Philippine Journal of Science最新文献

{"title":"Analysis of garbage collection network of Colombo district using centrality measures","authors":"K. A. T. Dewanthi, K. K. K. R. Perera","doi":"10.4038/jsc.v14i1.62","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4038/jsc.v14i1.62","url":null,"abstract":"Waste management is a common problem faced by all developing countries. Colombo city faces the biggest garbage problem than other cities in Sri Lanka. Even through many studies were carried out for waste management problem using different approaches, there were very few research findings were available using graph theoretical approach. In this research, applications of graph theory in garbage collection procedure are depicted. The study mainly focuses on analyzing the garbage collection procedure of Colombo municipal council area in western province through constructing garbage collection network and using centrality measures. Centrality measures are used to compute the importance of any node in a network. Colombo municipal area divides into 6 main administrative districts, and each of these is divided into municipal wards with several junctions and streets. Garbage collection network was initially constructed by assigning a node by a location in google map, and an edge by a street or a path between two locations. Constructed network is an undirected unweighted graph and betweenness, closeness, degree, and eigenvector centrality measures are used to find central locations of the network. By identifying central locations, some machines or recycling trucks can be placed in that central places to deposit the waste. Next, a weighted graph was constructed by taking the weights of an edge as a fraction of weight of collected garbage between two locations. Collected garbage weights and betweenness and degree centrality values for weighted graph are used to identify the shortest paths between central nodes in each municipal ward. Garbage collection trucks can be followed this shortest path in order to reduce their fuel cost and collection time.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136013391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of novel topical cosmeceutical formulations with antimicrobial activity against acne-causing microorganisms from <em>Coriandrum sativum</em> L.","authors":"Nirmani Wishwakala Nawarathne, Kanchana Wijesekera, Gaya Bandara Wijayaratne, Mayuri Napagoda","doi":"10.4038/jsc.v14i1.60","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4038/jsc.v14i1.60","url":null,"abstract":"Spices possess a diverse array of natural phytochemicals with antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. Hence spices could be employed to treat chronic dermatologic conditions like acne vulgaris which involves infection of Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus, and inflammation. Particularly with the emergence of antibiotic resistance, there is an utmost necessity for the development of novel therapeutic agents for the management of acne. Thus, this study was focused on the development of novel topical gel formulations from the seeds of Coriandrum sativum L. (coriander) and to evaluate the antibacterial potential against some acne-causing bacterial species. Initially, the antibacterial effects of the n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol extracts were screened against S. aureus and P. acnes by agar well diffusion assay. Thereafter, ethyl acetate extract of C. sativum was incorporated at predetermined three different concentrations into a novel topical gel base. Agar well diffusion assay and the broth microdilution method were used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the resulting formulations. Interestingly, all three formulations inhibited the growth of P. acnes and S. aureus, with the highest activity in the formulation comprised of 15% w/w of the seed extract. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity and physical parameters like pH, color, and consistency of these formulations were retained during the storage period of 30 days, demonstrating their suitability as effective therapeutic alternatives in the management of acne vulgaris.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136014119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design, construction, and performance evaluation of a solar tunnel dryer with an auxiliary flat-plate solar air heater for bitter gourd drying (<em>Momordica charantia</em>)","authors":"P. Peratheepan, C. Nishan, F. C. Ragel","doi":"10.4038/jsc.v14i1.61","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4038/jsc.v14i1.61","url":null,"abstract":"A solar tunnel dryer and an auxiliary solar air heating unit compatible with the tunnel dryer were designed and constructed. The solar tunnel dryer has a collector chamber and a drying chamber, which are separated by a board with holes in top for air circulation. The drying experiments were conducted for sliced bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) samples in the solar drying system with and without using the auxiliary air heating unit for eight hours in the premises of Eastern University. In order to compare and analyze the performance of the solar drying system, controlled drying experiments were also carried out in open sun on equal mass samples of bitter gourd kept adjacent to the solar drying system. The temperature profiles of the inlet, interface, and outlet of the solar tunnel dryer were compared with ambient temperature, and the wet basis moisture content obtained during the system drying were compared with the open sun drying. The performance of the dryer system has been investigated in terms of temperature profile in the drying area; moisture contents, moisture ratio and effective moisture diffusivity of bitter gourd samples with time of the day. Analysis on bitter gourd samples reveal that the system with the auxiliary air heating unit exhibits enhanced performance compared to the dryer without the auxiliary unit. The moisture ratio decreases exponentially as predicted by logarithmic model. The effective moisture diffusivity values of bitter gourd drying were determined based on Fick’s Second Diffusion model.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136014257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bacterial and Fungal Community Profiling of Karst Ecosystem in Basey, Samar, Philippines Using Shotgun Metagenomic Approach","authors":"John Daniel Ong, Edmerson Geronimo, E. F. Bosito, Kristiann Gabriele Villarama, Zachary Lara, Florabelle Querubin, M. Balolong","doi":"10.56899/152.05.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.17","url":null,"abstract":"The Philippines has an abundance of karst or forest over limestone landscapes, but only a small percentage of them have been studied and protected. Although the flora and fauna of karst forests are diverse and unique, little is known about the microflora that inhabits this ecosystem. The taxonomic and functional composition of bacteria and fungi in soil samples from three locations within three karst forest zones in Basey, Samar, Philippines were analyzed using Illumina shotgun metagenome sequencing. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria bacterial sequences were most prevalent in the karst soil, followed by those of the Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, Cyanobacteria, Verrumicrobia, Bacteriodetes, and Deinococcus-Thermus. The most abundant fungal sequences belonged to Ascomycota, followed by Basidiomycota. An average of 33 million predicted protein features was detected across all sites. Enzyme pathways for nitrogen and sulfur metabolism, and several carbon fixation pathways, appeared nearly complete. To our knowledge, this is the first report to provide baseline information on the microbial community and their possible roles in karst forest ecosystem health in the Philippines, which may lead to identifying new microbes with specialized metabolism and promoting biodiversity conservation of karst forests in the Philippines. Furthermore, correlation analysis with plant diversity will reveal plant-microbe interaction leading to the understanding of the adaptation, abundance, survival, and diversity of microorganisms and plants.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139354825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Simulated Docking of alpha-Conotoxin Interactions with Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors","authors":"Neil Andrew Bascos, Ron Michael Acda, Clarence Lei Bautista, Elsie Jimenez","doi":"10.56899/152.05.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.15","url":null,"abstract":"The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are linked to several biological processes and neurological conditions. The α-conotoxins represent an essential resource for ligands with which to explore structure-function correlations for a variety of nAChR subtypes. With the multitude of nAChR subtypes occurring in vivo, it is imperative to search for subtype-selective ligands to effectively utilize their modulatory functions for their target receptors. In this work,docking simulations using PatchDock showed that either the replacement of Ala10 with the more hydrophobic Leu in PnIA to PnIA[A10L] or the presence of a sulfated tyrosine in the structural scaffold of PnIA[Y15Y] or PnIB[Y15Y] (Y stands for sulfated tyrosine) is sufficient to alter the interactions of α-conotoxins PnIA and PnIB for their target nAChR receptor subtypes – α7and α3β2. The employed protocol can be utilized to screen for ligand docking and amino acid residue interactions of α-conotoxins to certain nAChR subtypes. This was tested on α-conotoxinLoIA, which was predicted to preferentially bind to the α3β2 nAChR over α7 nAChR. The present work is supportive of the idea that the conserved α-conotoxin structural scaffold can be further investigated to guide the synthesis of novel nAChR ligands with greater specificity.The results of this study will be useful in the rational design of selective nAChR antagonists for potential peptide therapeutics.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139355725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Community-Academic Partnership in Action: Results of a Pilot Diabetes Intervention Program in Rural Southern Philippines","authors":"Cristela Mae C. Candelario, JC Louise Bandala-Dingal, Melvin Misoles, Josephine Cuajotor","doi":"10.56899/152.05.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.16","url":null,"abstract":"The increasing prevalence of diabetes in the Philippines is a growing public health concern,especially among prediabetic individuals lacking knowledge and awareness about the disease.This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 6-mo community-based health program in a rural area of southern Philippines. The pilot intervention comprised comprehensive learning modules, lectures, discussions, exercises, personalized nutrition counseling, and house-to-house monitoring visits conducted by healthcare professionals affiliated with a higher education institution (HEI), in collaboration with community leaders and health workers. Twenty-two (22) adults with hyperglycemia were enrolled in the study, and their knowledge, attitude, and practices were evaluated before and after the intervention. The majority of participants were aged over 50 (90.91%), were female (86.36%), were married (95.45%), had completed secondary education (50.00%), and were unemployed (59.09%). The results indicated a significant improvement in participants' knowledge (p < 0.001) and practices (p = 0.019). However, the study revealed that attitudes remained predominantly neutral, suggesting challenges in adapting to the condition (p = 0.266). This study underscores the significance of community-academic partnerships and the engagement of community health workers in fostering sustainable health promotion initiatives. Future research endeavors could explore the integration of diverse health promotion strategies to enhance positive attitudes toward diabetes management. The findings of this study can provide valuable insights for larger-scale multisectoral investigations, as well as inform the development of effective and tailored diabetes prevention and management programs in the Philippines and worldwide.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139356042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gomphonema Species (Bacillariophyceae) from Marikina River, Rizal (Luzon), Philippines","authors":"M. Martinez-Goss, Taisuke Ohtsuka, Harue Inoue, E. Arguelles, Tohru Ikeya, E. Peralta, Rey Donne Papa, Noboru Okuda","doi":"10.56899/152.05.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.11","url":null,"abstract":"A floristic study of the diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) along the Marikina River in the eastern part of Metro Manila, Philippines, recorded at least 140 species belonging to 39 genera. Of these genera, one of the greatest number of species was observed in the genus Gomphonema (18species). These species were identified and described under the bright field light microscope.Some species were further observed under the scanning electron microscope. A habitat description of the occurrence of the Gomphonema species is given. Twelve (12) out of the 18species are new records for the country: G. brasiliense subsp. pacificum Moser, Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin, G. chinense Liu & Kociolek, G. contraturris Lange-Bertalot & E. Reichardt, G. cuneolus E. Reichardt, G. exilissimum (Grunow) Lange-Bertalot & E.Reichardt, G. insigniforme E.Reichardt & Lange-Bertalot, G. javanicum Hustedt, G. kobayasii Kociolek & J.C.Kingston, G. pseudosphaerophorum H. Kobayasi, G. sundaense E. Reichardt, G. cf. qingyiensis L-X Zhang, P. Yu & Q-M You, and G. vibrio var. bohemicum (Reichelt & Fricke) R. Ross. Hence, this paper reports a total of 44 species of Gomphonema from the Philippines, including previous studies from 1937 to date.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139355876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of Planting Date and Planting Distance on Population Density of Onion Armyworm","authors":"Christine Joy Manalili, Jasper Neil Mandac, Catherine Joy Garcia, Paula Blanca Aquino, Milagros Diaz, John Dave Aquino, Marilyn Patricio","doi":"10.56899/152.05.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.06","url":null,"abstract":"Onion is an important crop in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Currently, its productionis being constrained by onion armyworm (OAW; Spodoptera exigua). The impact of plantingdates and distance on the infestation of OAW was studied across two productions. The aim isto evaluate the influence of different combinations of planting dates (November, December, andJanuary) and row spacing [5 cm x 10 cm, 8 cm x 10 cm, 10 cm x 10 cm, and farmer’s practiceor waray (6–10 cm x 6–10 cm)] on the damage and population density of OAW. The count ofobserved OAW larvae from the earliest month (November) and during the month of the usualproduction period (November–December) was negligible to minimal. However, a significantincrease in the OAW population during late planting (January). In terms of leaf damage causedby the OAW feeding, November, December, and January planting had an increasing percentageas the OAW population also increased. There was an increase in bulb diameter as the row spacingwidens (10 cm x 10 cm), as well as an increase in the number of marketable bulb onions whenit is narrow (5 cm x 10 cm). This study showed that planting dates and distances should be oneof the major considerations in onion production and insect pest management.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139356468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphological and Molecular Diversity of Traditional Upland Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties for Drought Tolerance at Seedling Stage","authors":"Kim-Lee Domingo, R. Suralta, Verna Dalusong, Nenita Baldo, Reggie dela Cruz, Jorgen Abellera, Joy Jamago","doi":"10.56899/152.05.09","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.09","url":null,"abstract":"Drought is considered the major threat and most damaging abiotic stress for rice production.However, some traditional upland rice varieties (TURVs) may have some forms of tolerance to various stresses compared to new elite varieties. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment to determine the morpho-physiological response, phenotypic diversity, and similarity of 13 TURVs and 2 check varieties to mild drought stress at the seedling stage (Experiment 1 (E1) and to determine the molecular diversity and genetic similarity of the genotypes using selected simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers ((Experiment 2 (E2). In E1, all TURVs were highly tolerant under mild drought stress for a physiological response. Standardized Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index(H’) showed zero to low phenotypic diversity for qualitative traits. However, the phenotypic diversity of quantitative traits ranged from moderate to high for well-watered conditions, low to high for drought conditions, and moderate to high for re-watered conditions. Cluster analysis through Ward’s minimum variance based on pooled phenotypic data grouped the genotypes into three major clusters at 7 Euclidean distances. For E2, polymorphic information content values from 24 polymorphic SSR markers ranged from slightly informative (RM256) to highly informative (RM206), with a mean of 0.61. Nei’s gene diversity mean was 0.62 and values varied from 0.26 (RM256) to 0.86 (RM206). Based on Jaccard’s similarity coefficient, rice genotypes were grouped into nine minor clusters. The results indicate that TURVs harbor moderate to high allelic diversity and there are potential tolerance genes for mild drought stress that can be utilized in breeding programs for drought-tolerant rice varieties.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139356529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tiny and Everywhere: Microplastic Density and Distribution in Sediments along the West Coast of Lombok Island, Indonesia","authors":"V. Fitrianti, Muhammad Irsyad Abiyusfi Ghafari","doi":"10.56899/152.05.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56899/152.05.12","url":null,"abstract":"Microplastics have recently received high global attention, as their widespread presence can potentially cause physical and toxicological risks to organisms. The west coast of Lombok Island in Indonesia has a high potential for microplastic accumulation; even so, its presence in this area was not well studied. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the distribution and density of microplastics within the sediments on the west coast of Lombok. Microplastic sampling had been carried out in the northern, middle, and southern portions of the west coast of Lombok based on distinct geographical and vegetational characteristics. Sediment samples were taken within the HTL (High Tide Line) zone based on the excavation depths categories, i.e. A (0–2cm), B (2–4 cm), C (4–6 cm), D (6–8 cm), and D (8–10 cm). The sediment samples were filtered using an aluminum sieve with a mesh size of 4.75 mm, targeting microplastic pieces below that size. A total of 16,685 microplastic debris were found distributed horizontally and vertically throughout the station. There was a significant difference in the microplastic density distributed between stations [F(10,22) = 6.96, p < 0.001] and between sediment depths [F(10,44) = 9.07,p < 0.001]. The order of average microplastic concentration was southern > northern > middle stations group. The highest microplastic number recorded in SMP11 (southern station, open bay, high anthropogenic activity, with river and primary mangrove vegetation) was as many as 2,361 (density, D = 125,920.00 ± 204.33 items/m3), whereas SMP01 (northern station, open bay, low anthropogenic activity, and with river and secondary mangrove vegetation) had the lowest microplastic number of 678 (D = 36,160.00 ± 72.82 items/m3). In general, the majority of microplastics (45.76%) were distributed on the sediment surface (A–B), where there was a repeating pattern in the difference of microplastic density fluctuations of about 3% at every 4cm of sediment depth (B–C and D–E), which is thought to be driven by daily tidal fluctuation.There was no clear pattern that indicated whether the specific type of shoreline or the presence of rivers and mangroves had an influence on the level of microplastic accumulation. However,the southern stations group had a considerably higher average of microplastic accumulation.We suspect that the geographical position towards the main ocean current contributes greatly to the microplastic accumulation at the site.","PeriodicalId":39096,"journal":{"name":"Philippine Journal of Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139356572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}