ILOILO CITY – A student scientist from this city has discovered potential anti-diabetic components in the aratiles fruit – a discovery she recently presented in an international science fair in the United States.

Maria Isabel Layson won the National Science and Technology Fair in February and competed as part of the Philippine delegation in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona last month.

“Nobody pays attention to the fruit and its medicinal properties. They don’t realize that it has potential for becoming a regulator of diabetes,” said Layson.

Layson’s research looked into the anti-diabetic component of the fruit locally known as sarisa.

While she did not win in the US competition, Layson said representing the country was a blessing and an honor.

“I didn’t join the competition for fame. I joined this research competition because I wanted to address the problem of diabetes and how my research of aratiles could help solve that,” she said.

Layson said her research found bioactive compounds like anthocyanin, flavonoid and polyphenol in the oft ignored fruit. These components may be useful as a cure for diabetes.

“Actually, the results of the study on muntingia calabura or the sarisa, it does contain anti-diabetic properties and it is very rich in antioxidants,” she said.

The incoming Grade 11 student dreams of finding a cure for the disease that affects many Filipinos.

The Philippines has seen an increase in diabetes affliction, with the forecast placing the estimate at 7.8 million diabetic Filipinos by 2030.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com

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The sun has started to rise shortly before 5:30 in the morning and set before 6:30 in the evening in recent days, indicating that the longer days and shorter nights are coming.

According to the Philippine, Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the longest day and shortest night of the year will be on Friday, June 21, during the “summer solstice.”

It explained that summer solstice is the time when the sun attains its greatest declination of +23.5 degrees and passes directly overhead at noon for all observers.

PAGASA said daytime will last for 12 hours and 59 minutes on June 21. The sun will rise at 5:28 a.m. and will set at 6:27 p.m.

It also said the event will mark the start of the apparent southward movement of the Sun in the ecliptic.

It is known to signal the start of summer season in the Northern Hemisphere.

It is also expected that daytime will be longer than nighttime in the next three months.

Summer solstice is the opposite of winter solstice when shortest day and longest night occur on December 21 or 22 of every year

Source: news.mb.com.ph

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SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—A shipment containing meat products from China, whose hog livestock is being devastated by African swine fever (ASF), was intercepted here recently, the head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said Tuesday, May 4.

Pork and processed pork products from China and other countries which recorded incidences of ASF are banned from entering the country.

In a statement, SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma said port officials seized shipment that was valued at P600,000 and was declared as 2,385 packages of “food items.”

“It was immediately flagged by the quarantine officer from the Department of Agriculture, and then the Bureau of Customs confiscated the shipment,” Eisma said.

Jerome Martinez, manager of the SBMA Seaport Department, said the meat products were shipped from Guangzhou, China and was loaded into a refrigerated van aboard MV Hansa Altenburg, which docked here on May 27.

Eisma said the confiscated meat would be destroyed as directed by the Bureau of Quarantine Services, with the Bureau of Animal Industry disposing of it at the expense of the consignee.

SBMA officials did not identify the consignee and only described it as a trading company located in Makati City.

Eisma said the Port of Subic has been closely monitoring pork products coming from overseas after to prevent the entry into the country of pork products contaminated with ASF.

Martinez said the confiscated meat will be injected with chemicals and then buried underground.

According to the World Organization for Animal health, ASF is a highly-contagious hemorrhagic viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs.

Experts said that while ASF and classical swine fever (CSF) may have similar signs, the ASF virus is unrelated to the CSF virus.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week ordered the recall and seizure of imported pork meat products from countries suspected to be affected by the ASF virus.

These are China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia, Moldova, and Belgium.

Source: rappler.com

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The IronKids waiting for gunstart. Photos by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

SUBIC, Zambales—The sun hadn’t fully risen yet on one Saturday morning here in Subic but a massive throng of young athletes had already converged at Remy Field.

More than 800 kids aged six to 14-years-old participated in the annual Alaska IronKids swim/run race in this coastal city where a couple of up and coming young stars ruled the event.

Zedrick Borja ruled the 13 to 14-year-old boys’ division clocking in at 18:21.9, nearly 20 seconds faster than the silver medal winner, while Samantha Corpuz conquered the 13 to 14-year-old girls’ division, finishing the course at 19:01.4, more than three minutes ahead of the second-fastest female.

Coach Ani De Leon-Brown, one of the organizers and pioneers of the sport, said seeing nearly a thousand kids get up before the crack of dawn and go through a physical adventure speaks volumes of what the future holds for the younger generation.

De Leon-Brown said kids who started as early as possible in any sporting endeavor already set the foundation of a healthy lifestyle for years to come.

“If you can encourage your kids, even if they’re not competitive, even if they’re not racing Ironkids for example, it’s really a good time to teach that skill [swimming]… it’s easier to establish that fitness routine because later on it would be harder to start,” said De Leon-Brown.

“If they’re used to that, their bodies are used to activity, it’s a healthy habit they can take on to adulthood.”

Setting children up for an early start in any sport could very well pave the way for a potential career especially in the current landscape of triathlon where the sport has fully entrenched itself in the public’s consciousness.

The two-time World Championships qualifier said they didn’t have a role model in the Philippines but with so many other personalities thriving in the sport, she’s positive the younger athletes have someone to look up to.

“Everyone has their own specific path but personally when I was starting we didn’t have that many role models,” said De Leon-Brown. “It’s really great that kids can realize ‘oh this is what we can become, we can be similar to that person.’”

“They know what’s possible and that’s great.”

Source: sports.inquirer.net

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Photo Credit: eph.ru

SMC Consolidated Power Corp. (SCPC) received the go-ahead of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to develop a transmission facility so that electricity from its 4×150-megawatt (MW) Limay coal plant in Bataan can reach the Luzon grid via the substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

To dispatch the power to be generated by the power plant, SCPC will construct a dedicated point-to-point limited transmission facilities to connect said power to the 230-kilovolt (kV) Lamao substation of NGCP.

The transmission facility will cost P114,412,440.75.

In approving SCPC’s application, the ERC said the NGCP shall operate the facility to ensure and maintain the reliability, adequacy, security, stability and integrity of the nationwide electrical grid. SCPC was also directed to pay the commission a permit fee of P639,789.74.

The ERC noted that the entry of SCPC’s power plant to the Luzon grid is technically feasible and that the transmission facility is “necessary for the power plant to deliver its generated power to the grid through NGCP’s 230-kV Lamao switching station.”

Likewise, in order to comply with SCPC’s obligation to supply power with distribution utilities, the power plant should be connected to the grid. “Thus, the development of the subject facility is required,”the ERC said.

SCPC is a wholly owned subsidiary of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMCGPH), one of the largest power firms in the country.

SMCGPH controls 4,197 MW of combined capacity as of end-September 2018 and which benefits from diversified fuel sources, including natural gas, coal and hydro. Its combined capacity comprises approximately 19 percent of the national grid, 25 percent of the Luzon grid and 9 percent of the Mindanao grid.

It is considering further expansion of its power portfolio of additional capacity nationwide through greenfield power projects over the next few years, depending on market demand.

Source: businessmirror.com.ph

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