Implications of Conflict to Sustainable Agribusiness in Mindanao, Southern Philippines

Mindanao has had a long history on agribusiness given that the establishment of plantation agriculture and agricultural colonies served as the cornerstone of American colonial government’s development policy. Hence, rubber, pineapple, abaca, and cassava plantations began operations in the early twentieth century. Despite conflict in some areas of Mindanao, particularly in the Bangsamoro region, I will show that there are successful agribusiness firms currently operating in the area. Key elements that allowed these firms to be successful are the following: partnership with an “enlightened” local strongman, knowledge and respect of the local culture and traditional leadership structure, provision of greater benefits to their farmer-partners compared to what the prevailing job opportunities in the area can offer, and self-reliance and flexibility in addressing unpredictable challenges that will arise from time to time due to the relative instability in the community. While violent conflict presents a difficult environment in which agribusiness firms can operate, the challenges it poses are not insurmountable as shown by highly profitable agribusiness companies operating in conflict areas. At present, there are strong interest indicated by other agribusiness firms to locate their operations in the Bangsamoro region, no doubt triggered by the optimism generated by the positive results on the on-going peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). I argue that there is a need for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) or any future arrangement acceptable to both parties that will allow greater selfrule among the Bangsamoro.  If this happens, agribusiness can be a significant force that can contribute to uplifting the dismal socioeconomic situation in Muslim Mindanao. *due to circumstances, this abstract was not presented at ICAEM 2015

The Wnt Signaling Antagonist Kremen1 is Required for Development of Thymic Architecture

Wnt signaling has been reported to regulate thymocyte proliferation and selection at several stages during T cell ontogeny, as well as the expression of FoxN1 in thymic epithelial cells (TECs). Kremen1 (Krm1) is a negative regulator of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, and functions together with the secreted Wnt inhibitor Dickkopf (Dkk) by competing for the lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP)-6 co-receptor for Wnts. Here krm1 knockout mice were used to examine krm1 expression in the thymus and its function in thymocyte and TEC development. krm1 expression was detected in both cortical and medullary TEC subsets, as well as in immature thymocyte subsets, beginning at the CD25+CD44+ (DN2) stage and continuing until the CD4+CD8+(DP) stage. Neonatal mice show elevated expression of krm1 in all TEC subsets. krm1− / − mice exhibit a severe defect in thymic cortical architecture, including large epithelial free regions. Much of the epithelial component remains at an immature Keratin 5+ (K5) Keratin 8+(K8) stage, with a loss of defined cortical and medullary regions. A TOPFlash assay revealed a 2-fold increase in canonical Wnt signaling in TEC lines derived from krm1− / − mice, when compared with krm1+ / + derived TEC lines. Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis of dissociated thymus revealed a reduced frequency of both cortical (BP1+EpCAM+) and medullary (UEA-1+ EpCAMhi) epithelial subsets, within the krm1− / − thymus. Surprisingly, no change in thymus size, total thymocyte number or the frequency of thymocyte subsets was detected in krm1− / − mice. However, our data suggest that a loss of Krm1 leads to a severe defect in thymic architecture. Taken together, this study revealed a new role for Krm1 in proper development of thymic epithelium

Doppler Shift Characterization of Wideband Mobile Radio Channels

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Ni-thiosaccharinate complexes: Synthesis, characterization and DFT studies. Biological properties as superoxide dismutase mimetics and as anti-carcinogenic agents

This report describes the synthesis and characterization of two nickel thiosaccharinate complexes, [Ni(tsac)2(PPh3)2] (1) and [Ni(tsac)2(dppe)]·CH3CN (2), where tsac = thiosaccharinate anion, PPh3 = triphenylphosphane and dppe = bis(diphenylphosphanyl)ethane. Elemental analysis, FTIR, 1H, 13C and 31P NMR spectra and single crystal X ray diffraction studies of the complexes are presented. DFT optimizations of the two new compounds were performed in order to verify the FTIR vibrational assignations. The two nickel(II) thiosaccharinate complexes consist of mononuclear units in which the Ni atoms are the centre of square-planar coordination spheres, surrounded by two sulfur thiosaccharinate atoms and two phosphorous atoms from the phosphane ligands. In both complexes, the anions are mono-coordinated to the metal. In the [Ni(tsac)2(PPh3)2] structure, the phosphane moieties are located in trans position. In the [Ni(tsac)2(dppe)] structure, the dppe ligand chelates to the metal centre, as expected. Additionally, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic activity of the complexes was measured and it is reported herein. The effects of the complexes on cell proliferation were also studied and are described.Fil: Delgado, Fermin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Nicova, Eva. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Agotegaray, Mariela Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: González Pardo, María Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Dorn, Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Burrow, Robert A.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Dennehy, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; Argentin

Photoelectrochemical response of WO3/nanoporous carbon anodes for photocatalytic water oxidation

This work demonstrates the ability of nanoporous carbons to boost the photoelectrochemical activity of hexagonal and monoclinic WO3 towards water oxidation under irradiation. The impact of the carbonaceous phase was strongly dependent on the crystalline structure and morphology of the semiconductor, substantially increasing the activity of WO3 rods with hexagonal phase. The incorporation of increasing amounts of a nanoporous carbon of low functionalization to the WO3 electrodes improved the quantum yield of the reaction and also affected the dynamics of the charge transport, creating a percolation path for the majority carriers. The nanoporous carbon promotes the delocalization of the charge carriers through the graphitic layers. We discuss the incorporation of nanoporous carbons as an interesting strategy for improving the photoelectrochemical performance of nanostructured semiconductor photoelectrodes featuring hindered carrier transport

Electrocatalytic Site Activity Enhancement via Orbital Overlap in A ₂MnRuO ₇(A = Dy ³⁺, Ho ³⁺, and Er ³⁺) Pyrochlore Nanostructures

Oxygen electrocatalysis at transition metal oxides is one of the key challenges underpinning electrochemical energy conversion systems, involving a delicate interplay of the bulk electronic structure and surface coordination of the active sites. In this work, we investigate for the first time the structure-activity relationship of A2RuMnO7 (A = Dy3+, Ho3+, and Er3+) nanoparticles, demonstrating how orbital mixing of Ru, Mn, and O promotes high density of states at the appropriate energy range for oxygen electrocatalysis. The bulk structure and surface composition of these multicomponent pyrochlores are investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES), and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The materials exhibit high phase purity (cubic fcc with a space group Fd3\uaf m) in which variations in M-O bonds length are less than 1% upon replacing the A-site lanthanide. XES and XPS show that the mean oxidation state at the Mn-site as well as the nanoparticle surface composition was slightly affected by the lanthanide. The pyrochlore nanoparticles are significantly more active than the binary RuO2 and MnO2 toward the 4-electron oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solutions. Interestingly, normalization of kinetic parameters by the number density of electroactive sites concludes that Dy2RuMnO7 shows twice higher activity than benchmark materials such as LaMnO3. Analysis of the electrochemical profiles supported by density functional theory calculations reveals that the origin of the enhanced catalytic activity is linked to the mixing of Ru and Mn d-orbitals and O p-orbitals at the conduction band which strongly overlap with the formal redox energy of O2 in solution. The activity enhancement strongly manifests in the case of Dy2RuMnO7 where the Ru/Mn ratio is closer to 1 in comparison with the Ho3+ and Er3+ analogs. These electronic effects are discussed in the context of the Gerischer formalism for electron transfer at the semiconductor/electrolyte junctions

Ion flow in a zeolitic imidazolate framework results in ionic diode phenomena

Ionic transport (for applications in nanofluidics or membranes) and “ionic diode” phenomena in a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) are investigated by directly growing the framework from aqueous Zn2+ and 2-methylimidazole as an “asymmetric plug” into a 20 ?m diameter pore in a ca. 6 ?m thin poly-ethylene-terephthalate (PET) film