Alex B. Brillantes, Lizan E. Perante Calina and Bootes Esden Lopos
National College of Public Administration and Governance
UP Diliman
“Knowledge-Based Public Sector Reform: The Philippine Experience” in Knowledge Creation in Public Administrations: Innovative Government in Southeast Asia and Japan. Ayano Hirose Nishihara, Masei Matsunaga, Ikujiro Nonaka, and Kiyotaka Yokomichi (editors). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
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Jose Edgardo Abaya Gomez Jr.
School of Urban and Regional Planning
UP Diliman
The Size of Cities: A synthesis of Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on the Global Megalopolis. Progress in Planning, 116: 1-29, August 2017.
Catchy title of research: “If the Earth Were to Become A City, or a City Cover the Earth, What Would It Be Like?”
This article takes a comprehensive, panoramic view of disciplines ranging from biology to geopolitics to urban studies, to explain how and why (or why not) a city can be expanded to planetary proportions.
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305900616300113
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 3.882
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Paolo Ma. Pagkatipunan
Department of Opthalmology and Visual Sciences
College of Medicine
UP Manila
Accessibility and Consumption of Alcoholic Drinks in Metro Manila Colleges and Universities. Acta Medica Philippina, 51 (2): 116-120, 2017.
A study on the consumption of alcoholic drinks in Metro Manila colleges and universities was done and it was found that 82% were “ever drinkers” or those who had drank an alcoholic drink in their lifetime. About 15% had drank an alcoholic drink before they were 13 years old. One month preceding the study, 30% of university/college students drank beer or distilled spirits (“hard” drinks). They are defined as current drinkers. About 17% of these students had a drinking binge using beer and “hard” drinks. They are called “heavy drinkers” or those who drank 5 of more glasses of alcoholic drink in one session. 30% admitted being drunk in the last 30 days preceding the survey. 5% of students drank inside the school campus. About 60% of students attests that their parents knew they were drinking alcoholic drinks. Of those who drove a motorized vehicle, 29% admitted that they had drove while being drunk; and of those who used prohibited drugs, 67% said that they mixed drinking and using these drugs. 31% of those who drank wanted to quit drinking and 7.5% admitted that they have a drinking problem.
Link to the article: http://actamedicaphilippina.com.ph/sites/default/files/fulltexts/51-02/vol-51-no-2-11-accessiblity-consumption.pdf
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Mona Liza Delos Reyes
Institute of Agricultural Engineering
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
UP Los Baños
Diagnostic Assessment Approach for Formulating a Modernization Strategy for Small-Scale National Irrigation Systems in the Philippines. Irrigation and Drainage, 66 (4): 542–555, October 2017.
Sample diversion structures along the main canals of Balanac RIS (a) and Sta. Maria RIS (b).
(Anticlockwise) Silted Balanac dam and bifurcation structures upstream and downstream of Balanac RIS canal network.
Modernization of irrigation systems is widely viewed as a process of technical and managerial upgrading to improve irrigation service to farmers. It is recognized as a strategic option to improve the irrigation system performances. A crucial prelude in the modernization process is system diagnosis, which is a performance evaluation method specifically aimed at identifying the bottlenecks of irrigation system performance and, hence, appropriate approaches and solutions to address them. Most national irrigation systems (NIS) have undergone a mix of technical, management, policy and institutional changes whose interplay and effects has not been well understood. These changes include participatory approach to system improvement identification and planning, irrigation management transfer and modification and/or adoption of different flow control structures and water distribution technology, among others. Also, NIS are increasingly subjected to drier dry seasons and stronger monsoons attributed to climate change. This paper presents a diagnostic assessment framework that links NIS performance to logical coherence among the scheme objectives, physical structures, management and water supply. The diagnostic framework has a system modernization orientation and would result in a more comprehensive system diagnosis. It was applied in two small NIS, the Balanac RIS and Sta. Maria RIS. The results of the assessment showed that inconsistency in the system designs and lack of, or poorly performing flow control structures, drought-vulnerable main water diversion structures and tropical cyclone-related damages were the main contributing factors to mediocre irrigation service and overall system performance.
Link to the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ird.2137/full
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 0.931
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Patrick C. Cabaitan and Cecilia Conaco
Marine Science Institute
College of Science
UP Diliman
Versatile Habitat Conditioning by Damselfish Cultivating Turf Algae on Giant Clams. Hydrobiologia, 805 (1): 89–96, January 2018.
Territorial damselfish are facilitators that selectively farm turf algae in degraded reef patches. While the effect of damselfish on algae and corals has been widely studied, the ability of the damselfish to establish farms on other habitats is less understood. In this study, we discovered that farmer damselfish are versatile in their choice of cultivation substrate and are able to maintain turf algae on giant clam shells. More importantly, farmer damselfish can actively and rapidly modify their habitat by trimming overhanging giant clam mantles to promote the growth of their algal crop. The effect of this interaction on the giant clams remains to be tested, although giant clams taken out of damselfish territories are able to regenerate their mantles. These results further contribute to our understanding of the potential impact that farmer damselfish have on other reef organisms.
Link to the article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10750-017-3284-2
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.056
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Larry N. Digal, Shemaiah Gail P. Placencia and Carol Q. Balgos
School of Management
UP Mindanao
Market Assessment on the Incentives and Disincentives for the Adoption of Sustainable Practices along the Tuna Value Chain in Region 12, Philippines. Marine Policy, 86: 39-46, December 2017.
The tuna industry has been given high regard due to its growing global demand. However, this has brought significant increase in the capture of tuna, therefore leading to the depletion. Due to this problem, the study wanted to find out the practices that are in place along the Philippine tuna value chain that influence the employment of sustainability. One of the factors considered in the adoption of sustainable practices, along with other market activities, is the level of income of the actors along the chain. This was conducted using the net margins analysis. Significantly, for the handline industry, the practices in the market that influence sustainability include the higher prices associated with capturing the mature tuna alone. Another factor is the strictness of the market, especially the export market, when it comes to eco-labels and certifications. Purse-seine, on the other hand, is seen to be inferior in terms of sustainability. Surprisingly, there is not much evidence for an incentive for them to adopt more sustainable practices due to the high income they acquire from the current practice they employ.
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17301197
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.235
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Alfredo Mahar Francisco A. Lagmay and Bernard Alan Racoma
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Disseminating Near-Real-Time Hazards Information and Flood Maps in the Philippines through Web-GIS. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 59: 13-23, September 2017.
Photo 1 NOAH categorizes hazard maps as HIGH, MEDIUM, and LOW hazard areas. This allows for the identification of safe zones in multihazard maps. Photo 2 NOAH has a crowdsourcing component where reports of flood data are overlaid and compared with flood hazard models.
The Philippines being a locus of tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, is a hotbed of disasters. These natural hazards inflict loss of lives and costly damage to property. Situated in a region where climate and geophysical tempest is common, the Philippines will inevitably suffer from calamities similar to those experienced recently. In 2012, the Philippines launched a responsive program for disaster prevention and mitigation called the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH), specifically for government warning agencies to be able to provide a 6 hr lead-time warning to vulnerable communities against impending floods and to use advanced technology to enhance current geo-hazard vulnerability maps. To disseminate such critical information to as wide an audience as possible, a Web-GIS using mashups of freely available source codes and application program interface (APIs) was developed and can be found in the URLs http://noah.dost.gov.ph and http://noah.up.edu.ph/. This Web-GIS tool is now heavily used by local government units in the Philippines in their disaster prevention and mitigation efforts and can be replicated in countries that have a proactive approach to address the impacts of natural hazards but lack sufficient funds.
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001074216314693
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.937
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Carla B. Dimalanta
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Development of the Philippine Mobile Belt in northern Luzon from Eocene to Pliocene. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 142: 32-44, July 2017.
Lithofacies of the Zigzag Formation. a: alternation of the facies Z-b and Z-c. Width of view is 9 m. b: alternation of the facies Z-b and Z-c of Fig. 7b. Hammer is 32 cm. c: Facies Z-a in the Facies Z-c of Fig. 7a. Width of view is 7 m. d: greenish and reddish color boundary does not fit with the lithological boundary. Pencil is 14 cm.
a to d: Photomicrographs of the Cabog Sandstones. a: abundant plagioclase clasts (P) and basic volcanic rock fragments (Lb). Siliceous cements are indicated by arrows. Sample C4 in Table 1 and Fig. 4. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.3 mm. b: same field as (a) under crossed polars. c: abundant pyroxene clasts (Py) are noted. Sample C1 in Table 1 and Fig. 4. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.3 mm. d: foraminifer fossil as an intra-basinal fragment. Sample C4 in Table 1 and Fig. 4. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.3 mm. e to h: Photomicrographs of the Zigzag Sandstones. e: abundant plagioclase clasts (P). Dacitic rock fragment (Ld) with plagioclase phenocrysts is seen in the upper right part of the photo. Sample Z4 in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.3 mm. f: plagioclase clasts (P), dacitic rock fragment (Ld) and basaltic or andesitic volcanic rock fragment (Lb). Sample Z4 in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.3 mm. g: K-feldspar clasts (Kf) with perthitic texture. Sample Z5 in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.0 mm. d: same field as in (f) under crossed polars. i to j: photomicrographs of the Klondyke Sandstone. i: plagioclase clasts (P), quartz clasts (Q), dacitic rock fragment (Ld) and basaltic or andesitic volcanic rock fragment (Lb). Sample K6 in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.0 mm. j: same field as in (i) under crossed polars. k to l: photomicrographs of the Amlang Sandstone. k: abundant clasts of plagioclase (P) and heavy minerals (hornblende (Hb), opaque mineral (Op)). Sample A2 in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 3.3 mm. l: basaltic or andesitic rock fragments (Lb) are common. Sample A2 in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Plane-polarized light. Base of photo = 1.3 mm.
The study aims to evaluate the oceanic crust origin of the Philippine Mobile Belt (PMB) using sandstone composition. The clasts or detrital fragments incorporated in sandstones give information on the geology of the source area. Chemical signature of rocks in different layers can give insights to the origin, earth processes and associated tectonic events. Samples analyzed were collected from Eocene to Pliocene sedimentary successions from Dingalan, Baguio and northern Luzon. The Middle Eocene Cabog Formation is exposed in Dingalan. It is composed of turbites or sedimentary rocks deposited by turbidity current. The composition of the Cabog Formation sedimentary rocks is dominantly in ferromagnesian materials with few to absent fragments from other sediment source. This suggests that the crust represented by the Cabog Formation is not so dissected. The Late Oligocene to Early Miocene sequence is represented by the Zigzag Formation sandstones. The sandstones contain numerous detrital fragments from dioritic intrusive bodies, andesites and dacites. The composition is suggestive of a progressive transformation of PMB to volcanic island arc from an undissected crust. Dissection and extreme erosion of the PMB is interpreted to have occurred during the Middle to Late Miocene period due to the thickness of Klondyke sandstones (3000 m) in Baguio. The PMB remained in island arc setting from Late Miocene to Pliocene as evidenced by the dominance of mafic detrital fragments. The geologic evolution of Luzon was also recorded in petrological and geochemical characteristics of the sedimentary rocks
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367912016302711
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.335
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Juan Miguel R. Guotana, Betchaida D. Payot, Carla B. Dimalanta and Noleynna T. Ramos
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Arc and Backarc Geochemical Signatures of the Proto-Philippine Sea Plate: Insights from the Petrography and Geochemistry of the Samar Ophiolite Volcanic Section. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 142: 77-92, July 2017.
Ophiolites are interpreted as remnants of oceanic crust that are exposed on land through tectonic processes. These fragments of crust are made up of a peculiar assemblage of rocks. These rocks include ultramafic rocks, gabbros, hypabyssal and volcanic rocks capped by sedimentary sequences. The mantle section is represented by ultramafic rocks while the crustal section is represented by the gabbroic, hypabyssal and volcanic rocks. The characteristics of rocks that make up an ophiolite suite, when examined under the microscope and through their chemical compositions, give clues on where they were formed and the processes that they may have undergone. The Philippines is underlain by several ophiolites which makes the archipelago a good target for ophiolite studies. The Philippine ophiolites differ in age, petrological and geochemical characteristics. The volcanic rocks of the Samar Ophiolite exhibit characteristics similar to those that formed above subduction zones. This feature is also displayed by the easternmost belt of ophiolites in the Philippines. The observed similarities may suggest the possible existence of an extinct crust called the proto-Philippine Sea Plate (pPSP).
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367912016302449
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.335
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Carla B. Dimalanta, Betchaida D. Payot, Noleynna T. Ramos, Alfred Elmer Buena, Barbie Ross B. Villaplaza, Pearlyn C. Manalo, Juan Miguel R. Guotana, and Nichole Anthony D. Pacle
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Adakitic Rocks in the Masara Gold-Silver Mine, Compostela Valley, Mindanao, Philippines: Different Places, Varying Mechanisms?. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 142: 45-55, July 2017.
Geologic map (A) and stratigraphic column (B) of the Masara gold-silver mine. The basement of the area is the Eocene Masara Formation, which is overlain by the Middle Miocene Agtuuganon Limestone. It is intruded by multiple stocks of the Early to Middle Miocene Cateel Quartz Diorite, the younger Alipao Andesite and Don Fernando Diorite Porphyry dikes and the Calixto Andesite. The youngest unit in the area is the Amacan Volcanic Complex. Black dotted lines are surface projection of epithermal veins. White dashed lines are regional lineaments observed from satellite images (e.g. ASTER GDEM). Photo taken from Yumul et al., 2017.
Discrimination diagrams for the classification of Amacan Dacite and Don Fernando Diorite Porphyry. (A) SiO2 versus Zr/TiO2 (Winchester and Floyd, 1977) shows that rocks vary in composition from andesite to dacite and rhyodacite. (B) AFM diagram (Irvine and Baragar, 1971) shows that rocks are calc-alkaline in character. (C) Sr/Y versus Y (Defant and Drummond, 1990) diagram shows the adakitic character of the samples. (D) La/Yb versus Yb diagram also shows the adakitic nature of the rocks. (E) Zr-Nb-Th diagram (Wood, 1980) shows that all diorites and dacites plot in the arc basalt field. (F) Nb versus Y (Pearce et al., 1984) shows that the rocks were derived from sources with volcanic arc granite or syn-collisional granite affinity. Data on adakites of Central Luzon, Southern Tibet and Aleutians are from Yumul et al. (2003a), Zhang et al. (2014) and Yogodzinski et al. (1995, 2015). Photo taken from Yumul et al., 2017.
Felsic rocks with elevated Sr and La, but low Y and Yb signatures are called adakites. This type rock has been linked to gold mineralization. The formation of adakite is associated with high temperature gradient during slab melting. However, this study show that adakite formation in Masara is related to fractional crystallization with amphibole as the chief crystalizing phase during the early stages of fractionation. Data shows that adakite formation may not always be controlled by processes previously proposed such as magmatism involving a young hot slab or a thickened crust. Adakites at a regional scale may be used as exploration markers. These rocks are more siliceous and viscous, can serve as heat sources that drive magmatic-hydrothermal systems which can remobilize and accumulate metals. The formation of intrusive and extrusive adakites may reactivate faults which are potential future sites of gold deposition. This paper suggest utmost care in interpreting adakite presence.
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367912016301687
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.335
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Rofeamor P. Obena, Susan dR. Arco and Rhodora V. Azanza*
Institute of Chemistry
*Marine Science Institute
College of Science
UP Diliman
Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum Böhm Survival in High and Low Cadmium Levels. Philippine Journal of Science, 146 (3): 287-292, September 2017.
(a) Immediate effect (72 hours) and (b) long-term effect (61 days) of cadmium on the cell density (growth) of P. bahamense var. compressum.
Effect of Cd to total biomass of P. bahamense var. compressum cell cultures after 30-day exposure. (a) chlorophyll a and (b) chlorophyll c2 concentrations per cell.
Pyrodinium bahamense a Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) causing phytoplankton in the Philippines and in many tropical countries, has been proven as able to survive in low and high levels of cadmium, a biotoxic element. Potential of using the organism as a bioindicator of heavy metal pollution has been shown also in this study.
Link to the article: http://philjournalsci.dost.gov.ph/pdf/pjs_pdf/vol146no3/pyrodinnium_bahamese_survival_in_high_and_low_cadmium_levels.pdf
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Bryan G. Alamani
Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
UP Diliman
Designing Polymeric Adhesives for Antimicrobial Materials: Poly(ethylene imine) Polymer, Graphene, Graphene Oxide and Molybdenum Trioxide – A Biomimetic Approach. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 5 (32): 6415 to 6690, 28 August 2017.
Biomimetic polymers inspired from naturally occurring polymers whose properties can be used to generate materials with interesting properties are presented. These polymers are then matched with graphene based materials to explore new properties with biological impact.
Link to the article: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/tb/c7tb00722a#!divAbstract
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 4.543
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Leonila Corpuz-Raros
Institute of Weed Science
College of Agriculture and Food Science
Museum of Natural History
UP Los Baños
New Trizetoidea (Acari, Oribatida) from the Philippines. Systematic & Applied Acarology, 22 (8): 1243-1256, 2017.
Two new species belonging to the superfamily Trizetoidea were discovered, namely, Eurhynchoribates nuevavizcayaensis Ermilov & Corpuz-Raros of the family Rhynchoribatidae, and Suctobelbila trifasciata Ermilov and Corpuz-Raros of the family Suctobelbidae. N. nuevavizcayaensis was collected on mixed grass and bamboo litter along the highway between Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya and Baguio City within the Cordillera Mountain Ranges. It is large for a mite, its body measuring 1 mm long and almost 0.7 mm wide and its very long body setae, pointed rostrum or anterior end of body are distinctive characteristics of this species. On the other hand, S. trifasciata, was collected in a well explored locality within the UPLB Forestry campus in Mt. Makiling, Laguna, specifically in the grounds of the Museum of Natural History on a rotten stump of mahogany. It is smaller than the average mite with a body length of 0.220 mm and width of 0.130 mm, its body surface is covered with granulate cerotegument, has short body setae, and three longitudinal ridges on its notogaster that differentiate it from all other members of its genus.
Link to the article: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.11158/saa.22.8.8
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.467
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Rachelle Rivero and Richard Lemence
Institute of Mathematics
College of Science
UP Diliman
Mutual Kernel Matrix Completion. IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems, E100D (8): 1844-1851, August 2017.
With the huge influx of various data nowadays, extracting knowledge from them has become an interesting but tedious task among data scientists, particularly when the data come in heterogeneous form and have missing information. Many data completion techniques had been introduced, especially in the advent of kernel methods – a way in which one can represent heterogeneous data sets into a single form: as kernel matrices. However, among the many data completion techniques available in the literature, studies about mutually inferring the missing entries of multiple kernel matrices by combining the notions of data fusion and kernel matrix completion, applied on biological data sets to be used for classification task. We first introduced an objective function that will be minimized by exploiting the EM algorithm, which in turn results to an estimate of the missing entries of the kernel have not been given much attention yet. In this paper, we present a new method, called Mutual Kernel Matrix Completion (MKMC) algorithm, that tackles this problem of mutually inferring the missing entries of multiple kernel matrices by combining the notions of data fusion and kernel matrix completion, applied on biological data sets to be used for classification task.
Link to the article: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/transinf/E100.D/8/E100.D_2017EDP7059/_pdf
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Ace Kevin S. Amarga and Sheryl A. Yap
Institute of Weed Science
College of Agriculture and Food Science
Museum of Natural History
UP Los Baños
Search for the Blind Vampire: First Record of Eoctenes Kirkaldy in Southern Luzon, (Hemiptera: Polyctenidae), with Key to the Cimicoidea, Ectoparasitic on Bats in the Philippines. Halteres, 8: 25-29, 2017.
Megadarma spasma, bat host of polyctenid bug.
Polyctenidae, also known as bat bugs, is a blood feeding group known only to be associated with bats as their ectoparasite. This group is related to bed bugs (Cimicidae) but exhibit some bizarre characteristics to compensate on their parasitic way of living. Such modifications include loss of eyes, presence of strong sets of spines (ctenidida), and ability to give birth live offspring. Furthermore, polyctenid bugs are one of the rarest ectoparasitic insect group as shown by relatively few museum collections around the world as well as number of described species. Worldwide, the family Polyctenidae is composed of 32 species representing 5 genera from 2 subfamilies. In the Philippines, there are only 2 polyctenid bugs so far recorded: Eoctenes spasmae (Waterhouse) and E. intermedius (Speiser). The first Philippine record of polyctenid bug was reported in 1961 from Montalban, Rizal. This paper presents the first record of polyctenid bugs in Southern Luzon. The specimens were collected from Lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma) in Batan Island, Albay. Also, this paper provides the first dichotomous key of Cimicoidea ectoparasitic on bats in the Philippines.
Link to the article: http://www.antdiversityindia.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Search_for_the_blind_vampire_final_upload.13611952.pdf
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Leonila Corpuz-Raros and Jeremy C.B. Naredo
Institute of Weed Science
College of Agriculture and Food Science
*Museum of Natural History
UP Los Baños
Additions to the Philippine Oribatid Mite Fauna, with Description of a New Species of the Genus Malaconothrus (Acari, Oribatida, Malaconothridae). Systematic & Applied Acarology, 22 (10): 1622-1638, 2017.
The present paper accounts for new collections of oribatid mites from the University of the Philippines Land Grant, Mt. Makiling within the U.P Los Baños campus, nearby upland farms in Los Baños municipality, and various sites in the Northern Luzon provinces of Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya in Luzon Island. A more limited material also came from the islands of Cebu and Siargao. These collections were partly studied but many were identified including 126 species from 80 genera and 44 families. Of these, eight species and the family Licnodamaeidae are recorded in the Philippines for the first time while three species and the genus Hexachaetoniella are recorded in the Oriental region for the first time. A new species belonging to the family Malaconothridae, Malaconothrus pseudadilatatus Ermilov & Corpuz-Raros, is described from litter on top of fallen log in the U.P. Land Grant. This new species closely resembles Malaconothrus adilatatus Ermilov, Anichkin & Tolstikov from Vietnam but has thicker and longer notogastral setae, thick lamellar setae that are pressed to the prodorsal surface, and the adanal setae and epimeral setae are phylliform or leaflike while they are hair-like in named species.
Link to the article: https://biotaxa.org/saa/article/view/saa.22.10.5
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.467
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Roland Dominic G. Jamora
Department of Neurosciences
College of Medicine
UP Manila
Striatal Dysfunction in X-linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism is Associated with Disease Progression. European Journal of Neurology, 24 (5): 680–686, May 2017.
X-linked Dystonia Parkinsonism (XDP) is an inherited neurodegenerative adult-onset movement disorder endemic to the island of Panay in the Philippines. The abnormalities in XDP has been localized in the basal ganglia, a part of the brain that regulate and modulate movement. However, the molecular and genetic mechanisms that surround XDP are not yet completely understood. This study aims to illustrate the contribution of the function of dopamine, a neurotransmitter found in the striatum in th brain, in XDP. This study investigated dopaminergic function through the dopamine transporter [123jod-fluoropropyl-2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta(4-iodophenyl) nortropane (FP-CIT) SPECT] and post-synaptic dopamine D2 receptor imaging in nine male patients with severe XDP, 1 asymptomatic male carrier and 10 male control subjects. The patients were evaluated clinically using standard scales for dystonia and parkinsonism and cognitive function and underwent single-photon emission computed tomography imaging (IBZM SPECT). Eight of nine patients exhibited IBZM SPECT abnormalities. All patients with XDP showed reduced uptake values on FP-CIT SPECT compared to age-matched controls. This study has shown that functional decline of post-synaptic dopaminergic neurotransmission, as evidenced by IBZM SPECT, is related to XDP disease duration and thus to ongoing neurodegeneration.
Link to the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/ene.13256/full
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 3.988
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Cynthia T. Hedreyda
National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
College of Science
UP Diliman
Detection of Plasmid-Borne β-Lactamase Genes in Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) and Non-ESBL-Producing Escherichia coli Clinical Isolates. Philippine Journal of Science, 146 (2): 167-175, June 2017.
Figure 1. Migration of bands (yellow arrow) representing genes for β-lactamase in E.coli isolates that exhibit wide spectrum antibiotic resistance.
Figure 2. Migration of bands (yellow arrow) representing genes for β-lactamase in E.coli isolates that do not exhibit wide spectrum antibiotic resistance. Thus, even undetected Extended Spectrum β-lactamase Gene in E. coli may pose a threat to spread of antibiotic resistant pathogens.
A disease causing E.coli bacterium can be killed by antibiotics called β-lactams. If the bacterium acquires a gene for the enzyme called extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL), the antibiotic is inactivated and bacterium becomes resistant to several types of β-lactam antibiotics. Production of different groups of plasmid encoded β-lactamase enzymes makes the bacterial strain antibiotic resistant and are difficult to kill, thus disease is difficult to treat. The TEM , SHV and CTX-M are most prevalent types of ESBLs. An initial phenotypic plate assay revealed that out of 71 β-lactam resistant Philippine clinical E.coli isolates studied, 26 exhibited ESBL and 45 non-ESBL characteristics or phenotypes. This research was conducted to detect the presence of the plasmid encoded ESBL associated blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX-M group1 and blaCTX-M group9 gene in 71 E.coli isolates with the following major results:
1. Four types of β-lactamase genes were not detected in the plasmids of 17 phenotypically non-ESBL isolates and surprisingly in 7 phenotypically ESBL. Genes in phenotypically ESBL, if present, maybe in the chromosome and not in the plasmid, may posses sequence variation not detected in PCR or maybe other types of β-lactamases .
2. The presence of TEM and CTX-M genes even in non-ESBL-producing E. coli suggests that detection of ESBL associated genes may be missed using the conventional phenotypic approach . This may pose a threat in the spread of antibiotic resistance because these strains serve as reservoir of undetected mutant ESBL-genes that may result in ESBL or resistant phenotype through mutations.
Link to the article: http://philjournalsci.dost.gov.ph/pdf/pjs%20pdf/vol146no2/detection_of_plasmid_borne_lactamase_genes.pdf
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Nichole Anthony D. Pacle, Carla B. Dimalanta, Noleynna T. Ramos and Betchaida D. Payot
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Petrography and Geochemistry of Cenozoic Sedimentary Sequences of the Southern Samar Island, Philippines: Clues to the Unroofing History of an Ancient Subduction Zone. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 142: 3-19, July 2017.
Figure 1. An outcrop of the Catbalogan Formation showing interbeds of marl, siltstone, sandsone and pebble conglomerates.
Figure 2. Photomicrographs of the Catbalogan Formation in cross (XPL) and plane (PPL) polarized light showing a dunite (dun) clast. Magnetites (mag) are also present in this sample.
Sedimentary rocks are composed of different materials from pre-existing rocks which were weathered, transported, deposited and compacted at a depositional basin. The origin of these sediments could come from a variety of sources which are mostly pre-existing rocks located nearby the depositional basin. The geology of Samar island is dominated by sedimentary rocks, the Samar Ophiolite and felsic igneous rocks. The Samar Ophiolite is a remnant oceanic crust which is composed of a series of rocks ranging from ultramafic rocks at its bottom section, gabbros, hypabyssal and volcanic rocks and deep marine sedimentary rocks on its top section. Two groups of sedimentary rocks which can be found in Samar island, namely the Daram Formation and Catbalogan Formation, were examined in terms of their petrographic and geochemical characteristics in order to gain insights on the environment on which they were formed during their time of deposition. Results reveal that the older Daram Formation has more sediments belonging to the upper section of the Samar Ophiolite while the younger Catbalogan Formation has a higher percentage of the lower sections of the ophiolite. Geochemical data from these rocks also signify that they were deposited on a forearc basin, similar to the recent sedimentary basins fronting the subduction zones surrounding the Philippines.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367912016302437
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.335
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Remil L. Galay
Department of Veterinary Paraclinical Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
UP Los Baños
Synchronous Langat Virus Infection of Haemaphysalis longicornis Using Anal Pore Microinjection. Viruses, 9 (7): 189, 9 pages, 17 July 2017.
Figure 1. Replication of Langat virus in Haemaphysalis longicornis after infection via anal pore microinjection. (A) Real-time PCR was used to quantify the changes in the negative-sense strand of LGTV RNA collected from groups of five ticks at each time point. The H. longicornis L23 gene was used to normalize the data at each time point. (B) Virus titration after LGTV infection via anal pore microinjection. Error bars in virus titers indicate the SD in mean values of three ticks at each time point. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, as compared to day 0.
Figure 2. Localization of Langat virusin selected organs from unfed adult ticks after infection via anal pore microinjection and immunofluorescence assay detection of LGTV antibodies in serum samples from mice. (A) Viral antigens were detected using a specific LGTV polyclonal antibody, while normal mouse serum served as a control. Nuclei counterstaining (blue) was done using DAPI, and arrowheads denote LGTV antigens (red) (bar = 20 μm. (B) Sera collected from mouse infested with EMEM‐injected tick (1) (1:200, No.1); mouse inoculated with 10,000 ffu of LGTV (2) (1:12,800, No.1); mouse infested with LGTV‐injected tick (3) (1:6,400, No.18) reacting with LGTV‐infected baby hamster kidney cells. Arrowheads denote LGTV ffu detected by LGTV antibodies (red).
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an important viral disease of humans and animals that can be acquired through the bite of hard ticks, occurring mainly in temperate countries. Recently, the causative virus has been reported in another hard tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, a known vector of protozoan parasites as well as another virus that causes severe fever and thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in humans. The maintenance of any virus within H. longicornis has not been studied yet. This study investigated how a virus, specifically the Langat virus related to TBE, is maintained within the H. longicornis tick after introduction by anal pore microinjection. Real-time PCR, virus isolation, and immunofluorescent detection in tick tissues, were done to determine whether Langat virus can survive in the tick. Additionally, experiments on mice were performed to determine whether infected H. longicornis can transmit the virus. Results showed that the virus was able to replicate in the tick after injection, primarily in the midgut. The tick was also able to maintain the virus until 120 days after injection, and can successfully transmit it to susceptible mice through blood feeding. Thus, anal pore microinjection is useful in studying the biology of a virus within a tick vector.
Link to the article: http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/9/7/189
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 3.465
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Emily Christi A. Cabegin
School of Labor & Industrial Relations
UP Diliman
Illegal and Unethical Labor Contracting in the Philippines: Breaking the Back of the Weaker Labor Force. Employee Relations Law Journal, 43 (3): 66-86, December 2017.
This article examines the Philippine laws and statutes of both permissible and prohibited labor contracting, and identifies the deficiencies and inconsistencies in its current statutes and implementing regulations. The paper recommends the following legislative reforms to remedy the lack of legal protection of contractor’s employees from economic dismissals and erosion of decent working conditions: (a) Adopt the doctrine of continuity of employment whereby in cases of a change in a contractor for a service, the employees of the outgoing contractor has a right to continued employment with the incoming contractor. More specifically, that the new or incoming contractor will inherit the employees of the previous contractor who undertook the work of supplying the service for the principal, along with all the employees’ rights and entitlements; (b) Treat firms that are very closely integrated in terms of ownership and management as a single employer for purposes of employment laws and regulations; and (c) Finally, given the very low inspection ratio in the Philippines, it is important to devise appropriate preventive measures including the imposition of monetary penalties that are significant enough to be a sufficient deterrent to committing violations of the provisions of labor regulations, along with widespread information and awareness campaigns on workers’ rights and access to judiciary process.
Link to the article: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1957103678/fulltextPDF/D7471F67CEB148B4PQ/1
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Richard V. Dumilag and Zae Zae A. Aguinaldo
Marine Science Institute
College of Science
UP Diliman
A Review of the Current Taxonomic Status of Foliose Bangiales (Rhodophyta) in the Philippines. Phytotaxa, 321 (1): 047-059, 4 July 2017.
Gamet gatherers. (A) A local fisher in Batan Is., Batanes gathering foliose Bangiales for food subsistence. (B) A gamet gatherer from Burgos, Ilocos Norte cleaning her net bag filled with collected gamet available for sale.
Foliose Bangiales is a group of economically important seaweeds in the Philippines. It is used as food in the northern Philippines and is locally known as “gamet”, tantamount to the “nori” of Japan. Published “gamet” species in the Philippines are surrounded by dubious records and unclear claims whether they are truly found in the country or not. This study reviewed the many published local records of foliose Bangiales in the Philippines and subsequently integrate modern existing knowledge to those record (i.e., results from the more recent publications based on morphological and molecular analyses), in order to clarify the status of each recorded names, that is, whether they are really found in the Philippines or not. Out of the ten species of foliose Philippine Bangiales appeared in the literature, only two names were confirmed: Pyropia acanthophora and Pyropia tanegashimensis while the four species need to be re-evaluated: Porphyra atropurpurea, Porphyra marcosii, Pyropia denticulata, and Pyropia suborbiculata. The remaining four names should be omitted from the Philippine record of foliose Bangiales: Porphyra umbilicalis, Pyropia vietnamensis, Wildemania variegata, and Porphyra crispata. This review exhorts future studies to investigate old specimens for further testing the validity of the names applied to them and carry out modern collections to assimilate current knowledge from historical records.
Link to the article: https://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.312.1.3
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.24
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Ivan Paul Bondoc
Department of Speech Pathology
College of Allied Medical Professions
UP Manila
Speech-Language Pathology Research in the Philippines in Retrospect: Perspectives from a Developing Country. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 19 (6): 628-636, 2017.
In order to track the progress of a young yet crucial health field in the country such as speech-language pathology (SLP), it is necessary to have information about the research that has been made over a certain period of time. Since the conception of the discipline in 1978, there is no information available about the current research status and trends of the profession. Hence, the study determined the status of SLP research in the country by analyzing existing research studies produced by Filipino SLPs in several parameters, such as in terms of their amount, features, dissemination types, and progress. This study gathered full, empirical and completed research studies made by Filipino SLPs in the country from 1978 to 2015. Using a tedious study selection process, 1,481 research records were gathered from online and institutional sources, and only 250 studies from these were considered for the final analysis. Findings revealed several major issues. First, there was a meager number of research studies produced over the past four decades that can be beneficial to the discipline. While the research outputs quadrupled between the first and second decade and doubled between the third and fourth, the rate of increased slowed down with the last decade. Second, the diversity of the studies was very limited. A predominant number of Filipino SLP research focused on few subfields in the discipline – language (27.60%) and the nature of communication and swallowing disorders (20.80%). Several of these studies utilized quantitative exploratory research designs (69.20%) and utilized surveys as a data generation strategy (38.41%). Third, research dissemination and funding have been limited. Almost all of these research studies remain unpublished (93.60%) and were unfunded (94.80%).
Link to the article: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17549507.2016.1226954
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.179
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Antonette R. Raquiza
Asian Center
UP Diliman
“Philippine Services Sector: Domestic Policy and Global Markets” in Southeast Asia Beyond Crises and Traps: Economic Growth and Upgrading. Khoo Boo Teik, Keiici Tsunekawa, and Motoko Kawano (editors). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
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Karl Simon Revelar and Ian Vega
National Institute of Physics
College of Science
UP Diliman
Overcharging Higher-Dimensional Black Holes with Point Particles. Physical Review D, 96 (6): 064010, 9 pages, 7 September 2017.
Figure 2 Width of parameter space, Δ E = E max − E min , for a nearly extremal BH with ε = 0.001 and a specific value of q . From top to bottom: q = 10 000 q min , 1000 q min , 100 q min , 10 q min , and q min + ε / 2 . As D → ∞ , Δ E decreases exponentially.
One of the most intriguing predictions of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity is the formation of spacetime singularities. These are essentially regions of space and time where gravity, as manifested by spacetime curvature, becomes inconceivably strong that the theory itself and all the known laws of physics break down. Theoretically speaking, such singularities reside, for example, inside black holes, which are ubiquitous in the cosmos. Such singularities would be interesting to observe, if for anything else, to provide us guidance on how to extend the laws of physics in such regimes. But, alas, these singularities are well-hidden behind black hole event horizons, which do not allow anything to escape. It is of great interest then whether or not such singularities can ever be observable from the outside world. Can they ever be “naked”?
The so-called Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis asserts that such “naked singularities” cannot form from reasonably physical initial conditions. This conjecture however remains unproven, and is one of the biggest unsettled questions of classical relativity theory.
On the other hand, there do exist spacetimes not too different from black hole spacetimes that actually represent naked singularities. One is an “overcharged” Reissner-Nordstrom solution. This solution typically represents a charged non-rotating black hole. This is so only when its charge isn’t too big. More specifically, if the black hole’s charge isn’t greater than its mass. But one can imagine throwing charges into the black hole and “overcharging” it. If one is capable of doing this then the Reissner-Nordstrom solution turns from black hole into a naked singularity, leaving an “overcharged” RN spacetime. Such a simple scenario has been contemplated for many years, but with the unfolding story seeming to uphold cosmic censorship. Basically, as one gets closer to overcharging the black hole, the repulsion between the black hole and succeeding charges gets stronger, and this repulsion ends up protecting the black hole.
In this work, we sought to contribute to this narrative by investigating what happens in higher dimensions, which is a popular hypothesis in various fields of theoretical physics. We asked: Can overcharging occur in higher-dimensional black holes? Is Cosmic Censorship also upheld in this context? How does the number of dimensions impact the basic scenario? Does increased dimensionality aid or oppose overcharging?
Using the spherically-symmetric charged Tangherlini-Schwarzschild solution, we studied the dynamics of an in-falling charged particle. We show that, much like in four dimensions, there is a small region of parameter space that does allow for overcharging. However, we find that this parameter region gets smaller and smaller as we increase the number of spacetime dimensions.
Link to the article: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.064010
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 4.568
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Julius Fergy T. Rabago
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
College of Science
UP Baguio
An Intriguing Application of Telescoping Sums. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 893 (1): 012005, 9 pages, 28 October 2017.
This note offers a simple, yet very intriguing application of telescoping sums. Particularly, the cancellation technique which is known as the method of differences is employed to establish analytically the closed-form solutions of some systems of nonlinear difference equations. The results delivered here, in addition, generalizes several results found in recent literatures. Consequently, the paper provides a different approach to deal with the solutions of some solvable system of nonlinear difference equations which has been examined recently in previous investigations. The method used in the study to solve the given system of equations gives a theoretical explanation on how the solution form of these system of equations appear in such structure. Hence, the results delivered in the paper is of importance and will be helpful in solving several solvable systems of nonlinear difference equations whose forms are similar to the ones considered in this work. Furthermore, we expect that the same method can be extended to solve other systems of nonlinear difference equations whose compositions are more complex than the systems examined here.
Link to the article: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/893/1/012005/pdf
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Perry S. Ong
Institute of Biology
College of Science
UP Diliman
Plant Diversity Increases with the Strength of Negative Density Dependence at the Global Scale. Science, 356 (6345): 1389-1392, 30 June 2017.
Photo 1. World map of stem-mapped forest plots (n = 24 forest plots) examined, which are part of the Smithsonian Center for Tropical Forest Science–Forest Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-ForestGEO) network.2.4 million trees from more than 3000 species were included in the analysis (Source: LaManna et al 2017).
Photo 2. The 16 hectare Palanan Permanent Forest Dynamics Plot (PFDP) inside the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, Palanan,m Isabela. More than 100,000 trees from 325 species had been tageed, measured, identified and its location recorded. Established as an 8-ha plot in 1994 and expanded to 16-ha in 1998, recensus had been made in 2004, 2010 and 2016. The Palanan PFDP was set up to monitor how tropical lowland forests respond to the Impact of catastrophic typhoons (source Co et al, 2006).
Why is there an abundance of tree species and trees in tropical forests?
Hypothesis tested, Answers found! Tropical forests had always been characterized by more tree species than in temperate forests. The underlying reason and the mechanism how this is maintained remained unanswered until now. An international team of 50 researchers from 41 institutions in 12 countries working in 24 Permanent Forest Dynamics Plots (PFDPs) spread across the Americas (12), Asia (8), Africa (2), Europe (1) and the Pacific (1), which formed part of the network of permanent plots under the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory (CTFS ForestGEO) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). In the Philippines, the Palanan PFDP in Isabela located in the middle of the Northern Sierra Madre was established in 1994 as a 8-ha plot then expanded to 16-ha plot in 1998, making this the longest continuously monitored permanent forest plot in the country. Every 6 years (2004, 2010 and 2016) a recenus had been made and the data generated from these recensus were used in this paper. The Palanan PFDP allows us to understand how trees in forests interact with each other (biotic) and with their environment (abiotic). With the research in Palanan, we are able to know who lives, who dies (mortality) and who colonizes (recruitment) and how fast they grow. Species richness increased with the strength of conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) across tropical and temperate forests.
Link to the article: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6345/1389
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 37.205
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Dennis Marvin Santiago
Food Science Cluster
College of Agriculture
UP Los Baños
The Kinetic Analysis and Simulation of Hardening in Bread Made by the Yudane Dough Method. Food Science and Technology Research, 23 (2): 229-236, 2017.
White bread made with Yudane dough has recently became popular in Japan. Yudane bread is characteristically moist, very soft, and sticky with a texture like cooked rice. It also has a desirable flavor, slightly sweet taste, good crust color, and hardens slowly compared with conventional bread. This study simulated and analyzed the hardening of Yudane bread at different storage temperature. Yudane dough was prepared by mixing boiling water and flour at a 1:1 ratio. Pullman type white breads with 10 and 20% (w/w, flour base) Yudane dough were prepared using no first fermentation method. The results showed that the hardening of all breads decreased with higher storage temperature. The hardening of breads made with Yudane dough (Yudane breads) was slower than the control at any storage temperature. The hardening rate constant of all breads sharply decreased with the increase in storage temperature. By using the hardening model, the hardening behavior of all breads stored at various temperature conditions was simulated with considerable accuracy. Simulation showed that the hardening of Yudane bread at various storage temperature conditions was retarded compared to the control.
Link to the article: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/23/2/23_229/_article
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Lizbeth A. Mariano and Aura C. Matias*
Department of Industrial Engineering
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
UP Los Baños
*Department of Industrial Engineering
College of Engineering
UP Diliman
“Prevalence and Risk Factors of Respiratory Problems Among Solid Waste Collectors in the Philippines” in Advances in The Human Side of Service Engineering. Louis E. Freund and Wojciech Cellary (editors). Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2018.
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