Western Visayas Research Articles

Dengue Spread Modeling in the Absence of Sufficient Epidemiological Parameters: Comparison of SARIMA and SVM Time Series Models

Dengue remains to be a major public health concern in the Philippines, claiming hundreds of lives every year ( Jaymalin 2017). Given limited data for deriving necessary epidemiological parameters in developing deterministic disease models, forecasting as a means in controlling and anticipating outbreaks remains a challenge. In this study, two-time series models, namely Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), were developed without the requirement for prior epidemiological parameters. Performances of the models in predicting dengue incidences in the Western Visayas Region of the Philippines were compared by measuring the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Average Error (MAE). Results showed that the models were both effective in forecasting Dengue incidences for epidemiological surveillance as validated by historical data. SARIMA model yielded average RMSE and MAE scores of 16.8187 and 11.4640, respectively. Meanwhile, SVM model achieved scores of 11.8723 and 7.7369, respectively. With the data and setup used, this study showed that SVM outperformed SARIMA in forecasting Dengue incidences. Furthermore, preliminary investigation of one-month lagged climate variables using Random Forest Regressor’s feature ranking yielded rain intensity and value as top possible dengue incidence climate predictors.

Infodemiology for Syndromic Surveillance of Dengue and Typhoid Fever in the Philippines

Finding determinants of disease outbreaks before its occurrence is necessary in reducing its impact in populations. The supposed advantage of obtaining information brought by automated systems fall short because of the inability to access real-time data as well as interoperate fragmented systems, leading to longer transfer and processing of data. As such, this study presents the use of real-time latent data from social media, particularly from Twitter, to complement existing disease surveillance efforts. By being able to classify infodemiological (health-related) tweets, this study is able to produce a range of possible disease incidences of Dengue and Typhoid Fever within the Western Visayas region in the Philippines. Both diseases showed a strong positive correlation (R >. 70) between the number of tweets and surveillance data based on official records of the Philippine Health Agency. Regression equations were derived to determine a numerical range of possible disease incidences given certain number of tweets. As an example, the study shows that 10 infodemiological tweets represent the presence of 19-25 Dengue Fever incidences at the provincial level.

When Kids Hurt Other Kids: Bullying in Philippine Schools

This research looked into prevalence rate of bullying victimization and perpetration as well as teachers’ response to bullying incidence in the Philippines. A total of 340 sixth graders from five different schools in Western Visayas participated in the study. Slightly more than half (54.1%) of the sample were boys and 45.9% were girls. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data gathered from the survey. Children’s self-reports revealed that prevalence rate for victimization was 40.6% and that for perpetration was 23.8%. Similar to previous literature, results also showed that there were significantly more boys than girls who reported to be victims (χ2(1, N = 340) = 4.26, p = 0.039) and bullies (χ2(1, N = 340) = 4.35, p = 0.037). Regardless of gender, verbal bullying came out as the most common type of bullying children experienced as a victim and bully. Teachers’ response to bullying was all in line with direct sanctions, i.e. verbal reprimands, temporary removal from class, withdrawal of privileges, and suspension, which were imposed on individuals involved in bullying as bullies. Although all teachers and school personnel were required to report bullying cases they had knowledge of to the child protection committee in their institution, very few did so. These findings suggest the need for a more effective bullying prevention program and a careful examination of the implementing rules and guidelines of RA 10627, otherwise known as the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013.

Unfolding the Local Folk Healers (Sorhano)

Non-western folk healers (local healers or sorhano , in Western Visayas) and their methods are often dismissed by westerners, who feel that only physicians schooled in the Hippocratic tradition at an established university, can provide adequate health care (Byard, 1990; Kantarjian & Steensma, 2014). The author does not assert that local healers have a valuable role in medicine nor argues that they provide a cure-all to all illnesses. This paper rather looked into how they become sorhanos , how they consider themselves as sorhanos , their views of themselves as local therapists, their patients’ perceptions of them, conditions of patients being treated, explore on their methods/processes of treatment, and perceived effects of their treatment. The highlights of this study include: the process of becoming a sorhano begins at birth, continues throughout the lifespan and ends at death, a period in which the tag lugar choose the next person to take on the responsibility left by the previous sorhano . The patients’ perceptions of them as folkhealers; conditions that they treat as physical, psychological, and spiritual; their methods/processes/procedures of treatment ranged from lana or a kind of oil made from coconut, luy-a (ginger), also a common remedy for any kind of body pain. This paper may serve as a preliminary study that can nevertheless be sources of insights for a succeeding study to probe design into the perceptions about sorhanos . Keywords: Folk healer, sorhanos , alternative healing, local therapists

Unfolding the Local Folk Healers (Sorhano)

Non-western folk healers (local healers or sorhano , in Western Visayas) and their methods are often dismissed by westerners, who feel that only physicians schooled in the Hippocratic tradition at an established university, can provide adequate health care (Byard, 1990; Kantarjian & Steensma, 2014). The author does not assert that local healers have a valuable role in medicine nor argues that they provide a cure-all to all illnesses. This paper rather looked into how they become sorhanos , how they consider themselves as sorhanos , their views of themselves as local therapists, their patients’ perceptions of them, conditions of patients being treated, explore on their methods/processes of treatment, and perceived effects of their treatment. The highlights of this study include: the process of becoming a sorhano begins at birth, continues throughout the lifespan and ends at death, a period in which the tag lugar choose the next person to take on the responsibility left by the previous sorhano . The patients’ perceptions of them as folkhealers; conditions that they treat as physical, psychological, and spiritual; their methods/processes/procedures of treatment ranged from lana or a kind of oil made from coconut, luy-a (ginger), also a common remedy for any kind of body pain. This paper may serve as a preliminary study that can nevertheless be sources of insights for a succeeding study to probe design into the perceptions about sorhanos .  Keywords: Folk healer, sorhanos , alternative healing, local therapists

Development and Validation of Standard Competencies in Architectural Drafting Technology Program

This descriptive study was conducted to develop and validate the proposed standard competencies for Architectural Drafting Technology Program of the Bachelor in Industrial Technology Curriculum of the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology. It sought to ascertain the degree of importance of each underpinning knowledge, skills, and attitude, and to determine if significant differences exist between the degrees of importance for each domain as evaluated by the academe and industry sectors. The data gathered from purposively selected 40 respondents from the academe and 20 from the industry based in the Iloilo Province were interpreted and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results revealed that both sectors agreed to all the items but differed in their evaluation. The overall rating obtained had a verbal interpretation of “very highly necessary” which means that the proposed standard competencies are valid and acceptable. In addition, a significant difference in the degree of importance existed in favor of the academe. The researcher recommended for the implementation of the standard competencies in other state universities and colleges in Western Visayas.

Technology Integration in Nursing Education: Its Implications to Colleges of Nursing in Western Visayas, Philippines

This research was conducted to determine the technology integration in nursing education and its implications to the Colleges of Nursing in Western Visayas, Philippines. The study included selected six higher education institutions offering Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The respondents of the study were the Dean of the College of Nursing, Audio-Visual Resources (AVR) Director, Library Director, Nursing Arts Laboratory Coordinator, Nursing Faculty and the 218 Level IV Nursing Students. Based on the findings, the top five available technology resources and facilities utilized by the nursing faculty were laptop and computer, microsoft office, microphone, sound system, and multimedia projector. The extent of information and communication technology (ICT) skills and the extent of integration of technology resources and facilities of the nursing faculty in teaching and learning process were moderate. The result suggests that the nursing faculty are competent in ICT. The use of ICT was found to be useful in their teaching responsibility. If they use ICT with greater confidence, the more they can integrate technology in their instructional preparation, delivery, and evaluation. It was also found that the extent of benefit of integration of technology resources and facilities as experienced by the nursing students was moderate.There is a significant relationship between the extent of skills of nursing faculty in using the information communication technology (ICT) and extent of integrating technological resources and facilities in teaching and learning process.

MANGROVE FOREST COVER EXTRACTION OF THE COASTAL AREAS OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, WESTERN VISAYAS, PHILIPPINES USING LIDAR DATA

Mangroves have a lot of economic and ecological advantages which include coastal protection, habitat for wildlife, fisheries and forestry products. Determination of the extent of mangrove patches in the coastal areas of the Philippines is therefore important especially in resource conservation, protection and management. This starts with a well-defined and accurate map. LiDARwas used in the mangrove extraction in the different coastal areas of Negros Occidental in Western Visayas, Philippines. Total coastal study area is 1,082.55 km² for the 14 municipalities/ cities processed. Derivatives that were used in the extraction include, DSM, DTM, Hillshade, Intensity, Number of Returns and PCA. The RGB bands of the Orthographic photographs taken at the same time with the LiDAR data were also used as one of the layers during the processing. NDVI, GRVI and Hillshade using Canny Edge Layer were derived as well to produce an enhanced segmentation. Training and Validation points were collected through field validation and visual inspection using Stratified Random Sampling. The points were then used to feed the Support Vector Machine (SVM) based on tall structures. Only four classes were used, namely, Built-up, Mangroves, Other Trees and Sugarcane. Buffering and contextual editing were incorporated to reclassify the extracted mangroves. Overall accuracy assessment is at 98.73% (KIA of 98.24%) while overall accuracy assessment for Mangroves only is at 98.00%. Using this workflow, mangroves can already be extracted in a large-scale level with acceptable overall accuracy assessments.

MANGROVE FOREST COVER EXTRACTION OF THE COASTAL AREAS OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, WESTERN VISAYAS, PHILIPPINES USING LIDAR DATA

Abstract. Mangroves have a lot of economic and ecological advantages which include coastal protection, habitat for wildlife, fisheries and forestry products. Determination of the extent of mangrove patches in the coastal areas of the Philippines is therefore important especially in resource conservation, protection and management. This starts with a well-defined and accurate map. LiDARwas used in the mangrove extraction in the different coastal areas of Negros Occidental in Western Visayas, Philippines. Total coastal study area is 1,082.55 km² for the 14 municipalities/ cities processed. Derivatives that were used in the extraction include, DSM, DTM, Hillshade, Intensity, Number of Returns and PCA. The RGB bands of the Orthographic photographs taken at the same time with the LiDAR data were also used as one of the layers during the processing. NDVI, GRVI and Hillshade using Canny Edge Layer were derived as well to produce an enhanced segmentation. Training and Validation points were collected through field validation and visual inspection using Stratified Random Sampling. The points were then used to feed the Support Vector Machine (SVM) based on tall structures. Only four classes were used, namely, Built-up, Mangroves, Other Trees and Sugarcane. Buffering and contextual editing were incorporated to reclassify the extracted mangroves. Overall accuracy assessment is at 98.73% (KIA of 98.24%) while overall accuracy assessment for Mangroves only is at 98.00%. Using this workflow, mangroves can already be extracted in a large-scale level with acceptable overall accuracy assessments.

Identification and Literary Analysis of the Selected Folk Literature in the Province of Capiz, Philippines

The Philippines, a treasury of oral folk epics and particularly folk songs, gives us opportunities to research them in transition, which implies documenting and introducing them to a wider audience (Biclar, 2014). Capiz is the capital of folk songs and folk dances in Western Visayas. It is a province in Panay Island which has a distinctive and astonishing folk literature existing, but the dilemma is, writings were not all recorded and compiled. The study identified and analyzed the selected folk literature in the province. It sought to identify folk literature in the province of Capiz according to genres, craft a literary analysis based on folk literature and determine literary criticism approaches which are applicable for literary analysis. The study utilized descriptive-qualitative research employing literary critical approaches. The multi-stage purposive sampling procedure was used. The most common folk literature in the province were the following: ambahanon, binalaybay, composo, harana, hurobaton, lowa, paktakon and pamulong-pulong used the spoken introduction for the ulitawo and lin-ay in the public dance (bayle). The selected folk literature identified represent the historical, cultural, social, anthropological or even religious aspects of the Capizenos' way of life.

Darwin’s earthworms (Annelida, Oligochaeta, Megadrilacea) with review of cosmopolitan Metaphire peguana–species group from Philippines

A chance visit to Darwin allowed inspection of and addition to Northern Territory (NT) Museum's earthworm collection. Native Diplotrema zicsii sp. nov. from Alligator River, Kakadu NP is described. Town samples were dominated by cosmopolitan exotic Metaphire bahli (Gates, 1945) herein keyed and compared morpho-molecularly with M. peguana (Rosa, 1890) requiring revision of allied species including Filipino Pheretima philippina (Rosa, 1891), P. p. lipa and P. p. victorias sub-spp. nov. A new P. philippina-group now replaces the dubia-group of Sims & Easton, 1972 and Amynthas carinensis (Rosa, 1890) further replaces their sieboldi-group. Lumbricid Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) and Glossoscolecid Pontoscolex corethrurus (Muller, 1857) are confirmed introductions to the NT. mtDNA barcodes newly include Metaphire houlleti (Perrier, 1872) and Polypheretima elongata (Perrier, 1872) spp.-complexes from the Philippines. Pithemera philippinensis James & Hong, 2004 and Pi. glandis Hong & James, 2011 are new synonyms of Pi. bicincta (Perrier, 1875) that is common in Luzon. Vietnamese homonym Pheretima thaii Nguyen, 2011 (non P. thaii Hong & James, 2011) is replaced with Pheretima baii nom. nov. Two new Filipino taxa are also described: Pleionogaster adya sp. nov. from southern Luzon and Pl. miagao sp. nov. from western Visayas.

Heterogeneity in the spread and control of infectious disease: consequences for the elimination of canine rabies.

Understanding the factors influencing vaccination campaign effectiveness is vital in designing efficient disease elimination programmes. We investigated the importance of spatial heterogeneity in vaccination coverage and human-mediated dog movements for the elimination of endemic canine rabies by mass dog vaccination in Region VI of the Philippines (Western Visayas). Household survey data was used to parameterise a spatially-explicit rabies transmission model with realistic dog movement and vaccination coverage scenarios, assuming a basic reproduction number for rabies drawn from the literature. This showed that heterogeneous vaccination reduces elimination prospects relative to homogeneous vaccination at the same overall level. Had the three vaccination campaigns completed in Region VI in 2010–2012 been homogeneous, they would have eliminated rabies with high probability. However, given the observed heterogeneity, three further campaigns may be required to achieve elimination with probability 0.95. We recommend that heterogeneity be reduced in future campaigns through targeted efforts in low coverage areas, even at the expense of reduced coverage in previously high coverage areas. Reported human-mediated dog movements did not reduce elimination probability, so expending limited resources on restricting dog movements is unnecessary in this endemic setting. Enhanced surveillance will be necessary post-elimination, however, given the reintroduction risk from long-distance dog movements.

Fiscal Administration Variables and Productivity of State Universities and Colleges in Western Visayas, Philippines

Funds, whether from government or generated by institutions from other sources are the lifeblood of institutional development. Since there is never an end to development and improvement, fund sourcing and allocation are continuing concerns of every educational institution. The study determined the financial variables and productivity of SUCs in Region VI for CY 2002-2003. The study aimed to determine the a) institutional profile of the 11 SUCs in Region VI, b) profile of financial managers of SUCs in Region VI, c) budgetary allocation based on the General Appropriations Act (GAA) and income from the Special Trust Fund (STF), and d) how these financial resources are utilized for the operation. Descriptive method of research was employed and data were analyzed through frequency count and percentage mean. Study revealed that 11 SUCs in Region VI shared a common vision of becoming the center excellence, research, extension, and production with a mission of producing globally competitive graduates. The West Visayas State University (WVSU) had the biggest budgetary allocation from GAA, and got the highest earnings in school fees. A similar pattern of expenditures had been adopted by the 11 SUCs in Region VI. The SUCs in the region foresee their respective institutions as Center of Excellence. Fiscal managers had upgraded their educational qualifications. Faculty members have conducted extension, income generating projects and published researches.

Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students - Phase IV

Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students - Phase IV

Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students - Phase III

Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students - Phase III

Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students – Phase IV

This is the last phase of a four-year study which aimed to determine the significance of the difference in the mathematics (math) performance of the participants when grouped according to their hemispheric dominance (HD). The study was anchored in the Split-Brain or Lateralization Theory of Roger Wolcott Sperry which states that the brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left, and the right hemisphere. The participants were eighty-eight (88) fourth-year college students from the courses of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (BSM), Bachelor of Science in Education major in Mathematics (BSEd), Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE), Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communication Engineering (BSECE), and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering major in Automotive Engineering (BSMEAE) at Western Visayas College of Science and Technology SY 2014-2015. The participants’ HD was determined by the use of a researcher-made 46-item Hemispheric Brain Dominance Test while their mathematics performance was based on their Math classes average final grades. The statistical tools used were the mean, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Post hoc tests. The hypothesis was set at the 0.05 alpha level. As an entire group, the left brain was the dominant brain hemisphere among the participants from phase I to phase IV. When the participants were grouped according to program in phase I, the BSM, BSEd, and BSMEAE was left-brain dominant while the BSEE participants were right-brain dominant. The BSECE had an equal number of left-brained and right-brained participants. In phase II, the dominant brain hemisphere was the left brain. Only the BSEE participants were right-brain dominant. In phase III, the dominant brain hemisphere was the left brain, except for the BSMEAE where there was an equal number of left-brained and right-brained participants. In phase IV, all participants from the different programs were left-brained. Only the BSEE participants were right-brain dominant. As an entire group, phase I and II participants had “fair” mathematics performance; phase III had “good” mathematics performance, and phase IV had “very good” mathematics performance. When the participants who were right-brained were grouped according to mathematics performance, phase I had “conditional” mathematics performance; phase II and III had “fair” mathematics performance; and phase IV had “good” mathematics performance. Those who were left-brain dominant had “fair” mathematics performance in phase I, “good” mathematics performance in phase II and III, and “very good” mathematics performance in phase IV. In all phases of the study, significant differences existed in the level of mathematics performance when the participants were grouped according to their hemispheric brain dominance. The “left-brained” performed better in mathematics than the “right-brained”. There was a significant decrease in the enrolment of participants who were right-brain dominant because they shifted to other courses or they transferred to other schools. In phases, I, II and III, significant differences existed in the level of mathematics performance when the participants were grouped according to their program. There is no significant difference in the hemispheric brain dominance of the participants when grouped according to the phase of the study. This implies that the slight changes in the hemispheric brain dominance of the participants were not significant in the last four years.

Heuristic: Its Influence to the Mathematics Anxiety and Coping Mechanism

This is a quantitative-qualitative study that aims to determine the influence of heuristic or problem-solving strategies (PS) to the mathematics anxiety of 97 or 87% of the Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEEd) second-year students of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology enrolled in the subject Problem Solving during the second semester, SY 2014-2015. It also aims to find out the coping mechanisms and perceived causes of mathematics anxiety of the participants. For the quantitative data, a one-group pretest-posttest design was used. The Mathematics Anxiety-Apprehension Survey (MAAS) was administered before the start of the intervention and at the end of the intervention. For the qualitative data, the participants were asked to write a journal on the perceived causes of their math anxiety and their coping mechanism. Personal interviews were conducted to participants with high math anxiety regarding their coping mechanisms. The statistical tools used were the mean, standard deviation, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and Kruskal-Wallis Test. The test in the hypothesis was set at .05 alpha level. Results showed that, as an entire group, and when grouped according to sections, the participants have “moderate” mathematics anxiety. Likewise, the participants have “moderate” mathematics anxiety before and after learning heuristic strategies. There is no significant difference in the level of mathematics anxiety when the participants were grouped according to sections and before and after learning heuristic strategies. The perceived causes of mathematics anxiety of the participants were mostly attributed to their bad experience with their teachers in basic education such as “terror” teachers, physical or verbal punishment, as well as time pressure during math examinations/quizzes. Another identified factor was the quality of teaching like teachers spoke too fast or spoke with a low voice. Some of the common coping mechanisms of the participants were “studying harder”, “utilizing problem-solving strategies or heuristics”, “ asking help from peers”, “listening attentively during class “, and “developing positive attitude” in mathematics.

Career Decision Support System For Graduating High School Students

This study aimed to create and evaluate an online decision support system (DSS) which allows students to take a multiple intelligence test, determine their most dominant intelligence, suggest the most suitable courses to take for college and provide an interpretation for the result of the evaluation. The system captures the knowledge of an expert in guidance and counseling and embodied it to its knowledge base using fuzzy logic, graph search, and depth-first search. The system was tested at the University of Iloilo–Basic Education Department, Iloilo City, and Tabugon National High School, Tabugon, Dingle, Iloilo by a conveniently chosen graduating high school students. The result of the system was evaluated by 39 guidance counselors from the different secondary schools from the province and city of Iloilo. The evaluation of the system’s functionality was assessed by 15 respondents from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector using the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9126. The reliability of the system was evaluated by comparing the system output with the two other assessment tools from Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (Weber standard) and the University of Iloilo (NDDCTE standard). Using Cramer’s V, the result of the evaluation of the NDDCTE standard as compared to the Decision Support System of the data taken from the University of Iloilo and the data taken from Tabugon National High School has a significant relationship. It implies that there is no significant difference in the results of the two evaluations. The result of the evaluation using Cramer’s V of the Weber standard as compared to the Decision Support System of the data taken from the University of Iloilo and the data taken from Tabugon National High School has a significant relationship. It implies that the two results are highly related to each other. Using arithmetic mean (M) and standard deviation (SD), the result of the evaluation of the system’s output based on the perception of 39 guidance counselors resulted in a “Very Satisfactory” result. This implies that the system generates the dominant intelligence of the student, provide accurate course and study tips based on his/ her dominant intelligence. The evaluation of the respondents to the system’s software quality characteristics based on ISO 9126 resulted in a value described as “Very Effective”. It confirmed that the overall software characteristics of the system passed the ISO 9126 standards.

Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students – Phase III

This study was anchored in the Split-Brain or Lateralization Theory of Roger Wolcott Sperry which states that the brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left hemisphere, and the right hemisphere. This was conducted to determine the significance of the difference in the mathematics(math) performance of the participants when they were grouped according to their hemispheric dominance (HD) and program. There were 172 first-year participants of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology, Iloilo City in phase I (SY 2011-2012). This was reduced to 120 participants in phase II (SY 2012-2013) and to 88 participants in phase III (SY 2013-2014). The participants’ HD was determined by the use of a researcher-made 46-item Hemispheric Brain Dominance Test while their mathematics performance was based on their average final grades in their Math classes. The statistical tools used were the mean, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Post hoc tests. The test in the hypothesis was set at .05 alpha level. Results showed that as an entire group, the left brain was the dominant brain hemisphere among the participants in phases I, II and III. In phase I and II, the participants had “fair” mathematics performance while phase III had “good” mathematics performance. When the participants were grouped according to their hemispheric dominance in phase I, the participants who were right-brain dominant had “conditional” mathematics performance while in phase II and III, they had “fair” mathematics performance. Those which were left-brain dominant in phase I had “fair” mathematics performance while in phase II and III, they had “good” mathematics performance. In phases, I, II and III of the study, significant differences existed in the level of mathematics performance when the participants were grouped according to their hemispheric brain dominance. The left brain dominant participants performed better in their mathematics performance than the right brain dominant participants. In phases, I, II and III, significant differences existed in the level of mathematics performance when the participants were grouped according to their program. The Post hoc (Scheffe) test results showed that BS Math significantly differs in their math performance from BSECE and BSMEAE participants. Furthermore, BSECE significantly differs in their math performance from BSEd and BSMEAE participants. Also, BSMEAE significantly differs from BSEE and BSEd participants in their math performance. There is no significant difference in the hemispheric brain dominance of the participants when they were grouped according to the phase of the study. This implies that the hemispheric brain dominance of the participants did not change for the last three years. It is highly recommended to administrators and guidance counselors to assess the brain dominance of the incoming freshmen and give priority to left-brained students for Math-laden courses. More researches should be conducted in different subjects, programs, and backgrounds to add support to this study.

GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay vs. Mtb Culture vs DSSM for the Detection of MDRTB: The Western Visayas Medical Center, Philippines Experience from January to December 2014

GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay vs. Mtb Culture vs DSSM for the Detection of MDRTB: The Western Visayas Medical Center, Philippines Experience from January to December 2014