The location and number of language areas in the brain differ among multilingual brain tumor patients

September 14, 2023

The location of the speech area in the brain may be different or located in several sites in patients who speak multiple languages, and knowledge of potential eloquent sites is important to preserve language function. In this paper, we performed a systematic review of cortical mapping during awake brain tumor surgery in multilingual patients. We […]

Agent-based model reveals a sustainable method of forest tree harvesting

September 5, 2023

The Philippines requires 6 million cubic meters of wood annually, based on its 2006–2014 average wood consumption. However, due to years of unsustainable forest practices, various policies were enacted in the country that restricted timber harvesting starting in the late 1980s, culminating in Executive Order No. 23 in 2011. This moratorium imposed a total ban […]

Adjusting the rice cropping calendar can improve the production and income of rice farmers

August 29, 2023

The study assessed the impact of an adjusted cropping calendar on the welfare of rice farming households in the  Mekong River Delta of Vietnam in the 2019/20 Winter–Spring (W-S) crop season. Some farmers in the study area practiced early planting as an adaptation strategy to avoid the risk of saline intrusion during the 2019–2020 El […]

Study reports the first cases of yaws, a chronic and highly contagious skin and bone infection, among the Aetas of Quezon

August 15, 2023

Yaws is a chronic, highly contagious skin and bone infection caused by a bacteria, Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, usually affecting children in poor, remote communities. On the skin, yaws presents as thick yellow crusts on pink cauliflower-like lesions. Its treatment is simple: a single dose of intramuscular Penicillin G or oral azithromycin. If left untreated, […]

Villages with a large population of women, older persons and agricultural households are most exposed to drought risk

August 9, 2023

Islands are highly vulnerable to natural disasters and extreme weather events due to their physical size, remoteness, and limited resources. This paper measured village-level drought risk in Marinduque, Philippines using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and fuzzy logic. Standard Precipitation Index was used to measure drought hazards in the province utilizing publicly available rainfall. Principal component […]

Continuing ignition practices have transformed Tau-Buhid Indigenous lands into “territories of fire”

August 4, 2023

The article challenges the assumption that land tenure is contingent on acquiring a land title. It argues that for Indigenous peoples, a land may be delineated, occupied, utilized and collectively owned through the concept of territoriality. Using combined “anarchist anthropology” and political ecology, the article provides ethnographic evidence from among the Tau-Buhid, an Indigenous community […]

Occupational therapists can be tapped to design age-friendly cities and communities

August 2, 2023

Urban planning for age-friendly environments is an important issue, and occupational therapists and occupational scientists could contribute to planning such environments. However, knowledge of the potential roles of occupational therapists is limited. A Q-methodology study was conducted to obtain the views of occupational therapists and stakeholders regarding their roles in the urban planning of age-friendly […]

Injuries suffered by workers on the job such as from falls and contact with sharp objects had been fatal

July 31, 2023

Although Occupational Health and Safety has been introduced as early as 1971, the protection of workers remained insufficient globally as 360 million occupational accidents occurred annually. In the Philippines, the incidence rate of occupational injury is 4.27 percent which indicates that there are around 4 cases of occupational injuries with workdays lost per 100 workers. […]

Human population growth threatens the largest and only protected key biodiversity area in Cebu Island

July 27, 2023

The continuing pressure on the natural environment exerted by human activities such as land conversion has been threatening to drive tens of thousands of species to extinction globally for decades. Species conservation requires identifying species ranges impacted by threats, which helps predict potential localized extinctions. This paper assessed the human pressures that threaten the local […]

The seaweed Saccharina japonica, an important aquaculture crop, shows increased photosynthetic activity under blue light

July 25, 2023

Saccharina japonica kelps grow naturally in the subtidal zone up to more than 20 m, where blue light (400–500 nm) is predominant; they possess the xanthophyll pigment fucoxanthin, in addition to chlorophyll, that aids in broadening the spectrum of light absorption. However, the knowledge of photosynthetic performance under different light wavelengths (e.g., blue, green, red […]