Traditional and Modernized Jeepneys: An Assessment on Comfort, Ease of Use and Safety

The Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) aims to modernize the public transportation sector of the Philippines to be safe, convenient, effective, and comfortable. However, Filipino commuters still view the most popular mode of transportation, the jeepney (TPUJ), as very non-inclusive and unsafe for its passengers due to inaccuracies in its design. This paper uses a mixed method to determine the relationship between the type of jeepney and the perceived comfort and safety of the passenger through their heart rate. The Passenger Comfort and Safety Methodology (PCSM) comprises two interviews, ten surveys, and ten heart rate monitoring experiments. It was determined that the common difficulties with TPUJs are crowdedness, lack of space, external factors, and how the TPUJ does not shield its passengers from them. It was also determined that TPUJ passengers have a more sporadic heart rate, a higher mean heart rate, or a sporadic and higher mean heart rate than MPUJ passengers. This study is a baseline for determining the relationship between comfort and public transportation using heart rate

Personal Financial Management and Entrepreneurial Competencies among Selected Public School Teachers in Cebu City Division

Public school teachers are role models who mold students into better citizens, and teachers are regarded as the epitome of education and career success. Delivering financial education will be the pinnacle of absurdity if teachers do not practice personal financial management. This study investigated public school teachers' knowledge and practice of personal financial management and entrepreneurial competencies. The study employed the descriptive-correlational method, administered to 229 selected teachers in the Cebu City Division. The main instrument, which consists of three components, was adopted and modified. The data were collected, arranged, tabulated, and interpreted using a statistical technique like weighted mean and Pearson r Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The study revealed that public school teachers were moderately knowledgeable and practiced personal financial management. Also, they moderately manifested all the entrepreneurial competencies identified in the study. Using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient, the level of knowledge and practice of personal financial management are significantly correlated. As a result, it was concluded that public school teachers need to enhance their knowledge and practice of personal financial management, especially knowledge and practice of investing, and the other areas of entrepreneurial competencies uncovered as weak. Subsequently, the principal researcher crafted a comprehensive action plan to help public school teachers enrich their knowledge and practice of personal financial management and entrepreneurial competencies, scaffolding their financial resilience and gently nudging them to entrepreneurial ventures

A distinct role for B1b lymphocytes in T cell-independent immunity

Pathogenesis of infectious disease is not only determined by the virulence of the microbe but also by the immune status of the host. Vaccination is the most effective means to control infectious diseases. A hallmark of the adaptive immune system is the generation of B cell memory, which provides a long-lasting protective antibody response that is central to the concept of vaccination. Recent studies revealed a distinct function for B1b lymphocytes, a minor subset of mature B cells that closely resembles that of memory B cells in a number of aspects. In contrast to the development of conventional B cell memory, which requires the formation of germinal centers and T cells, the development of B1b cell-mediated long-lasting antibody responses occurs independent of T cell help. T cell-independent (TI) antigens are important virulence factors expressed by a number of bacterial pathogens, including those associated with biological threats. TI antigens cannot be processed and presented to T cells and therefore are known to possess restricted T cell-dependent (TD) immunogenicity. Nevertheless, specific recognition of TI antigens by B1b cells and the highly protective antibody responses mounted by them clearly indicate a crucial role for this subset of B cells. Understanding the mechanisms of long-term immunity conferred by B1b cells may lead to improved vaccine efficacy for a variety of TI antigens

S1P1 receptor directs the release of immature B cells from bone marrow into blood

S1P1 receptor expression is required for the egress of newly formed T cells from the thymus and exit of mature T and B cells from secondary lymphoid organs. In this study, we deleted the expression of the S1P1 receptor gene (S1pr1) in developing B cells in the bone marrow. Although B cell maturation within the bone marrow was largely normal in the B cell–specific S1pr1 knockout (B-S1pr1KO) mice, their newly generated immature B cells appeared in the blood at abnormally low numbers as compared with control mice. In the bone marrow of B-S1pr1KO mice, immature B cells in contact with the vascular compartment displayed increased apoptosis as compared with control mice. Forced expression of CD69, a negative regulator of S1P1 receptor expression, in developing bone marrow B cells also reduced the number of immature B cells in the blood. Attenuation of CXCR4 signaling, which is required for the proper retention of developing B cells in bone marrow, did not release immature B cells into the blood of B-S1pr1KO mice as effectively as in control mice. Our results indicate that the S1P1 receptor provides a signal necessary for the efficient transfer of newly generated immature B cells from the bone marrow to the blood

Expansion of immunoglobulin-secreting cells and defects in B cell tolerance in Rag-dependent immunodeficiency

The contribution of B cells to the pathology of Omenn syndrome and leaky severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) has not been previously investigated. We have studied a mut/mut mouse model of leaky SCID with a homozygous Rag1 S723C mutation that impairs, but does not abrogate, V(D)J recombination activity. In spite of a severe block at the pro–B cell stage and profound B cell lymphopenia, significant serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgM, IgA, and IgE and a high proportion of Ig-secreting cells were detected in mut/mut mice. Antibody responses to trinitrophenyl (TNP)-Ficoll and production of high-affinity antibodies to TNP–keyhole limpet hemocyanin were severely impaired, even after adoptive transfer of wild-type CD4+ T cells. Mut/mut mice produced high amounts of low-affinity self-reactive antibodies and showed significant lymphocytic infiltrates in peripheral tissues. Autoantibody production was associated with impaired receptor editing and increased serum B cell–activating factor (BAFF) concentrations. Autoantibodies and elevated BAFF levels were also identified in patients with Omenn syndrome and leaky SCID as a result of hypomorphic RAG mutations. These data indicate that the stochastic generation of an autoreactive B cell repertoire, which is associated with defects in central and peripheral checkpoints of B cell tolerance, is an important, previously unrecognized, aspect of immunodeficiencies associated with hypomorphic RAG mutations

Transesterification of soybean oil with menthanol and acetic acid at lower reaction severity under subcritical conditions

Soybean oil (56–80 g) was reacted with methanol (40–106 mL) to produce fatty acid methyl ester in the presence of 1–6% acetic acid under subcritical condition at 250 _C. Stirring and loading of the reaction system affected the yield and severity of the process. The presence of acetic acid improved the yield of FAME from 32.1% to 89.5% at a methanol to oil molar ratio of 20 mL/g. Acetic acid was found to act strongly as an acid catalyst and to some extent improved the solubility between oil and methanol. Reaction pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of methanol (7.85 MPa) was not required to achieve high FAME yield (89.5–94.8%) in short time (30–60 min)

A region among states ::law and non-sovereignty in the Caribbean /

"How is it that a great swath of the independent, English-speaking Caribbean continues to accept the judicial oversight of their former colonizer via the British institution of the Privy Council? And what possibilities might the Caribbean Court of Justice (a judicial institution responsive to the region, not any single nation) offer for untangling sovereignty and regionhood, law and modernity, and postcolonial Caribbean identity? Joining the CCJ as an intern, Lee Cabatingan studied the work of the Court up close: she attended each court hearing and numerous staff meetings, served on committees, assisted with the organization of conferences, and helped to prepare speeches and presentations for the judges. She now offers insight into not only how the Court positions itself vis-à-vis the Caribbean region and the world, but also whether the Court (and, perhaps, the region itself as an overarching construct) might ever achieve a real measure of popular success. In their quest for an accepting, eager constituency, the Court is undertaking a project of extra-judicial region-building that borrows from the toolbox of the nation-state. In each chapter, Cabatingan takes us into an analytical dimension familiar from studies of nation and state-building-myth, territory, people, language, and brand-to help us understand not only the Court and its ambitions, but also the regionalist project, beset as it is with false starts and disappointments, as a potential alternative to the sovereign state."-