NAST PHL Calls For the Need for Folic Acid
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The National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) held the Roundtable Discussion on Folic Acid on June 23, 2015 at Hotel Jen Manila. The activity was organized by the Health Sciences Division (HSD) of NAST PHL.
The roundtable discussion focused on the importance of taking enough folic acid by all women of reproductive age, more importantly, pregnant and lactating women. Folic acid is a B-vitamin that is critical to the development of a baby’s brain and spine. The RTD acknowledged the role of different sectors in the drafting of the policy on Folic Acid supplementation and food fortification.
Dr. Marissa B. Lukban, child neurologist of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and professor of College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila (UPM), discussed the burden of neural tube defects (NTDs). NTDs are the failure in closing of the neural tube during a baby’s brain development.
Dr. Lukban enumerated various consequences of NTDs and advised taking folic acid supplements to avoid NTDs. She presented several studies showing that folic acid can reduce the risk of NTD-affected pregnancies. She said that all women of reproductive age need 400 micrograms per day (μg/day), while high-risk or pregnant women need 4000 μg/day.
Dr. Karen Codling, executive officer for Asia of the Food Fortification Initiative, talked about the global progress of fortification efforts and regional activities. She discussed the need for enough folic acid intake in women. According to her, folic acid intake should start even before conception, because global data show that around 50% of pregnancies are unplanned. Supplementation during pregnancy is already too late, since the baby’s neural tube develops during the first 28 days of conception — a period when most mothers are still unaware of their pregnancies.
Dr. Codling said that supplementation and food fortification is vital. Getting enough daily requirement of folic acid from food alone is extremely difficult, because a huge amount of food is needed to have the required amount of folic acid daily. According to her, despite various educational campaigns, the awareness and practice of folic acid supplementation are relatively low.
Canadian Royal Society Academy of Science President shares work on the role of ICT in improving health care
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Dr. Mohamed Jamal Deen, president of the Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada, shared his work on “ubiquitous health” (U-health) as speaker and guest of honor of the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) during his lecture on “Smarter Homes, Better Healthcare” on August 21, 2015 at The Manila Hotel.
The lecture was organized by the NAST PHL, in partnership with the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It focused on the role of ICT in creating “smart” homes for better healthcare services for the elderly.
Dr. Deen discussed ways to address the need for U-healthin the elderly age group. He explained the importance of cost-effective technologies for health care at home. According to him, healthcare is challenged by “three interlocking crises”—rising cost, older population, and quality of healthcare.
The lecture was organized by the NAST PHL, in partnership with the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It focused on the role of ICT in creating “smart” homes for better healthcare services for the elderly.
Dr. Deen discussed ways to address the need for U-healthin the elderly age group. He explained the importance of cost-effective technologies for health care at home. According to him, healthcare is challenged by “three interlocking crises”—rising cost, older population, and quality of healthcare.
Prospects of Microalgae in the Philippines Discussed in a NAST PHL Roundtable Discussion
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The National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL), through its Engineering Sciences and Technology Division (ESTD) and in partnership with USAID-STRIDE, conducted a Roundtable Discussion (RTD) on the Prospects of Microalgae in the Philippines at Hotel Jen Manila on September 22, 2015.
The RTD focused on the potential of microalgae to become an alternative source of energy or biofuel and for other industrial applications such as aquaculture feeds, algae-derived plastics, fertilizers, cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
Dr. Joel L. Cuello, an expert on sustainable biological and agricultural systems engineering from the University of Arizona and a De La Salle University (DLSU) USAID-STRIDE visiting professor, explained the connection of the falling of oil price and the future of microalgae as biofuel feedstock. According to him, the price of biofuel from microalgae, which is $24 per gallon, cannot compete in the global market today. He suggested a path venture for future investors that is multi-product and multi-market business model for microalgae to become economically-feasible. Microalgae biochemical factory for various high-value chemicals remains largely untapped.
He further discussed that the main concern with microalgae’s mass production is the contamination of open raceways due to the uncontrolled environment. He enumerated different technological advancements on the use of bioreactors to help industries maximize revenue and cut cost in microalgae production.
Academician Alvin B. Culaba, member of NAST PHL and professor of mechanical engineering at DLSU, discussed the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based framework in microalgae studies. This helps researchers identify problems in using algae as a biofuel feedstock. As part of post-harvesting process, Acd. Culaba together with the DLSU Microalgae Research Team, identified dewatering or drying as a crucial part of converting algal biomass to biofuels since this constitutes about 20% to 30% of the total production. Several researches about drying technology and the molecular dynamics to extract water were carried out to address this problem.