In global estimates of marine plastic debris, the Philippines consistently ranks among the world’s top contributors. Yet, spatially refined models grounded in sufficient empirical evidence for understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of marine plastic debris remain scarce. This gap stems from the limited utility of global models for localized applications, as well as the broader absence of integrated frameworks that reflect the country’s archipelagic complexity and socio-environmental heterogeneity. Addressing this gap requires deeper insight into how plastic debris originates from point sources in both land and sea, moves through geomorphic pathways shaped by structural and dynamic factors, and eventually accumulates in nearshore ecological habitats. This study bridged this gap by developing a data-driven framework and applying an ecological lens to characterize macroplastic accumulation in the Philippines. This framework integrated empirical count data from the PlastiCount Pilipinas Portal with socio-economic, environmental, and spatial indicators. Ordination and clustering techniques were used to identify ecological gradients and site groupings, while correlation and network analyses uncovered associations in the multivariate structure. Findings revealed associations between macroplastic loads and key drivers, including socio-economic and urbanization metrics, and hydrological and geomorphological features, which inform the source-pathway-sink dynamics of macroplastic accumulation. This framework offers an interpretable approach that emphasizes context-specific drivers of plastic transport. By grounding the analysis in national-scale datasets, the study contributes toward the development of adaptive monitoring strategies and targeted interventions suited to the Philippine archipelagic setting.

This study involves using water resources simulation model with optimization of rice production in the Pampanga River Basin. Fundamentals of irrigation system operation both in reservoir and farm levels are reviewed from the perspective of describing the physical process and also, in the context of optimization, defining typical decision problems and associated decision variables. The developed and adopted crop yield prediction models were applied to simulate the response of rice crop as a function of the amount irrigation water applied and other parameters which were weather and agronomic variables. The output of this study is a useful tool for planning agricultural hydrosystem on efficient and optimal use of water irrigation supply for agricultural production. Agricultural production is always related to business operation so that this study demonstrates how irrigation management can be appraised from a business perspective so that the objective function of the optimization conducted tool in this study is based on maximize net revenue. Finally, the output of this study can result to self-sufficiency in rice production and elevate the socio-economic status of the farmers.

A Zn@ZnO/Cu foam composite anode was developed via ZnO electrodeposition followed by zinc electroplating to regulate nucleation behavior and improve cycling stability in aqueous Ni–Zn batteries. A zincophilic ZnO interlayer was first deposited onto a three-dimensional copper foam using potentiostatic electrodeposition. A full factorial design of experiments was used to study the effects of deposition potential and Zn(NO3)2 concentration. Among the tested conditions, –1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and 0.3 M Zn(NO3)2 produced vertically aligned ZnO nanorods and achieved a nucleation overpotential of ~75 mV at 10 mA cm–2, over 50% lower than the ~160 mV observed on Zn@Cu foam, the control sample without a ZnO interlayer. This comparison highlights the role of the ZnO layer in facilitating more uniform nucleation. Statistical analysis confirmed that Zn(NO3)2 concentration had the greatest influence, with significant interaction effects. Post-plating characterization of Zn@ZnO/Cu foam composite anode confirmed the structural and chemical stability of the ZnO layer. SEM revealed preserved ZnO nanorod morphology and pore structure; XRD and Raman verified ZnO phase retention; and EDS showed uniform Zn and O distribution with minimal Cu exposure. Electrochemical testing showed improved redox reversibility, lower corrosion current, and enhanced interfacial kinetics compared to the Zn@Cu foam control. Long-term symmetric cell cycling demonstrated superior durability, with Zn@ZnO/Cu foam maintaining cycling profiles for ~400 hours versus ~230 hours for the Zn@Cu foam. These findings demonstrate that ZnO interface engineering on a 3D substrate provides an effective strategy for enhancing anode performance in rechargeable Ni–Zn batteries.

Removal of hexavalent chromium has been a focus for studies in recent years due to its prevalence and toxicity. The use of magnetotactic bacteria in treating chromium-containing waters has been gaining interest due to its advantage of being able to be separated from the effluent, among other benefits of biological methods. Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense (MSR-1) has already been proven to reduce Cr(VI) to less toxic Cr(III), but its resistance to the metal has not been studied. This study aims to elucidate the Cr(VI) resistance of MSR-1 by assessing its resistance limits and evaluating its efflux pump capabilities through heterologous expression in E. coli BL21. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of MSR-1 was found to be 3 mg Cr(VI)/L, although its magnetosome synthesis was already hindered at 2 mg Cr(VI)/L. MSR-1 was also found to be capable of surviving 14 cycles of 12-hour exposures to 10 mg/L of chromium without a significant impact on its average Cr(VI) reduction capacities, but the growth of magnetosome-deficient strains was observed. The engineered bacteria exhibited higher resistance and lower chromium uptake compared to the control, up to a concentration of 50 mg/L Cr(VI). The engineered strain recorded an 83.67% retention of intracellular chromium, indicating better efflux capabilities compared to the control strain’s 97.89% retention rate. However, increasing the culture concentration and duration led to a decrease in efflux capacities. Molybdate, vanadate, and NADPH inhibited the efflux of the engineered strain by 14.32%, 15.28%, and 23.82%, respectively. Conversely, the addition of valinomycin improved efflux by 34.26%

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent materials have attracted considerable interest in bioimaging and biosensing, as physiological components such as water and hemoglobin exhibit weak absorption and low intrinsic autofluorescence in this region. The clinically approved dye indocyanine green (ICG; excitation/emission 789/813 nm) holds valuable potential in photothermal and photoacoustic imaging owing to its high absorption cross-section and environment-responsive optical properties, despite its low quantum yield and short lifetime. To enhance its photostability and control aggregation, ICG has been paired with NIR gold nanostructures. However, most reported ICG–gold assemblies rely on cytotoxic surfactants (e.g., CTAB) and strong reducing agents (e.g., NaBH₄), thereby limiting in vivo applications. Consequently, this study synthesized NIR-resonant gold nanotriangles (AuNTs) via a thiosulfate-mediated, surfactant-free method, stabilized using biocompatible zwitterionic amino acid L-cysteine, and added a silica shell, enabling controlled ICG loading while preventing fluorescence quenching from direct metal contact. The resulting AuNT@SiO₂ nanostructures exhibited plasmon resonance above 800 nm, overlapping with ICG absorption. ICG aggregation, emission, and lifetime were assessed by UV-Vis, steady-state fluorescence, and FLIM, respectively, offering insight into nanostructure–ICG photophysical interaction. Metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) of ICG remained limited by the aggregation of the dye in aqueous solution, yielding intensity ratios of only 0.865 on AuNP-Cys@SiO₂ and a negligible value on AuNP-CTAB@SiO₂. In contrast, pairing the fully and partially biocompatible silica-coated AuNPs with the visible-region dye FITC gave maximum enhancement factors of 1.127 ± 0.047 and 1.61 ± 0.16, respectively. These results indicate potential for MEF-based biosensing but warrant further study of ICG immobilization and amino acid–silica growth compatibility.