EMPOWERMENT ON THE CAPABILITY OF THE BARANGAY TANODS OF MARIA THERESA, CABANATUAN CITY

This study was conducted to determine on how to empower the capability of the barangay tanods of Maria Theresa, Cabanatuan City. After assessing their level of familiarity on the policing strategies as to Gender-sensitivity and Child-friendly approaches, the researcher proposed some programs on how to empower them. The researcher used a descriptive design of methodology. The outcome of the study have manifested that the barangay tanods have limited knowledge on the process in dealing with victims of violence against women. Further, as to child-friendly approach, the respondents were likewise slightly familiar on the proper treatment in handling child in conflict with the law. As a result, there is a need to empower the capability of the barangay tanods in performing their duties especially on how to become a Gender-sensitive and child-friendly barangay tanod. KEYWORDS: Empowerment, Capability, Barangay Tanod, Gender-Sensitivity Approach, Child-Friendly Approach, Maria Theresa

Design of Gas Cyclone Using Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

The method of searching for an optimal solution inspired by nature is referred to as particle swarm optimization. Differential evolution is a simple but effective EA for global optimization since it has demonstrated strong convergence qualities and is relatively straightforward to comprehend. The primary concerns of design engineers are that the traditional technique used in the design process of a gas cyclone utilizes complex mathematical formulas and a sensitivity approach to obtain relevant optimal design parameters. The motivation of this research effort is based on the desire to simplify complex mathematical models and the sensitivity approach for gas cyclone design with the use of an objective function, which is of the minimization type. The process makes use of the initial population generated by the DE algorithm, and the stopping criterion of DE is set as the fitness value. When the fitness value is not less than the current global best, the DE population is taken over by PSO. For each iteration, the new velocity and position are updated in every generation until the optimal solution is achieved. When using PSO independently, the adoption of a hybridised particle swarm optimization method for the design of an optimum gas cyclone produced better results, with an overall efficiency of 0.70, and with a low cost at the rate of 230 cost/second.

Comparison between dynamic and static sensitivity analysis approaches for impact assessment of different potential evapotranspiration methods on hydrological models performance

Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) plays a crucial role in water management, including irrigation systems design and management. It is an essential input to hydrological models. Direct measurement of PET is difficult, time-consuming and costly, therefore a number of different methods are used to compute this variable. This study compares the two sensitivity analysis approaches generally used for PET impact assessment on hydrological model performance. We conducted the study in the Upper Benue River Basin (UBRB) located in northern Cameroon using two lumped-conceptual rainfall-runoff models and nineteen PET estimation methods. A Monte-Carlo procedure was implemented to calibrate the hydrological models for each PET input while considering similar objective functions. Although there were notable differences between PET estimation methods, the hydrological models performance was satisfactory for each PET input in the calibration and validation periods. The optimized model parameters were significantly affected by the PET-inputs, especially the parameter responsible to transform PET into actual ET. The hydrological models performance was insensitive to the PET input using a dynamic sensitivity approach, while he was significantly affected using a static sensitivity approach. This means that the over-or under-estimation of PET is compensated by the model parameters during the model recalibration. The model performance was insensitive to the rescaling PET input for both dynamic and static sensitivities approaches. These results demonstrate that the effect of PET input to model performance is necessarily dependent on the sensitivity analysis approach used and suggest that the dynamic approach is more effective for hydrological modeling perspectives.