WARP^2: Wind assessment of roofs to pullout & pullover for priority cultural heritage structures in the Philippines

Cultural tourism is one of the priority sectors by which the Government of the Philippines aims to foster inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development, due to its potential for job creation. Filipino cultural heritage (CH) assets are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards (e.g., earthquake ground shaking, strong wind, and flooding) due to their age and type of construction. In particular, non-engineered CH roofs have been recognized as the most vulnerable component in the building envelope due to typhoon-induced wind uplift. Consequently, they may cause large amount of economic loss and disruption to CH assets. This paper introduces a simulation-based approach for non-engineered CH roof fragility derivation, i.e., to assess the probability of different levels of damage experienced by CH roofs over a range of wind hazard intensities. In this approach, two limit states are considered, corresponding to roof-panel pullout and pullover failure modes. An illustrative application of the proposed procedure is finally presented with reference to 17 priority CH buildings across the Philippines

On the set chromatic number of the join and comb product of graphs

A vertex coloring c : V(G) → of a non-trivial connected graph G is called a set coloring if NC(u) ≠ NC(v) for any pair of adjacent vertices u and v. Here, NC(x) denotes the set of colors assigned to vertices adjacent to x. The set chromatic number of G, denoted by χs (G), is defined as the fewest number of colors needed to construct a set coloring of G. In this paper, we study the set chromatic number in relation to two graph operations: join and comb prdocut. We determine the set chromatic number of wheels and the join of a bipartite graph and a cycle, the join of two cycles, the join of a complete graph and a bipartite graph, and the join of two bipartite graphs. Moreover, we determine the set chromatic number of the comb product of a complete graph with paths, cycles, and large star graphs

Seismic screening and structural investigation of heritage buildings for adaptive reuse: a survey study at Iloilo City, Philippines

Building adaptive reuse has been a popular strategy for cultural heritage conservation of structures for it serves two basic objectives of preserving heritage structures and promoting cultural heritage and tourism. Adaptive reuse is the adaptation of an old structure to allow the introduction of a modern function into the old structure. Old buildings are not demolished but recycled into modern uses. This strategy, however, needs a careful and thorough assessment of these existing heritage buildings to assure their resilience and sustainability to future hazards. Heritage buildings for adaptive reuse due to age and structural deterioration are highly vulnerable to hazards like earthquakes. Moreover, these buildings when used for commercial purposes may be subjected to additional loads due to changes in function. Considering the age of the structure, conformity to new design codes, additional loads imposed by unit modification, and the new function brought about by adaptive reuse of these structures, there is a need to assess these buildings to assure their safety and continuous use. Promoting adaptive reuse of heritage buildings and tourism is most appropriate in heritage zones like Calle Real in Iloilo City, the site for the case study. This paper presents a rapid seismic screening of buildings to prioritize a population of heritage buildings in a heritage zone for further detailed inspection. A site survey of the buildings was conducted at the heritage zone of Calle Real, Iloilo City in terms of their current use, and current condition to determine potential structural, maintenance, and functional issues related to resilience and to recommend future improvements in the implementation of adaptive reuse of heritage structures in cities and towns to assure their sustainability

Resilient communities through safer schools

Access to education is a basic human right. It is the 4th of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and education is strongly associated with poverty reduction. Providing facilities to educate children requires construction of school buildings and rapid expansion of curricula. However, in the rush to fulfil the right to education, are children being put at risk? What attention is being given to structural safety during the construction of new school facilities? The growing consensus among stakeholders is that public school infrastructure in developing countries worldwide is particularly susceptible to natural hazards. This highlights a compelling need for developing and implementing effective, integrated, and ‘ground-real’ strategies for assessing and radically improving the safety and resilience of schools across those countries. To this aim, the paper explores two main issues: effectiveness at scale and the relevance of multiple hazard effects on the resilience of school infrastructure. Specifically, the paper first discusses the challenges associated with the World Bank Global Program for Safer School (GPSS) and the development of its Global Library of School Infrastructure (GLOSI), highlighting the issues associated with producing a tool which can be effective at scale and support nationwide risk models for school infrastructure across the world, so that fairness and relevance of investment can be achieved. This is followed by the illustration of a number of specific tools developed by the authors to expand the risk prioritization procedures used for seismic hazard, to other hazards such as flood and windstorm and to quantify the reduction in seismic fragility obtained by implementing specific strengthening strategies. Rapid visual survey forms, a mobile app, a multi-hazard risk prioritization ranking, and numerical fragility relationships are presented and their application discussed in relation to a case study in the Philippines. The proposed tools represent a first step toward a detailed multi-hazard risk and resilience assessment framework of school infrastructure. The aim is to allow stakeholders and decision-makers to quickly identify the most vulnerable structures among the surveyed stock, to guide more detailed data collection campaigns and structural assessment procedures, such as analytical vulnerability approaches, and ultimately to plan further retrofitting/strengthening measures or, if necessary, school replacement/relocation

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Priority Cultural Heritage Structures in the Philippines

At the end of 2013 two catastrophic events occurred in the Philippines: the M 7.2 earthquake in Bohol and the strongest ever recorded Typhoon Haiyan, causing destruction across the islands of Cebu, Bohol and the Visayas region. These events raised the need to carry out a multi-hazard risk assessment of heritage buildings, many of which were irretrievably lost in the disasters. Philippines’ Department of Tourism engaged ARS Progetti S.P.A., Rome, Italy, and the Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (CCCPET), University of Sto. Tomas, Manila, to undertake the “Assessment of the Multi-Hazard Vulnerability of Priority Cultural Heritage Structures in the Philippines”, with experts from University College London, UK, and De La Salle University. The main objective of the project was to reduce the vulnerability of cultural heritage structures to multiple natural hazards, including earthquake, typhoon, flood, by: (i) prioritizing of specific structures based on hazard maps and historical records; (ii) assessing their vulnerability; and (iii) recommending options to mitigate the impacts on them. The paper presents the methodology introduced to determine the seismic risk these heritage buildings are exposed to. All the selected cultural heritage structures are under the jurisdiction of the National Museum Commission of Philippines and of the National Commission for Culture and Arts

Alcance de la implementación del aprendizaje-servicio en cinco universidades jesuitas en Filipinas

L'aprenentatge servei és una forma d'educació vivencial en la qual els estudiants participen en activitats que aborden les necessitats humanes i de la comunitat juntament amb oportunitats estructurades dissenyades intencionadament per promoure l'aprenentatge i el desenvolupament dels estudiants. Les institucions d'educació superior filipines estan fent intents d'integrar l'aprenentatge servei als seus sistemes educatius. En aquest estudi qualitatiu actual, es va descriure el mecanisme d'aprenentatge servei en 5 institucions d'educació superior jesuïtes ubicades a diferents regions de les Filipines. La rúbrica d'autoavaluació de Furco per a la institucionalització de l'aprenentatge servei es va utilitzar com a eina d'avaluació. Els resultats van revelar que encara que les institucions estudiades eren totes universitats jesuïtes, cadascuna mostrava experiències úniques i diferents nivells d'implementació de l'aprenentatge servei. També variaven en el mecanisme o enfocament d'implementació. El que era evident entre les cinc institucions d'educació superior jesuïtes és el seu compromís compartit amb el servei i la justícia social com a part de la seva missió i identitat. La diferència en el nivell d'implementació entre les cinc institucions depèn de la longevitat de l'aprenentatge servei a la institució, el nombre de programes que utilitzen l'aprenentatge servei com a pedagogia, el compromís sostingut i la persistència dels administradors, el professorat i el personal no acadèmic.Service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. Philippine Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are making attempts to integrate service-learning in their educational systems. In this current qualitative study, the mechanism of service learning in 5 Jesuit higher education institutions located in different regions in the Philippines was described. Furco’s Self-Assessment Rubric for institutionalization of service learning as a framework was used as the evaluation tool. Results revealed that even if the institutions studied were all Jesuit universities, each one exhibited unique experiences and different levels of implementation of service learning. They also vary in the mechanism or approach of implementation. What was evident among the five Jesuit higher education institutions is their shared commitment towards service and social justice as part of their mission and identity. The difference in the level of implementation among the five HEIs depends on the longevity of the service learning in the institution, the number of programs that utilize service learning as a pedagogy, sustained commitment and persistence of the administrators, faculty and staff.El aprendizaje-servicio es una forma de educación experiencial en la que los estudiantes participan en actividades que abordan las necesidades humanas y de la comunidad junto con oportunidades estructuradas diseñadas intencionalmente para promover el aprendizaje y el desarrollo de los estudiantes. Las Instituciones de Educación Superior de Filipinas (IES) están intentando integrar el aprendizaje-servicio en sus sistemas educativos. En este estudio cualitativo, se describió el mecanismo de aprendizaje-servicio en 5 instituciones jesuitas de educación superior ubicadas en diferentes regiones de Filipinas. La rúbrica de autoevaluación de Furco para la institucionalización del aprendizaje-servicio se utilizó como herramienta de evaluación. Los resultados revelaron que incluso cuando las instituciones estudiadas eran todas universidades jesuitas, cada una exhibía experiencias únicas y diferentes niveles de implementación del aprendizaje-servicio. También varían en el mecanismo o enfoque de implementación. Lo que fue evidente entre las cinco instituciones jesuitas de educación superior fue su compromiso compartido con el servicio y la justicia social como parte de su misión e identidad. La diferencia en el nivel de implementación entre las cinco IES depende de la longevidad del aprendizaje-servicio en la institución, la cantidad de programas que utilizan el aprendizaje-servicio como pedagogía, el compromiso sostenido y la persistencia de los administradores, profesores y personal no académico

On Perfect Cayley Graphs

A graph is perfect if each of its induced subgraphs H has the property that its chromatic number χ(H) equals its clique number ω(H). The Strong Perfect Graph Conjecture (SPGC) states: An undirected graph is perfect if and only if neither G nor its complement G contains, as an induced subgraph, a chordless cycle whose length is odd and at least 5. In this paper we show that SPGC holds for minimal Cayley graphs. Let G be a finite group and S a generating set for G with e ∉ S, and if s ∈ S, then s−1 ∈ S. The Cayley graph determined by the pair (G, S), and denoted by Γ(G, S), is the graph with vertex set V(Γ) consisting of the following elements: (x, y) ∈ E(Γ) if and only if x−1y ∈ S. A Cayley graph is minimal if no proper subset of its generating set also generates G. We also give a sufficient condition for Cayley graphs derived from permutation groups to be perfect, prove that certain P2, C3 factorizations yield perfect general graphs, and identify families of perfect Cayley graphs