Carlos David C. Primo
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Evaluating the Potential of Radar-Based Rainfall Estimates for Streamflow and Flood Simulations in the Philippines. Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk, 7 (4): 1390-1405, 2016.
This case study evaluates the suitability of radar-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) for simulation of streamflow in the Marikina River Basin (MRB), in the Philippines. Hourly radar-based QPEs were produced from reflectivity that had been observed by an S-band radar located about 90 km from the MRB. Radar data processing and precipitation estimation were carried out using the open source library wradlib. To assess the added value of the radar-based QPE, we used spatially interpolated rain gauge observations (gauge-only (GO) product) as a benchmark. Rain gauge observations were also used to quantify rainfall estimation errors at the point scale. at the point scale the radar-based QPE
Link to the article: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19475705.2015.1058862
Impact Factor: (2015/2016) 2.140
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Nicolito A. Gianan
Department of Humanities
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Los Baños
Reinvestigating Moral Bioenhancement. Φιλοσοφια : International Journal of Philosophy, 18 (2): 158-171, May 2017.
The article reinvestigates moral bioenhancement (MB) and argues against its imposition to all; MB is not necessarily equivalent to moral enhancement (ME). MB remains to be a fiction and, supposing it has materialized, there is no guarantee that it will redound to the ME of every human being.
Link to the article: https://ejournals.ph/article.php?id=11398
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Lanndon A. Ocampo
School of Management
UP Cebu
A Hybrid Fuzzy MCDM Approach for Mitigating Airport Congestion: A Case in Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Journal of Air Transport Management, 63: 1–16, August 2017.
Catchy title of research: When an aircraft is en-route and an airport congestion is known, what is the best air traffic flow management action?
This paper proposes an approach that identifies the best air traffic flow management action given that the two conditions exist: (1) the aircraft is en-route and, (2) the destination airport is congested. Addressing these two conditions would help improve on-time performance of airlines, operational reputation of airports, and air travel experience of passengers. To elucidate the proposed approach, a case study was conducted in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) reportedly one of the worst airports around the globe. Findings show that stakeholders of the commercial aviation industry favored to apply rerouting, among other actions, as this satisfies aviation safety as the most prioritized criterion.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699716305130
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.357
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Floirendo P. Flores
Institute of Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture
UP Los Baños
In Vitro Release Kinetics of Microencapsulated Materials and the Effect of the Food Matrix. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, 8: 237-259, February 2017.
Catchy title of research: Release of microencapsulated compounds and effect of food matrix
Swelling and release of microencapsulated compounds.
State of research on bioactive compounds.
Many papers report on the bioactive potential of extracts from fruits and vegetables. Usually, these extracts are microencapsulated to increase their stability on storage and to promote a sustained use where the plant materials are seasonal in nature. Numerous papers have been published about efforts to microencapsulate and the corresponding characteristics of the microcapsules. This paper suggests the ways to move forward in that field by pointing out the similarities of food science and pharmacokinetics. In so doing, it is hoped that more nutraceuticals can be elevated from ethnic and traditional use to pharmacological use.
Link to the article: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-food-030216-025720
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 7.31
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Rubenito M. Lampayan
Institute of Agricultural Engineering
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
UP Los Baños
Grain Yield, Water Productivity and Nitrogen use Efficiency of Rice under Different Water Management and Fertilizer-N Inputs in South China. Agricultural Water Management, 184: 191–200, April 2017.
Catchy title of research: Safe AWD saves up to 71% of irrigation water for rice without yield loss in Southern China
Fig. 1. Daily groundwater levels of experimental field at Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China in 2014 and 2015.
Fig. 2. Daily perched water level under different water treatments at Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China in 2014 and 2015. Only data from N2 (180 kg N ha−1) treatment are shown.
Climate-smart farming through alternate wetting and drying (AWD) of rice fields is widely adopted across Asia. If scaled up to all rice-growing areas, this technique could free up 100 km3 of water annually, whilst helping reduce methane from rice production by 30-70%. AWD involves the partial drainage of rice fields, which done by irrigating a rice field to the desired depth and then re-irrigating after some time, when water dissipates. This technique helps rice farmers cope with water scarcity by reducing irrigation water by 30% without compromising rice yield. It is cheap and easy to implement, thereby lowering the cost of irrigation. helping farmers maintain and improve the economic and environmental sustainability of their livelihoods. The objectives of this study were (1) to investigate the advantage of AWD against the current farmer’s water management practice (FP) in southern China; and (2) to examine whether there is a need to adjust the fertilizer-N management under AWD. Two fields experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015. A hybrid rice variety Tianyou3618 was grown under two water management (AWD and FP) and four fertilizer-N rates (0, 90, 180, 270 kg N ha-1). Grain yield water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency were determined. Compared to FP, irrigation water input of AWD was reduced by 24.1% in 2014 and 71.4% in 2015. Grain yields and nitrogen use efficiency were same for AWD and FP. Our results demonstrated that no change in N input is needed under AWD conditions in South China.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377417300379
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.848
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Bing Baltazar C. Brillo
Institute for Governance and Rural Development
College of Public Affairs
UP Los Baños
The Politics of Lake Governance: Sampaloc Lake, Pandin Lake and Tadlac Lake of the Laguna de Bay Region, Philippines. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review, 17 (1): 66-79, 2017.
With the scarcity of scholarly works on the area of governance on lakes in the Philippines, particularly on small lakes, and the recent notable development on the three small lakes in the Laguna de Bay region, this article examines the faces of governance in Sampaloc Lake, Pandin Lake, and Tadlac Lake. Specifically, it explores the administrative practices and challenges in the formulation of the Master Development Plan (MDP) for each lake. The article contends that the governance of the three lakes is collaborative but centralized, as the community stakeholders are given platform for involvement and actively participates in the initiative, yet the institutional actors make the decisions on the MDP’s timeline, funding, and path forward. It further contends that the move to have an MDP only came about after some successes were achieved by the community stakeholders in each lake, and the Plan’s formulation was steered by the pursuit of ecotourism, which was in turn underpinned by: the determined efforts of the local government unit in Sampaloc Lake, the success of the ecotourism enterprise in Pandin Lake, and the change of leadership in the administrative agency in Tadlac Lake.
Link to the article: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2979439
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Maricar M. Rosete and Roland Sarmago*
Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
College of Engineering
*National Institute of Physics
College of Science
UP Diliman
Effect of Potassium Chloride as a Supporting Electrolyte on the Dispersion Towards the Fabrication of Films by Electrophoretic Deposition of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 in Ethanol. Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, 30 (7): 1833–1838, July 2017.
Catchy title of research: Towards Cheaper and Better Superconducting Devices
Color map of the particle size distribution of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 in different KCl concentrations.
Scanning electron micrographs of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 films prepared with different KCl concentrations.
Superconducting devices have various applications not only in the field of science and engineering but also in medical fields, transportation, industry and even aerospace research. These devices can be used to build high-power trains, particle accelerators, MRI’s and even spaceships. The first step in making quality superconducting devices is to make a high-quality superconducting films. In this research, we have successfully managed to produce superconducting films via electrophoretic deposition (EPD). This implies that we can freely produce superconducting films without the need for expensive high vacuum equipment. Furthermore, we were able to further enhance the quality of our films by carefully optimizing the concentration of the supporting electrolyte in the EPD suspension. Hence, we were able to produce high-quality superconducting films using a tabletop set-up. These superconducting films can be used to make various superconducting devices.
Link to the article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10948-017-3986-8
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.18
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Sir Anril P. Tiatco
Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts
College of Arts and Letters
UP Diliman
“’My American Dream’: Dreaming of Broadway and the West End in the Philippines” in The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers. Laura MacDonald and William A. Everett (editors). New York, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
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Adrian P. Ybañez and Rochelle Haidee D. Ybañez
Department of Biology and Environmental Studies
College of Science
UP Cebu
First Report on Babesia vogeli Infection in Dogs in the Philippines. Parasitology International, 66 (1): 813–815, February 2017.
Babesia vogeli is a tick-borne pathogen that is found in the blood of dogs. In Southeast Asia, this pathogen has only been reported in Thailand. In this study, nine dogs presented at three different veterinary clinics in Cebu City, Philippines were found positive for B. vogeli. DNA based testing revealed positive dogs, while blood smears (triplicate) from each sample were found negative. Obtained DNA revealed closest identities to registered B. vogeli sequences. Further analysis revealed only 1 grouping of the obtained DNA sequences. This study is the first report of B. vogeli infection in dogs in the Philippines.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383576916301660
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.744
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Sir Anril P. Tiatco
Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts
College of Arts and Letters
UP Diliman
“’Performing Like a Concert King or a Queen: Producing Original Filipino Musicals” in The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers. Laura MacDonald and William A. Everett (editors). New York, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
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Jake Rom D. Cadag
Department of Geography
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
UP Diliman
“From Connections Towards Knowledge Co-Production for Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation” in The Routledge Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation. Ilan Kelman, Jessica Mercer and JC Gaillard (editors). New York, USA: Routledge, 2017.
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Cielo Mae D. Marquez, Joyce A. Ibana and Michael C. Velarde
Institute of Biology
College of Science
UP Diliman
The Female Reproduction and Senescence Nexus. American Journal of Reproductive Immunology, 77 (5): e12646, 7 pages, May 2017.
Catchy title of research: Aging cell and its link to human pregnancy
Figure 1. Female gestation tissues and aging cells secrete a common set of soluble factors that play important roles during early pregnancy and parturition.
During pregnancy, gestation tissues secrete many soluble factors that are important for embryo implantation, development,and childbirth. These factors are also produced by cells that undergo cell aging, a phenomenon whereby cells stop dividing permanently. Aging cells release soluble factors called senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Since aging cells have been implicated in several processes during pregnancy, we sought to know whether aging cells share the same set of factors with those found during gestation. This paper shows that aging cells are found in the uterus and embryo during pregnancy. This paper also discusses how aging cells through their SASP component contribute to embryo development and childbirth.
Link to the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aji.12646/full
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 3.013
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Andrian P. Gajigan and Cecilia Conaco
Marine Science Institute
College of Science
UP Diliman
A MicroRNA Regulates the Response of Corals to Thermal Stress. Molecular Ecology, 26 (13): 3472–3483, July 2017.
Catchy title of research: Small RNAs with a big role in the coral stress response
Model of miRNA-mediated regulation of stress response genes. The miRNA potentially represses transcripts that protect cells against damage, repair tissues, and modify the global gene expression profile to effect a sustained response. Down regulation of the miRNA during stress exposure may release transcripts from repression and promote their rapid translation. Negative regulation is indicated by bars; positive regulation is represented by arrows.
Predicted precursor stem-loop structure of Adi-Mir-Novel-5 showing the mature strand (red), hairpin loop (yellow) and star strand (blue). The 2-nt overhang at the 30 ends of the mature and star strand are marked by black lines. The frequency of read mapping to the different parts of the precursor sequence is represented by the line graph. Numbers above the line represent the number of mapped reads.
Coral reefs are diverse ecosystems of great ecological and economic importance. However, corals are vulnerable to a variety of stressors, including rising seawater temperatures, and yet little is known about the genetic mechanisms underlying their survival and adaptation to stress. Like other animals, corals possess genes for key members of the microRNA (miRNA) machinery. miRNAs are short RNAs that regulate diverse cellular processes, including organismal stress response, through post-transcriptional repression of gene transcripts. Through small RNA sequencing, we identified a miRNA in the coral Acropora digitifera that is responsive to acute thermal stress. This miRNA may regulate multiple pathways of the organismal stress response, DNA/RNA expression regulation, repair mechanisms, tissue morphogenesis, and signalling. We propose a model by which miRNA regulation allows the coral to mount a robust stress response through sequestration of transcripts encoding stress response proteins that can then be rapidly translated to help maintain cellular homoeostasis. These findings highlight the potential importance of miRNAs in the thermal resilience of corals.Predicted precursor stem-loop structure of Adi-Mir-Novel-5 showing the mature strand (red), hairpin loop (yellow) and star strand (blue). The 2-nt overhang at the 30 ends of the mature and star strand are marked by black lines. The frequency of read mapping to the different parts of the precursor sequence is represented by the line graph. Numbers above the line represent the number of mapped reads.
Link to the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.14130/full
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 6.086
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Jocelyn C. Cuaresma
National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG)
UP Diliman
“Philippine Higher Education Institutions’ Responses to Climate Change” in Climate Change Research at Universities: Addressing the Mitigation and Adaptation Challenges. Walter Leal Filho (editor). Switzerland: Springer, 2017.
