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Patterns of co-occurrence of epifoliar fungi in the Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR).
No full textPatterns and mechanisms of species co-occurrence in spatial and temporal considerations are noteworthy questions in community and conservation ecology. Much of the debate focuses on randomness or non-randomness in the structuring process of ecological assemblies, and the extent to which local/deterministic or regional/stochastic mechanisms may drive their composition. Here we studied assemblages of epifoliar fungi--diverse, mostly Ascomycetous microfungal unit communities typified by benign, asymptomatic and folicolous habit to determine its patterns of co-occurrence and to determine community diversity. We used a null model analysis of 30 identified morphospecies of epifoliar fungi found on 76 leaves from vascular plants along the Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR) understory. C-board, Combo and C-score indices were used to quantify co-occurrence and the Shannon-Wiener index to assess diversity at leaf- and whole MFR-levels. Species assemblages were shown to demonstrate segregative, non-random patterns of co-occurrence, as evidenced by C-Score (Obs=16.65517; Exp=15.86471; p=0.00000) and C-board scores (Obs=375.00000; Exp=363.08580; p=0.00030) that are greater than the expected null distribution, and a Combo score (Obs=36.00000; Exp=53.38610; p=0.00000) that is lower than the expected null distribution. While not evaluated in the study, plausible mechanisms that influenced the pattern observed, notably competitive exclusion and neutral processes, were discussed. Both leaf- and MFR-level Shannon-Wiener indices reveal a community of low species diversity, possibly an upshot of the segregative pattern observed
GNAT: GENETIC NEURAL NETWORK ANALYTIC TOOL APPLICATION OF GENETIC ALGORITHM OPTIMIZED ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK FOR THE MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS OF DENGUE FEVER
No full textDengue fever is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world. An estimated 50 million dengue infections occur annually and approximately 2.5 billion people live in dengue endemic countries, one of which is the Philippines. Dengue is often characterized with influenza-like symptoms which include fever, rash, and body pain. Carried by the Aedes Egypti mosquito, the disease spreads as mosquitoes feed on an infected host and is passed on and transmitted by feeding on another host. Reported cases significantly increase during the rainy season wherein stagnant water becomes home to the mosquitoes and their offspring.
Often, failure to properly diagnose the disease leads to further infection and in worst cases, fatality. Ergo, early detection and proper diagnosis can be critical and life-saving. Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) help achieve and attain that. CDSSs combine knowledge and data to generate and present helpful information to health care providers as care is being delivered.
The Genetic Neural Network Analytic Tool for Dengue Fever (GNAT) is devised and created to be a CDSS that provides a novel, efficient, and robust way to detect and diagnose dengue fever. GNAT utilizes artificial neural networks (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA) to classify whether patients are infected with dengue fever. Inspired by the biological brain, ANNs emulate the signal integration and threshold firing of biological neurons with the use of mathematical models and statistical weights. Hampered by the lack of an efficient training method, GA is used to optimize the weights between artificial neurons. GAs, as it mimics evolutionary processes, provides the best if not the correct solution to a wide range of problems
CORDIE: A Web-based Collaborative Real-time Diagram Editor
No full textDistributed software engineering has become the trend in accomplishing software projects.
One of the difficulties with this is that it requires team members to participate in the software design,
which is an important stage in a software development process, even if they are geographically
separated. Instead of the traditional way of gathering around and taking turns sketching on a
whiteboard, software engineers adopt various tools to participate in the software design. However,
many of the software modeling tools today are insufficient to support the fluidity of interaction among
collaborators in the design process.
In order to address the problem CORDIE was developed. CORDIE enables its users to create UML
diagrams through the web browser. It also allows simultaneous editing of a single diagram by multiple
users. It was concluded that CORDIE can act as a tool in collaborative software design. This also means
that users of CORDIE can participate in the software modeling process even if they are in different
locations
Assessment of Jatropha curcas L. biodiesel seed cake toxicity using the Zebrafish Embryo Toxicity (ZFET) Test.
No full textConsequent to the growing demand for alternative sources of energy, the seeds from J. curcas remain to be the favorite for biodiesel production. However, a significant volume of the residual organic mass (seed cake) is produced during the extraction process, which raises concerns on safe waste disposal. In the present study, we assessed the toxicity of J.curcas seed cake using the zebrafish embryotoxicity (ZFET) test. Within 1 hpf (hour post-fertilization), the fertilized eggs were exposed to five mass concentrations of J. curcas seed cake and were followed through 24, 48, and 72 hpf. Toxicity was evaluated based on lethal endpoints induced on zebrafish embryos namely egg coagulation, non-formation of somites, and non-detachment of tail. The lowest concentration tested, 1 g/L, was not able to elicit toxicity on embryos whereas 100% mortality (based also on lethal endpoints) was recorded at the highest concentration at 2.15 g/L. The computed LC50 for the J. curcas seed cake was 1.61 g/L. No further increase in mortality was observed in the succeeding time points (48 hpf and 72 hpf) indicating that J. curcas seed cake exerted acute toxicity on zebrafish embryos. Sublethal endpoints (yolk sac and pericardial edema) were noted at 72 hpf in zebrafish embryos exposed to higher concentrations. The observed lethal endpoints induced on zebrafish embryos were discussed in relation to the active principles, notably phorbol esters that have remained in the seed cake even after extraction
Relationship of Soil Fertility to Aboveground Biomass of Rain Forest Trees at Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park.
No full textThe relationship between biomass soil fertility and aboveground is an important but poorly understood component of a tropical rain forest. No consistent trend connecting the two has been established in past studies (Castilho et al., 2006; Oren et al., 2001; Ashton and Hall, 1992; van Schaik and Mirmanto, 1985). To elucidate relationship between aboveground biomass and soil fertility, bivariate Spearman correlation analyses were done between aboveground biomass and each of the 11 soil fertility parameters (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg nutrients; %clay, %sand, and %silt texture components; pH; organic matter; water holding capacity) from 17 sampling plots located along the trail of Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. Aboveground biomass was estimated using Brown’s moist forest allometric equat ion (1997). Sampled soils were sent to Bureau of Soil and Water Management for evaluation of soil fertility parameters. Across all plots, 89% of the total aboveground biomass was observed from 7 of 170 trees. Soil nutrients were low (N=0.11±0.04%, P=0.43±0.78 ppm, K=0.19±0.10 meg/100g soil, Ca=6.74±7.03 meg/100g soil, Mg=1.25±0.75 meg/100g soil), while organic matter content (7.48±4.99%) and water holding capacity (52.46±6.33%) were high. The soil was acidic (pH 5.25) and was clayish (40.19%). The results obtained typify a lowland moist tropical rain forest that is already at climax ecological succession. No sufficient evidence shows the correlation between aboveground biomass and every soil fertility parameter in the study site. Biomass accumulation in climax forest is not affected by the fertility of the soil
Fine Grained Access Security Module for DentISt: Dental Information System(DentISt) 3.0
No full textDentISt 3.0 is the third version of the electronic patient record in UPCD.
Compare to the earlier version, the new one no longer uses OpenMRS as its
EMR engine thus xing the compatibility issues that was seen in the earlier
version and give a more student-teacher approach.
As security in a system is one of the main concerns in converting from
paper-based to electronic-based; DentISt has one module concerning the ne-
grained access control of the system. To strengthen the access control, the
usual placement of the access control in the application layer is change to the
database layer and also using some HIPAA policies for sensitive data. Having
the access control in the database layer helps us to have a multi-user database
login and the use of stored procedure to avoid SQL injection. Some policies
also provide us to provide three important security features- data integrity,
con dentiality and availability and audit trail of the system
Philippine Nursing Research Archive
No full textPhilippine Nursing Research Archive is a web-based system designed to provide a centralized and advanced collection of nursing-related articles essential as references for information gathering in studies and in practice of the profession. This system is a breakthrough project of the Philippine Nursing Research Society that showcases various researches from different institutions around the Philippines that provide evidence to guide and improve nursing practice. Aside from the basic information on every article in this system such as authors and publication date, the research type, category and specification are also indicated for a more comprehensive search and understanding of what the article is about. This advancement in information dissemination makes it easier for researches to gather relevant data that can contribute to the improvement of health care in the country
Women at work: feminization of labor in the Philippine manufacturing industry (a case study on NXP Semiconductors and ADVAN companies).
No full textThe emergence of export processing zones and the growth of the manufacturing industry in the Philippines gave rise to the population of women in the labor force. They are employed mainly because of their cheap and docile labor and their willingness to work for longer hours with repetitive activities common in the manufacturing industry. However, this rise of the population of women or feminization of labor also brought negative effects. Women became more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation due to the poor working conditions and oppressive practices in the industry.
This research highlights the problems women workers, particularly the ADVAN AND NXP women workers, face in the manufacturing industry. This study also includes the role of union movements in the protection of women workers
Salivary gland analysis of different species of Anopheles mosquitoes from Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac, Philippines for the presence of Plasmodium sp. sporozoites.
No full textThis study aimed to assess the presence of Plasmodium sporozoites in Anopheles mosquitoes in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac from November 2012 to January 2013. A total of 5,401 mosquitoes were using a commercial CO2 trap that utilized titanium oxide photocatalysis. Of this total, 2,633 Anopheles sp. mosquitoes were identified and only 278 females were identified to the species level, dissected and assessed for the presence of Plasmodium sporozoites in their salivary glands. Results showed that the common Anopheles sp. identified were the A. subpictus (18.29%), A. litoralis (6.89%), A. vagus limosus (5.70%) and A. gigas formosus (5.23%), A. ludlowae ludlowae (3.33%), A. philippinensis (3.09%), A. vagus vagus (2.14%), A. minimus flavirostris (1.43%) A. maculatus (1.19%), A. mangyanus (0.95%), A. balabacensis (0.48%), A. annularis (0.24%) and A. tessellatus (0.24%). No Plasmodium sporozoites were seen in any of the dissected specimens’ salivary glands
Interphasing engagements: a descriptive study of the interorganizational network of organizations engaging in reproductive health.
No full textThe study describes the interorganizational network of member organizations of Reproductive Health Advocacy Network. Using the network theory and survey strategy, this study measures structural indicators of the network, particularly size, density, reciprocity and centrality. RHAN has a network size of 35 which represents the active member organizations of the network. These 35 organizations yielded 40% network density and 54.55% network reciprocity. Centrality measures were calculated per actor. It has been found that Organization 7 is the most central actor in the network; obtaining high scores across the three measures of centrality used in this study: in-degree, out-degree and betweenness. Five engagements of local NGOs namely Education and Information Services, Clinical Services and Support, RH Program Linkages, Program Support and Initiatives and Financial Assistance were specifically examined. This study aims to provide a description of Reproductive Health Advocacy Network by illustrating the interconnectedness of the members and identifying key players in the network. Implications on network theory, interview-administered survey and network policies were also discussed