Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

19 Jul 2023

UP Los Baños

Pesticide residues were found in commonly consumed vegetables and those labeled “organic”

Pesticide residues on vegetables pose food safety concerns. In this study, an assay called the Rapid Bioassay for Pesticide Residues...

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19 Jul 2023

UP Diliman

Surface constraint approach optimizes the design and trajectory of solar sails that are constrained to move on surfaces

Solar sailing is a propulsion technology that uses the solar radiation pressure of the sun as a source for thrust....

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18 Jul 2023

UP Diliman

Studies on disasters can only be inclusive if scholars and practitioners “decolonize” themselves

The discussions on the decolonization of knowledge in disasters are not entirely new and have been the subject of inquiries...

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14 Jul 2023

UP Diliman

“Filipinized” system that aims to make online learning accessible to nursing students and teachers presented at international conference

The project “Development of a Filipinized Learning Management System” (FLMS), funded by the Emerging Interdisciplinary Research Program of the the...

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10 Jul 2023

UP Los Baños

Transgender poet reflects on what it means to live under the new presidency

Now is no longer the time for poets is a suite of three poems with the following titles: “To write
another...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Manila

Pilgrimage can help ease symptoms of depression and anxiety

Research by psychologists and other mental health professionals tries to identify effective ways to manage and prevent emotional turbulence, including...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Visayas

A study of Chavacano shows how linguistic prestige evolves with changes in society

Chavacano is the lone Spanish-based creole in Asia and is spoken in different parts of the Philippine archipelago. Among the...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Los Baños

The sentiments of political actors on social media are “carefully manufactured” and affect our sense of nationalism

The sentiments peddled by political actors on social media are not coincidental. Rather, they are carefully manufactured texts that convey...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Los Baños

How do Filipino writers represent the experiences of young non-Western readers of science fiction?

Despite the popularity of young adult literature and speculative fiction locally and globally, there is not a lot of critical...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Diliman

What is the optimal position of trees that maximizes walking on urban sidewalks?

Trees can improve the walkability of urban outdoor spaces. Hence, studies have been conducted to examine and elucidate the relationship...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Diliman

Calle Crisologo in Vigan is a lived space and Thirdspace for the people who engage with it every day

Christoph Brumann and David Berliner, in their book World Heritage on the Ground: Ethnographic
Perspectives (2016), ask what World Heritage (WH)...

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07 Jul 2023

UP Diliman

The propagandists struggled with homesickness while in exile

Traditional historiographies such as historian John Schumacher’s seminal work on the Propaganda Movement have portrayed the propagandists as larger-than-life individuals...

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Research

Utilizing coconut shell aggregates (CSA) in concrete benefits agricultural waste management and reduces the demand for mineral resources. Several studies have found that concrete containing CSA can achieve strengths that are comparable to regular concrete. The present paper reports an experimental work focusing on concrete’s durability-related properties to supplement these earlier findings. The surface hardness was measured to describe the concrete resistance to the surface wearing, while the resistivity and sorptivity were evaluated to describe the material’s resistance to fluid penetration. The results showed that the surface hardness of concrete did not change significantly with CSA addition. The distribution of surface hardness was also similar across all CSA groups. These results suggest that the cement paste and gravel stiffness had a more pronounced influence on the surface hardness than CSA. On the other hand, concrete became lighter by about 9%, had lower resistivity by 80%, and had significantly higher sorptivity by up to 110%, when 50% of its natural gravel was replaced with CSA.

Concrete is the most widely used material in the construction industry and making it requires large amount of gravel aggregates which need to be mined, crushed, and further processed. To reduce the over-reliance of construction industry to mineral aggregates, there is a need to explore the use of alternative sources. Several studies have shown that coconut shell can serve as coarse aggregates of concrete without significantly reducing its mechanical properties. This study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of concrete with coconut shell as coarse aggregates against surface wearing and fluid penetration. These parameters are essential in evaluating the long-term behavior of concrete under continuous exposure to surface traffic and moisture.

Read the full paper: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/WJE-07-2023-0247/full/html