Jonathan P. Guevarra, Maribel G. Oidem, Josue Antonio G. Estrada, Arlene G. Bertuso, Maridel P. Borja, Ernani R. Bullecer, Teresita S. de Guzman, Lydia R. Leonardo, Victor B. Molina, Ma. Susan T. Yanga-Mabunga, Eleanor C. Castillo, Paul Michael R. Hernandez, Ma. Socorro E. Ignacio, Richard S. Javier, Paul Adrian V. Pinlac and Evalyn A. Roxas
College of Public Health
UP Manila
Partnership for Health Development through the Field Practice. Acta Medica Philippina, 48 (3): 79-83, 2014.
This article describes the partnership between the College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila and the province of Laguna in the context of the implementation of the field practice course. This partnership paved the way for the development and implementation of projects in seven field practice sites. Projects concentrated mainly on improving quality of data and health information system, development of educational materials, and addressing health problems such as tuberculosis, hypertension and rabies. After the implementation of the various activities, there is a need for both parties (the College of Public Health and the Provincial Health Office of Laguna) to monitor and evaluate if projects have been sustained. Moreover, successful projects must also be fully documented which can serve as models for other areas in the province of Laguna.
Link to the article: actamedicaphilippina.com.ph
Impact Factor: Not yet available
Marshaley J. Baquiano
Division of Social Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Visayas
From “From “Good day” to “Sign here”: Norms Shaping Negotiations Within a Face Culture. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 8 (4): 228–242, November 2015.
The study examined how culture shapes the processes and outcomes of wage negotiations with the use of discourse analysis. We looked at how two conflicting groups who belonged to the same culture try to maximize what they can gain out of a negotiation, and at the same time ensure that both parties get mutually satisfied in the end. We did this by analysing audio recordings of collective bargaining meetings between labor and management negotiators of a multinational beverage company in the Philippines. Our findings show that as with previous studies, negotiation between labor and management within collectivist culture manifested low trust. However, mutual gains were achieved with both parties displaying behaviors that were culturally acceptable, hindering the impact of low trust bargaining in the process. We also found that the statements used by both parties may be demanding, rejecting, and showing threats and justification; but these statements were expressed in local language in a way that they were tempered with show of respect and efforts to maintain group harmony. This points to how culture may influence a bargaining process, making it shift from one that is contentious to one that is collaborative and works towards achievement of mutual gains.
Link to the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ncmr.12060/abstract
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 0.250
Lindley Kent M. Faina, Lorna S. Almocera* and Polly W. Sy**
Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Visayas
*Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division
UP Cebu
**Institute of Mathematics
College of Science
UP Diliman
On the Bifurcations and Multiple Endemic States of a Single Strain HIV Model. Acta Mathematicae Applicatae Sinica, English Series, 30 (4): 913-930, October 2014.
Catchy title of research: Defeating the havoc of HIV
Combating and defeating the havoc of the AIDS and HIV in human society is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targeted by the United Nations in 2015. Since the 
discovery of AIDS and HIV in early 1980s, research on this area has not been fully successful in eradicating the disease. The nature of the disease and its effect to human society require collaborative effort of researchers from various disciplines. Mathematical modeling is one of the ways in studying the interaction of HIV with the human immune system. This micro-level modeling which attempts to describe the growth and death of HIV and CD4 cells (our natural soldiers) as a result of their interaction can help us gain insight in fully understanding the life of the virus in human body. Mathematical model using calculus (ordinary differential equations) helps us observe this interaction through computer simulation. This study used the Basic Reproductive Number in determining the capability of the virus to proliferate in human body. The study found out that reducing the capacity of the virus to reproduce to less than one is not sufficient to eradicate the virus in the system. In fact, it may happen that at this level, the virus will proliferate and defeat the immune system, thus resulting to AIDS. Thus, a more efficient medication is needed in lowering the infectivity of the virus. It was also found out that B cells and CD8 cells have important contribution in reducing the infectivity of the virus.
Link to the article: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10255-012-0159-1
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 0.381
Jey-R S. Ventura
Department of Engineering Science
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
UP Los Baños
Monitoring and Predicting the Fecal Indicator Bacteria Concentrations from Agricultural, Mixed Land Use and Urban Stormwater Runoff. Science of The Total Environment, 550: 1171–1181, 15 April 2016.
Catchy title of research: Fecal indicator bacteria monitoring and predicting from different land use and land cover (LULC)
The results of this study provide a useful tool for predicting stormwater FIB concentrations of a given land use and land cover (LULC) and contribution of environmental parameters to 
FIB concentrations.
It can be used as an input data for stormwater models and in calculations of a total pollution load management system, similar to the calculation of the total maximum daily load, in a cost-effective manner
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969716300262
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 4.099
Joseph F. dela Cruz
Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
UP Los Baños
Anti Cancer Effects of Cnidium officinale Makino Extract Mediated through Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in the HT-29 Human Colorectal Cancer Cell Line. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 15 (13): 5117-5121, 2014.
Catchy title of research: Extract of Cnidium officinale Makino kills and prevents proliferation of Colon cancer cells
Natural products have recently attracted many researchers due to their potential use as therapeutic agent. Cnidium officinale Makino (COM) has multiple anti-cancer properties, but its molecular targets and mode of action on human colorectal cancer cells are unknown. Through cell counting kit assay (CCK-8), dose dependent cytotoxic effects were shown in HT-29 cells treated with various concentrations of COM. This cytotoxic effect was not observed when COM was used to treat normal intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6). Flow cytometry analysis of the cell cycle after treatment with COM clearly showed that COM inhibited cellular proliferation of HT-29 cells via G1 phase arrest of the cell cycle. The apoptotic effect of COM on HT-29 cells was confirmed by annexin V-propidium iodide apoptosis test. An increase in the expression of p53, pro-apoptotic factor Bax and a decrease in the expression of anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 were also observed in a dose-dependent manner. COM also down regulated the expression of pro-caspase-3 and pro-caspase-9 in a dose dependent manner. These data suggest a possible mechanism whereby COM could induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. This property of COM also suggests that COM could have possible therapeutic potential against human colon adenocarcinoma.
Link to the article: http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/27/1_MeetingAbstracts/639.2
Impact Factor: (2014) 2.514
Joyce A. Ibana, Sandra Jelyn Cutay and Maevel Romero
Institute of Biology
Natural Sciences Research Institute
College of Science
UP Diliman
Parallel Expression of Enzyme Inhibitors of CD8T Cell Activity in Tumor Microenvironments and Secretory Endometrium. Reproductive Sciences, 23 (3): 289-301, March 2016.
Catchy title of research: Can the female reproductive tract Immunology teach us lessons about the tumor microenvironment?
The female reproductive tract during the secretory phase of menstruation, promotes an environment that supports tolerance to support conception. This is mediated in part, by the increase in the presence of soluble factors that inhibit the function of cytolytic immune cells. Interestingly, these same soluble factors are also increased in tumor microenvironments in a progressive manner coinciding with metastasis. In contrast, in the female reproductive tract, the levels of these soluble factors are modulated in a cyclical manner, such that it is only present during the secretory phase and not during the proliferative phase. In light of the fact that the cytolytic function of immune cells are restored during the proliferative phase, it is enticing to speculate that the modality by which this occur in the female reproductive tract may be recapitulated in the tumor microenvironment. If indeed, the mechanism by which the restoration of cytolytic immune cells can be artificially mimicked in tumor microenvironments, then these suggest that the lessons that we learned from the female reproductive tract immunology can provide us with important insights for developing a novel strategy by which we can prevent the induction of immune suppression in tumor microenvironments. Utilizing such strategy may permit the immune cells to impose their anti-tumoral responses.
Link to the article: http://rsx.sagepub.com/content/23/3/289
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 2.230
Cynthia N. Zayas
Center for International Studies
UP Diliman
“The Discourse of Disasters in Philippine Festivals: Culture, Local Governance and the Construction of Historical Memory” in The Consequences of Disasters: Demographic, Planning, and Policy Implementations. Helen James and Douglas Paton (editors). Illinois, USA: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, Ltd, 2016.
Cecilia S. De la Paz
Department of Art Studies
College of Arts and Letters
UP Diliman
“Land is Life and Life is Land: Development, Resilience, Family and Knowledge for the Ayta of Mt. Pinatubo” in The Consequences of Disasters: Demographic, Planning, and Policy Implementations. Helen James and Douglas Paton (editors). Helen James and Douglas Paton (editors). Illinois, USA: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, Ltd, 2016.
Leee Anthony M. Neri
Archaeological Studies Program
UP Diliman
“The Archaeology of Karaang Lungsod” in Advancing Southeast Asian Archaeology 2013: Selected Papers from the 1st SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference on Southeast Asian Archaeology. Noel Hidalgo Tan (editor). Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMEO SPAFA, 2015.
Ebinezer R. Florano
National College of Public Administration and Governance
UP Diliman
“Mainstreaming Integrated Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Local Development Plans in the Philippines” in Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Walter Leal Filho (editor). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2015.
Joseph J. Capuno
School of Economics
UP Diliman
“Perceived Quality of Public Administration and Trust in Local Government Officials in the Philippines” in Developing Country Perspectives on Public Service Delivery. Anjula Gurtoo and Colin Williams (editors). Singapore: Springer India, 2015.
Dan Louie Renz P. Tating, Natasha Denise S. Montevirgen and Loyda Amor N. Cajucom*
College of Nursing
UP Manila
*Faculty of Management and Development Studies
UP Open University
Cushing’s Syndrome From Pituitary Microadenoma and Pulmonary Nodules. Oncology Nursing Forum, 43 (2): 136-140, March 2016.
Photo 1: The broad and pervasive impact of the rare, complex metabolic condition
A rare, complex condition which has multiple effects in various organ systems has been reported in this article. A male teenager was seen with tumor growth in a part of the brain and in the lungs which release substances affecting the metabolism of the body, and in turn, his overall quality of life. The article discusses how this condition affect the patient as a whole, and how patient care can best be provided. Finally, nursing care implications on provision of psychosocial care and promotion of quality of life were discussed. The general public will benefit by learning more information regarding this condition, and nurses and other health professionals will learn how to provide better care for their patients with similar conditions.
Link to the article: https://onf.ons.org/onf/43/2
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 2.788
Aletta T. Yñiguez
Marine Science Institute
College of Science
UP Diliman
Consequences of Morphological Plasticity and Fragmentation on Space Occupation of Coral Reef Macroalgae. Ecological Modelling, 309–310: 128–142, 10–24 August 2015.
Macroalgae and corals competing for space on a reef
Macroalgae are organisms typically found in coral reefs and in some areas of the world such as the Florida Keys, they can cover a large proportion of the reef space. This study looks closely at the dominant species of macroalgae in those reefs to see how they are able to successfully capture their space. It turns out that these macroalgae can spread more if there is disturbance such as storms passing through because they are able to survive breaking up into fragments which eventually settle into new space and form new macroalgae individuals. However, this response is different for different types of macroalgae. Two types were more successful with this strategy than the other type. But there also exists too much disturbance that leads to detrimental effects for all types of macroalgae. This study is one of few that looks at the dominance and persistence of macroalgae on coral reefs and the potential of different environmental conditions to affect the reef state.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380015001751
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 2.321
Arnisson Andre C. Ortega
Population Institute
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
UP Diliman
Desakota and Beyond: Neoliberal Production of Suburban Space in Manila’s Fringe. Urban Geology, 33 (8): 1118-1143, November-December 2012.
Catchy title of research: Beyond urban models and toward grounded accounting of neoliberalization of urban space
Map of housing developments and LGUs with annual internal revenue of more than 250 million pesos in Manila’s fringe, 2008.
Jose pointing at Nuvali and nearby suburban gated developments in Canlubang. Photo by author (2010).
The study of urbanization in the Global South usually entails retrofitting places within urban models. This article argues for a process-based accounting of urban transformation in Manila’s suburban fringe to uncover politics of urbanization, urban-rural tensions and agrarian struggles. The paper examines how urban-rural transformation in the suburban fringe is an illustration of neoliberalization of urban space, wherein agricultural farmlands are converted and rural populations are dispossessed and displaced to make way for ‘new urban’ developments, such as Nuvali. The article also details how political-economic interests of the country’s elites are a driving force in shaping urban transformation.
Link to the article: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2747/0272-3638.33.8.1118#.VxZum9QrKM8
Impact Factor: Not yet available
Arnisson Andre C. Ortega
Population Institute
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
UP Diliman
Mapping Manila’s Mega-Urban Region: A Spatio-Demographic Accounting using Small-Area Census Data. Asian Population Studies, 10 (2): 208-235, 2014.
Catchy title of research: Mapping Manila’s Mega-Urban Region
Spatial clusters of population growth rate map of Manila’s Mega-Urban Region, 1990–1995.
Spatial clusters of population growth rate (1990–1995 to 2007–2010), population density (2010) and urban development map of Manila’s Mega-Urban Region.
The paper maps Manila’s mega-urban region by accounting for is spatial form, patterns and trajectories. It uses a hotspot analysis of disaggregated barangay-level data to identify significant clusters of population growth and decline are calculated over two decades. The paper identifies three processes shaping the region: (1) outward expansion of high- and low-growth clusters; (2) development of new growth nodes on the fringes; and (3) recent emergence of high-growth clusters in the core. The paper shows that calculated clusters may be used as contextual compasses to show critical mega-urban processes. These clusters were matched with local-level data on settlement histories and development projects and socio-political events.
Link to the article: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17441730.2014.902163
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 0.636
Arnisson Andre C. Ortega, Johanna Marie Astrid E. Acielo and Maria Celeste H. Hermida
Population Institute
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
UP Diliman
Mega-Regions in the Philippines: Accounting for Special Economic Zones and Global-Local Dynamics. Cities, 48: 130–139, November 2015.
Catchy title of research: Mega-regions of the Philippines
NEDA-delimited metropolitan regions of the Philippines.
Mega-agglomeration of Metro Manila and nearby regions
The paper argues that in an era of globalization, there is a need to use a different approach in understanding urbanization. Instead of using state-delimited urban-rural binaries or city-centric definitions, the paper offers a spatio-demographic approach to identify emergent mega-regions in the Philippines. The paper argues that the rise of these mega-regions are impacted by globalization through special economic zones. The paper hopes to encourage urban analyses that seek ways of theorizing and accounting for mobilities and global-local networks to guide socially just and sustainable planning.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026427511500102X
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 1.728
Arnisson Andre C. Ortega
Population Institute
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
UP Diliman
Manila’s Metropolitan Landscape of Gentrification: Global Urban Development, Accumulation by Dispossession & Neoliberal Warfare Against Informality. Geoforum, 70: 35-50, March 2016.
Catchy title of research: Manila’s landscape of gentrification
Maps of percentage of informal households per barangay, Metro Manila (1990, 2000, 2010).
Demolished sections of San Roque community.
This paper uses a mixed-methods approach to argue that Manila’s urbanization is largely structured by real estate accumulation and entails a systematic displacement of informal settlers. The paper triangulates areas of displacement over the past two decades using both quanitative and qualitative data. What emerges in the narratives presented in the paper is a spatial ‘aspyxhiation’ of urban informality to accommodate so-called ‘globally-competitive’ urban developments. The paper suggests that this kind of urban development is symptomatic of urbanization in the Global South.
Link to the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718516300458
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 1.759
Rosalie Hall*, Joy Lizada*, Maria Helen Dayo**, Corazon Abansi***, Myra David** and Agnes Rola**
*Division of Social Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
UP Visayas
**Institute for Governance and Rural Development
College of Public Affairs and Development
UP Los Baños
Institute of Management***
UP Baguio
To the Last Drop: The Political Economy of Philippine Water Policy. Water Policy,17 (5): 946-962, October 2015.
The paper examines the contestations arising from the layered legal treatment of water and the multiplicity of institutions (national, local, public, private, collective) tasked to carry out mandates of sourcing, distributing and protecting the resource. A comprehensive analysis of national and select local legislation reveals political flash points arising from contested water rights (state versus ancestral domain claim); community versus local government water source-use discordance; incongruent watershed-based frameworks; economic competition between water district and private water providers; and trans-boundary water transfers involving water districts and local government units. Five in-depth case studies of water conflicts describe the actors, position, agency, venue/mechanism for settling the conflict and the political outcome. The cases illustrate how state power (or its weakness) and its dispersion across many formal institutions is challenged by civil society and collective push in this policy area. Shifting mindsets from hydrological/engineering to economic calculation to conservation/protection provide the contexts in which these policy fights transpire. Unpacking the various forms of contestations and conflicts among different actors is key in finding solutions to the multi-layered problems confronting water governance in the Philippines.
Link to the article: http://wp.iwaponline.com/content/17/5/946.abstract
Impact Factor: (2014/2015) 0.833
Teodora D. Balangcod and Kryssa D. Balangcod
Department of Biology
College of Science
UP Baguio
Ethnomedicinal Plants in Bayabas, Sablan, Benguet Province, Luzon, Philippines. Electronic Journal of Biology, 11 (3): 63-73, 2015.
Plant resources from the forests, if properly tapped, can be a source of drugs that can solve the health problems of today especially emerging diseases
In search for the medicinal plants used by the local community in Bayabas, Sablan, Benguet Province
The traditional knowledge in local communities has provided the baseline information for the drugs and medicine of today. However, ethnomedicinal knowledge is usually trapped in the older generation hence should be documented before these are gone. This article is one of the contributions which is similar to the other published documents from other Asian countries. Specifically, as far as uses of plants for medicine by local communities is concerned, there are similarities in uses. Conversely, if this knowledge will be put together, this can have an impact in providing solutions to present health problems.
Link to the article: http://ejbio.imedpub.com/
Impact Factor: Not yet available
Allan Gil S. Fernando
National Institute of Geological Sciences
College of Science
UP Diliman
Prevailing Oxic Environments in the Pacific Ocean during the Mid-Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. Nature Communications, 2: 234, 5 pages March 2011.
Figure 1 (also Figure in the article). Map of the study area’s location in southern France.
Figure 2 (Figure 9 in the article). Comparison of the litholostratigraphic, biostratigraphic, and chemostratigraphic trends of the Vocontian Basin (center left) with other Cenomanian-Turonian Boundary sites in other parts of the world.
During the Middle Cretaceous (~94 million years ago), the world experienced one of the warmest episodes in geologic history in an event called Oceanic Anoxic Event 2(OAE2). As a part of the earlier study on the Vocontian Basin, a team of 3 Japanese scientists, a French expert, and a Filipino (A.G.S. Fernando) scientist studied the nannofossil assemblages of the sedimentary rock samples that the earlier study had taken from the study area’s Lambruisse section. They were then able to identify five ages for from the bottom to the top of the section analyzed based on changes in the nannofossil species assemblage. The results of their analyses conforms very well with the trends and ages of other OAE2 sites in other parts of the world and suggested that the record in the Vocontian Basin will be an ideal reference section for the OAE2 and that differences may be attributable to preservational artifacts, paleogeographic locations of other sites, and species concepts of various other researchers.
Link to the article: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v2/n3/full/ncomms1233.html
Impact Factor: (2011) 7.396
