via interactions with Toll-like receptor 3 and trigger interferon responses like long, double-stranded RNA and its analogs, such as poly(I:C). Recently, the safety of siRNAs has been questioned because they have been shown to trigger an interferon response in cultured cells. We show here that it is possible to administer naked, synthetic siRNAs to mice and downregulate an endogenous or exogenous target without inducing an interferon response

F15RS SGR No. 22 (Commitment to Honor)

A RESOLUTION To Reestablish and Reaffirm the Commitment to Honor, formerly known as the Tiger Creed/Pledge of Honor, and to urge Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College (LSU) to recognize the Commitment to Honor as a subsection of the Commitment to Communit

S15RS SGFB No. 1 (Engineering Students)

A FINANCE BILL To Allocate a maximum of eight hundred eighty dollars and zero cents ($880.00) from the Student Government Contingency account to fund Seven engineering students to attend the 2015 SAE Aero Design Series in Lakeland, Florida from March 13th – 15th as representatives of Louisiana State University (LSU

S15RS SGB No. 6 (Amend Bylaws)

A BILL To amend the Student Government Bylaw

S15RS SGFB No. 16 (Enineering Crawfish)

A FINANCE BILL To allocate a maximum of three thousand one hundred ninety-two dollars and ninety-seven cents ($3,192.97) from the Student Senate Contingency Account to partially fund the College of Engineering Annual Year-End Crawfish Boil to be held in the Patrick F Taylor Courtyard on April 17, 2015