Does local financing make primary schools more efficient : the Philippine case

In the highly centralized system of the Philippines, local funding provides the only source of flexibility to meet specific and urgent needs. The government in Manila, which pays all teacher salaries, finds it easier politically in times of fiscal belt-tightening to cut recurrent costs. Although local funds are a relatively small percentage of the education budget, they make an important contribution to covering maintenence and operating costs. The total cost of education per student also appears to lower in schools with greater local financing. Administrators and teachers have greater incentive to be cost-effective when forced to consider the effect of their behavior on the people who live and work in the local community. The policy implications of these findings for the Philippines, as well as other developing countries, are important. They strongly suggest that decentralization will increase efficiency. Without an increase in local funding, the quality of primary education will suffer.Teaching and Learning,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Business in Development

Student performance and school costs in the Philippines'high schools

A key consideration in the policy debate on the appropriate role of private schools in predominantly public school systems is cost effectiveness. The questions are: Do private school students learn more than their counterparts, and is it more or less expensive to educate students in private schools? Taking selectivity into account, the private schools show a significant edge over public schools in both English and Pilipino. Public schools, on the other hand, had a slight advantage in mathematics. A comparison of cost per student reveals a substantial advantage for private schools: public schools in the Philippines spend on average roughly twice as much as private schools. These findings strongly suggest that private schools are an efficient purveyor of secondary education in the formulation of policy measures that could threaten the existence of such schools.Teaching and Learning,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Educational Sciences

Literariedad, teología e intertexto en el teatro novohispano

Theater is an artistic expression in whose representation the collective is involved. It is a genre of ancient tradition in the literature; since the classical period, and they represented plays, already in the sub-genres of comedy or of tragedy. In the Middle Ages works of religious orientation, like the car of the Three Kings, and it is in the 16th century, in the midst of the Renaissance, when it begins to strengthen this literary genre across Europe. In Spain the works were represented in squares and corrals. Sometimes it did not have the function of entertain, but complied with that of doctrinal teaching. The 17th century playwrights stand out for their depth of treatment of the themes and it can be said that the works contain a dramatic essence. In the American colonies, performances by different circumstances: to celebrate arrival of a civil or ecclesiastical official, to catechize the natural or within the framework of a feast of the liturgical calendar. The pieces were performed in religious schools, in the courts of the Churches or in public spaces, such as squares.El teatro es una expresión artística en cuya representación se involucra al colectivo. Es un género de antigua tradición en la literatura; desde el período clásico se elaboraban y representaban obras de teatro, ya en los subgéneros de la comedia o de la tragedia. En la Edad Media se mencionan obras de orientación religiosa, como el auto de los Reyes Magos, y es en el siglo xvi, en pleno Renacimiento, cuando empieza a fortalecerse este género literario en toda Europa. En España las obras se representaban en plazas y corrales. En ocasiones no tenía la función de entretener, sino que cumplía con la de enseñanza doctrinaria. Los dramaturgos de siglo xvii destacan por la profundidad en el tratamiento de los temas y puede afirmarse que las obras contienen una esencia dramática. En las colonias americanas se realizaban representaciones por diferentes circunstancias: para celebrar la llegada de un funcionario civil o eclesiástico, para catequizar a los naturales o en el marco de una festividad del calendario litúrgico. Las piezas se realizaban en los colegios de religiosos, en los atrios de las Iglesias o en espacios públicos, como las plazas

Elementos a considerar en un modelo para evaluar integralmente la labor de la universidad en el desarrollo de las competencias informacionales de los estudiantes

The purpose of this document is to identify and describe the main elements to consider when evaluating a university's efforts in the development of information competencies of undergraduate students. Information competencies and their current importance in the context of competency-centered education are described. A review is made of a number of personal and corporate authors who for long time have expressed that information literacy programs and their evaluation should involve the entire institution. From the literature review and their experience as faculty members and librarians, the authors present a proposal of which elements should integrate a model that would assess the efforts of an institution and could be used by different universities, both in self-assessment exercises or in external evaluation processes

Desarrollo de competencias informacionales en universidades hispanoamericanas: fundamentos teóricos para un modelo integral de evaluación

This document presents the results of a study focused on the search for theories to support what should be an evaluation model of university efforts aimed to develop student’s information competencies. The research is mainly based on literature review and on the reflections that the readings inspired. The results lead the authors to conclude that an evaluation model can be framed in the General Systems Theory as to the transformation to be achieved by students during their pass by the university; nevertheless, for a more complete picture, it is necessary to identify a learning theory: we observe that one that may provide further explanations is the recently developed theory of Connectivism, as a way of expanding constructivist theories of learning

Bibliotecas virtuales, acceso abierto y derechos de autor

The book gathers the works presented in III Environmental Observatory Colloquium organized by El Colegio de Chihuahua with the theme of Virtual libraries and their use in research. The purpose is to lay the groundwork for a necessary analysis and permanent in the way that are being given these dizzying changes and the impact they are producing, mainly in the investigation from technical, legal, ethical, economic and social perspectives, among other. For this, a variety of works are presented by professionals who work constantly with information producers, users or as intermediaries of the same. The book should be of interest and useful for those people who fall into one of these categories, which increasingly, we are all

Bibliotecas virtuales, acceso abierto y derechos de autor

The book gathers the works presented in III Environmental Observatory Colloquium organized by El Colegio de Chihuahua with the theme of Virtual libraries and their use in research. The purpose is to lay the groundwork for a necessary analysis and permanent in the way that are being given these dizzying changes and the impact they are producing, mainly in the investigation from technical, legal, ethical, economic and social perspectives, among other. For this, a variety of works are presented by professionals who work constantly with information producers, users or as intermediaries of the same. The book should be of interest and useful for those people who fall into one of these categories, which increasingly, we are all

Differences in ex-vivo Chemosensitivity to Anthracyclines in First Line Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Induction schedules in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are based on combinations of cytarabine and anthracyclines. The choice of the anthracycline employed has been widely studied in multiple clinical trials showing similar complete remission rates. Using an ex vivo test we have analyzed if a subset of AML patients may respond differently to cytarabine combined with idarubicin, daunorubicin or mitoxantrone. Bone marrow (BM) samples of 198 AML patients were incubated for 48 hours in 96 well plates, each well containing different drugs or drug combinations at different concentrations. Ex vivo drug sensitivity analysis was made using the PharmaFlow platform maintaining the BM microenvironment. Drug response was evaluated as depletion of AML blast cells in each well after incubation. Annexin V-FITC was used to quantify the ability of the drugs to induce apoptosis, and pharmacological responses were calculated using pharmacokinetic population models. Similar dose-respond graphs were generated for the three anthracyclines, with a slight decrease in EC with idarubicin (p=1.462E-06), whereas the interpatient variability of either drug was large. To identify those cases of selective sensitivity to anthracyclines, potency was compared, in terms of area under the curve. Differences in anthracycline monotherapy potency greater than 30% from 3 pairwise comparisons were identified in 28.3% of samples. Furthermore, different sensitivity was detected in 8.2% of patients comparing combinations of cytarabine and anthracyclines. A third of the patients could benefit from the use of this test in the first line induction therapy selection, although it should be confirmed in a clinical trial specifically designed

Evaluación de la calidad vs precio de comprimidos de Metformina de 850mg de producción nacional e importados, comercializados en Paraguay utilizados para el control de diabetes

La metformina es un fármaco de primera elección, solo o combinado, en el tratamiento inicial de pacientes con diabetes tipo 2, cuya prevalencia a nivel nacional es de 8,0% en hombres y 8,3% en mujeres, con un gasto anual de 283 USD/persona. El estudio fue realizado con el objetivo de evaluar la calidad fisicoquímica y precio de comprimidos de 850 mg de metformina comercializados en nuestro país. Se analizaron medicamentos de producción nacional e importada, conteniendo 850 mg de metformina HCl, tomando como referencia la Farmacopea de los Estados Unidos (USP 38). Para evaluar la calidad de los productos se realizaron ensayos físicos químicos, además de los perfiles de disolución según el medio propuesto por la USP 38. Los resultados obtenidos se encontraron dentro de las especificaciones de valoración, entre 96% y 101% de metformina y los perfiles de disolución entre 70% y 90% de la cantidad declarada en 20 minutos, con una eficiencia de disolución (EF) entre 58% y 93%, mostrando que no existe diferencia estadísticamente significativa (p=0,41). La variación de precios encontrados fue entre 3,6 USD y 8,4 USD. Los productos analizados pueden ser intercambiables en cuanto a la calidad y los perfiles de disolución in vitro, siendo una herramienta para demostrar intercambiabilidad de productos farmacéuticos, buscando el precio más accesible en el mercado nacional y facilitando el tratamiento adecuado sobre todo para la población de escasos recursos manteniendo la calidad y eficacia del mismo

A breakthrough on Amanita phalloides poisoning: an effective antidotal effect by polymyxin B

Amanita phalloides is responsible for more than 90 % of mushroom-related fatalities, and no effective antidote is available. a-Amanitin, the main toxin of A. phalloides, inhibits RNA polymerase II (RNAP II), causing hepatic and kidney failure. In silico studies included docking and molecular dynamics simulation coupled to molecular mechanics with generalized Born and surface area method energy decomposition on RNAP II. They were performed with a clinical drug that shares chemical similarities to a-amanitin, polymyxin B. The results show that polymyxin B potentially binds to RNAP II in the same interface of a-amanitin, preventing the toxin from binding to RNAP II. In vivo, the inhibition of the mRNA transcripts elicited by a-amanitin was efficiently reverted by polymyxin B in the kidneys. Moreover, polymyxin B significantly decreased the hepatic and renal a-amanitin-induced injury as seen by the histology and hepatic aminotransferases plasma data. In the survival assay, all animals exposed to a-amanitin died within 5 days, whereas 50 % survived up to 30 days when polymyxin B was administered 4, 8, and 12 h post-a-amanitin. Moreover, a single dose of polymyxin B administered concomitantly with a-amanitin was able to guarantee 100 % survival. Polymyxin B protects RNAP II from inactivation leading to an effective prevention of organ damage and increasing survival in a-amanitin-treated animals. The present use of clinically relevant concentrations of an already human-use-approved drug prompts the use of polymyxin B as an antidote for A. phalloides poisoning in humans.Juliana Garcia, Vera Marisa Costa, Ricardo Dinis-Oliveira and Ricardo Silvestre thank FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology-for their PhD grant (SFRH/BD/74979/2010), Post-doc grants (SFRH/BPD/63746/2009 and SFRH/BPD/110001/2015) and Investigator grants (IF/01147/2013) and (IF/00021/2014), respectively. This work was supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) - project PTDC/DTPFTO/4973/2014 - and the European Union (FEDER funds through COMPETE) and National Funds (FCT, Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) through project Pest-C/EQB/LA0006/2013