February 28, 2021- PANG apat lamang sa buong mundo, mayroon na rin ngayon sa Pilipinas na Innovation Hub kung saan ang mga entreprenyur nagnenegosyo ng may kaugnayan sa pagkain at neutraceuticals ay maaring maka avail ng kanilang serbisyo.

Pinasinayaan nitong February 18, 2021 ang Modular Multi Industry Innovation Center o MMIC ng Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) ng Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Sa tour na pinangunahan ng mga food technologists na sina Oliver Evangelista, Alisa San Solis, Christopher Bilbao atbp sa mga nakibahaging mga mamamahayag at opisyales ng Department of Science and Technology kabilang si Secretary Fortunato T. de la Pena at USec Rowena Cristina L. Guevara.

Nakita at naunawaan ng mga bisita ang flow ng produkto mula sa tatlong mahahalagang lines na pagdaraanan nito gaya ng Nut and Seed OIl line, Mix Blend Powder Line at Liquids and Emulsion Line kaakibat ang mga makinaryang gamit rito na ipinakita sa kalihim at mga kasama kung paano gumagana.

Batay sa panayam kina Sec. de la Pena at USec. Guevara ng www.dzmjonline.net isang malaking industriya ang pagkain at neutraceutical ngayon sa bansa kaya ang pagtatayo ng innovation hub ay may malaking maitutulong sa pag asenso ng ating mga entreprenyur na nagnenegosyo ng mga kaparehong produkto.

Sa Canada, Mexico at Malaysia pa lamang may mga ganitong innovation hubs at ngayon ay mayroon na rin sa bansa na matatagpuan sa compound ng DOST sa Bicutan, Taguig.

Bukod sa mga matataas na opisyal ng DOST ay naroon rin ang Director ng ITDI na si Dr. Aannabelle V. Briones, Dr. Norberto Ambagan (Chief ng Food Processing Division), Ms. Daisy Tanafranca (Deputy Director for R&D ng ITDI), Engr. Apollo Victor Bawagan (OIC ng Chemical and Energy Division).

Ang ITDI ang research institute na nagbigay sa industriya ng makasaysayang “Tiki-Tiki” nuong 1920 na unang ginamit bilang solusyon sa sakit sa Beri-beri ngunit ngayon ay isang mabisang food supplement para lumusog ang ating mga sanggol. ///Michael Balaguer, 09333816694, konekted@diaryongtagalog.net

Lanao Norte Schools Receive Digital S&T Library
 Four (4) schools in Lanao del Norte received STARBOOKS units and pods on January 21, 2021, from the Department of Science and Technology – Lanao del Norte office.

Sultan Naga Dimaporo Memorial Integrated School-High School (SNDMIS-HS), Andres Bersales Sr. National High School (ABS NHS), Sultan Naga Dimaporo Memorial Integrated School-Elementary School(SNDMIS-ES), and Miguela Pogoy Memorial Elementary School compose the four academic institutions that recently acquired the digitized library.

The Local Government Unit of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, under the leadership of Municipal Mayor Motalib M. Dimaporo, partnered with DOST-Lanao del Norte to realize the installation of STARBOOKS corners within each of the schools.

STARBOOKS or the Science and Technology Academic Research-Based Openly Operated KioskS is the Philippines’ first-ever digital science and technology library.

“STARBOOKS contains thousands of digitized science and technology resources in various formats (text and video/audio) placed in specially designed “pods” set in a user-friendly interface.”, cited by DOST-Science and Technology Information Institute.

Faculties from the schools expressed their gratitude as they received the STARBOOKS units. One, in particular, expressed her excitement as their students can now do research and more.
“Pwede na maka research ug makagamit puhon kung ma ok na ang tanan.” (We can finally start research soon once we complete all the software installations.), said Ms. Rona R. Nacua, SNDMIS-HS School Principal.

DOST-X will be conducting a virtual training on How to Use STARBOOKS for each school’s focal persons on January 29, 2021.

“STARBOOKS will be beneficial to the teachers as an aid in the development of their distance learning programs and to children who have limited access to computers and information. No one will be left behind.”, said DOST-Lanao del Norte OIC-Provincial Director Gerrylou Sweet M. Pia. (Julie Anne H. Baculio, DOST-X)

Lake Lanao, one of the world’s 17 ancient lakes, remains pristine, study says

“Our Lake Lanao from all sampling sites is still pristine; our water is still clean.”

This was disclosed by Fema M. Abamo, Ph.D., a professor of Mindanao State University in Marawi City, during her webinar presentation for the regional basic research caravan for Bicol, as conducted by the Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP).

The water quality of Lake Lanao in five sampling sites namely Marawi City, Ramain, Balindong, Taraka, and Binidayan was monitored for two years by using the abundance of one-celled protozoan ciliates as bio-indicators of organic pollution. The highest ciliate abundance was observed in the littoral zone of Balindong at 0.0061cells/mL during the dry season. The previous study of Beaver and Crisman (1989) categorized lakes as ultra-oligotrophic when their ciliate abundance is equal to or lower than 2.4cells/mL; Lake Lanao, therefore, is ultra-oligotrophic having ciliate abundance below the set range in all sampling sites. Such lake category has very low nutrients, scarce growth of plants and algae, and high dissolved oxygen indicative of a clean, healthy, good water quality and not organically polluted lake.  

Organic pollution occurs when large quantities of organic compounds are released into aquatic ecosystems. Sources of pollution usually come from wastes generated by agricultural, residential, and industrial activities. High levels also of inorganic nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in water can cause an overgrowth of plants and algae. As plants and algae die, they become organic materials in the water. Decomposition of these organic materials uses up high amounts of oxygen, thus depriving the fish population of needed oxygen that causes fish kills in the lake. These decaying organic compounds serve as substrates for the microorganisms, increasing the bacterial population which in turn supports the abundant growth of ciliates.

Ciliate abundance varied as the season changed, i.e., lower in the non-mixing season and higher in the dry season indicative of nutrient and organic load fluctuations in the lake as the season changed. Water samples for this study were obtained from 50-100 meters away from the lakeshore in the shallower littoral zone and towards the deeper open water in the pelagic zone.

Their results were corroborated by the findings of another group in the same program conducting the physical and chemical characterization of the lake and found the same that the lake is not polluted but still healthy and has good water quality.   

The study, which was funded by the DOST-NRCP, was conducted during a three-year period, but was temporarily suspended and eventually allowed to resume after the Marawi siege.

“The lake was reportedly deteriorating due to increased human population and activities around the lake,” Abamo said, explaining why there’s a need to conserve the lake’s good condition, especially now that the people have resettled back near the lake after the Marawi siege.

The researchers suggested to the local government to strengthen their policies to maintain the healthy condition of the lake.

“We have recommended to the local government to create and implement stricter policies and ordinances to conserve the lake, and regulate and check both the residential and business establishments around the lake,” Abamo said.

Lake Lanao is estimated to be around 10 million years old (World Lake Database) and is listed as one of the 17 ancient lakes of the world with a tectonic-volcanic origin. It is the second largest lake in the Philippines and the largest one in Mindanao, home to 18 endemic cyprinids (freshwater fishes related to the carps and minnows) that are found nowhere else in the world.

For generations, Lanao Lake has been a potent natural resource that breathes life to the Maranaws, as a source of their food and water, livelihood, religious practices, transportation and sports. But more than anything, the lake has shaped the Maranaw culture and tradition to what it is now and it has become imperative for the Maranaws to preserve its pristine beauty for a better and sustainable future.

Abamo is a member of DOST-NRCP’s 4,944 research pool involved in various scientific disciplines. For more webinars on basic research, interested parties can visit the NRCP’s Research Pod, a Facebook Page of the council. (Geraldine Bulaon-Ducusin, S&T Media Service)