Tropical Forests and Climate Change Mitigation: The Global Potential and Cases from the Philippines

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC Fourth Assessment report has highlighted the role of tropical forests in mitigating climate change. Deforestation, especially in tropical countries, contributes about 20 percent to total global greenhouse gas emissions. Development projects geared to reduce the rate of deforestation and forest degradation, and to establish forest plantations will help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and significantly contribute to mitigating climate change. Three cases of forestry carbon projects underway in the Philippines are presented to illustrate the constraints facing project developers in undertaking these climate change mitigation efforts. Among the key lessons identified are: the difficulty in establishing land eligibility, the need for partners or buyers from industrialized countries to shoulder the transaction costs, and the crucial role of the local communities, including indigenous peoples, in the development effort.

THE LIFE-SAVING STORIES: AN ANECDOTE OF POLICE OFFICERS IN RESCUING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW

The purpose of this study was to look into the experiences of police officers at General Santos City's Police Station 7 in rescuing children in conflict with the law. This study utilized a quantitative case study with 4 police officers as the research participants. The study had three formulated questions which were the experiences, coping mechanisms, and the insights or lessons learned by the police officers in rescuing the children in conflict with the law. The beginning stories of the police officers in rescuing children in conflict with the law had formulated the following emergent themes: crucial, piteous, and eagerness to help. The middle stories of the police officers in rescuing children in conflict with the law had formulated the following emergent themes: dedication to the service, love with children, and happiness. Lastly, the ending stories of police officers in rescuing the children in conflict with the law had formulated the following emergent themes: fulfillment, understanding, and passion.  Article visualizations

Mycobacterium tuberculosis aggregates affect the early macrophage response to infection and are detectable in human lung tissue

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) can infect macrophages as single or aggregated bacilli, where aggregate infection of macrophages was shown to have a substantially higher probability to result in macrophage death. Given that the response of macrophages to Mtb infection may determine the infection trajectory, it is important to understand the macrophage response to infection with Mtb aggregates. Here I investigated the early transcriptional response of monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs) to Mtb aggregate infection. I found that Mtb aggregates elicited the highest TNF-α and pro-inflammatory response relative to single Mtb bacilli. Additionally, aggregate-mediated MDM death was dependent on infection with live Mtb aggregates. I also investigated macrophage acidification in response to infection with Mtb aggregates and found that acidification, per Mtb bacillus, decreased as aggregate size increased. This suggests that Mtb aggregates have an advantage over single bacilli due to a weaker host response per mycobacterium. I also quantified Mtb aggregate number in human lung tissue sections using custom digital image analysis pipelines and developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) model, HyRoNet, to automate and expand the analysis. I found that Mtb aggregates occurred often, but not exclusively, in association with the granulomatous cavity surface. Together, these observations suggest a potentially important role for Mtb aggregation in the pathogenesis of Mtb

Perception, Challenges, And Academic Performance of Pre-Service Teachers in Student Teaching

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted among 152 randomly selected male and female pre-service teachers of Isabela State University-Echague campus. The purpose of which was to describe and analyze their perception, challenges and academic performance in student teaching with the aim of developing intervention program. Data were collected through survey using an adopted questionnaire. Majority of the respondent were female with academic performance of above-average. The study revealed that male pre-service teachers have more positive perception about student teaching than the female. Specifically, male pre-service teachers perceived that student teaching was an avenue for them to develop their knowledge and skills in teaching including appropriate attitude of an outstanding teacher. However, the study also revealed that male pre-service teachers encountered more challenges than the female pre-service teachers in the areas of classroom management, social environment, curriculum development and relationship with their supervising instructors and cooperating teachers. The study also found out that improving strategies on controlling students’ behavior, mastery of the subject matter, use of instructional materials, developing cordial relationship with other teachers and cooperating teachers, conduct of supervisory activities as often as possible and providing feedbacks will strengthen the possibility of having a better academic performance among the pre-service teachers. Intervention activity, therefore, is suggested focusing on male pre-service teachers with the aim of providing scaffolding in the areas of teaching approaches, communication and promoting good relationship with peers, supervisors and the students, including instructional materials development, values integration and the like

Sustaining Support to Vegetable Farmers through Public Service and Partnerships

Smallholder farmers belong to the poor and marginalized sector. As such, there are groups mandated and willing to provide assistance. Some of these are academic communities, government line agencies, local government units, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs). This paper illustrates the diversity of roles, resources, and directives of support organizations working toward a common goal: uplifting the lives of the farmers. It will look at the key success factors and challenges to achieving this goal. This case study centers on the smallholder vegetable farmers of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines who are members of an industry council. The research utilizes the qualitative method using participant observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and instructive events. Results indicate that one of the challenges is the capacity of the smallholder farmers to handle and be involved with simultaneous projects. Another is the perennial problem of aging farmers. On the other hand, the key success factors include the dedicated public servants who are very supportive of the farmers’ efforts. In addition, there are also active farmer leaders and members who continue to volunteer their services. These dedication and continued participation had propelled the collaboration of the support organizations to provide services despite budget limitations. This continuous involvement of the stakeholders had enabled the support organizations to continue their public service. The social capital forged by the long-term engagements and partnerships also contributed to the sustainability of the farmer organization

Grass, legumes and maize a basis for massive expansion in animal production in Rhodesia

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Philippine forest ecosystems and climate change: Carbon stocks, rate of sequestration and the Kyoto Protocol

ropical forests have a valuable role in relation to climate change, being a source and sink of carbon. This paper reviews the state of knowledge on carbon stocks and rate of sequestration of various forest ecosystems in the Philippines. Carbon density ranges widely from less than 5 t/ha to more than 200 t/ha in the following order: old growth forests > secondary forest > mossy forest > mangrove forest > pine forest > tree plantation > agroforestry farm > brushlands > grasslands. Carbon sequestration ranges from less than 1 t/ha/yr in natural forests to more than 15 t/ha/yr in some tree plantations. Land-use change and forestry make an important contribution in the national emissions and sinks. It is estimated that Philippine forest lands are a net sink of greenhouse gasses (GHG) absorbing 107 Mt CO2 equivalent in 1998, about equal to the total Philippine GHG emissions. The clean development mechanism (CDM) presents a clear opportunity for Philippine forestry, if the threats are properly addressed

Analyzing Marketing Margins and Their Implications in Improving Performance of Small-Scale Producers in the Calamansi Chain in Region XI, Southern Philippines

Due to its wide range of uses and profitability, calamansi or calamondin (Citrofortunella microcarpa) is considered a high-value crop of the Philippines. But while there are many studies on the various uses of calamansi parts and technologies developed to help farmers, there is a dearth of studies on the structure and operation of the calamansi marketing chain and analysis of marketing margins of producers and other intermediaries. The present study aimed to examine marketing margins to understand the marketing system of the calamansi industry in Region XI, Southern Philippines, and identify opportunities, challenges, and solutions to improve the chain. A price transmission model was estimated using secondary data and supplemented by calculation of net margins for farmers, wholesalers, processors, and retailers using primary data collected from key informants. Results show that farm, wholesale, and fuel prices significantly explained changes in selling or retail prices. Price transmission elasticity is higher from farm to wholesale than from farm to retail, which implies that changes in farm prices are reflected more in wholesale than retail prices. Farmers received better margins even though calamansi is always subjected to seasonality of prices. Processors and wholesalers also earned positive net margins, but some retailers incurred negative net margins because of incidence of shrinkage/wastage. Given that this occurs very rarely, and with better management, retailers can still expect to gain positive net margins. Major actors in the chain may benefit by effectively managing costs, particularly post-production and wastage costs. A package of assistance that includes technology improvement, access to market, and credit is necessary to help farmers, as well as intermediaries, enhance productivity and manage costs to improve their performance in the chain

Flexible Learning, Anxiety And Academic Performance Of Pre-Service Teachers: Input To Curriculum Adjustment

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted among randomly selected pre-service teachers of Isabela State University-Echague, Isabela. The purpose of which is to assess their attitude on blended learning, anxiety level and academic performance as an input to curriculum adjustment. Most of the participants of the study were female, user of cellular phone, messenger, and prepaid data. Also, the respondents are receiving financial and moral support from their parents while receiving help for their academics in their friends. In terms of their anxiety level, most of the respondents were suffering from moderate to severe level while they are performing on the average level. Generally speaking, the respondents have a positive attitude on blended learning. Data shows that there is a higher probability that male respondents, user of FaceBook and prepaid data and those who do have someone to support their financial needs have higher level of anxiety. Statistically, the anxiety level of the respondents affects negatively the academic performance of the respondents. Furthermore, there is also a higher possibility that the respondents’ academic performance get better when they have unlimited access to learning materials, with conducive place for learning, with organize time management, and comfortable with the use of laptops and technology-based materials. On the other hand, it was statically proven that when students get bored over the online learning and develop the feeling of being isolated, there is a probability that their grades will be affected negativel