Manila’s Black Nazarene and the Reign of Bathala

A consideration of how the dynamics surrounding Manila\u27s Black Nazarene express crucial themes in the Filipino psyche. The article specifically addresses the importance of felt-experience (pagdama) in devotion to the Black Nazarene as well as its connections to indigenous Filipino religion

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Linear programming and sensitivity analysis: An AI-based CAI on operations research

Linear Programming and Sensitivity analysis (LIPS) is a computer aided instruction software package. It is specifically designed as a supplement to Computer Science students taking up INTROPE classes. The main topics included are the several algebraic methods of solving linear problems. Discussion on Sensitivity analysis can also be found in the system. The analysis is limited to the following cases: changes in the right hand side, addition of new constraints, and changes in the objective function. LIPS uses AI representation schemes in modelling domain knowledge. The domain knowledge includes the decision points regarding lesson flow and drill sequencing