Publications

Solitude – time spent by oneself – is a common human experience, though its possible benefits may not be appreciated by many. In a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental evaluation of an exercise designed to teach the psychological benefits of solitude, 54 undergraduate students went on a date with the self, i.e., planning and deliberately spending an afternoon or evening by oneself engaged in personally chosen leisure activity. Results showed that the date with the self produced significant gains in appreciation of time spent alone, relative to a comparison group of 49 students. Of the features of solitude, anonymity and low levels of negative affect during the exercise accounted for increased appreciation for time spent alone, while feelings of inner peace, low levels of loneliness, and previous attitudes toward solitude were related to overall enjoyment of the activity.

This chapter investigates the link between ICT and rural livelihood expansion in the context of the sustainable livelihood framework. Using two sets of agrarian reform communities (beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of e-AGRIKultura project), we found evidence of a positive association between ICT, livelihood and income. There is greater appreciation of the value of information among beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries. While income for non-beneficiaries has increased due to another development intervention, because they appreciate information less, there is a potential threat in sustaining income gains. The ICT project is successful in converting rural communities to have a more progressive viewpoint on the role of ICT in providing information to enhance their livelihood assets. Considering the present endowments available to the rural households, they are better off with the ICT project with significant impact in increasing farm incomes as it facilitates expansion of rural livelihood, thereby increasing non-farm incomes as well.

This study analyzed the foraging behavior of the gastropod Nassarius pullus on garbage-impacted sandy shores of Talim Bay, Batangas, Philippines. The effect of different levels of plastic garbage cover on foraging efficiency was investigated. Controlled in situ baiting experiments were conducted to quantify aspects of foraging behavior as affected by the levels of plastic litter cover in the foraging area. The results of the study indicated that the gastropod’s efficiency in locating and in moving towards a food item generally decreased as the level of plastic cover increased. Prolonged food searching time and increased self-burial in sand were highly correlated with increased plastic cover. The accuracy of orientation towards the actual position of the bait decreased significantly when the amount of plastic cover increased to 50%. These results are consistent with the significant decreases in the abundance of the gastropod observed during periods of deposition of large amounts of plastic and other debris on the shore.

We report on the terahertz (THz) emission from n-GaAs/p-GaSb and /p-InAs/n-GaSb structures using a 1.55 μm femtosecond laser excitation. The effect of the n-GaAs thin film on a p-GaSb substrate is investigated. Significant THz emission from n-GaAs/p-GaSb compared to bare p-GaSb is observed and could be attributed to the built-in field at the interface of the sample. The comparison with a bulk p-InAs and p-InAs/n-GaSb indicates n-GaAs/p-GaSb is a strong THz emitter comparable with those InAs-based emitters.

One of the most concrete instances of pleasure is orgasm – the intense subjective experience of sexual pleasure brought about by masturbation, sexual intercourse, and other forms of erotic behavior. To explore this, 47 Filipino students in an undergraduate human sexuality course conducted orgasm interviews – face to face conversations with 87 women and 101 men about their first and most recent experiences of orgasm. Thischapter discusses the process, outcomes, chal- lenges, and potentials of orgasm interviews as a learning tool for exploring and analyzing Filipino sexual pleasure that can be used in courses in gender, sexuality, and psychology. The psychological and political value of creating open discursive spaces about sexuality and sexual pleasure is emphasized, particularly in the context of Filipino sexual culture.

Health is a fundamental concern for the state to have a "quality population". As both a right and a responsibility, people are taught that "governing oneself" is a necessary condition to help in the pursuit of a strong nation-state. The delegation of responsibility within the individual and his/her immediate horizon confers them to embody agency to seek for possible means on how to address their needs. Patients and their families are rendered as responsible for their illness, hospitalization and poverty since they are expected to "take care of themselves" as Michel Foucault suggest in his later works. Through this, individuals are "delegated the agency" to find solutions for their problems. The experiences of the companions of patients availing social services have been explored in this study to know the dynamics of how they deal with their financial limitations. The participants exercised their sense of agency through borrowing money, betting in the lottery, joining game shows and promos, seeking assistance from government institutions as well as politicians, etc. Most of them exhibit the an attitude that just endures and tolerates their situation wherein they have no access to health insurance and they just let it be whenever they don't have the money to buy the medications of the patients. Despite this situation, they don't blame anybody since they see themselves as merely asking for assistance giving them no right to appear demanding.

Pamimilosopiya: Mga Pagdulog at Konsepto: Ang salitang “pilosopiya” ay madalas na nagpapahiwatig ng malalim at masalimuot na mga paksa na tila hindi maaaring maunawaan ng karaniwang indibidwal. Sa aklat na ito, ipinapakita ng mga may-akda na, salungat sa karaniwang pananaw, isa itong gawain na bukas kanino man na interesadong mag-isip at magpalawak ng kaalaman. Sadyang mahiwaga ang karaniwang paksa, ngunit di nangangahulugang hindi kayang matarok. Nag-aalok ang aklat na ito ng mga pagdulog na maaaring maging gabay sa pagtalakay at pagtuklas ng likas na kagandahan ng disiplina. Sa ganang ito, mapagtatanto na higit sa lahat, ang pilosopiya ay isang disiplina na isinasagawa, ang pamimilosopiya ay gawain. Ang halaga ng aklat na ito ay matatagpuan sa kakayahan nito na maipakita ang gawain ng pamimilosopiya mula sa maraming aspekto nito tulad ng epistemolohiya, etika, metapisika, at pilosopiyang sosyo-politikal, sa paraang maaabot ng mag-aaral ng kasaysayang ng pandaigdigang kaisipan.