LEARNING PREFERENCES AND VACCINATION STATUS OF STUDENTS IN A TERTIARY INSTITUTION: BASIS FOR FLEXIBLE LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION 2.0

The objective of this study is to determine the learning preferences and vaccination status of students from a local college in Olongapo City, Philippines. The investigators employed a descriptive-survey research among 5,021 students who were currently enrolled in the academic year of 2021-2022.  Results show that 94.7% prefer online mode of learning; 79.7% show intention to enroll for the next semester of the new academic year; however only 51.7% of the students wanted a face-to-face class and 61.4% of the students’ parents/guardian approve their son/daughter to attend face-to-face classes. In terms of vaccination status, 95.3% of the students have their vaccinations shots already (fully vaccinated) and Pfizer was the brand of choice of the 38% students. The study concluded that students are still prefer online mode of learning. Also, majority of the students were fully vaccinated. The study recommends continue and enhance the implementation of flexible learning of the institution

The Role of University Supervisor’s Supervisory Visits and the Enhancement of Student Teachers’ Competencies in Teaching

This study sought to examine the extent to which supervisory visits influence the enhancement of student teachers’ competencies in teaching: The case of Universities of Buea and Bamenda. The literature review provide insights to the conceptual frameworks in the field of supervision of student teaching and identify the essential elements of supervisory visits along with international best practices. The literature equally focuse on bridging some theoretical approaches to supervisory visits and how they enhance competencies in teaching. The study employs the mixed method sequential explanatory deign. The population of this study constituted four groups of respondents namely: 20 university supervisors, 103 cooperating teachers, 260 student teachers and the researcher as an observer. The population was gotten through the simple random, purposive and proportionate sampling techniques and instruments for data collection were observation guide, 3 sets of questionnaires, and semi-structured interview schedule. Data collected was analysed using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation while qualitative data derived from interview were analysed using the thematic analysis approach with the aid of themes, groundings/frequencies and quotations. From the data obtained, it was revealed that there is a correlation between supervisory visits and the enhancement of student teachers’ competencies in teaching. Based on the outcome of these findings, it can be said that university supervisors do not carry out supervisory visits and if effectively carried out, the acquisition of teaching competencies by student teachers may be improved. Based on this, it was recommended that a lot of emphasis has to be placed on the manner in which supervisors perform their supervisory responsibilities by paying effective supervisory visits to student teachers on field placement

Weighted-probability random number generator for PLC channel transfer function generation

© 2020, Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts. All rights reserved. The concept of randomization shows many realistic scenarios and has enormous applications in everyday life. However, existing random number generators have poor adaptability when representing some of the actual occurrences in natural environment, such as in biology, mobile communications, and even electrical behavior. For PLC channel transfer function generation, biased sampling of the channel is more applicable. This paper proposes a weighted-probability method to generate random numbers to emulate the real-world variations of a power line communications channel. Existing PLC channel emulator can mimic the random behavior of the channel, altered by several parameters such as cable length, cable type, presence of loads, and ejecting different noises. However, the scenario of integrating the effect of changing the state of the loads and channel variation due to time is not well represented in the normal random channel generation. The best concept for this scenario is the weighted random number generator (WRNG). This work developed an algorithm in Matlab and VHDL, implemented it in FPGA and integrated it with an existing PLC channel emulator. The emulator is implemented using Kintex-7 FPGA. In this study, ten different weights corresponding to the probability of occurrence of the actual household appliances and eighty transfer functions were used as inputs to the program. The randomness and periodicity of the WRNG are tested and passed the Runs test. Autocorrelation and histograms are used to determine the correct implementation of the weights

COVID-19: A Systematic Review of the Transmissibility, Pathogenesis, Entry Factors, and Signature Immune Response

Objectives: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has led to a global health calamity unprecedented in the modern world. The disease spread worldwide, and to date, there have been over 230 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including approximately 4.7 million deaths. Mutant variants of the virus have raised concerns about additional pandemic waves and threaten to reverse our progress thus far to limit the spread of the virus. These variants include Alpha, Beta, and Delta (first reported in December 2020 in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India, respectively) and Gamma (reported in January 2021 in Brazil). In some cases, countries have even reported a rise in daily cases higher than the first wave in March 2020. Given the rapidly evolving nature of COVID-19 and subsequent new findings and updates each day, this review article aims to comprehensively summarize the etiology, pathophysiology, and clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to gain insight into the transmissibility, pathogenesis, entry factors, and immune response of COVID-19. Specifically, Pubmed and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify any relevant articles. References within the included articles were reviewed. Published articles related to search criteria from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to March 2022 were included. Results: Viral transmissibility is predominantly affected by the modes of transmission, various mutations on the nucleocapsid protein and endoRNAse, gender, age, and other factors. The pathophysiological mechanism is generally unknown, although the clinical manifestations such as headache, loss of smell and taste, vomiting, diarrhea, multiorgan failure, and dermatological and cardiovascular complications are well documented. The progression of infection depends on the immunopathological response and the innate/adaptive immunity. Conclusion: Our review has summarized the latest knowledge about SARS-CoV2. However, as the pandemic continues to spread across the continents, there is an urgent need for more research on potentially emerging coronaviruses and the development of a universal coronaviruses vaccine to put the pandemic behind us