Narrow Results

Detailed data on the distribution of human populations are valuable inputs to research and decision making. This study aims at compiling data on population density that are more granular than government-published estimates and assessing different methods and model specifications. As a first step, we combine government-published data with publicly available data like land cover classes, elevation, slope, and nighttime lights, and then apply a random forest approach to estimate population density in the Philippines and Thailand at the 100 meter (m) by 100m level. Second, we use different specifications of random forest and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) techniques to forecast grid-level population density and evaluate their predictive power. The use of a random forest model showed that reasonable forecasts of grid-level population growth rates are achievable. The results of this study contribute to the assessment of methods like random forest and BMA in forecasting population distributions.

Tailings from an indigenous mining community were analyzed by PIXE to study the residual amount of gold and to check the relative increase in mercury content after the mineral dressing. The result showed that gold is sometimes left in the tailings at ore-grade concentration up to 30 ppm, and that relative mercury content is not increasing drastically. Since the tailings are trade target in the local community, it would be necessary for stakeholders to have a common and fair facility where they can assay gold content of the tailing at regular interval.

How do territorial disputes affect bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) between claimant states? Using a difference model, we find that a regime’s position on the South China Sea (SCS) significantly impacts Chinese FDI. We used a novel dataset on firm registrations in the Philippines, finding that the annual number of new firm entrants with Chinese investment significantly increases when maritime border disputes are stabilized. In contrast, we observe that conflictual relations in the maritime borders tend to decrease the number of new firms. We also notice that disputes do not influence FDI from non-claimant states.

We investigate the factors that influence adoption of competition law using a panel of countries from 1970 to 2015. We find that in addition to development level, trading arrangements and peer pressure have also influenced adoption. The spread of competition laws adopted from Western precedents left a question regarding the extent they have been tailored to the diverse circumstances of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries. We document the nature, structure, conduct and scope of competition laws by comparing and contrasting the experience of the Philippines and Thailand. Our descriptive analysis reveals that the force and influence of the law are not entirely dependent on early adoption.

Japan Not Ready for Freezing of Human Eggs.

Updated TB Guidelines on Website.

Philippines Approves Insect-protected Corn.

Taiwan Approves Plans to Reduce Drug Costs.

Sperm Fusion Protein Identified.

Philippines Optimistic But Cautious About GM Rice.

Consumers Say No to GMOs.

Two Promising Phase III Cancer Drugs: SIRT & Afatinib

CAVATAK™ Presentations at Oncolytic Virus Therapeutics Conference Reinforce Potential in Bladder Cancer and Melanoma

Receptos subjected to M&A Speculation

Antibiotics Research Risks another Lost Decade while Rare Diseases Research Steams Ahead, Global Patent Study Reveals

Intertek gains Official Accreditation with Philippines Food and Drug Administration

An Interview with Prof. Martin Humphries on University of Manchester & A*STAR ongoing partnership, and their recent established joint PhD programme – Yuhui Lin

The 10-mins Interview with Dr. Patel on Philippines Healthcare & his new digital platform, MyDoc. – Rachel Lim

Speed Reading for Broken Bones.

Sanofi Pasteur's Dengue Vaccine Approved in the Philippines.

Breakthrough Medicines Usher in Hopeful Era for Lung Cancer Patients.

Genetic Technologies Announces Publication of Key Scientific Validation Results in Support of BREVAGenplus^®.

Pioneering Artificial Pancreas to Undergo Final Tests.

Novaseek Research and Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) Partner to Help Hospitals and Patients Contribute to Biomedical Research.

A Glimpse into Healthcare Policies: How Cancer Control and Prevention Programmes Have Evolved Across Asia.

Understanding Healthcare Policies in the Philippines: Cancer Care.

Healthcare Systems and Health Policies in Thailand: Cancer Care.

Cancer Care and Control in Taiwan: An Interview with Dr. Shu-Ti Chiou.

An Interview with Professor Myint Han: Healthcare in Myanmar.

Young Innovators under 35 - 2016 Asia's TR35 Innovators (EmTech Asia 2016)

New Biomedical R&D Centre Set Up by Lite-On Group in Singapore

The Philippines Initiates the World's First Public Dengue Vaccination Programme

Coastal waters in and around Puerto Galera Bay, Mindoro, Philippines, is drastically contaminated generally due to poorly constructed sanitation and household facilities and runoff from the hillsides associated with the tourism development. In this study, a field survey on tidal currents and water quality in and around Puerto Galera Bay was conducted with hydrodynamic numerical simulations of tidal currents, in which a nesting technique was employed for properly incorporating the effects of complicated tidal fluctuation outside the bay. The results reveal the existence of a highly asymmetrical pattern of tidal flow fluctuation having strong tidal residual flow and the vulnerability of the flow field to water quality deterioration within the semi-enclosed innermost bay area. The highly asymmetrical tidal flow fluctuation is attributed to the asymmetrical generation of detached eddying motion around Puerto Galera as a highly nonlinear phenomenon producing strong tidal residual currents. These results are useful in understanding the physical conditions of the bay, which are needed for consideration in the local government's coastal management plan.

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) struck the islands of Leyte and Samar, the central part of the Philippines, on 8 November 2013, bringing large-scale devastation to coastal areas due to the high winds and large storm surge and waves associated with it. In order to obtain the distribution of storm surge heights and damage covering the wide stretch of affected coastline, the authors carried out a series of field surveys in the aftermath of the typhoon (in December 2013, May 2014, and October 2014). In the present paper, the authors detailed the results of these field surveys and summarized the characteristics of the storm surge and main causes of the damage, especially focusing on the Leyte Gulf coast, which is surrounded by the eastern coast of Leyte and the southern coast of Samar. Finally, the wide range of types of storm surge disasters were also discussed by comparing Typhoon Haiyan with other recent major events.

Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on 8 November 2013 and caused catastrophic damage due to its remarkably high wind speeds, storm surges, and waves. In this paper, the characteristics of the human losses and building damage in the coastal region of Leyte, the Philippines, were investigated based on data of observed inundation height/depth, the number of deaths and missing people, and damaged buildings in each barangay. Also, the relationship between human loss and the evacuation environment in each barangay was investigated, based on several questionnaire surveys of barangay captains. As a result, the scale of the human damage caused by Haiyan was found to be similar to that caused by other historical tsunamis, yet it was much larger than that caused by historical storm surge disasters in Japan. Moreover, it was found that there were differences in fatality percentages among neighboring barangays, attributable to several factors. Our questionnaire survey analysis revealed the need for disaster mitigation/prevention education and the importance of leadership by barangay captains in the evacuation of local people. The need for such education should be emphasized widely because some barangay captains still do not understand the meaning of “storm surge” even one year after the Typhoon Haiyan event.

After Japan occupied Taiwan from the Quin Dynasty in 1895, the Japanese government immediately held talks with Spain to delimit the sea boundary between Spain and Japanese Taiwan. According to the Convention between Japan and Spain in 1895, the sea boundary of both countries was in the middle of the navigable channel of Bashi. For it did not refer to the longitude and latitude, thus it resulted in confusion when the United States negotiated a peace treaty with Spain. What is the meaning of “in the middle of the navigable channel of Bashi?” In the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain in 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines archipelagoes to the south of 20^∘ North latitude to the United States. In fact, the Batanes Islands are located at 20–21^∘ North latitudes. Geographically, the Batanes Islands were not included in the Treaty of Paris. This paper will focus on the reasons why did not Spain cede the territory to the north of 20^∘ North latitude to the United States? And, it also discussed the problems of the legal status of the Batanes Islands and the rights of claim by Taiwan.

The Philippines is among the emerging markets in the world. Along with China, the Philippines attracts international enterprises seeking to establish a presence in Asia. This study examines small/medium enterprises (SMEs) management and employee perceptions of customer service on a number of dimensions. The results suggest that managers and employees in the Philippines behave in similar ways to those in Western countries, but there are differences, probably related to cultural characteristics. As the Philippine market becomes more involved with global business, the importance of service quality increases. The results can be valuable in the formulation of training, sales and marketing, business development, human resources management, and strategic planning. Implications for practice are discussed.

The Philippines faces an opposition to genetic engineering in agriculture led by a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). There is an ongoing public debate which is mainly focused on transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice and its potential contribution to future food security in Asia.

The present research project evaluated perception patterns among the main participants in the Philippine debate on transgenic rice and the political importance attributed to these participants.

For this purpose, a survey of 65 respondents representing the relevant institutions involved in the public debate was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire.

The results suggest that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other public interest groups are generally not in favour while scientists are generally in favour of transgenic rice. A majority of the political decision makers has very high expectations with regard to the potential of genetic engineering for solving problems in the Philippine rice economy. However, their attitude with regard to risks and benefits of Bt rice is ambivalent.

Since 1992, the Philippines has employed an innovative requirement to demonstrate social acceptability in project planning as a means through which public participation can be established. This paper discusses the participatory mechanisms used and evaluates the effectiveness of public participation in three case studies from key development sectors. In doing so, the existing conceptual frameworks for evaluating public participation are further developed through insights to community empowerment and sustainability in particular. Whilst increased public participation has resulted in improvements in the EIA process and environmental decision making in the Philippines, the evaluation of the case studies also reveals substantial issues of conflict within the communities and of the representation of diverse local interests at core stages in the planning process.

This paper explores the macroeconomic effects of improving public infrastructure in the Philippines, modeling the infrastructure scale-up plan being implemented by the current administration. After benchmarking the Philippines’ level of infrastructure investment, quantity and quality of public infrastructure, and public investment efficiency relative to its neighboring countries, the analysis uses a dynamic general equilibrium model to quantitatively assess the macroeconomic implications of raising public investment expenditure with different financing schemes and different rates of public investment efficiency. Critically dependent on a model structure in which accumulation of publicly provided infrastructure raises the overall productivity of the economy, the model simulations show that (i) increasing public infrastructure investment results in sustained gains in output, (ii) the effects of improving public investment efficiency are substantial, and (iii) deficit-financed increases in public investment lead to higher borrowing costs that constrain output increases over time. These results underscore the importance of improving public investment efficiency and revenue mobilization.

Just when it seemed civilian control over the military was firmly established in much of Southeast Asia, Thailand’s military launched a coup that saw the democratically elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra swiftly overthrown. Not only was this largely unexpected, but — in much the same way that the financial crisis spread across the region a decade earlier — some observers wondered if coups might prove equally contagious in Southeast Asia (Mydans 2006). Fortunately for the countries of the region, perhaps, civil-military relations are primarily driven by domestic factors, and not directly subject to the potentially devastating judgements of outsiders, as they were during the economic crisis (see Beeson 1998). Nevertheless, the Thai coup raised questions about the stability of other countries in a region where the ascendancy of civilian forces is either relatively new or uncertain. Nowhere was this more the case than Indonesia and the Philippines, the former having established genuine democracy only recently, while rumours of possible renewed military intervention in the political life of the Philippines swirled around the latter long before the Thai coup. Given the possibility that democratic consolidation in Southeast Asia is perhaps not as assured as many had thought, it is an opportune moment to explore the Indonesian and Philippine cases to see whether similar military interventions are likely there…