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Accurate risk assessment of international scientific and technological (S&T) cooperation is significant to international cooperation. In this paper, 5 risk dimensions with respect to the political, economic, social, cultural as well as technological of the regional comprehensive economic partnership countries (RCEP) are selected to establish a proper S&T cooperation index system for risk assessment. To calculate the weight of each index, a cross-entropy combination weighting method is proposed based on the combination weighting method of game theory. Furthermore, the standard cloud model is constructed by using the golden ratio, and the risk of S&T cooperation among the RCEP countries is analyzed by the cloud model. The results show that the combination weighting method proposed in this paper is effective, and its calculation is simpler than that of the game theory combination weighting method. Besides, compared with political, social, cultural, and technological indicators, economic indicators have a greater impact on S&T cooperation risk. Furthermore, it is also obtained from the results that the risk of S&T cooperation with China and the Philippines is at a lower to low level and medium to higher level, respectively, and the risk of S&T cooperation with other countries is all at a lower to medium level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar photovoltaics are considered the practical solution to energy access and climate change issues, especially in tropical countries that receive relatively more sunlight throughout the year. However, questions arise on the reliability of these systems in providing sufficient supply to meet the users' electricity needs. This paper looks at the reliability of a solar project installed on two rooftops on an off-grid island in Cebu, Philippines, that provides increased electricity access to 11 households. PVSyst and HOMER Pro software analyzed solar PV systems performance and techno-economics. The simulations yielded the annual mean values of reference yield, array yield, final yield, array capture loss, system loss, performance ratio, and capacity factor are 5.66 kWh/m2/day, 3.51 kWh/kWp/day, 3.23 kWh/kWp/day, 2.15, 0.278, 57.10%, and 18.96%, respectively. The peak PV resource of 3.30 kWp/day can supply the 1.66 kWp/day of the consumer's electrical demand. It was concluded that the current installation could supply the electrical load demand of the residents; however, consideration for the potential increase in demand must be in place. While renewable energy sources are relevant in achieving 100% electrification in rural communities, their ability to address the energy demands of the users must be carefully considered in planning and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil spills are major anthropogenic disasters that cause serious harm to marine environments. In the Philippines, traditional methods of rehabilitating oil-polluted areas were proven to be less efficient and cause further damage to the environment. Microbial degradation has poised itself to be a promising alternative to those traditional methods in remediating oil spills. Hence, the present study aimed to enrich and characterize hydrocarbon-degrading microbial consortia from oil-contaminated regions in Guimaras Island for potential use in bioremediation. A total of 75 soil samples were obtained and used as inoculum for the enrichment for hydrocarbon degraders. Afterwards, 32 consortia were recovered and subjected to the 2,6-DCPIP assay for biodegradation ability on four types of hydrocarbons: diesel, xylene, hexane, and hexadecane. The consortia that obtained the highest percent degradation for each of the four hydrocarbons were "B2" (92.34% diesel degraded), "A5" (85.55% hexadecane degraded), "B1" (74.33% hexane degraded), and "B7" (63.38% xylene degraded). Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed that the dominant phyla in all consortia are Pseudomonadota (previously Proteobacteria), followed by Bacillota (previously Firmicutes). Overall, the amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) retrieved were mainly from the Gammaproteobacteria class, in which many hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria are found. Predictive functional profiling of the consortium showed the presence of genes involved in the degradation of recalcitrant hydrocarbon pollutants. Fatty acid metabolism, which includes alkB (alkane-1-monooxygenase) and genes for beta oxidation, was inferred to be the most abundant amongst all hydrocarbon degradation pathways. Klebsiella sp. is the predominant ASV in all the sequenced consortia as well as the major contributor of hydrocarbon degradation genes. The findings of the study can serve as groundwork for the development of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial consortia for the bioremediation of oil spill-affected areas in the Philippines. Likewise, this paper provides a basis for further investigation into the role of Klebsiella sp. in the bioremediation of hydrocarbon pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Occupational stress is a phenomenon affecting people worldwide. Investigating occupational stress among immigrant worker populations will unravel some of the intricacies of this condition and its psychological effects on this population. Aim. This paper conceptually examined occupational stress within the context of immigrant workers' mental health and offer an operational definition to aid nurse researchers, educators, and practitioners in assessing and managing patients and developing culturally appropriate interventions for this population. Design. Walker and Avant's eight-step concept analysis is used as an organizing framework. Data Source. MEDLINE, CINAHL, OVID, PubMed, and APA Psych Info. Review Methods. Keywords job stress, immigrant work stress, occupational stress scale, immigrant work-related stress, and mental health were used. The search yielded 142 articles; 17 were selected based on the effect of work stress on mental health. Results. This analysis found that occupational stress can be attributed to communication problems, alienation, discrimination, and barriers to work-life balance can cause negative consequences among immigrants. An operational definition is also provided. Conclusion. There is a growing need to examine closely and differentiate between occupational and acculturative stress to navigate a more profound understanding of how these conditions negatively complement each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptomyces species are considered to be the most prolific sources of various bioactive secondary metabolites that are important for antibiotic production. Here, we describe a modified integrated approach to isolate Streptomyces species from diverse soil habitats, such as dumpsite, garden, forest, grassland, and riverside in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines. A total of 25 soil samples were collected from a depth of 0–20 cm using systematic random soil sampling. All soil samples were air-dried, crushed, pretreated with calcium carbonate, and incubated on a rotary shaker. Isolation of Streptomyces in soil samples was then performed using the standard serial dilution plate technique on starch casein agar supplemented with nystatin (50 μg/ml) and ampicillin (5 μg/ml). Identification of the Streptomyces isolates was done using a polyphasic method that includes morphological and biochemical characterization. A total of 103 morphologically and biochemically distinct Streptomyces were isolated from diverse soil habitats. The number of Streptomyces isolates varied in each collection site, with the highest number collected from dumpsite soil and the least from forest soil. Most of the hydrogen sulfide producers were noted to be isolated from dumpsite samples. Moreover, more Streptomyces were isolated in soil habitats at higher altitudes with a slightly acidic to alkaline pH and a temperature ranging from 29 to 33°C. Employing the modified integrated approach, we have isolated up to 10 times more Streptomyces compared to early studies. These Streptomyces isolates can be valuable for future drug discovery and development research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African swine fever (ASF) and classical swine fever (CSF) are two major transboundary animal diseases of swine with important socioeconomic consequences at farm, subnational and national level. The objective of this study was to evaluate the direct cost of outbreaks and their control at country/regional level in four countries: namely CSF in Colombia in 2015–2016, the retrospective cost of ASF in the Philippines in 2019 and in a province of Vietnam in 2020 and a hypothetical ASF scenario in one region in North Macedonia, using the newly developed Outbreak Costing Tool (OutCosT). The tool calculates the costs of 106 different items, broken down by up to four types of farms, and by who assumes the cost (whether veterinary services, farmers or other stakeholders). The total cost of CSF in Colombia was US$ 3.8 million, of which 88% represented the cost of the vaccination campaign. For ASF, there were wide differences between countries: US$ 8,26,911 in Lao Cai (Vietnam), US$ 33,19,666 in North Macedonia and over US$ 58 million in the Philippines. While in the Philippines and Vietnam, 96–98% of the cost occurred in the affected farms, the highest expenditure in North Macedonia scenario was the movement control of the neighbouring and at‐risk farms (77%). These important differences between countries depend on the spread of the disease, but also on the production systems affected and the measures applied. Apart from the financial cost, these diseases have other negative impacts, especially in the livelihoods of smallholder farms. The OutCosT tool also allows users to evaluate qualitatively other important aspects related to the epidemics, such as the impact on human health, the environment, animal welfare, socioeconomic vulnerability, trading and political response. OutCosT, which is a FAO corporate tool (available online at: https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user%5fupload/faoweb/animal‐health/OutCosT%5fPIG.xlsx), can be an important tool to support country authorities to rapidly respond to a swine disease outbreak by estimating the associated costs and for advocacy purposes to mobilize resources at national or international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has resulted in school closures and the reopening of schools is considered to be a possible approach to start reversing learning deficits. However, the literature is scarce on the determinants of intention to attend face‐to‐face classes among nursing students. Method: This cross‐sectional study examined students' intention to attend limited face‐to‐face classes on school reopening, and its association among the core constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Undergraduate nursing students of one university in the Philippines (n = 322) answered an online questionnaire. Predictor variables were determined by multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Results demonstrated that nursing students had a high intention (4.47 of 5) to attend limited face‐to‐face classes. First‐ and second‐year students had significantly higher intention to attend limited face‐to‐face classes than third‐ and fourth‐year nursing students. Multiple regression analysis suggested that attitude (β =.127, p =.001), subjective norm (β =.400, p =.000), and perceived behavioral control (β =.326, p =.000) positively predicted students' intention to attend face‐to‐face classes. Conclusion: As many schools prepare for the gradual reopening of campuses, the different beliefs of students may be considered by nursing schools to better understand students' intention for face‐to‐face instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While teaching quality has been widely studied, this work advances the domain literature by evaluating the factors influencing teaching quality in order to determine their causal relationships and eventually identify those crucial factors. With ten factors obtained from a comprehensive review of literature, the neutrosophic decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method is used to model these factors in the case of public universities in the Philippines. The DEMATEL handles the causal relationships among factors of teaching quality, while the vagueness associated with domain experts eliciting judgments within the DEMATEL is modeled in single-valued neutrosophic numbers. Findings reveal that individual characteristics, psychological characteristics, and institutional culture are key factors of teaching quality, while institutional resources and student composition are minor key factors. Higher education institutions (HEIs) must pay more attention to these factors in designing different initiatives, as they are crucial in shaping teaching quality. These findings offer important insights for HEIs in their recruitment and hiring decisions, strategic road mapping for building an institutional culture that values teaching quality, establishing student composition schemes, and resource allocation decisions for promoting institutional resources that drive teaching quality initiatives. Some policy takeaways and avenues for future works are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biophysical characteristics that affect the distribution of sandfish in the sea ranch were investigated to determine indicators for a suitable habitat for sandfish sea ranching. These include sediment grain size, organic matter (OM), chlorophyll a, pheophytin, penetrability, depth and seagrass cover. A total of 5864 hatchery-produced sandfish juveniles were released in seven batches in a 5-ha ranching site in Maliwaliw Island over a period of three years. The 5-ha ranch was divided into three zones, with Zone A (50 x 50 m) being the juvenile release site. Survey of the released sandfish was done quarterly from February 2016 until May 2017 and sediment collection done twice. A total of 750 sandfish weighing 10-600 g were recorded; 23% were <150 g, 59% were 151-350 g, 17% were 351-550 g, and 2% were >550 g. Distribution of substrate parameters between the different sea ranch zones showed no significant differences (p > 0.05). Visualized sediment grain-size data showed multiple cohorts of sandfish with varying sizes in different zones with predominantly medium and fine grains with relatively higher total OM and labile OM. Sandfish >351 g were found in deeper waters (>70 cm at low tide) with lower concentrations of labile OM and chlorophyll a, and higher pheophytin. Sandfish <350 g were found in areas with higher labile OM, higher chlorophyll a and lower pheophytin. Results of this study indicate the need for a sandfish sea ranch site with water depth >30 cm at low tide, and varying sediment particle size and composition to support the different stages of growth and development of sandfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]