CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROVISION OF BASIC SERVICES OF THE SELECTED BARANGAYS IN BAYUGAN CITY AGUSAN DEL SUR, PHILIPPINES: IT’S ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNENCE

Governance has been defined as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of the country’s economic and social resources for development”. However, governance is not simply about how government conducts business in its own sphere. It is also about how government interacts with civil society. It tells how well government has encouraged and facilitated people’s participation not only in the delivery of services but also in evaluation and monitoring of government performance itself. In spite of technological advancement in information systems, people remain the most important factor in private and public organization. None of these techniques or management methods is effective unless they are administered and carried out by competent Barangay officials. Considering the importance of human power development, The City Government of Bayugan, Agusan del Sur conducted training programs, leadership seminars, and other Seminar-Workshop to fully reach the competence of leadership for the improvement of Barangays in. Projects are being monitored every year to see and testify if one City has improved under the administration of the said officials

Should Ecological Science Be Ethical?

Both scientific and moral communities have identified that current management of the natural environment by humans is unsustainable. How society responds to environmental challenges will likely require a multi-disciplinary approach. Jenkins addresses the contributions that science, religion and ethics can make to resolving complex environmental problems and increasing successful management of ecological systems. While we agree with many of Jenkins' points, he touches upon three common ideas about science, and ecology in particular, that we argue are often misconstrued: Scientific understanding of current environmental challenges is inadequate due to 'uncertainty' in scientific studies; Ecological scientists are equivalent to environmental managers; and scientists should become more like activists and consider social values as drivers. We suggest that these ideas may be unhelpful in interpreting scientific studies and might lead to increasing misrepresentation of science. Furthermore, such perceptions may increase distrust by the general public of scientists who do not adequately separate objective scientific evidence from personal value-judgments. We agree that the scientific method should indeed be ethical, with no room for fraud or deliberate falsification of results, but that the science itself must be objective and non-moral, with scientific evidence unprejudiced by political and social agendas. We recommend that ecologists and managers, as well as ethicists and religious communities, work together in a robust defense of an evidence-based approach to the management and restoration of global ecological systems

INTERNAL REVENUE ALLOTMENT: THE CASE OF BARANGAY CALAMBA, CEBU CITY

This study focused on exploring the knowledge level of awareness and implementation of the Internal Revenue Allotment in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City. It sought to determine the  answer 1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents, 2. What is the level of awareness of the respondents towards internal revenue allotment? 3. What are the strategies used by the Barangay Captain in collecting internal revenue allotment and its level of implementation? 4. What is the perception of the respondents on the contribution of the collected Real Property Tax to the operation of Barangay Calamba? The research design used was descriptive, that is by employing percentage distribution and frequency counts in presenting and analyzing the data obtained from a sample of fifty-eight (58) respondents. A validated researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the primary data. The findings on this study revealed There was a barangay development plan; however, budget allocation is the problem observed, and these plans were not fully implemented. With those problems, this paper suggests that education be given importance, it is  recommended that barangay personnel and authorities participate in an integrated capacity-building program. Educating people on practical issues such as dealing with the administration of IRA towards development, not only the officials but most importantly, the residents or the ordinary people too, so that they will be able to participate and contribute to their own development

Density dependence across multiple life stages in a temperate old-growth forest of northeast China

Recent studies on species coexistence suggest that density dependence is an important mechanism regulating plant populations. However, there have been few studies of density dependence conducted for more than one life-history stage or that control for habitat heterogeneity, which may influence spatial patterns of survival and mask density dependence. We explored the prevalence of density dependence across multiple life stages, and the effects of controlling for habitat heterogeneity, in a temperate forest in northeast China. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models to test for density-dependent mortality of seedlings and spatial point pattern analysis to detect density dependence for sapling-to-juvenile transitions. Conspecific neighbors had a negative effect on survival of plants in both life stages. At the seedling stage, we found a negative effect of conspecific seedling neighbors on survival when analyzing all species combined. However, in species-level analyses, only 2 of 11 focal species were negatively impacted by conspecific neighbors, indicating wide variation among species in the strength of density dependence. Controlling for habitat heterogeneity did not alter our findings of density dependence at the seedling stage. For the sapling-to-juvenile transition stage, 11 of 15 focal species showed patterns of local scale (<10 m) conspecific thinning, consistent with negative density dependence. The results varied depending on whether we controlled for habitat heterogeneity, indicating that a failure to account for habitat heterogeneity can obscure patterns of density dependence. We conclude that density dependence may promote tree species coexistence by acting across multiple life-history stages in this temperate forest. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-012-2481-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Regulation of STAT3 and its role in cardioprotection by conditioning: focus on non-genomic roles targeting mitochondrial function

Ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) is one of the biggest challenges for cardiovascular researchers given the huge death toll caused by myocardial ischemic disease. Cardioprotective conditioning strategies, namely pre- and post-conditioning maneuvers, represent the most important strategies for stimulating pro-survival pathways essential to preserve cardiac health. Conditioning maneuvers have proved to be fundamental for the knowledge of the molecular basis of both IRI and cardioprotection. Among this evidence, the importance of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) emerged. STAT3 is not only a transcription factor but also exhibits non-genomic pro-survival functions preserving mitochondrial function from IRI. Indeed, STAT3 is emerging as an influencer of mitochondrial function to explain the cardioprotection phenomena. Studying cardioprotection, STAT3 proved to be crucial as an element of the survivor activating factor enhancement (SAFE) pathway, which converges on mitochondria and influences their function by cross-talking with other cardioprotective pathways. Clearly there are still some functional properties of STAT3 to be discovered. Therefore, in this review, we highlight the evidence that places STAT3 as a promoter of the metabolic network. In particular, we focus on the possible interactions of STAT3 with processes aimed at maintaining mitochondrial functions, including the regulation of the electron transport chain, the production of reactive oxygen species, the homeostasis of Ca(2+) and the inhibition of opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Then we consider the role of STAT3 and the parallels between STA3/STAT5 in cardioprotection by conditioning, giving emphasis to the human heart and confounders

Seed‐to‐Seedling Transitions Exhibit Distance‐Dependent Mortality but No Strong Spacing Effects in a Neotropical Forest

Patterns of seed dispersal and seed mortality influence the spatial structure of plant communities and the local coexistence of competing species. Most seeds are dispersed in proximity to the parent tree, where mortality is also expected to be the highest, because of competition with siblings or the attraction of natural enemies. Whereas distance‐dependent mortality in the seed‐to‐seedling transition was often observed in tropical forests, few studies have attempted to estimate the shape of the survival‐distance curves, which determines whether the peak of seedling establishment occurs away from the parent tree (Janzen–Connell pattern) or if the peak attenuates but remains at the parent location (Hubbell pattern). In this study, we inferred the probability density of seed dispersal and two stages of seedling establishment (new recruits, and seedlings 20 cm or taller) with distance for 24 tree species present in the 50‐ha Forest Dynamics Plot of Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Using data from seed traps, seedling survey quadrats, and tree‐census records spanning the 1988–2014 period, we fit hierarchical Bayesian models including parameters for tree fecundity, the shape of the dispersal kernel, and overdispersion of seed or seedling counts. We combined predictions from multiple dispersal kernels to obtain more robust inferences. We find that Hubbell patterns are the most common and Janzen–Connell patterns are very rare among those species; that distance‐dependent mortality may be stronger in the seed stage, in the early recruit stage, or comparable in both; and that species with larger seeds experience less overall mortality and less distance‐dependent mortality. Finally, we describe how this modeling approach could be extended at a community scale to include less abundant species

Local-Scale Drivers of Tree Survival in a Temperate Forest

Tree survival plays a central role in forest ecosystems. Although many factors such as tree size, abiotic and biotic neighborhoods have been proposed as being important in explaining patterns of tree survival, their contributions are still subject to debate. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the relative importance of tree size, local abiotic conditions and the density and identity of neighbors on tree survival in an old-growth temperate forest in northeastern China at three levels (community, guild and species). Tree size and both abiotic and biotic neighborhood variables influenced tree survival under current forest conditions, but their relative importance varied dramatically within and among the community, guild and species levels. Of the variables tested, tree size was typically the most important predictor of tree survival, followed by biotic and then abiotic variables. The effect of tree size on survival varied from strongly positive for small trees (1–20 cm dbh) and medium trees (20–40 cm dbh), to slightly negative for large trees (>40 cm dbh). Among the biotic factors, we found strong evidence for negative density and frequency dependence in this temperate forest, as indicated by negative effects of both total basal area of neighbors and the frequency of conspecific neighbors. Among the abiotic factors tested, soil nutrients tended to be more important in affecting tree survival than topographic variables. Abiotic factors generally influenced survival for species with relatively high abundance, for individuals in smaller size classes and for shade-tolerant species. Our study demonstrates that the relative importance of variables driving patterns of tree survival differs greatly among size classes, species guilds and abundance classes in temperate forest, which can further understanding of forest dynamics and offer important insights into forest management

Turgor loss point predicts survival responses to experimental and natural drought in tropical tree seedlings

Identifying key traits that can serve as proxies for species drought resistance is crucial for predicting and mitigating the effects of climate change in diverse plant communities. Turgor loss point (πtlp) is a recently emerged trait that has been linked to species distributions across gradients of water availability. However, a direct relationship between πtlp and species ability to survive drought has yet to be established for woody species. Using a manipulative field experiment to quantify species drought resistance (i.e., their survival response to drought), combined with measurements of πtlp for 16 tree species, we show a negative relationship between πtlp and seedling drought resistance. Using long-term forest plot data, we also show that πtlp predicts seedling survival responses to a severe El Niño-related drought, although additional factors are clearly also important. Our study demonstrates that species with lower πtlp exhibit higher survival under both experimental and natural drought. These results provide a missing cornerstone in the assessment of the traits underlying drought resistance in woody species and strengthen πtlp as a proxy for evaluating which species will lose or win under projections of exacerbating drought regimes.National Science Foundation DEB-1464866, DEB-1623775, DEB-184540

Reconciling the contribution of environmental and stochastic structuring of tropical forest diversity through the lens of imaging spectroscopy.

Both niche and stochastic dispersal processes structure the extraordinary diversity of tropical plants, but determining their relative contributions has proven challenging. We address this question using airborne imaging spectroscopy to estimate canopy β-diversity for an extensive region of a Bornean rainforest and challenge these data with models incorporating niches and dispersal. We show that remotely sensed and field-derived estimates of pairwise dissimilarity in community composition are closely matched, proving the applicability of imaging spectroscopy to provide β-diversity data for entire landscapes of over 1000 ha containing contrasting forest types. Our model reproduces the empirical data well and shows that the ecological processes maintaining tropical forest diversity are scale dependent. Patterns of β-diversity are shaped by stochastic dispersal processes acting locally whilst environmental processes act over a wider range of scales