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Malacological survey of the intertidal zone in Brgy. Sta. Mercedes, Maragondon, Cavite.
No full textManila Bay is a very important body of water for our country but it is gradually deteriorating. Many anthropological activities are responsible for this degradation such as mining which is common to the provinces encompassing the bay (PEMSEA, n.d.). Because of this, a survey in Brgy. Sta. Mercedes was made in order to study the gastropod and bivalve species occurring there before it deteriorates like the urban parts of the bay. Initial and final surveys of five environmental parameters were done to describe the environmental conditions of the chosen core site. In each of the three sampling sites that were separated by a 100 m within the core site, a 100 m transect line with 20 equidistant quadrats was laid and their geographical coordinates taken. A cylinder corer was used to collect samples. The collected macrofauna were then preserved, analyzed, and identified. A total of 37 molluscan families were identified. Of these, 23 are gastropods and 14 are bivalves. We compared these to the survey in LPPCHEA. Six gastropod and eight bivalve families were common to both areas. There are 17 gastropod and 6 bivalve families exclusive to Brgy. Sta. Mercedes while there are 14 gastropod and 7 bivalve families exclusive to LPPCHEA
Modulation of brain dopamine levels in East Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) workers from queenless and queenright colonies.
No full textThis study aimed to determine the effect of queen bee in lowering the brain dopamine levels of Apis cerana worker bees, thus affecting their locomotor activity and attraction to queen bee, by virtue of the pheromones she emits. Two behavioral assays and measurement of brain dopamine levels by high performance liquid chromatography were conducted on 1-day old to 7-day old worker bees, from queenright and queenless colonies. In the first behavioral assay, evaluation of locomotor activity, it was found out that motor activity increased with age, in both queenright and queenless colonies. The 7-day old bees are the most mobile and the 1-day old bees are the least mobile. In the second behavioral assay, measurement of attraction to queen, it was observed that queenright worker bees were more attracted to the queen than queenless workers. Moreover, 2-day old to 5-day old bees are the most attracted to the queen. Finally, the dopamine level measurement showed that worker bees from queenright colonies had lower dopamine levels than worker bees from queenless colonies, with no significant differences among varying ages. It was concluded that the presence of the queen bee has a profound impact on the behavior and physiology of 1-day old to 7-day old worker bees through the modulation of brain dopamine levels. Lower dopamine levels of the workers allow the queen to control the behavior of the worker bees, allowing them to fulfill their roles in the colony
Effects of varying sulfur dioxide exposure to the extent of lipd peroxidation in Drosophila melanogaster.
No full textThis study investigated the extent of lipid peroxidation in the conditions of varying oxidative stress concentrations of SO₂ (0, 0.04, and 0.4 ppm) to Drosophila melanogaster larvae. Catalase activity and levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in adult male and female D. melanogaster were measured spectrophotometrically. Results showed no significant effect on the lipid peroxidation of the organisms exposed to 0.04 ppm SO₂ but the mean catalase activity decreased and TBARS levels increased when the organism was exposed to 0.4 ppm SO₂ as compared to the unexposed control group. The effect of sex differences on the catalase activity and TBARS concentration was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that TBARS levels could be useful as potential biomarkers in the Drosophila model for low level SO₂ pollution
Comparison of antimicrobial activity of mucus from terrestrial and freshwater snail species.
No full textSnail mucus has been the focus of many studies due to its various functions, particularly its potential as a novel source of antimicrobial. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of crude mucus extract was determined. Mucus from terrestrial and freshwater snail species widespread in the Philippines (Achatina achatina Achatina fulica, Faunus ater and Pomacea canaliculata) were tested by Disc Diffusion Assay against S. aureus, E. coli, C. albicans and A.flavus. All zones of Inhibition were unclear (UZI) due to colonies observed within the ZOI, suggesting weak inhibition. Terrestrial snails, A. fulica exhibited inhibition to all test microorganisms, while A. achatina showed no antimicrobial activity. Freshwater snails P. canaliculata inhibited only the bacteria species, while F. ater showed antimicrobial activity on all microorganisms except A. flavus. This suggests that the antimicrobial activity of snail mucus is species specific and is not affected by the snail’s habitat. In addition, microorganisms showed varying susceptibility to the four snail species suggesting that snail mucus is species selective in its scope of antimicrobial activity
Molecular and morphological evidence of the hybrid origin of a Novel Begonia Species from the limestone areas of Dingle, Iloilo.
No full textBegonias are cultivated worldwide because of their attractive and beautifully patterned leaves. In the Philippines, a large 83% of the 104 species are narrow endemics and majority of them are found in limestone forests. Here we report the first account of Philippine Begonia hybridization in the wild from Bulabog Putian Natural Park in Dingle, Iloilo. It grows on moist, coralline slopes at 200 m in elevation. Based on a comparison of morphology and molecular evidences, we conclude that the Begonia hybrid is a result of natural hybridization between Begonia copelandii Merr. and Begonia rhombicarpa A. DC. This new natural hybrid is a useful indicator as it is one of the most biodiverse groups of the limestone flora
Prediction of Polyketide Product from Module Organization of Enzymes Using Cumulative Tanimoto Fragment Scores
No full textPolyketide is a major class of natural products possessing several pharmacological properties. Performing wet laboratory experiments to discover a functional polyketide is costly and difficult because of its trial-and-error nature. However, the analogous biosynthesis of these metabolites to fatty acids makes the resulting compound predictable. Through the use of information technology, a stand-alone computational tool –Predyketide – is created to observe the resulting structure per elongation, and to allow prediction and visualization of the most possible natural product compound. The list of all known building blocks (starter and extender) used in the system is gathered from ASMPKS, another polyketide-related system. With these functionalities, this application can help in the discovery of new drugs requiring lesser time and effort
Telehealth Knowledge Base A DATA WAREHOUSE WITH GIS FOR THE NATIONAL TELEHEALTH CENTER
No full textThe Telehealth Knowledge Base is a web-based system that collects data from five different databases using the process of Extract-Transform-Load and integrates them into a data warehouse.
The system transforms the data to follow a standard format and presents it to the users in a unified manner. It inserts data to a new data mart with denormalized tables for faster querying. It generates different kinds of reports in different areas of health care such as immunization, nutrition, injury and diseases, combined with hospital and doctors information.
It follows a drill-down approach of presenting the data – nationwide reports are broken down to regional ones and regional reports to provincial reports. It outputs reports in list, tabular, graphical and geographical format via an integrated geographical information system for easier analysis of trends and relationships of reports.
The Telehealth Knowledge Base is designed for the National Telehealth Center and uses the existing operational databases from their Knowledge Base Module namely: Nearest Hospital Search Information System (NHSIS), Community-Based Nutrition Monitoring System (NMS), Child Immunization Database System (CIDS), Integrated Surgery Information System (ISIS) and Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS) as sources of its data
Time-course analysis of salinity tolerance mechanisms in rice.
No full textSaline soil is a major problem that decreases growth and yield of rice, a salt sensitive crop. For sustainable food production, several rice genotypes with improved tolerance to salt were developed. The present study aimed to determine and differentiate the primary salinity tolerance mechanisms of selected tolerant genotypes through (1) the measurement of Na+ concentration, chlorophyll content, biomass, and visual SES (Standard Evaluation System) injury scores and (2) examination of the dynamics of these physiological traits under different salinity levels over time. This study observed the tolerant genotypes Pokkali, Capsule, Gundang, Anbarloo Sadri, Eratio, Daw Hawm and the pyramid lines DawxFL #1 and #2 at different salinity levels (0mM, 60mM, 120mM, 180mM) over time (5 weeks). Pokkali, Capsule, Gundang and Anbarloo Sadri showed Na+ exclusion as its primary salt tolerance mechanism whereas Eratio, Daw Hawm and the pyramid lines showed tissue tolerance. However, although Eratio is highly tolerant, it is not overall tolerant. On the other hand, the pyramid lines DawxFL #1 and #2 showed combined aspects of tolerance from both parents, Daw and FL478 and are even more salt tolerant. These indicate that the tolerance mechanisms of Daw Hawm and FL478 are different from each other and that pyramiding these contrasting genotypes was effective in improving salinity tolerance
Effect of Pediococcus aidilactici 3G3 and fermented dark chocolate drink on cholesterol levels in vitro.
No full textCholesterol-lowering properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been of much interest in hopes of utilizing probiotics in the management of cardiovascular diseases. In this regard, this study aims to determine and compare the effects of Pediococcus acidilactici 3G3 and the product of its fermentation on cholesterol levels in vitro. A 0.3% (w/v) ox bile concentration was used to mimic approximate level in the intestinal tract which was added to cholesterol to evaluate the cholesterol-lowing ability of the 3G3 strain alone, the non-fermented dark chocolate drink, and the 3G3-fermented dark chocolate drink which contained >10⁹ cfu/ml of bacteria using a spectrophotometric method after 48 hours of incubation. Statistical analyses have shown that there is a significant difference between: (1) the bacterial strain alone and the uninoculated dark chocolate drink; and (2) the fermented and non-fermented drinks (p<0.05) indicating that 3G3 and fermented drink successfully assimilated cholesterol. It has also been shown that the difference between the bacterial strain alone and the fermented probiotic drink setups was insignificant, indicating that the strain is the causative agent for the reduction in cholesterol levels in either medium (MRS or dark chocolate drink). Based on these findings alone, Pediococcus acidilactici 3G3 strain and the products of its fermentation may have the potential to successfully reduce cholesterol levels. Further investigations using animal models may support and strengthen this claim
Disaster Management Communication System
No full textThe Disaster Management Communication System is a system that allows the different key players within the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management council to effectively receive, process, store and disseminate disaster management related information. It allows the NDRRMC officers and other users to communicate with other key personnel using SMS messaging features and user to user messaging features within the system