The construction of mid-rise residential buildings in Metro Manila faces constant challenges related to project control inefficiencies, leading to delays, budget overruns, and quality concerns. This study aims to rank the factors critical to project control mechanisms (PCM), providing insights into the key drivers of project success in mid-rise residential construction projects. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed to validate these rankings, utilizing the LevenbergMarquardt training algorithm and tansig activation function. The model achieved exceptional predictive accuracy, with an overall R of 0.99445, along with a low MSE (0.007515) and MAPE (1.6808%). Using the connection weights from the model, the analysis revealed that stakeholders influence, technology integration, and contractor performance are the top three most critical factors, highlighting the importance of collaborative decision-making, digital transformation, and contractor accountability. Resource allocation, quality standards, and schedule delays ranked mid-tier, while budget management, scope definition, and labor productivity were perceived as less critical in comparison. The findings provide a data-driven basis for improving project control strategies, offering valuable insights for construction managers, policymakers, and urban developers to enhance efficiency, minimize risks, and optimize decision-making in Metro Manila’s mid-rise construction sector.

The use of Cocos nucifera (coconut shell) ash as a supplementary cementitious material has shown potential in enhancing the compressive strength of concrete. However, the optimal calcination temperature and duration for producing effective ash remain uncertain. This study employs a Central Composite Design (CCD) to investigate the effect of calcination on concrete strength. Nine combinations of temperatures 550°. to 800°C) and durations (1 to 3 hours) were tested, producing 13 samples, which were cured for 28 days before compressive strength testing. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis identified 15 elements, with iron significantly influencing strength. The highest compressive strength (24.9 MPa) was achieved at 675°C for 2 hours, where iron content reached 16.63 %. A full quadratic regression model was developed, with an R2 of 79.47 %, and backward elimination refined the model to a predicted R2 of 67.32 %. Sensitivity analysis revealed temperature as the most significant factor, with a sensitivity value of 14.53 compared to 1.48 for duration. Optimization indicated the ideal calcination temperature to be 672.81° C. This study supports sustainable development goals by advancing innovative materials for infrastructure and by promoting the use of agricultural waste, reducing the environmental footprint of concrete production.

This study aimed to develop models for predicting trip frequency in San Jose City, Province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines incorporating socio-demographic factors (SDF) and attitudinal factors (AF) through the use of artificial neural network (ANN). Socio-demographic factors in the model include age, sex, civil status (CS), number of children (NOC), barangay, number of household members (NHM), educational attainment (EA), employment status (ES), household income (HI), number of driver license holder (DLH), number of personal vehicles owned (PVO), and number of vehicles owned by the household (VOH) while the attitudinal factors in the model include car dependency (CD), convenience, speed, privacy and safety (PS), health and environment (HE), cost, and comfort. The collected data were processed to develop ANN model in different pandemic stages with 19-19-1 (input-hidden-output) network structure used for these models. The sensitivity analysis (SA) results indicate that in the pre-pandemic period, employment status is the most influential parameter (MIP) to the trip frequency in the study area, while the educational attainment is the MIP during the pandemic period and in the post-pandemic period. The findings of the study signify the effectiveness of ANN in forecasting trip frequency as evident to the low mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) values obtained for the three models. The results can be used by policymakers in making informed strategies in further improving the travel experience of the population in the study area.

The inclusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into cybersecurity education offers a significant opportunity to customize learning, improve engagement, and connect theoretical concepts with practical applications. This study presents the Dynamic Integration and Optimization of NetCyber Activities (DIONA) system which is an AI-enhanced educational tool developed from the NetFusion Learning Academy (NLA) to tackle ongoing issues in conventional cybersecurity education, including restricted adaptability, absence of real-time feedback, and inadequate practical skill application. The study employs a systematic methodology based on four distinct objectives: (1) to assess the efficacy of NLA in improving student learning across five critical domains— knowledge retention, practical skills, engagement, conceptual understanding, and problem-solving; (2) to examine student and faculty perceptions of its educational value; (3) to develop the ACTIVE AI Framework for AI-driven pedagogy; and (4) to create and validate DIONA as an AI/ML-based experiential learning platform. Statistical and thematic analyses indicated that although NLA effectively enhances knowledge and engagement, deficiencies persist in practical skills and problem-solving, necessitating the incorporation of AI-powered tools. The ACTIVE AI Framework and DIONA system offer customized learning trajectories, AI-generated feedback, and immersive simulations that correspond with authentic cybersecurity challenges. Results endorse the significance of intelligent learning analytics and specialized AI systems in transforming technical education and equipping students for changing digital environments.

The construction sector is a substantial generator of waste and carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The use of sustainable materials in construction could minimize its negative effects on the environment. This research is intended to offer a soft computing model for predicting the deformation and parallel bending strength (PBS) of Guadua angustifolia applying an artificial neural network (ANN)-particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach and employing the data obtained from the experimental tests performed in the study. The input parameters (IP) utilized in the modeling process include the outside diameter, wall thickness, minimum length, external taper, perpendicular distance of bow, ISO ovality, eccentricity, actual shear span, area, modulus of elasticity, density, and linear mass. The resulting models showed R values of 0.99076 and 0.99976 and MAPE of 0.936% and 0.345% for deformation and PBS, respectively. The findings of the sensitivity analysis (SA) also exhibited that ISO ovality and eccentricity were the most important parameters to the deformation and PBS models. Research outcomes demonstrated the effectiveness of the ANN-PSO approach for predicting the deformation and parallel bending strength characteristics of Guadua angustifolia. The modeling approach proposed in this study could be utilized for speeding up the material characterization phase of similar construction materials.

As part of economic progress, there has been a surge in construction projects in the past few years. It is known that construction has negative and detrimental effects on the environment. The use of sustainable practices needs to be integrated into the construction processes to minimize these negative impacts. This paper introduces a prioritization method for determining the most influential factor to the implementation of environmental smart guidelines for sustaining environmentally friendly programs using sensitivity index (SI) method. Several areas were considered in this study including environmental, ecological, social, and economic impacts. Using the backpropagation-neural network (BPNN) modeling, four models for environmental, ecological, social, and economic impact ratings were developed with 15-31-1, 4-9-1, 9-19-1, and 2-5-1 network topologies (input neuron-hidden neuron-output neuron) for environmental, ecological, social, and economic impact rating, respectively. The R values for the models were observed to range from 0.97652 to 0.99901. To determine the trend of the impact of the subsets of each areas, sensitivity index method was used and the findings revealed that the water pollution reduction in the project is the most influential subset to the environmental impact rating, presence of planting area in the project for the ecological impact rating, fair sharing of benefits of the project for the social impact rating, and self-liquidation capacity of the project for the economic impact rating. The results of the study could assist managers and planners in addressing key areas and concerns in the effective implementation of smart and sustainable practices in projects.

The world is rapidly changing and experiencing a rapid increase in population, especially in cities and urban areas. The growth in population in these urban areas results in a need for a more competitive and sustainable system. In the onset of the fourth industrial revolution, the trend in equipping these cities with advanced mechanisms in improving the quality of life and service in these cities is needed. In this study, a neural network - based approach for factor prioritization was implemented to determine the most influential factor in the smart city (SC) development implementation in the Philippines. Using the neural network internal characteristics including the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) as the training algorithm (TA) and the hyperbolic tangent sigmoid (HTS) as the transfer function (TF). The study utilized the 18-37-1 network structure for the neural network model with an R value of 0.95003 and MSE of 0.032609. The connection weights (CW) from this network were utilized to calculate the relative importance (RI) of the factors affecting the smart city implementation through Garson's Algorithm (GA). The results of the study revealed that the most influential parameter (MIP) to the smart city implementation is the SCPD2 - analyzing solutions fit with strategic objectives. Moreover, the results and findings of the study could assist the city planners and SC strategy development authorities in the integration of different systems in the SC implementation.

The research was derived from extensive literature reading and addressed the gap in strengthening existing buildings. The study aims to create a model that would correlate the concrete's compressive strength to nondestructive tests (NDTs), establish the strength of in-situ structural members of an existing building using the model, and propose retrofitting intervention strategies as mitigation measures against ground motions. The study presents the artificial neural network (ANN) as the governing model for strength predictions over multi-linear and quadratic regressions. Sensitivity analysis gives prevalent insights into which factor influences the forecast among the input variables. This prediction model has been initiated to evaluate the in-situ strength of the case study building for the analysis following nonlinear static procedures. Two retrofitting interventions were then developed to compare with the performance of the existing three-story building. Predominantly, a performance-based design employing pushover analysis was done where the idealized curves were generated, projecting the base shear and displacements concerning the behavior of the building (ductile or inelastic behavior). This research evaluates the passing criteria of the building based on the performance objectives provided by American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 41–17. The structural member checks in terms of member chord rotations, member shear forces, joint shear stress, and inter-story drifts in connection with the base shear and target displacements evaluation proposed the best retrofitting intervention. The research showed that Case II (retrofitting by shear walls) intervention provided the lowest base shear and passed the considered member checks than RC jacketed with FRP wrapping interventions.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work systems, family, and social life. The mandatory lockdown forced employees to shift to work-from-home (WFH) setup which exposes them to WFH conflicts. This study provides a machine learning—based approach for prioritization of factors affecting WFH conflicts during the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors include time spent with the family (F1), leisure activities (F2), household task (F3), family quality of life (F4), agitation and anger from work (F5), financial obligations (F6), family presence (F7), family issues (F8), health-related (F9), and work burn-out (F10). Using the backpropagation (BP)-artificial neural network (ANN) modeling and Olden’s connection weights (CW) approach, the order of influence of these parameters to the productivity rating (PR) was observed. Based on the results, the 10-21-1 network structure is the best performing model (BPM) with correlation coefficient (R) = 0.98173 and mean squared error (MSE) of 0.02607. This network topology also provided the least Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) value showing that it is the best model. Using its connection weights (CW) through Olden’s approach, the results showed that the financial obligations are the most influential parameter (MIP) while the household task is the least influential parameter to the productivity model. The utilization of machine learning techniques proved to be effective in determining the influence of predictors on the target output. The obtained findings from the study could assist the organization and managers in resolving work-from-home conflict and productivity issues.

Transportation is critical, especially in rural areas as it provides the mobility to people to access different activities satisfying their daily needs. The purpose of this research is to create an artificial neural network (ANN) trip generation model (TGM). 500 households (HH) were surveyed to obtain the independent variables used in the modeling process including the HH size (HHS), number of children in the HH below 7 years old (NCHHBS), number of HH member from 7 to 59 years old (NHHMSF), number of HH member above 59 years old (NHHAF), number of working member of the HH (NWMHH), number of school children in the HH (NSCHH), number of helpers in the HH (NHHH), number of motorize vehicles in the HH (NMVHH), HH income (HHI), highest educational attainment (HEA), head of HH age (HHHA), and number of driver’s license holder in the HH (NDLHHH). Using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm (LMA) as the training algorithm (TA) and hyperbolic tangent sigmoid (HTS) function as the activation function (AF), the governing TGM was observed in the 12–25-1 network structure with the highest R value = 0.98476 and least Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 9.04%. Moreover, the governing network structure achieved the minimized Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) value at 25 hidden neurons (HN) indicating that the network has already been generalized and was the best model among those observed in this study. The outcomes of the research showed the efficacy of artificial neural networks in developing trip generation prediction models (PM).