Publications

The study looked into how the University of the Philippines School of Library and Information Studies (UP SLIS), its faculty members, and the researcher executed their respective agencies in designing, developing, and implementing LIS 10 Information and Society as a general education (GE) course in UP Diliman. It utilized the structure-agency framework to examine the limitations set by structures the manner by which the agents exercised their agencies subject to such limits. The study is qualitative, with autoethnography as the primary method of inquiry. The researcher created a narrative to uncover knowledge and insight to answer the research questions. Related activities include analysis of documents, recollection of personal experiences, and documentation of perspectives and pertinent events. The study revealed that UP SLIS, in an exercise of its agency as an academic degree-granting unit, along with its various attributes and traits, took the opportunity to propose a GE course. The UP SLIS Faculty exercised its agency by unifying efforts to design a GE course on information issues. The faculty in charge of implementing the course was pivotal in successfully achieving the course outcomes and improving the overall image of the LIS 10 and UP SLIS. With the 2017 UP System GE Framework and the UP Diliman GE requirements as structures, all agents effectively exercised their agencies to ensure that the course satisfied the University policies and contributed to educating intellectually and morally able citizens that are responsible in their information engagements.

A marine outfall can be a wastewater management system that discharges sewage and stormwater into the sea; hence, it is a source of microbial pollution on recreational beaches, including antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs), which lead to an increase in untreatable diseases. In this regard, a marine outfall must be efficiently located to mitigate these risks. This study aimed to 1) investigate the spatiotemporal variability of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and ARGs on a recreational beach and 2) design marine outfalls to reduce microbial risks. For this purpose, E. coli and ARGs with influential environmental variables were intensively monitored on Gwangalli beach, South Korea in this study. Environmental fluid dynamic code (EFDC) was used and calibrated using the monitoring data, and 12 outfall extension scenarios were explored (6 locations at 2 depths). The results revealed that repositioning the marine outfall can significantly reduce the concentrations of E. coli and ARGs on the beach by 46–99%. Offshore extended outfalls at the bottom of the sea reduced concentrations of E. coli and ARGs on the beach more effectively than onshore outfalls at the sea surface. These findings could be helpful in establishing microbial pollution management plans at recreational beaches in the future.

The complexity associated with water quality models (WQMs) has increased owing to the introduction of numerous physical and biological mechanisms in the models. Sensitivity analysis (SA) is conducted to identify influential parameters in these mechanisms. However, enormous computational power and time are required to obtain numerical solutions from thousands of model simulations. Therefore, a cloud-based toolbox is developed for performing SA of WQMs by implementing a cloud computing system using grab sampling data and hyperspectral images (HSI) of waterbodies. Cloud computing can provide high-performance computation by adjusting the scale of the computational power according to user preference. The developed toolbox with the cloud system can reduce the computation time for SA by approximately 20 times compared to that of a desktop computer.

In recent years, as agricultural activities and types of crops have become diverse, the occurrence of micro-pollutants has been reported more frequently in rural areas. These pollutants have detrimental effects on human health and ecological systems; thus, it is important to manage and monitor their presence in the environment. The modeling approach could be an effective way to understand and manage these pollutants. This study predicts the concentrations of micro-pollutants (MPs) using deep learning (DL) models, and the results are then compared with simulation results obtained from the soil water assessment tool (SWAT) model. The SWAT model showed an unacceptable performance owing to the resulting negative Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values for the simulations. This may be caused by the limitations of SWAT, which pertains to adopting simplified equations to simulate micro-pollutants. In addition, the ambiguous plan of pesticide application increased the model uncertainty, thereby deteriorating the model result. Here, we developed two different DL models: long short-term memory (LSTM) and convolutional neural network (CNN). LSTM exhibited the highest model performance, with NSE values of 0.99 and 0.75 for the training and validation steps, respectively. In the multi-target MP model, the error decreased as the number of simulated pollutants increased. The simulation of the four pollutants had the highest error, while the six-target simulation had the lowest error. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the LSTM model has the potential to improve the prediction of MPs in aquatic systems.

Current available methods for water desalination are energy intensive, expensive, and not
feasible for small-scale applications. As an alternative, hydrogels may be utilized as a draw agent and semi-permeable membrane forward osmosis by acting as both to desalinate water. This study aims to synthesize and characterize hydrogels made from cellulose derivatives and reduced graphene oxide nanofillers in order to desalinate and remove microbes from seawater without requiring a large energy input. The hydrogels are formed by combining carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxymethyl cellulose, reduced graphene oxide, and water to form a paste which is soaked in a crosslinking solution made of citric acid. Swelling, compression, antimicrobial efficiency and desalination efficiency tests were done. The hydrogel that obtained the highest values has a swelling ratio of 1,447%, compressive strength of 4 bar, desalination efficiency of 30%, and antimicrobial properties.

Past studies assert that the code-specified response modification factor (R) for structures may not always be suitable due to variations in material properties, geometric configuration and site characteristics. This study presents a method that may be used to optimize the design of reinforced concrete (RC) dual systems utilizing R obtained from incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). A regular nine-story three-dimensional building with a dual system in y-direction and a special moment-resisting frame in x- direction was designed as per NSCP 2015. A nonlinear model of the building was created by defining hinges based on design results. Nonlinear M3-hinges for girders, fiber P-M2-M3 hinge for columns and fiber P-M3 hinge for walls were employed in ETABS. Incremental dynamic analyses for the building case were then performed utilizing seven (7) ground motions obtained from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research online database. Capacity curves were generated for each ground motion by recording the maximum base shear and roof displacement obtained from each time-history analysis. Roughly, a total of 150 time-history analyses were conducted to determine the building’s overstrength factor (Ω) and ductility factor (R_μ ). For each ground motion, the IDA-based response modification factor (R_D ) was computed as the product of Ω and R_μ. Results have shown that the actual R for the building employed varies from 8.0 to 10. Values of R in this range were used to redesign the building, and it was found out that for the building case considered,the building-specific response modification factor R_b=9.5 resulted in the largest reduction of 10.24% in weight and volume of concrete. The proposed method can be used to investigate further the quantification of R for other building configurations and types.

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This paper explores the limitations and possibilities of Habermas’ critical social theory and discourse ethics by utilizing the analyses of two of his former students, Nancy Fraser and Seyla Benhabib. Fraser shows us the limitations of Habermas’ position because it fails to take into consideration the female perspective and contribution to the labor force. This raises the question of migration within the gender framework. On the other hand, Benhabib argues for the potential of Habermas’ philosophy by reminding us of its universalist stance.

The documentary playscript The Intramuros Project is based on ethnographic materials (i.e. transcripts of interviews and storytelling) collected and annotated between March and September 2019 from different stakeholders of Intramuros or Old Manila. These include security guards, ice cream vendors, informal settlers, on-the-job-trainees, padyak drivers, kalesa drivers, and government workers. The documentary performance manuscript also drew from other existing documentary materials such as the Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, news reports about Intramuros, and other resources written about the walled city of Manila. The playscript was developed and workshopped using moment work, a devising technique introduced by the Tectonic Theater Project where devisors and dramaturgs are invited to think of potential staging devices on different scenes. Generally, the documentary piece is an attempt to problematize the concept of heritage using Intramuros as a starting point. In this paper, the playscript developed is explained through the dramaturgical notes. In the end, it is asserted that creative processes of devising and dramaturgy also contribute to cultural studies discourse.

The seawater battery (SWB) is a promising desalination technology that utilizes abundant sodium ions as an energy storage medium. Recently, the alternative desalination system, seawater battery desalination (SWB-D), was developed by placing an SWB next to the desalination compartment. This SWB-D system can desalt water while charging the SWB next to it. However, only a fixed catholyte solution has been investigated, although the catholytes impact the overall SWB-D performance. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of different catholytes on the desalination performance. High-saline reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate or brackish water exhibited excellent salt removal capability (>85.3% of sodium and >76.6% of chloride ions) with relatively short operation times (36.4 h for RO concentrate and 39.5 h for brackish water) upon charging, whereas the relatively low-saline river water showed the longest operation time (81.0 h), implying that river water should be excluded as a potential catholyte. The amount of desalinated water was marginally reduced due to osmosis through the anion exchange membrane; however, the amount of treated salt was >82.9% even after the reduction in water volume. These findings suggest that the catholyte with a resistance of >0.041 kΩ·cm can be ideal for the SWB-D.

Tatangkain ng papel na ito na suriin ang estruktura ng mga verbal sentence ng Bahasa Indonesia na naglalaman ng mga hulaping applicative/causative na -kan at -i mula sa pananaw ng morphological focus system na siyang ginagamit naman sa paglalarawan sa Tagalog, isang Philippine-type na wika. Samantalang ang masalimuot na verbal morphology ng mga wikang Philippine-type ang tumutukoy sa complement na nagsisilbing grammatical subject, ang mga hulaping -kan at -i sa isang Indonesian-type na wika gaya ng Bahasa Indonesia ang naghuhudyat (trigger) sa pagpili ng direct object ng verbal predicate. Mula rito at sa datos na nakalap mula sa iba’t ibang teksbuk at panayam sa mga informant, tatangkain ng pag-aaral na ito na tingnan ang mga posibleng magkakatumbas na kayarian sa pagitan ng grammatical-subject marking ng Tagalog at direct object-marking ng Bahasa Indonesia, at tatalakayin ang implikasyon nito sa pagtuturo ng Bahasa Indonesia sa mga tagapagsalita ng Tagalog, at maging sa pagsasalin mula sa Bahasa Indonesia patungong Tagalog at vice versa.

This paper attempts to analyze the structure of Indonesian verbal sentence containing the applicative/causative suffixes -kan and -i from the perspective of the morphological focus system used in describing Tagalog, a Philippine-type language. Whereas the complex verbal morphology in Philippine-type languages indicates which complement serves as the grammatical subject, the suffixes -kan and -i in an Indonesian-type language such as Bahasa Indonesia trigger the choice of the direct object of the verbal predicate. With these in mind and gathering data from the different pedagogical textbooks and informant work, this study aims to look at the possible equivalent structures between the grammatical-subject marking of Tagalog and direct object-marking in Indonesian, and to discuss their implications for teaching Indonesian to Tagalog-speaking learners as well as doing translation work from Indonesian to Tagalog and vice versa.

In everyday discourses concerning Japanese philosophy, its political aspects are rarely brought to light. It is usually the aesthetic and ethical philosophical traditions that are discussed, especially by Western academics. This may be the reason why a more thorough discussion of Japanese thought and behavior during World War II is seemingly inadequate despite the number of philosophers who already study it. In countries such as the Philippines, China, or Korea where the Japanese occupation remains a politically charged subject, an analysis of Japanese philosophy may provide a more robust understanding of the war experience. In this regard, the philosophical approach and political thought of Maruyama Masao remain relevant. In this paper, I discuss the two distinct ways in which his philosophy may prove essential in contextualizing Japanese philosophy in relation to the war and beyond it, that is, as a critical assessor of his country’s past and as a political realist with a cosmopolitan approach. These two ways are grounded in his discussion of autonomous subjectivity

Physically cross-linked NaCMC/HPC/NaAlg hydrogel beads were subjected to several performance tests to determine their ability to mitigate the immediate impacts of drought and their effectiveness to control nutrient release in soil. The tests showed that the beads have a water absorption capacity of 2438%, indicating superabsorbent capability. Reusability tests showed that they are capable of at least six cycles of swelling/deswelling with a net decrease in swelling from 331% to 170%. Nutrient release studies were done using a multistage diffusion model to examine their effectiveness in controlled release. Soil amendment studies showed that a 2.65% increase in the maximum water holding capacity is obtained per 0.1% of hydrogels in soil. Furthermore, phytotoxicity studies showed that the germination indices of representative vegetable crops planted in hydrogel-treated soil are above well above the threshold for phytotoxicity limit. Lastly, the hydrogels also showed potential as a growing substrate in soilless cultivation.

The essay interrogates how the theatre is used to affirm and to problematize the construction of historical narrative and political discourse, specifically the creation of public assembly, counter- narrative and artistic activism. Through  the performance of the Filipino play Nana Rosa, it is argued that the theatre has a potential to transform personal testimonies into a radical assembly by invoking a community, whose members possess a social responsibility to  recognize the precarity of each other. It also inquires the necessity of inserting scenarios in the play even if these are not officially recognized as official historical encounters. The insertion is proposed to be an artistic mode of  countering the dominant narrative (i.e. Japan’s denial of the sexual abuses during the Pacific War). Finally, it investigates the relationship of the play and the local theatre genre drama simbolico, a subversive and highly political  Philippine melodrama during the early 20th century. Looking at the costumes, the play is a political demonstration, protesting colonial experience and oppressive narrative. In the end, through the transformation of the assembly, the  creation of the counter-narrative and the subtle revival of the drama simbolico, Nana Rosa is asserted as an example of artistic activism, featuring resistances and subversions.