The Bicol University COVID-19 Study on the Clinicodemographic Profile, Extent of Exposures, Vaccination, and Predictors of Outcomes Among its Employees: A Retrospective Cohort Study

This work focused on the development of an empirical model which encapsulated factor effects and factor interactions that affect the capacity of titanium dioxide (IV) (titania) impregnated rice husk ash (RHA) and coco coir dust (CCD) to remove amoxicillin dissolve in aqueous solution. Variables that were considered in this work were the following: initial amoxicillin concentration (ppm), time (min), titania impregnated adsorbent dosage (mg), and type of adsorbent (RHA and CCD). A 16 run general multi-level categoric (GMC) experimental design was then implemented to determine a suitable format for the built empirical model. Collation and analysis of the 16-point experimental data derived out of the implemented GMC experimental design identified that the data are in strong agreement with a two-factor interaction (2FI) mathematical model which considered the amoxicillin removal of titania impregnated adsorbents as the response variable. Results of analysis of variance using the collated experimental data validated that the initial amoxicillin concentration, titania impregnated adsorbent dosage, type of adsorbent, and the interaction between the titania impregnated adsorbent dosage and type of adsorbent were statistically significant terms of the formulated 2FI empirical model. Application of a regression analysis validated that the adjusted and predictive coefficients of determination were very near to unity. In addition, confirmatory experiments conducted indicated an average error 1.30% when the predicted amoxicillin removals were compared to the amoxicillin removals calculated by the formulated 2FI empirical model. This substantial evidence strongly implied that the developed 2FI empirical model was accurate and precise in determining a possible maximum amoxicillin removal in the solution space captured by the 16-point experimental data. Moreover, the predicted and experimentally observed amoxicillin removals were consistent in identifying RHA as the most suitable adsorbent for titania particle immobilization which yielded an amoxicillin removal capacity of about 50%.

This paper aimed to assess the level of Bicol University in the internationalization in higher education and looked into the profile of Bicol University in terms of the ten internationalization domains: a) student mobility; b) faculty mobility; c) institutional linkages; d) research; e) international presence; f) internationalization at home; g) regional connectivity; h) ranking; i) curriculum; and j) planning for internationalization. This research used the Network-based Internationalization Theory. The descriptive-qualitative method was employed where textual evaluation and FGD were used in the procedure. The level of internationalization was determined through an assessment instrument composed of a table of indicators per domain and analyzed according to the indicators for internationalization, specifically made for this study, culled from various literature and studies on internationalization, cross-border education or transnational education. Each domain’s corresponding percentage was further tabulated as to its significance in the internationalization of an institution

In the attempt to provide an alternative mode to deliver the competencies of the Philippine K to 12 Junior Science Curriculum, the researchers explored thematic instruction. Cognizant to the process is the identification of the themes for the pedagogy. The researchers used a qualitative research design with document analysis procedures for the identification of the theme and expert interviews for its validation. Upon the document analysis of the different curricular reforms in the Philippines, four emergent themes were identified—body, environment, country, and earth and universe. On the other hand, the science education experts found the themes to be adaptable, useful, understandable, and feasible. However, the validation process revealed some inputs to the development of the thematic instructional model in terms of its international adaptability, matching of topics with the theme, and the potential of integration with other disciplines.

In this paper, the level of awareness of the academic community and industries in the Province of Bataan regarding the 3D printing technology was determined. Specifically, it aims to assess the perceived knowledge of the respondents from the academe, industry and government agencies about the existence, working principles, applications and benefits of 3D printing. Survey Questionnaires were administered to three-thousand and one (N=3001) participants composed of students, faculty and administrators in secondary and tertiary institutions, industry representatives, and Local Government Unit (LGU) Department Heads in the Province of Bataan, Central Luzon, Philippines. The responses were obtained and analyzed. Results indicated that in terms of the awareness on 3D printing technology, mostly “have heard” about it, however, majority (~97%) do not know its working principle and only ~41% know the applications of 3D Printing. Majority of the respondents expressed strong interest to learn more about 3D printing. While less than 50% of the teachers and school administrators surveyed showed interest in buying/using 3D Printers. Also, majority of the respondents expressed willingness to buy 3D printed products in general. Science 3D Models had the highest response as to the beliefs of the school faculty and administrators in reinforcing learning concepts particularly in the secondary level while 3D printed machines is higher among college teachers and administrators. Majority of the respondents expressed that 3D Printing will become a mainstream practice within the next 5 years. It can be expected that the awareness level will keep increasing not only in the province but also in the country especially now that the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has established 3D printing research and development facilities in several parts of the country as it aggressively promotes the additive manufacturing / 3D printing industry in the country.

Secondary metabolites from microorganisms are good sources of natural products which can be utilized for various medical and biotechnological purposes. Several members of the bacterial group Myxobacteria are known to be prolific producers of secondary metabolites. Philippine forest soils are rich habitats for Myxobacteria which could produce secondary metabolites with potential novel biological activities. Soils from Mt. Makiling in Laguna and from Mt. Malinao in Albay were collected for the isolation of myxobacteria which were then screened for nematicidal activities. The dung bait plate, yeast-spot plate and coli-spot plate baiting techniques were used to isolate myxobacteria from soils. Myxobacterial isolates were selected based on the presence of fruiting bodies and swarm colonies characteristic of myxobacteria. Ten representative isolates were grown in CTT medium (30ºC, 150 rpm, four days) with 2% XAD-16 adsorber resin. Cell metabolites were extracted using 1:1 methanol:acetone. The crude extracts were used for the nematicidal assay against Caenorhabditis elegans Bristol N2 for 24 hours at 25ºC. High nematicidal activities based on nematode mortality were observed from the extracts of L4D1 (90.33% +/- 3.06) and L4D9 (86.00% +/- 3.6) while the commercial preparation of mebendazole as positive control showed 100% mortality. The differences in the percentage mortalities caused by the various extracts were highly significant at p<0.05 based on One Way ANOVA and Tukey HSD. L4D9 and L4D1 were identified based on phenotypes and 16S rRNA sequences as strains of Myxococcus xanthus. This study contributes to the scarce literature and culture collection of myxobacteria in the Philippines and especially those with potential anthelminthic activities.

Hypersensitive response (HR) is a key feature of plant immunity that sacrifices through programmed cell death (PCD) the already infected cells and thereby restricts the growth and further invasion of pathogens. Rice (Oryza sativa) lesion mimic mutants (LMM) manifest disease phenotype in the absence of pathogen and are monocots’ model organisms in unraveling the molecular mechanism of HR-induced PCD. The LMM 6321-2 used in this study was from an ethyl methanesulfonate-generated mutant accession obtained from IRRI, Philippines and was phenotypically and genetically characterized. It was an initiator type of LMM with significantly reduced agronomic yield potential. However, LMM 6321-2 exhibited increased or partial resistance against virulent rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae (PO6-6 and CA89 isolates) and induced HR-mediated PCD after avirulent isolate (V86010, CA41 and M101- 1-2-9-1) inoculation using rice blast nursery spray and punch inoculation assays. Segregation analysis using the F2 population showed LMM 6321-2 to be a single recessive mutation. Expression profiling of PCD-associated genes showed significant changes in its expression profile both in non-inoculated setup and M. oryzae post-inoculated experiments where genes of NADPH oxidases, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers, LMM-, phytohormone-, senescence- and pathogenesis-related genes were found to be significantly expressed with a different timing of expression than its IR64 parent. In brief, the mutant showed delayed expression of PCD-related genes peaking 48 hours post-inoculation (hpi) compared to IR64, which heightened 24 hpi. Taken together, it was hypothesized that LMM 6321-2 have a ROSmediated PCD where the mutation plays a key role in the lesion mimicking phenotype.

The study assessed the existing supply chains for dried sardines and identified areas for improvement. The sites covered were the provinces of Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, and Masbate. There are five major supply chains for dried sardines in the Bicol region, with Granadino supply chain as the biggest. The processors generate the highest ROC while the fisherfolks incur net loss. The fisherfolks and the processors have very high-efficiency levels, while the traders have lower efficiency level. The processors are the least flexible and responsive, while the traders are the most flexible and responsive. The areas for improvement identified are the dwindling supply of fresh sardines, financial dependence of fisherfolks to traders, lack of market information of fisherfolks, difficulty of drying sardines during the rainy season, non-observance of good manufacturing practices of processors, not well-defined grading or classification system for dried sardines, unsuitable and inadequate cold storage facility, non-observance of FIFO inventory system, absence of viable industry association, and unawareness of consumers on the grading or classification of dried sardines. It is recommended that the trading center or bagsakan be established in different sardine producing areas; adequate and proper cold storage facility be provided to the processors and traders of dried sardines; formulation of grading standards be initiated by the Bureau of Product Standards of DTI in consultation with the different stakeholders, and this be made known to the consumers and be strictly implemented; strict implementation of existing policies on illegal fishing and other destructive activities be done; a collaboration of DOST and DTI in providing trainings on Good Manufacturing Practices for processors and proper inventory system for the processors and traders be carried out; DOLE in coordination with the respective LGUs could provide alternative livelihood programs/ activities during lean months, and industry associations be organized or activated by LGUs.

This paper provides an analysis of the stakeholder’s perception about the crab-lying in technology as a resource enhancement strategy for swimming crabs. The study was implemented in collaboration with regional State Universities and Colleges. Data collection was carried out from a randomly selected 58 key informant-respondents. The interview consists of four major aspects, which include knowledge, attitude, practices and perception. All data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Result obtained showed 72.41% and 53.50% of the informants have limited knowledge about crab lying-in technology and swimming crab fisheries management, respectively. Those who have knowledge are limited to the fisheries regulatory measures like mesh-size restriction (30%) and fishery law enforcement (12.50%); aquaculture (20%); close season (20%) and crab lying-in technology (17.50%). This could be attributed to the inadequate information dissemination. Blue crab (Portunus pelagicus); Christian crab (Charybdis feriata) and mangrove crab (Scylla serrata) are the most important species known. A decline in production coupled by smaller harvest sizes was noted, indicating signs of overfishing. Interestingly, stakeholders expressed positivity and willingness to support and participate in the protection of crab fishery and its ecosystems. A conflict between the protection of crab fishery and its ecosystems and waste management attitude and practices as an important factor influencing the possibility of potential risk to marine’s resources including crab fisheries due to pollution and environmental contamination was noted. At home and community, improper was disposal was common. Despite this, stakeholders’ perception is inclined to positively support in the resources management initiatives of the government and the crab lying-in technology is seen as a useful tool for resource enhancement. It should be noted however that difference in community knowledge, attitudes, and practices plays a significant role in influencing success or failure of these resource enhancement initiatives. In conclusion, the stakeholder’s positive outlook, willingness to support the crab lying-in technology as a resource enhancement strategy can make a difference. It is recommended that massive information, education and communication campaign about the technology and ecologically solid waste management be implemented.