Eastern Visayas State University

Coastal communities in the Global South face growing risks from climate change. While grey infrastructure remains dominant in climate change adaptation approaches, its limitations have driven interest in nature-based solutions. This study compares the impacts of a mangrove restoration and a tide embankment project on social, physical, human, natural, and financial capitals in Tacloban City in the Philippines using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. Through a mixed-methods approach, we combined household surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions to evaluate how these two infrastructure types differ in delivering climate adaptation outcomes. Results showed that differences emerged primarily in physical capital, where the seawall was associated with higher perceived infrastructure protection, durability, and housing safety. In contrast, qualitative data revealed that mangroves contributed more to natural capital, supporting biodiversity and ecosystems. Impacts on social and financial capital were similar across projects. While both projects enhanced human capital through improved perceived safety, seawall communities had higher rates of displacement but also expressed greater pride in the final infrastructure as a symbol of identity. Findings reveal that while seawalls are perceived to offer greater durability, they are associated with significantly higher rates of community displacement and estimated construction costs that are several hundred times higher than mangrove restoration per meter of coastline. These results suggest that nature-based solutions offer a more equitable and cost-effective pathway to resilience by delivering superior natural capital and community stewardship at a fraction of the investment required for grey infrastructure.

The Complete Blood Count (CBC) is an essential diagnostic procedure widely employed in clinical laboratories to evaluate overall health and detect conditions such as infections, anemia, and hematologic malignancies. Traditional CBC methods, including manual counting with a hemocytometer and automated analyzers, are either labor-intensive or cost-prohibitive for low-resource settings. This study presents a MATLAB-based diagnostic application designed to detect and classify red blood cells (RBCs) and white blood cells (WBCs), including WBC subtypes, from blood smear images. The system utilizes pre-annotated bounding boxes for cell localization, eliminating the need for complex image segmentation. A user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) was developed using MATLAB App Designer, allowing real-time display of cell counts and classifications. Clinical validation with licensed medical technologists ensured the morphological accuracy of WBC subtype labels. The system achieved a WBC classification accuracy of 76.92%, an RBC count accuracy of 23.08% (38.46% within a +/- 2 tolerance), and 100% accuracy in WBC counting. The results demonstrate the tool's effectiveness and practicality for hematological diagnostics in academic and low-resource healthcare environments. Future work includes integrating deep learning techniques for automated classification and batch processing.

The increasing number of applicants for the ICT Proficiency Examination has created significant challenges for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Region VIII, particularly in the manual verification of examination requirements. Traditional validation procedures are often time-consuming, prone to data-entry mistakes, and susceptible to inconsistencies in decision-making. To address these concerns, this study developed an ICT Exam Validation System that automates the verification and assessment of applicant documents. The system was developed using the Agile System Development Life Cycle, which involved iterative phases of planning, design, development, testing, deployment, and evaluation. It features dedicated portals for applicants and administrators, secure user authentication, automated document validation, and real-time notification capabilities. To determine its effectiveness, the system underwent functional and technical evaluations based on reliability measures and the ISO/IEC 25059:2023 quality model, focusing on key attributes such as adaptability, reliability, transparency, and operational efficiency. The evaluation results indicate that the system provides a dependable and practical solution for streamlining the validation of ICT Proficiency Examination requirements. By reducing manual intervention and improving the consistency of validation decisions, the system enhances the overall efficiency of examination administration. Moreover, the project contributes to the advancement of digital governance initiatives by supporting innovation in public service delivery and promoting the modernization of government processes. The study also aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 16 by encouraging the adoption of intelligent technologies that strengthen institutional effectiveness, improve service accessibility, and foster sustainable digital transformation in the public sector.

Eastern Visayas State University were sampled using a stratified random sampling technique. A 24-item questionnaire was used to gather information on participants' demographics and satisfaction with online learning. Frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviations were used in descriptive statistics, while inferential tests used t-tests and ANOVA. The results showed that although students were satisfied with their instructors (M = 3.63) and the technology provided (M = 3.56), they rated interaction the lowest (M = 3.39). This lack of association was accompanied by a decline in overall satisfaction (M = 3.22), although some students reported being quite satisfied with their experience. Also, the students' major was the greatest predictor of their satisfaction level. Hands-on programs like Engineering and Education struggled significantly more online compared to computer-based majors like Business and Industrial Technology. The data also showed that older students were more satisfied overall, likely due to better time-management habits, whereas prior online class experience did not have a statistically significant effect. The study concludes that the presence of functioning technologies and quality teachers alone cannot ensure success in online education. To be successful in the long run, institutions of higher learning should go beyond mere content uploads and focus on developing interactive, field-oriented hybrid courses.