Public Opinion on the Duterte Administration’s COVID-19 Period through Editorial Cartoons on Facebook

Brian Saludes Bantugan 충남대학교 아시아여론연구소 2020 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.8 No.4

This study explores the images and ideas presented by the editorial cartoons that have appeared in the author’s Facebook timeline during Duterte’s enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). The study analyzed 70 editorial cartoons posted between March 14, 2020, when Duterte declared ECQ in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, and June 22, 2020, a few days before the emergency powers of Duterte expired. This study used (visual-verbal) textual analysis as the research method to surface discourses embedded in the selected editorial cartoons. The editorial cartoons were clustered according to the roles the powerful people play in the images, and the details of each image were compared and contrasted to surface nuances in representation. The 70 editorial cartoons were classified into seven categories: (1) invisible (non-suffering) persons, (2) front liners, (3) privileged homeowners, (4) priority clients, (5) judges, (6) gatekeepers, and (7) dysfunctional public officials. They gravitated towards the tragic realities that call for acts of social justice and equity, and underscore specific contexts that need to be fixed by those in power.

Bridging the Age-Related Communication Gap: An Encounter Between Senior Citizens and Communication Students Towards Social Integration

Brian Saludes Bantugan,Fe C. Bantugan,Ricardo C. Urbano 충남대학교 아시아여론연구소 2018 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.5 No.2

This paper is built upon an attempt to answer the question: “What can be done to facilitate social integration between the elderly of Bagac, Bataan and the communication students of St. Paul University Manila?” The research was designed as a qualitative inquiry that involved an outreach activity by 24 dominantly female students of Development Communication to the senior citizens of Bagac, Bataan (Philippines) and a reflection period involving the students. The students were tasked to pay special attention to the digital engagements and/or disengagements of the elderly to allow them to learn more about the difficulties and potential of using social media in development-related projects involving senior citizens. The actual two-hour encounter involved socialization between the elderly and the students. The students, prior to the encounter, were tasked to generate the funds, use them to acquire and prepare the gifts, develop the program during the actual encounter based on research-based guidelines, and photo document the entire activity. They were given guide questions for reflections a week after. The reflections were thematically analyzed and revealed that in order to facilitate greater social integration between the elderly and the communication students. The university should address the health and digital aversion issues that intensify the sense of isolation of the elderly experience daily. This can be done by enhancing the communication skills of the communication students in

Public Opinion on the Duterte Administration's COVID-19 Period through Editorial Cartoons on Facebook

Bantugan, Brian Saludes Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2020 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.8 No.4

This study explores the images and ideas presented by the editorial cartoons that have appeared in the author's Facebook timeline during Duterte's enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). The study analyzed 70 editorial cartoons posted between March 14, 2020, when Duterte declared ECQ in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, and June 22, 2020, a few days before the emergency powers of Duterte expired. This study used (visual-verbal) textual analysis as the research method to surface discourses embedded in the selected editorial cartoons. The editorial cartoons were clustered according to the roles the powerful people play in the images, and the details of each image were compared and contrasted to surface nuances in representation. The 70 editorial cartoons were classified into seven categories: (1) invisible (non-suffering) persons, (2) front liners, (3) privileged homeowners, (4) priority clients, (5) judges, (6) gatekeepers, and (7) dysfunctional public officials. They gravitated towards the tragic realities that call for acts of social justice and equity, and underscore specific contexts that need to be fixed by those in power.

Bridging the Age-Related Communication Gap: An Encounter Between Senior Citizens and Communication Students Towards Social Integration

Bantugan, Brian Saludes,Bantugan, Fe C.,Urbano, Ricardo C. Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2018 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.5 No.2

This paper is built upon an attempt to answer the question: "What can be done to facilitate social integration between the elderly of Bagac, Bataan and the communication students of St. Paul University Manila?" The research was designed as a qualitative inquiry that involved an outreach activity by 24 dominantly female students of Development Communication to the senior citizens of Bagac, Bataan (Philippines) and a reflection period involving the students. The students were tasked to pay special attention to the digital engagements and/or disengagements of the elderly to allow them to learn more about the difficulties and potential of using social media in development-related projects involving senior citizens. The actual two-hour encounter involved socialization between the elderly and the students. The students, prior to the encounter, were tasked to generate the funds, use them to acquire and prepare the gifts, develop the program during the actual encounter based on research-based guidelines, and photo document the entire activity. They were given guide questions for reflections a week after. The reflections were thematically analyzed and revealed that in order to facilitate greater social integration between the elderly and the communication students. The university should address the health and digital aversion issues that intensify the sense of isolation of the elderly experience daily. This can be done by enhancing the communication skills of the communication students in 16 areas.

Exploring spatial patterns of trends in monthly rainfall and temperature in the Philippines based on Climate Research Unit grid

Arnold R. Salvacion,Damasa B. Magcale-Macandog,Pompe C. Sta. Cruz,Ronaldo B. Saludes,Ireneo B. Pangga,Christian Joseph R. Cumagun 대한공간정보학회 2018 Spatial Information Research Vol.26 No.5

This study assessed spatial pattern of trends in monthly rainfall and temperature in the Philippines using Climate Research Unit time series data. Based on the results, there are significant trends in monthly rainfall and temperature in the country. On the average, monthly rainfall in the country is increasing by 0.34 mm/year. In the case of monthly temperature, the average increases per year were 0.008 and 0.019 C, for maximum and minimum temperature, respectively. In terms of proportion, larger portion of the country showed significant trends in monthly temperature ([80%) compared to rainfall (\10%). Shift in wettest, driest, warmest, and coldest months were also observed between the periods of 1951–1980 to 1986–2015.

Banana suitability and Fusarium wilt distribution in the Philippines under climate change

Arnold R. Salvacion,Christian Joseph R. Cumagun,Ireneo B. Pangga,Damasa B. Magcale-Macandog,Pompe C. Sta. Cruz,Ronaldo B. Saludes,Tamie C. Solpot,Edna A. Aguilar 대한공간정보학회 2019 Spatial Information Research Vol.27 No.3

Climate change is expected to affect crop production directly and indirectly due to changes in crop suitability, decrease in productivity, and higher incidence of pest and diseases. In the case of banana, change in suitability and distribution of Fusarium wilt due to climate change can pose a major threat on its production system. Being a major dollar earner for the Philippines, these threats can greatly affect the country’s economic and food production system. This study assessed banana suitability and the potential distribution of Fusarium wilt in the Philippines under current and future climate condition using fuzzy logic and maximum entropy approach. Based on the results, climate change might have limited impact on banana suitability in the country. But the projected changes in rainfall in the future can increase the areas that are favorable for Fusarium wilt occurrence. From 21% under baseline climate condition, favorable areas for Fusarium wilt in the Philippines is estimated to increase to 27% covering 91.2% and 28.5% of the country’s highly and moderately suitable areas for banana, respectively. Such coverage accounts for approximately 67% of the country’s total harvested area for banana.

Investigation of homo-oligomeric interface and binding hotspot of Latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)

Lee, Guiin,Sammond, Deanne W.,Joce, Catherine,Takeshita, Ryan,McQuate, Sarah E.,Ghosh, Nilanjan,Martin, Jennifer M.,Wang, Xiaohui,Zhao, Tina X.,Saludes, Jonel P.,Csakai, Adam,Fiorini, Zeno,Chavez, She Korean Society of Photoscience 2012 Rapid communication in photoscience Vol.1 No.2

The NER-related gene GTF2H5 predicts survival in high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients

Javier Gayarre,Marta M. Kamieniak,Alicia Cazorla-Jiménez,Ivan Muñoz-Repeto,Salud Borrego,Jesús García-Donas,Susana Hernando,Luis Robles-Díaz,José M. García-Bueno,Ivan Márquez-Rodas,María José Echarri 대한부인종양학회 2016 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.27 No.1

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic and predictive value of the nucleotide excision repair-related gene GTF2H5, which is localized at the 6q24.2-26 deletion previously reported by our group to predict longer survival of high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients. Methods: In order to test if protein levels of GTF2H5 are associated with patients' outcome, we performed GTF2H5 immunohistochemical staining in 139 high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas included in tissue microarrays. Upon stratification of cases into high- and low- GTF2H5 staining categories (> and ≤ median staining, respectively) Kaplan-Meier and logrank test were used to estimate patients’ survival and assess statistical differences. We also evaluated the association of GTF2H5 with survival at the transcriptional level by using the on-line Kaplan-Meier plotter tool, which includes gene expression and survival data of 855 high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients from 13 different datasets. Finally, we determined whether stable short hairpin RNA-mediated GTF2H5 downregulation modulates cisplatin sensitivity in the SKOV3 and COV504 cell lines by using cytotoxicity assays. Results: Low expression of GTF2H5 was associated with longer 5-year survival of patients at the protein (hazard ratio [HR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.93; p=0.024) and transcriptional level (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.97; p=0.023) in high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients. We confirmed the association with 5-year overall survival (HR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.78; p=0.0007) and also found an association with progression-free survival (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.96; p=0.026) in a homogenous group of 388 high-stage (stages III-IV using the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging system), optimally debulked high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients. GTF2H5- silencing induced a decrease of the half maximal inhibitory concentration upon cisplatin treatment in GTF2H5-silenced ovarian cancer cells. Conclusion: Low levels of GTF2H5 are associated with enhanced prognosis in high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients and may contribute to cisplatin sensitization.

Antivirulence Activity of a Dietary Phytochemical: Hibiscus Acid Isolated from Hibiscus sabdariffa L. Reduces the Virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Mouse Infection Model

Humberto Cortes-López,Javier Castro-Rosas,Rodolfo García-Contreras,José Salud Rodríguez-Zavala,Bertha González-Pedrajo,Miguel Díaz-Guerrero,Javier Hernández-Morales,Naybi Muñoz-Cazares,Marcos Soto-Her 한국식품영양과학회 2021 Journal of medicinal food Vol.24 No.9

Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Hs) calyxes, rich in organic acids, are included in diets in different countries. In recent years, some phytochemicals have been shown to reduce bacterial virulence at sublethal concentrations by interfering with quorum sensing (QS) systems. Therefore, in this study the antivirulence properties of Hs calyxes and two γ-lactones (hibiscus acid [HA] and its methyl ester) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa were analyzed. Acetone and methanol extracts of Hs showed anti-QS activity by inhibiting violacein production (60% to 80% with 250 μg/mL). In molecular docking analysis, the γ-lactones registered a good binding score, which suggests strong interaction with the active site of LasR protein. To verify their effect in vitro, they were isolated from Hs and evaluated in six QS-regulated phenotypes, as well as in ExoU toxin that is released by the type III secretion system (T3SS). At 500 μg/mL they reduced alkaline protease (29–52%) and elastase (15–37%) activity, biofilm formation (∼75%), and swarming (50%), but there was no effect on pyocyanin production, hemolytic activity, or type III secretion. In a mouse abscess/necrosis model, HA at sublethal concentrations (15 and 31.2 μg/mL) affected infection establishment and prevented damage and systemic spread. In conclusion, HA is the first molecule identified with antivirulence properties in Hs with the potential to prevent infections caused by P. aeruginosa.

Genomic surveillance links livestock production with the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella in Mexico

Enrique Jesús Delgado-Suárez,Rocío Ortíz-López,Wondwossen A. Gebreyes,Marc W. Allard,Francisco Barona-Gómez,María Salud Rubio-Lozano 한국미생물학회 2019 The journal of microbiology Vol.57 No.4

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is increasingly common worldwide. While food animals are thought to contribute to the growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem, limited data is documenting this relationship, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Herein, we aimed to assess the role of non-clinical NTS of bovine origin as reservoirs of AMR genes of human clinical significance. We evaluated the phenotypic and genotypic AMR profiles in a set of 44 bovine-associated NTS. For comparative purposes, we also included genotypic AMR data of additional isolates from Mexico (n = 1,067) that are publicly available. The most frequent AMR phenotypes in our isolates involved tetracycline (40/44), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (26/44), chloramphenicol (19/44), ampicillin (18/44), streptomycin (16/44), and carbenicillin (13/44), while nearly 70% of the strains were MDR. These phenotypes were correlated with a widespread distribution of AMR genes (i.e. tetA, aadA, dfrA12, dfrA17, sul1, sul2, bla-TEM-1, blaCARB-2) against multiple antibiotic classes, with some of them contributed by plasmids and/or class-1 integrons. We observed different AMR genotypes for betalactams and tetracycline resistance, providing evidence of convergent evolution and adaptive AMR. The probability of MDR genotype occurrence was higher in meat-associated isolates than in those from other sources (odds ratio 11.2, 95% confidence interval 4.5–27.9, P < 0.0001). The study shows that beef cattle are a significant source of MDR NTS in Mexico, highlighting the role of animal production on the emergence and spread of MDR Salmonella in LMIC.