The presenters and organizers in the "Kahimunan: Mindanao Research Colloquium 2023"

The Department of Human Kinetics delivered the "Kahimunan: Mindanao Research Colloquium 2023" with the theme "Mindanao Sports Development" in UP Mindanao, Mintal, Davao City from November 17 to 18, 2023. Researchers gathered to present their studies related to sports development, sports performance, sports psychology, wellness and recreation, and gender equality/indigenous games.

Presenters and attendees had a fruitful discussion with respect to the methods and results of the studies.

The Department of Human Kinetics hopes that the colloquium will open up more opportunities and ideas to the participants that will help strengthen the Mindanao Sports Development Program.

Below are the studies that were presented:

"Women and Indigenous Games: Who Say Women Can't Play?" By: Prof. Genevieve Jorolan-Quintero, PhD

"Today's Challenge: The Opportunity for Enhancing Sports Activities' Resurgence and Tenacity" By Prof. Stephen A. Fadare, EdD

"The Preparatory Scheme in Sports for University Athletes" By Prof. Hendely A. Adlawan, PhD

"Perspectives of Student-Athletes on the Suspension of Sporting Events in the Pandemic Era" By Elvin Parreño, MAEd

"Psychosocial Attributes of Elite Sports Coaches" By Dr. Jonathan V. Mancao, EdD

"Factors Influencing Participation and Commitment to Youth Community Music Ensembles" By Ann K. Maniego, MMEd

"Cognizance in Sports: Blossoming Through Diverse Eras" By Prof. Hendely A. Adlawan, PhD

"How are We doing in terms of promoting physical activity among our young people? Reflecting on the Results from the Philippines 2022 Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Adolescents" By: Prof. Jonathan Y. Cagas, PhD

"Movement Behind Bars: Recreational Games for Healthy Lifestyles" By Prof. Stephen A. Fadare, EdD

"Examining the Relationship between Exercise Self-Efficacy and Physical Fitness in Community-Dwelling Older Adults" By Kenny T. Bentain, PTRP & Prof. Jonathan Y. Cagas, PhD

"Historical Analysis of Competitive Ballroom Dancing in Davao City" By: Prof. Annaliza R. Castro, EdD

"Why do people do Yoga? Examining motives across different types of yoga participants" By Prof. Jonathan Y. Cagas, PhD, Stuart J.H. Biddle, & Ineke Vergeer

The Book of Abstracts is available for download here: bit.ly/kahimunan-abstracts-2023

The online launch of the Agrifood Systems Analytics Laboratory

Organizers and participants to the 1st Agrifood Systems Analytics Data Science Workshop and Hackathon

The Agrifood Systems Analytics Laboratory, under the project "Developing a multi-criteria index for identifying and prioritizing micronutrient-rich neglected and underutilized crops," was launched on September 7, 2023.

The laboratory aims to promote neglected and underutilized crops to address food shortages and malnutrition leading to outcomes such as sustainability, agribiodiversity, and protection of soil health and natural resources.

It is funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and implemented by UPSTREAM Foundation, Inc., and the University of the Philippines Mindanao.

The core team is led by the Principal Investigator, Mr. Luis Atonio Hualda (SOM Adjunct Faculty), with the assistance of Assoc. Prof. Vladimer Kobayashi (CSM Faculty), Ms. Marilou Montiflor (SOM University Researcher), and Assoc. Prof. Jackie Lou Tagubase (CSM Faculty). Other researchers in the team include Leigh Blanche Joville, Kieffer Arben Go, Paula Marielle Elises, and Krakauer Jon Bustamante.

"I am proud of the partnership between our two colleges, the School of Management and the College of Science and Mathematics," said Chancellor Murao. "Your interdisciplinary collaboration is a fine demonstration of the unified efforts of the University to contribute to the sustainable development of Mindanao and the country.

"There are 29,070 edible but underutilized plant species worldwide. However, we are currently focused on only 30 plant species to feed the world. In this lab, the use of data analytics is a powerful tool that can provide speedy and evidence-based identification of the right crops for adoption and utilization," she said.

"This AgriFood Systems Analytics Laboratory we launch today can unlock the potential of underutilized crops to help end hunger and malnutrition. This is especially needed here in the resource-rich but socioeconomically challenged region of Mindanao. The outputs of this Laboratory will contribute to the University's efforts toward the Sustainable Development Goals of Zero Hunger, Good Health, and Well-Being for Mindanao and beyond," she said.

The School of Management's former dean and university chancellor Sylvia Concepcion and current dean Aurelia Luzviminda Gomez also gave messages at the launch.   

In addition, the same team organized the 1st Agrifood Systems Analytics Data Science Workshop and Hackathon on 11, 18, and 25 September 2023, at the CHSS Cultural Complex, UP Mindanao. The event is under the UP Mindanao Agrifood Systems Analytics Laboratory. A total of 24 participants attended the workshop.

Assoc. Prof. Glory Dee A. Romo was a resource speaker during the "Webinar on Gender and Nutrition: Equipping Women to Improve Nutrition," held on September 7, 2023. Prof. Romo talked about "Gender dimensions of food and nutrition security" in the webinar organized by the Gender and Development Resource Center (GADRC) of the Cavite State University.

Prof. Romo is a faculty member of the School of Management - Master in Management program. She is involved in research projects and extension services as a gender/socio- economist.

She is skilled in complex adaptive system thinking, strategic planning, value chain and gender studies. She builds partnerships that support women's empowerment and business continuity planning.

A University of the Philippines Mindanao team held the launch of its Molecular Tracker web application on October 23, 2023, for the use of the technical agencies and the local government units. The Molecular Tracker app is a tool for monitoring the prevalence of COVID-19 within the community using data from wastewater systems. The app is a product of the DOST-funded Project IWAS, or "Integrated Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) and Data Analytics for Community-Level Pathogen Surveillance and Genetic Tracking: Proof-of-Concept," 

At the launch, Project Leader Assoc. Prof. Dann Marie del Mundo introduced Project IWAS as Project 4 of the research program of the Center for Applied Modeling, Data Analytics, and Bioinformatics for Decision Support Systems in Health (AMDABiDSS-Health). It is dedicated to mitigating health-related risks through the implementation of wastewater surveillance.

Its pilot sites comprise six communities (barangays) in Davao City, particularly Brgy. Matina Crossing, the focal site of Project iWAS. Through the analysis of wastewater samples and the conduct of comprehensive analyses and risk categorization, the project successfully generated predictive disease models, its milestone achievement. 

She highlighted the significance of the collaboration between the academe and the government offices in contributing to the project's achievements. These collaborators are the Department of Science & Technology-Region XI (DOST-XI), the Davao City Engineer's Office, the Davao City Health Office, the Davao City Planning and Development Office, and Barangay 74-A: Matina Crossing. 

In addition, one of the project's objectives is to develop a molecular community tracker for SARS-CoV2. From their preliminary efforts using integrated WBE and bioinformatic analysis, the project developed the Molecular Tracker web application, led by Assoc. Prof. Vladimer Kobayashi. 

Project Technical Assistant for Data Analytics Kieffer Arben Go introduced the Molecular Tracker app. He demonstrated the interactive aspects of the app by opening and explaining the contribution of each of the app's tabs. The app can calculate COVID-19 risk and measure the number of possible COVID-19-infected individuals in a community from data provided by the users. The team has tested the application through its Alpha and Beta phases, and is ready for use. 

In closing, AMDABIDSS Program Leader Prof. May Anne Mata thanked the project collaborators for highlighting the importance of public health surveillance and for lobbying the project to the city government. In particular, on behalf of Project IWAS and AMDABIDSS-Health, which is now renamed Disease Watch & Analytics, or DiWA. She disclosed the future plans of the research program and how government units and research projects can continue to go hand-in-hand in tackling health issues in the community. 

Project IWAS touches on the Sustainable Development Goals of Good Health and Well-Being, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Sustainable Cities and Communities.