A Survey on Approximation Mechanism Design without Money for Facility Games

In a facility game one or more facilities are placed in a metric space to serve a set of selfish agents whose addresses are their private information. In a classical facility game, each agent wants to be as close to a facility as possible, and the cost of an agent can be defined as the distance between her location and the closest facility. In an obnoxious facility game, each agent wants to be far away from all facilities, and her utility is the distance from her location to the facility set. The objective of each agent is to minimize her cost or maximize her utility. An agent may lie if, by doing so, more benefit can be obtained. We are interested in social choice mechanisms that do not utilize payments. The game designer aims at a mechanism that is strategy-proof, in the sense that any agent cannot benefit by misreporting her address, or, even better, group strategy-proof, in the sense that any coalition of agents cannot all benefit by lying. Meanwhile, it is desirable to have the mechanism to be approximately optimal with respect to a chosen objective function. Several models for such approximation mechanism design without money for facility games have been proposed. In this paper we briefly review these models and related results for both deterministic and randomized mechanisms, and meanwhile we present a general framework for approximation mechanism design without money for facility games

Evaluacion de la viabilidad economica de implementar un muelle en la comuna de Pelluhue, VII region.

79 p.El presente Proyecto se desarrolló en el Departamento de Programas y Proyectos de la Gobernación Provincial de Cauquenes, Institución Pública, cuyo principal objetivo es representar al Gobierno de Chile en la Provincia de Cauquenes. Con este trabajo, se pudo resolver la conveniencia de seguir estudiando el Proyecto de Implementar un Muelle en la Comuna de Pelluhue, proyecto que consiste en dotar de una infraestructura moderna y segura que garantice un bienestar para la comunidad pesquera de la zona, del tipo artesanal. El objetivo General de este trabajo, consiste en determinar la viabilidad económica de este proyecto, debido a que con anterioridad se desarrolló el estudio de diseño del Muelle. Con la finalidad de configurar una alternativa – económicamente – atractiva para inversores privados, que pudiese motivar su participación en el proyecto, produciendo un ahorro de recursos para el Gobierno, se realizaron dos estudios: De Mercado, con el fin de determinar si el negocio de extracción de los recursos marinos resulta atractivo o no; y Técnico, tendiente a determinar los costos del negocio pesquero y apoyar la información obtenida en el Estudio de Mercado para configurar la alternativa privada que pudiese resultar atractiva para atraer capitales privados en este proyecto. A continuación, se realiza la Evaluación del Proyecto desde dos enfoques: Evaluación Privada de Proyectos, cuyo fin es mostrar si es rentable o no para inversionistas privados este proyecto; y Evaluación Social del Proyecto con el fin de analizar los efectos que traería este proyecto en la sociedad pesquera de Pelluhue, esto basado en la Metodología de Evaluación Social de Proyectos propuesta por Mideplan. Finalmente, se entrega una respuesta concreta al Gobierno de Chile, en donde se indica que no se debe continuar con este proyecto – pues no resulta ser económicamente viable

Evaluation of diphtheria surveillance system in Kaduna State, Nigeria, July 2023 – December 2023

Background: The re-emergence of the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria raises concern about the surveillance system’s capability to detect, prepare for and respond to outbreaks. Aim: To evaluate the usefulness and attributes of the diphtheria surveillance system in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Setting: Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria. Methods: An observational study, using a mixed-method approach, was adopted. It comprised a survey, a record review of the 2023 outbreak and key informant interviews. A pre-tested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire and an interview guide, adapted from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2001) guidelines on surveillance evaluation, were utilised. Three stakeholders were interviewed, 21 surveillance officers were surveyed, and eight surveillance attributes were assessed. Results: The outbreak data had 67% (n = 382/573) missing values. Eighty-two per cent (n = 432/525) of cases had an investigation initiated within 48 hours. All 21 (100%) respondents reported ease in filling in forms and a willingness to continue participating in the system, which could correctly identify cases. Twelve (57%) of the 21 respondents stated that private health facilities submitted their reports. Of the 12 respondents who reported modifications in the system, six (50%) stated 1 month for implementation. Nineteen (90%) of the 21 respondents reported inadequate resources, while six (67%) of the nine respondents who reported receiving stipends indicated these were provided by partner organisations. Conclusion: The system was acceptable to stakeholders, useful in detecting outbreaks, simple in data collection, flexible in accommodating changes and sensitive in identifying cases. However, resource constraints pose a threat to its stability. We recommend providing adequate resources, improving data quality and reporting from private health facilities. Contribution: The study underscores areas for improvement in the diphtheria surveillance system, highlighting the potential for targeted interventions to overhaul the system

INTESTINAL AND PULMONARY INFECTION BY Cryptosporidium parvum IN TWO PATIENTS WITH HIV/AIDS

We describe two patients with HIV/AIDS who presented pulmonary and intestinal infection caused by Cryptosporidium parvum, with a fatal outcome. The lack of available description of changes in clinical signs and radiographic characteristics of this disease when it is located in the extra-intestinal region causes low prevalence of early diagnosis and a subsequent lack of treatment