This paper investigates minimum safe distances relative to a ship’s four cardinal sides, as perceived by Filipino navigators when encountering dangerous elements and in adverse weather conditions when maneuvering in and around harbors. It uses a descriptive research method in the form of a questionnaire survey for experienced Filipino navigators of various ranks. During the course of research, 71 responses were colleted and the resulting data is presented in graphical and tabulated forms. Statistical methods including Pearson-product moment correlations, Cronbach’s Alpha and ANOVA were used to identify internal associations, consistencies and significances, respectively. It has been proven that there are no significant differences in minimum safe distances relative to a ship’s four cardinal sides, whether maneuvering while approaching a port or within an inner harbor. This study has been deemed significant for training future navigators, managing traffic in fairways, and designing harbors and maneuvering areas in the approaches to ports, among other applications. This work can also be used as a preliminary study for comparison with the well known safe domains presently in use.

There is much observational evidence that active star formation is taking place in the Hii regions Sh 2-255 – 257. We present a photometric study of this star forming region (SFR) using imaging data obtained in passbands from the optical to the mid-infrared, in order to study the star formation process. A total of 218 members were identified using various selection criteria based on their observational properties. The SFR is reddened by at least E(B −V ) = 0.8 mag, and the reddening law toward the region is normal (RV = 3.1). From the zero-age main sequence fitting method it is confirmed that the SFR is 2.1 ± 0.3 kpc from the Sun. The median age of the identified members is estimated to be about 1.3 Myr from a comparison of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) with stellar evolutionary models. The initial mass function (IMF) is derived from the HRD and the near-infrared (J, J −H) color-magnitude diagram. The slope of the IMF is about 􀀀 = −1.6 ± 0.1, which is slightly steeper than that of the Salpeter/Kroupa IMF. It implies that low-mass star formation is dominant in the SFR. The sum of the masses of all the identified members provides the lower limit of the cluster mass (169M⊙). We also analyzed the spectral energy distribution (SED) of pre-main sequence stars using the SED fitting tool of Robitaille et al., and confirm that there is a significant discrepancy between stellar mass and age obtained from two different methods based on the SED fitting tool and the HRD.

The effects of seed soaking treatment with the solutions of plant growth regulators IAA, GA3 and BAP on seed germination and shoot and bulb growth of Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum (Korean wild garlic) were determined. A significant variation in the seed germination rate was recorded at all treatments for various soaking periods. Maximum seed germination was obtained when seeds were soaked in IAA or GA3 solution at 200 mg L-1. The MAP treated seeds started to germinate after 3 months. Among treatments, IAA was found to be most effective in improving seed germination, but further seedling growth was not correlated to the soaking time. Seed soaking in IAA or GA3 solution enhanced further growth of seedlings compared with water control treatment. Shoot and bulb growth was highest in GA3 treatments.