Armida V. Gillado and Marvin U.Herrera
Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Los Baños
Copper Sulfate-Embedded and Copper Oxide-Embedded Filter Paper and their Antimicrobial Properties. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 207: 147-153, 1 March 2018.
SEM micrographs of (a) filter paper at 50,000× and copper oxide-embedded paper at (b) 50,000× and (c) 200,000× magnifications. The copper oxide-embedded paper was prepared by dipping the filter paper for 1 min in 0.1 M CuSO4 solution and 1 min in 0.05 M NaOH solution.
Copper sulfate and Copper oxide particles were deposited on filter paper to create an antimicrobial surface. Copper sulfate was successfully embedded in filter paper through simple soaking, whereas the copper oxide-embedded filter paper was successfully produced using in situ technique using the copper sulfate-embedded paper as a starting material. The antimicrobial property of the embedded filter papers were tested using Disc diffusion method, wherein the filter paper is placed on a petri dish filled with bacterial growth, and then observed if bacteria will grow on the surface of the paper. Results show that the embedded filter paper has antimicrobial properties against two bacterial strains. This research will be relevant in producing paper-based products that can resist harmful bacterial growth, thus reducing risks of infection due to pathogenic microorganisms.
Link to the article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2017.12.049
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.084
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Ren Thomas C. Marquez and Alyssa M. Peleo-Alampay
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Sciences
UP Diliman
The Seawater Osmium Isotope Record of South China Sea: Implications on its History and Evolution. Marine Geology, 394: 98-115, 1 December 2017.
Map of the South China Sea that shows the sites where sediments were recovered for the Re-Os isotope analysis.
The Os isotope profile of the South China Sea. Notice that measurements from the south of the basin lie outside the global seawater record (area delineated by the broken line). This was associated with localized tectonism and changes in ocean circulation that is unique to the basin’s history.
In 1913, it was discovered that not all atoms of the same element have the same mass. In the center of all atoms are protons are neutrons. The difference in mass is attributed to the difference in the number of neutrons for each atom. These atoms of the same element but with different masses are known as ISOTOPES. Isotopes have a tendency to ‘behave’ differently from each other. Some heavier isotopes tend to stay in liquids, while lighter isotopes tend to go to gases (see Oxygen). Their tendency to be segregated can also be controlled by the type of material where they are found. This is the basic premise of using the Re-Os isotope system. Basalts (dark rocks from the the seafloor) and continental rocks (which come from, as the name suggests, the continents i.e. mainland China, Africa, North America, etc.) are very different materials with different amounts of Re and Os isotopes. This allows us to understand which events happened as a basin (such as the South China Sea) evolves. For example, if there was very fast opening of the seafloor, there would have been a lot of basalt that likely interacted with the seawater, which will then be reflected in its Re and Os isotope signature. Similarly, increased input from weathering of the continents also affects the basin’s seawater with a different signature. By looking at the sediments from the basin, we can get an isotope record to help us identify such events in its history, as well as discern when exactly these events actually happened (using very tiny fossils known as forams and coccolithophores).
Link to the article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.07.018
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 3.572
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Rizalino B. Cruz
National College of Public Administration and Governance
UP Diliman
The Politics of Land Use for Distributed Renewable Energy Generation. Urban Affairs Review, 54 (3): 524–559, May 2018.
(This photo is from the blog that the author wrote for the Urban Affairs Forum, https://urbanaffairsreview.com/2017/05/09/how-cities-are-promoting-clean-energy-and-dealing-with-problems-along-the-way/)
(From the article, “Turning to Windmills, but Resistance Lingers,” published in New York Times, 12 Sept. 2009, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13wind.html?_r=1)
Cities in the United States are taking the initiative to promote environmental sustainability. They provide incentives for buildings and homes to go green. They adhere to smart growth. And their latest efforts are directed toward clean energy. Many cities are not only encouraging residents to use but also produce their own electricity through renewable sources. But many problems are stopping green projects in their tracks. For instance, residents wanting to install solar panels or wind turbines do not have the requisite information readily available. They would also have to deal with application requirements and inspection procedures that are complicated. Getting support from the local community is another issue since solar panels and wind turbines are considered green LULUs (locally undesirable land uses), which oftentimes attract opposition from other residents relating to safety, aesthetics, and property values. U.S. Cities are finding ways to leverage resources at their disposal to deal with these problems. Green firms and contractors, for example, can provide information and technical support to residents. Cities can also benefit from sustainability or climate change networks as venues for information-sharing and problem-solving. They can also harness their administrative resources to increase organizational capacity and improve permitting procedures. The article, “The Politics of Land Use for Distributed Renewable Energy Generation,” examines these many problems and the available resources to deal with them. It views these problems in terms of transaction costs, which serve as barriers to policy. Those available resources could minimize transaction costs or enable cities to overcome these barriers.
Link to the article: http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/uarb/54/3
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.308
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Rowena B. Carpio and Rizalinda L. De Leon*
Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
UP Los Baños
*Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
UP Diliman
Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Demineralized Wastewater Algae Biomass. International Journal of Smart Grid and Clean Energy, 7 (1): 13-23, January 2018.
The van Krevelin plots of the untreated and acid-treated biomass, and corresponding biocrude oil, along with typical biopolymers, biomass and pyrogenic materials (gray shadings are adopted from [18]) (a) H/C atomic ratio vs. O/C atomic ratio; (b) N/C atomic ratio vs. O/C atomic ratio.
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a thermochemical process that can converts biomass into an energy dense liquid fuel commonly referred to as “biocrude” oil. HTL is said to mimic the geochemical and geophysical processes in the formation of natural fossil fuels in accelerated speed (< 1 hour). HTL operates at high temperature (200-600oC) and high-pressure (5-40 MPa) liquid or supercritical water. Unlike conventional processes (i.e. combustion and pyrolysis), uses water as reaction medium which makes it suitable for many biomass feedstocks that contain large amounts of water, such as algae, agricultural residuals, food processing wastes, municipal and agricultural sludge. Algal biomass harvested from wastewater is a potential new renewable energy source but its relatively high ash content (up to 50%) is not desirable to yield bio-crude oil during HTL. In this study, different ash-reduction treatments were employed on wastewater algae biomass and then processed via HTL. The yield and the quality of the biocrude oils obtained were evaluated and compared. Results showed that ash reduction of about 45% improved the biocrude oil yield by 47%, and the energy recovery by 50%, using a dilute formic acid solution. Figure 1 shows the biocrude oils obtained from treated biomass are comparable in quality and did not vary much from that obtained from untreated biomass. Simulated distillation using TGA-TDG curves (Figure 2) of the biocrude oils obtained showed a possible gasoline range (boiling point 110-200oC) and jet fuel range (boiling point 200-300oC) fraction of 13 and 27% by weight, respectively.
Link to the article: http://www.ijsgce.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=69&id=353
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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John Ian K. Boongaling
Department of Humanities
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Los Baños
On the Supposed Connection between Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Logic. Problemos, 93: 20-34, 2018.
The paper investigates the plausibility of two theses within the context of Aristotle’s philosophical theory: the Unity Thesis (UT) and the Fundamentality Thesis (FT). According to UT, metaphysics and logic are deeply connected. According to FT, Aristotle’s theory of predication (TOP) is more fundamental than the principle of non-contradiction (PNC). To test the plausibility of UT and FT, I offered a particular strategy for establishing UT. According to this strategy, the decisive move is to formulate and interpret the PNC not as a logical principle but as a metaphysical principle, i.e., as a principle that governs things (or objects) in the world and what can be predicated (or attributed) to them. Despite this strategy’s initial appeal, I argued that it is prone to a very powerful objection: the Inconsistency Objection (IO). According to IO, Aristotle’s criterion of primary substance is inconsistent. Finally, I argued that it is the TOP and not the PNC which lies at the heart of Aristotle’s metaphysics and logic. This means that the TOP is, in an important and usually neglected sense, more fundamental than the PNC. Thus, while UT has been shown to be problematic due to IO, the current investigation yields a positive result for FT. This is done by showing how the TOP does all the important explanatory work in Aristotle’s philosophical theory. In fact, the PNC itself is explained by the TOP and thus, the latter may be considered as more fundamental than the former.
Link to the article: http://www.journals.vu.lt/problemos/article/view/11748/10376
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Maria Victoria O. Espaldon
School of Environmental Science and Management
UP Los Baños
Methane Emission from Rice Cultivation in Different Agro-Ecological Zones of the Mekong River Delta: Seasonal Patterns and Emission Factors for Baseline Water Management. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 64 (1): 47-58, 2018.
Rice production is a large methane source (CH4) of Vietnam GHG budget, one of the largest world rice-exporters. However, the quantification of the CH4 source strength can only be given with a high range of uncertainty. The GHG inventory in the most recent 2nd National Communication of Vietnam in 2010 based on the global default emission rates with the value of 1.3 kg CH4 ha−1 d−1. These national GHG inventories do not provide data for specific regions at subnational scale, so there is no direct quote on the specific GHG contribution of the Mekong Delta (MRD). This region accounts for 54.4% of the total rice area in Vietnam and has very distinct bio-physical conditions by different zones (i) salinity intrusion, (ii) deep flood, (iii) alluvial soils, and (iv) acid sulfate soils that will directly affect methane emissions. In this regard, the application of default emission factors may be erroneous. This study determined zone-specific emission factors on CH4 emissions with the Emission Factor (EF) values corresponding to the zones (i) 1.14, (ii) 2.24 (Winter Spring) and 9.14 (Autumn Winter), (iii) 2.39 and (iv) 2.78 kg CH4 ha−1 d−1. Although these emission factors correspond to baseline water management and do not capture the diversity of farmers’ practices, we see the availability of zone-specific data as an important step for a more detailed assessment of Business as Usual emissions as well as possible mitigation potentials in one of the most important rice growing regions of the world in the context of changing climate.
Link to the article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00380768.2017.1413926#.WnP-8KUjfig
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 1.251
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Nelson R. Villarante, Ronette Anne E. Davila and Derick Erl P. Sumalapao
Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Manila
Removal of Lead (II) by Lumbang, Aleurites moluccana Activated Carbon Carboxymethylcellulose Composite Crosslinked with Epichlorohydrin. Oriental Journal of Chemistry, 34 (2): 693-703, 2018.
In this paper, novel synthesis of low-cost lumbang activated carbon carboxymethylcellulose composite crosslinked with epichlorohydrin by irradiation was performed and its adsorption capacity using Pb(II) in aqueous medium and wastewater sample was evaluated. A microcosm adsorption study of the composite on Pb (II) removal as a function of pH, temperature, contact time, initial concentration of adsorbate, and adsorbent dose was investigated. The prepared composite is useful for the general remediation of wastewater generated from industries and laboratories, especially those that contain large amount of Pb (II) as treatment of these contaminated water may reduce toxicity in aquatic ecosystems.
Link to the article: http://www.orientjchem.org/vol34no2/removal-of-lead-%CE%B9%CE%B9-by-lumbang-aleurites-moluccana-activated-carbon-carboxymethylcellulose-composite-crosslinked-with-epichlorohydrin/
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Precious Caree V. Regunton, Derick Erl P. Sumalapao and Nelson R. Villarante
Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Manila
Biosorption of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solution by Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Shell-derived activated carbon-chitosan Composite. Oriental Journal of Chemistry, 34 (1): 115-124, 2018.
This study prepared coconut shell-derived activated carbon-chitosan composite as a potential biosorbent material for the removal of methylene blue in an aqueous solution by adsorption process. Moreover, the influence of pH, contact time, dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and temperature on the adsorption process were also determined. This study also compared the removal efficiency of coconut shell-derived carbon-chitosan composite with the activated biocharcoal in the removal of methylene blue. Conversion of the widely-available agricultural wastes such as coconut shells to biocharcoal was done using a simple and low-cost method that can be adapted globally.
Link to the article: http://www.orientjchem.org/vol34no1/biosorption-of-methylene-blue-from-aqueous-solution-by-coconut-cocos-nucifera-shell-derived-activated-carbon-chitosan-composite/
Impact Factor: Not yet available
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Milchizedek I. Alipio and Nestor Michael C. Tiglao
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute
College of Engineering
UP Diliman
“A Cache-Aware Congestion Control for Reliable Transport in Wireless Sensor Networks” in Mobile Networks and Management. Jiankun Hu, Ibrahim Khalil, Zahir Tari and Sheng Wen (editors). Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2018.
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Rizza T. Loquias, Nestor Michael C. Tiglao, Jhoanna Rhodette I. Pedrasa and Joel Joseph S. Marciano
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute
College of Engineering
UP Diliman
“Factors Effects for Routing in a Delay-Tolerant Wireless Sensor Network for Lake Environment Monitoring” in Mobile Networks and Management. Jiankun Hu, Ibrahim Khalil, Zahir Tari and Sheng Wen (editors). Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2018.
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Wilfredo V. Alangui
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
College of Science
UP Baguio
“Building Stone Walls: A Case Study from the Philippines” in Numeracy as Social Practice: Global and Local Perspectives. Keiko Yasukawa, Alan Rogers, Kara Jackson and Brian V. Street (editors). New York, USA: Routledge, 2018.
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Edward James R. Gorgon
Department of Physical Therapy
College of Allied Medical Professions
UP Manila
Caregiver-Provided Physical Therapy Home Programs for Children with Motor Delay: A Scoping Review. Physical Therapy, 98 (6): 480–493, 1 June 2018.
Caring for children with motor delay is costly and can strain family resources over a long period of time. Cost-effective ways of providing healthcare are urgently needed. Physical therapy treatments can be organized as home programs that children’s caregivers can carry out at home (called caregiver-provided PTHPs). Caregiver-provided PTHPs can significantly lessen costs related to professional fees and traveling to and from therapy clinics. Also, these can promote more practice of movement skills that children can immediately use in their activities at home. This study tackled a very timely and important topic by thoroughly putting together the available research on the effectiveness of caregiver-provided PTHPs for children with motor delay. This study had important findings:
- Caregivers can safely carry out PTHPs, but little research has been done on the effectiveness of cargiver-provided PTHPs for children with motor delay. Also, the available studies have many important limitations that decrease usefulness. Thus, at present, there is little information on caregiver-provided PTHPs that physical therapists and families can rely on in making decisions.
- In the available studies, little attention has been given to the caregivers’ participation in PTHPs, how well they are trained, and how well they learn, even if caregiver participation and competence are critical to home program effectiveness and success.
Therefore, research on caregiver-provided PTHPs for children with motor delay is urgently needed. Useful and specific recommendations are found in this study which can stimulate further research on caregiver-provided PTHPs and ultimately lead to resource-efficient care for children with motor delay.
Link to the article: https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article-abstract/98/6/480/4813621?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.764
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Gerry Bagtasa and Mylene G. Cayetano
Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology
College of Science
UP Diliman
Seasonal Variation and Chemical Characterization of PM2.5 in Northwestern Philippines. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18 (7): 4965-4980, 11 April 2018.
Monsoon seasons are known to affect weather and climate in the Philippines. These shifting winds also cause the movement of pollutants in Asia. In this study, we placed an air sampler that can measure fine particulates in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, located at the northwestern tip of Luzon island. Measurements of ambient air were done every 3 months lasting 2 weeks per sampling. We found that during the northeast monsoon season, pollution emissions from northern East Asia reach the northern part of the Philippines. On average, these transported pollutants make up a third of observed pollutants in the region. On the other hand, when wind is coming from the Pacific ocean where no known large emitters are present, or winds are from the West Philippine Sea during the rainy season, the amount of particulates in the region is small. Additionally, we also saw elevated amounts of pollution from solid waste burning during the dry season, a practice common in the rural countryside that is prohibited by law.
Link to the article: https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/18/4965/2018/acp-18-4965-2018.html
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 5.318
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Pompe C. Sta, Cruz
Institute of Crop Science
College of Agriculture and Food Sciences
UP Los Baños
Seed Vigour Contributes to Yield Improvement in Dry direct-Seeded Rainfed Lowland Rice. Annals of Applied Biology, 172 (1): 100-110, January 2018.
Dry direct-seeded rice (DSR) grown in rainfed lowlands is prone to crop failure due to drought and butrient deficiency. In this study, Rc348 and Rc192 (drought-resistant DSR cultivars) were compared with Rc222 and Rc10 (standard irrigated rice cultivars). Rc348 had more vigorous root growth associated with its rapid moisture acquisition compared to Rc222. Seedling vigor was also observed under nutrient-deficient condition in Rc348 due to its rapid growth and nutrient uptake. Higher yields (33.3-36.7%) were observed in Rc348 and Rc192 (4.0-4.1 t ha-1) grown under rainfed drought-prone condition and compared with Rc10 yield (3.0 t ha-1). Quick termination and seedling vigor were observed to be important traits for DSR in rainfed lowlands.
Link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aab.12405
Impact Factor: (2016/2017) 2.046
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