Semi-Automated Building Footprint Extraction, Delineation And 3D Visualisation Of The University Of The Philippines Main Campus From LIDAR Data Using GIS-Based Open Source Software

The advent of three-dimensional building footprint extraction and visualization has recently been explored due to its applications in urban planning, transportation, environmental monitoring, and modelling. Through the use of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data products such as Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM), useful information such as elevation, size, and shape can be obtained from the processed point clouds. Different studies regarding building extraction procedures have been conducted and explored. Algorithms have also been developed using LiDAR and GIS-based software that assume a rectangular form of polygons as building structures. As such, this study discusses an approach in developing a semiautomated building footprint extraction and three-dimensional visualization of the University of the Philippines (UP) main campus using solely LiDAR data and GIS-based open source software - QGIS Chugiak Version and GRASS 7.0. The UP-Diliman Campus situated in Quezon City, Philippines consists of various polygonal structured buildings which makes it a good subject area for this study. The proposed scheme composed of three major parts: LiDAR pre-processing, building footprint extraction and delineation, and three-dimensional building visualization. Normalized digital surface model (nDSM) can be generated using DTM and DSM. Under building footprint extraction and delineation, four parameters were set: height threshold, area scope, topographic modelling, and smoothing tolerance. For the classification by height, a threshold is set to remove structures with height less than the predetermined value of elevation. Classification by area removes the objects with areas that do not fall within the predetermined area scope. Topographic modelling is used mainly to separate building from other entities. Smoothing tolerance simplifies building outlines. The accuracy assessment for the extraction and delineation is quantified using ground truth data in comparison with the extracted polygons. As compared to manual digitization of building polygons, this semi-automation can be more efficient in extracting and delineating building footprint in areas with large scope. Experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme provides a promising solution for 3D building extraction and delineation using LiDAR data processed in QGIS Chugiak Version and GRASS 7.0. This methodology is a valuable tool for urban planning and modelling

Solar Energy Resource Assessment Using R.SUN In GRASS GIS And Site Suitability Analysis Using AHP For Groundmounted Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Farm In The Central Luzon Region (Region 3), Philippines

In the study, the solar energy resource in the Central Luzon Region (Region 3), Philippines was determined using r.sun – a topography-based solar radiation model implemented in GRASS GIS – and suitable sites for the installation of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) farms were identified using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the weights of different physical, environmental, socio-economic, risk, and constraint criteria. For the resource assessment, the inputs to r.sun used in the study consisted of freely available data that include: an SRTM (90m resolution) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and monthly average Linke turbidity coefficients available from the SoDA (Solar Radiation Database) webservice (www.soda-is.com). Daily solar radiation data from eight (8) measuring stations throughout the region were gathered. Readings from six (6) stations were used to interpolate monthly clear-sky index rasters while the readings from the remaining two (2) stations were used to validate the modelled monthly average Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) computed by r.sun. For the site suitability analysis, different criteria rasters were created and combined using weighted overlay to generate a suitability map for ground-mounted solar PV farms in the region. From the results, the monthly average GHI in the region computed by r.sun ranged from 3706.8 Wh/m2 - day in December to 6021.0 Wh/m2 -day in May with an annual average GHI of 4727.12 Wh/m2 -day indicating a good amount of resource potential. High GHI values were observed for the summer months of March to May (Mean: 5640.26 Wh/m2 -day) while the cold and rainy season ranging from July to December showed relatively lower values (Mean: 4298.98 Wh/m2 -day). The Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) between the measured and modelled GHI were 352.88 Wh/m2 -day and 8.53%, respectively, with the lowest error in March (73.94 Wh/m2 -day, 1.44%) and the highest in August (844.01 Wh/m2 -day, 21.65%). In fact, the model performed well for the months of January to June (MAE: 192.18 Wh/m2 -day, MAPE: 3.83%) and slightly poorer for July to December (MAE: 512.824 Wh/m2 -day, MAPE: 13.22%). For further study, other data sources and inputs can be looked into to improve the accuracy of the resource assessment and site suitability analysis. Aside from this, the use of more solar radiation recording stations for validation is preferred in order to better validate the results of r.sun and its applicability for solar energy resource assessment in the Philippines

Antenatal Exercise Program Using Motion-based Games: A Pilot Study Among Expectant Mothers in Selected Rural Areas in the Philippines

A structured exercise programme was designed that incorporates motion-based video games to decrease anxiety and depression among pregnant women. A pilot study determined its viability. Methods: A 2-group pre- post-test experiment was done on 16 pregnant women who met study criteria. Eight underwent the structured exercise programme twice a week for a month (intervention), and eight did not (control). The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were adapted and used to determine participants’ anxiety and depression scores, respectively. Results: Significant improvement in the participants’ mean anxiety (48.50 to 42.88, p=0.029) and depression (11.50 to 7.63, p=0.022) scores were found after the exercise programme. No changes were noted in the control group, HADS (p=0.196) and STAI (p=0.714) confirming the strength of the scores of the experimental group. Conclusion: The results suggest the exercise programme can be a valid approach to decrease anxiety and depression among pregnant women. We recommend replication of this study to other geographical areas with more samples to establish generalizability

Changes in Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Fragile Adults over Fifty Years of Age and in Elderly People Exclusively Fed Enteral Nutrition

We aim to evaluate whether exclusive feeding of an enteral formula enriched with n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA) affects oxidative stress and the antioxidant defence system and may improve the levels of some relevant inflammatory, and cardiovascular biomarkers in frail adults over fifty years of age and in elderly subjects. Fifty-five patients were divided into two groups and were exclusively fed a newly designed normoproteic and isocaloric enteral formula enriched with eicosapentaenoic (98 mg/d) and docosahexaenoic acids (46 mg/d) (n=26) or a reference enteral diet (n=29). Oxidative, inflammatory and cardiovascular risk biomarkers and red blood cell fatty acid profiles were determined at the beginning and after 90 and 180 days of feeding. The n-3 LC-PUFA percentage tended to be higher (P=0.053) in the experimental group than in the reference group. Administration of the n-3 LC-PUFA diet did not increase oxidative stress or modify plasma antioxidant capacity but decreased antioxidant enzymatic activities. MMP-9 plasma concentration decreased with both formulae, whereas tPAI-1 tended to decrease (P=0.116) with the administration of the experimental formula. In conclusion, administration of the new n-3 LC-PUFA-enriched product for 6 months did not negatively alter the oxidative status and improved some cardiovascular risk biomarkers

All-cause mortality in the cohorts of the Spanish AIDS Research Network (RIS) compared with the general population: 1997Ł2010

Abstract Background: Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has produced significant changes in mortality of HIVinfected persons. Our objective was to estimate mortality rates, standardized mortality ratios and excess mortality rates of cohorts of the AIDS Research Network (RIS) (CoRIS-MD and CoRIS) compared to the general population. Methods: We analysed data of CoRIS-MD and CoRIS cohorts from 1997 to 2010. We calculated: (i) all-cause mortality rates, (ii) standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and (iii) excess mortality rates for both cohort for 100 personyears (py) of follow-up, comparing all-cause mortality with that of the general population of similar age and gender. Results: Between 1997 and 2010, 8,214 HIV positive subjects were included, 2,453 (29.9%) in CoRIS-MD and 5,761 (70.1%) in CoRIS and 294 deaths were registered. All-cause mortality rate was 1.02 (95% CI 0.91-1.15) per 100 py, SMR was 6.8 (95% CI 5.9-7.9) and excess mortality rate was 0.8 (95% CI 0.7-0.9) per 100 py. Mortality was higher in patients with AIDS, hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection, and those from CoRIS-MD cohort (1997. Conclusion: Mortality among HIV-positive persons remains higher than that of the general population of similar age and sex, with significant differences depending on the history of AIDS or HCV coinfection

Rehabilitation outcomes in patients with guillain–barré syndrome caused by zika virus

Introduction: Zika virus (ZIKV) is transmitted by the bite of the Aedes species mosquito. Infected patients may present flu-like symptoms or even neurological deficits. In Puerto Rico (PR), an increased number of cases of ZIKV were noted in 2016 and a surveillance system was established for monitoring. As of August 2018, a total of 36,097 symptomatic cases of ZIKV had been reported in PR by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States. One of the neurological complications secondary to ZIKV was Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). The surveillance system reported that 66% of patients with GBS who were tested were positive for ZIKV. This study aims to identify the functional outcomes of GBS patients related to ZIKV as compared to patients with GBS nonrelated to ZIKV during inpatient rehabilitation using functional independence measure (FIM) score. Materials and Methods: A retrospective case–control study design was used. Patients with a diagnosis of GBS admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation unit between January 1, 2016, and August 15, 2017, were deemed eligible. Patients were divided in two groups: (1) GBS-positive ZIKV (experimental) group and (2) GBS-negative ZIKV (control) group. A total of 21 patients were identified; 16 qualified for the study. The primary outcome was the admission and discharge FIM score. Results: A total of 11 (69%) patients were ZIKV positive or presumptive positive and 5 (31%) were ZIKV negative. One hundred (100%) of the patients had significantly improved FIM scores upon discharge. No significant differences between the ZIKV groups were noted on admission or discharge FIM scores. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that all GBS patients benefit from inpatient rehabilitation facility admission and therapy regardless of ZIKV status. Rehabilitation outcome is not determined by ZIKV status

Tidal in-stream energy potential metric : calibration and estimation in selected sites in the Philippines

Tidal in-stream energy (TISE) resource assessment can be costly and presuppose that areas have already been identified as having potential before simulations and field surveys are done. Macro-level assessment of TISE potential using an energy potential (EP) metric previously proposed based on tide height differences at the channel boundaries. This EP metric is further studied and tweaked in this work. A combination of simulated currents, using DELFT3D, predicted currents from the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) of the Philippines, are used to calibrate the EP metric to and R-squared value of 0.70437 with an average estimation error of 13.577% for monthly energy densities. The EP metric is applied to pre-identified sites of the Department of Energy for tidal energy and estimates of the monthly tidal in-stream energy are presented

Immunoglobulin Allotypes (GM and KM) in Basques from Spain: Approach to the Origin of the Basque Population

GM and KM immunoglobulin (Ig) allotypes have been tested in 310 autochthonous Basques from the three subpopulations of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, Spain. They are compared with allotypes occurring in autochthonous French Basques, some Pyrenean subpopulations in France, and European populations. The analysis suggests that the Basque subpopulations show noticeable genetic distances between them and with other European populations. The genetic similarity between Basques and European populations is greater in the Basques from France than in the Basques from Spain. The genetic distances between Basque subpopulations in Spain fit well with the different historical levels of the spatial implantation of the Basque language. Guipuzcoa, the Basque province with the highest number of Basque-speaking people, shows the most genetic distinctiveness. The main underlying cause of this spatial genetic pattern seems to be admixture with surrounding populations. Our results do not support the hypothesis that Basques are a relict population of ancient Europeans. They might be a consequence of the colonization of the Basque area by a long-distance migrating group, probably a small Neolithic North Caucasian population that introduced agriculture in the region. They experienced early, rapid demographic growth, and they did not breed with the few hunter-gatherers wandering throughout the area. The North Caucasian migrants could have admixed with North Asian groups dating from many centuries before. Furthermore, Basques present polymorphic frequencies of a common African haplotype, suggesting that they have not been completely isolated from populations of Africa. However, another focus of the African haplotype has been detected in Central Asia, and the Basque frequencies alternatively might be due to North Asian groups