Sunday, August 28, 2011

Living things resurrect from the dead, others have self-healing power

. Dr Abe V RotorRaptors like eagles and hawks are choosy of their food - only live and healthy preys, and often specific ones - to avoid poison and pathogens that might harm them.

Starfish can regenerate a lost arm, or develop into two organisms, or more, if cut through the center.
The skink (photo), gecko lizard and house lizard have tails that detach from the body in extreme danger and during assault by their enemy. The detached tail wiggles vigorously attracting the attacker, while the tailless survivor stealthily goes into hiding. A new tail will regenerate in a few weeks.
Green pond frog produces antibiotic substance that enhances its amphibian life.

This catfish buries itself in mud and remains encrusted throughout the dry months, then when rain comes, it frees itself and resumes normal activity.

This green snake goes into aestivation in summer or hibernation in winter, as it may be the case, so that people often believe they resurrect from the dead. Others believe that they just come out from spontaneous generation.


Dr Abe V Rotor

They tell us of the magic of lizards growing new tails, crabs regaining lost claws, starfish arising from body pieces. How can we explain the mystery behind these stories?

The biological phenomenon behind these stories is called regeneration. The male deer grows a new set of anthers each year; sea squirts and hydras are produced from tiny buds; the same way plants grow from cuttings. New worms may regenerate from just pieces of the body; and some fish can sprout new fins to replace the ones that have been bitten off.

Experiments demonstrated that the forelimb of a salamander severed midway between the elbow and the wrist, can actually grow into a new one exactly the same as the lost parts. The stump re-forms the missing forelimb, wrist, and digits within a few months. In biology this is called redifferentiation, which means that the new tissues are capable of reproducing the actual structure and attendant function of the original tissues.

Curious the kid I was, I examined a twitching piece of tail, without any trace of its owner. I was puzzled at what I saw. My father explained how the lizard, a skink or bubuli, escaped its would-be predator by leaving its tail twitching to attract its enemy, while its tailless body stealthily went into hiding. “It will grow a new tail,” father assured me. I have also witnessed tailless house lizards (butiki) growing back their tails at various stages, feeding on insects around a ceiling lamp. During the regeneration period these house lizards were not as agile as those were with normal tails, which led me to conclude how important the tail is.

Regeneration is a survival mechanism of many organisms. Even if you have successfully subdued a live crab you might end up holding only its pincers and the canny creature has gone back into the water. This is true also to grasshoppers; they escape by pulling away from their captors, leaving their large trapped hind legs behind. But soon, like their crustacean relatives, new appendages will start growing to replace the lost ones.

Another kind of regeneration is compensatory hypertrophy, a kind of temporary growth response that occurs in such organs as the liver and kidney when they are damaged. If a surgeon removes up to 70 percent of a diseased liver, the remaining liver tissues undergo rapid mitosis (multiplication of cells) until almost the original liver mass is restored. Similarly, if one kidney is removed, the other enlarges greatly to compensate for its lost partner.

Read for the baby in the womb so that he will be intelligent. Sing to him and he will be good in music.

Child development starts in the womb. In the various stages of embryonic development, the brain absorbs early information that are built into impressions carried by the child as he grows and may persist to adulthood.

Mothers talk to their baby in the womb. Kind words, classical music, happy disposition are important in building healthy impressions. On the other hand, violence, sorrow, fear, and indifference have negative effects to the development of the child.

To get better harvest, furrows must be parallel with the sun’s movement.
Actually this principle of arranging the rows of plants on an east-to-west orientation allows better and longer sunlight exposure, thus enhancing photosynthesis. There is less overshadowing among plants compared to north-to-south direction, especially when inter cropping is practiced (e.g. corn with peanut, sugarcane with mungbeans, and coconut and coffee).

To prevent glass from breaking, first put a spoon before pouring hot water.
Sudden heat may cause glass to break. To cushion this effect, the spoon absorbs heat faster, in fact it attains higher temperature than glass or porcelain (china) does.

This principle is also applied when cooking meat. Meat becomes tender in a shorter time by putting spoon or fork in the cooking pot. Metal absorbs more heat that elevates the temperature of boiling water, which normally remains at 100 degrees centigrade (Celsius).
x x x

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Poetry - Escape from Prometheus Land

Dr Abe V Rotor

Little do you know of the sun,
how it sets and rises,
As the rhythms of life in moments of joy
and sadness.
Lo, the li’l boy all day sings like Aesops’
fabled locust;
In summer belittles the ant,
and what had he to boast?

The rains came, torrid the winds became,
dark was the night.
And groping he went his way, battling
with all his might.
But he was not Paul and neither was he
man enough
To weather the test, a game played
rough and tough.

The wind with the sail, they go like birds
gliding free,
And life is like that, wanting of nothing
on calm, old sea,
Like a tree untested by storm, its idle roots
are shallow,
Its branches are lanky, its unseasoned limbs
hallow.

What purpose is war then, El NiƱo,
the apocalypse men?
Darwin has the answer, but can man
break the omen?
Tolstoy and Hugo tell of the goodness
of man distilled,
Not in time of plenty and peace,
but in the battlefield.

If you wish to reach Heaven alone,
do not bother,
For the Flood has purified your kind,
everyone now a brother.
And salvation awaits all brethrens,
more so the least,
And bless he who saves him from the fury
of the beast.

Go, leave the dungeon, follow the light
seeping through
The walls of ignorance and fear,
indifference and hate.
Pry open and run for the woods.
make haste.
There is not enough tears and time
to waste.

Ah, where does the sun shine brightest,
you no longer ask,
Neither where the blue sky and the blue sea
wear gray mask.
From Prometheus’ exile you came
and how you got here
Is immaterial now, for the gods
have joined the cheer.
~

Trees are the biggest and oldest living things.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Are you a favorite of mosquitoes?



Dr Abe V Rotor

There are persons who are a favorite of mosquitoes.

True. Here are their qualifications. (Please check if you are the favored person.)

• They don’t take a bath regularly.
• They wear dark clothes, especially black.
• Their body temperature is relatively higher.
• Their rate of breathing is faster.
• Their skin is relatively thin and tender.
• They love to stay in corners and poorly lighted places.
• They are not protected by clothing, screen or off-lotion.

Of all these, it is the first that is most crucial.~

Living with Folk Wisdom, AVR-UST

Rice tops all cereals in the world

Rice is the mainstay of Asian Agriculture
Dr Abe V Rotor
There no cereal that can beat rice. Close at its heels are corn and wheat.
  • Rice is eaten by more people than any other cereal. It is the staple food of Asians and other tropical countries.
  • Rice is more digestible than wheat. Gluten in wheat is hard to digest and can cause a degenerative disease which is common to Americans and Europeans. Corn starch is heavy, and whole corn is hard to digest.
  • In making leavened products, rice can be compared with wheat, with today’s leavening agents and techniques. Name any wheat product and rice can match it.
  • Rice is affordable and readily available everywhere, principally on the farm and in households, and of course, in the market.
  • The rice industry is the mainstay of Asian agriculture. Patronizing it is the greatest incentive to production and it saves the producing country of precious dollar that would otherwise be spent on imported wheat.
  • Rice is grown in different types of environment - lowland, upland, knee- or neck-deep basin, in-between trees and palms, on terraces on hillsides and mountains. It is intercropped with legumes and vegetables and other plants (including corn).
  • Rice comes in 100,000 cultivars, probably more. These include wild types, varieties, agronomic strains, and genetic lines farmers have been planting through centuries around the world, now in the custody of gene banks, like the rice gene ban kf the International Rice Research Institute.
  • When it comes to water regime, rice is a hydrophyte, mesophyte, selectively xerophyte(drought resistant), and moderately halophyte (saline tolerant). It is elevation tolerant, growing many meters above sea level where climate changes to almost temperate conditions.
  • The byproducts of rice have many uses from roughage for large animals to mushroom culture and composting. Practically there is no waste in rice.
  • Rice hay is made into paper and board, housing materials, mulch, fuel, and the like. It is piled into mandala that lends quaintness to culture through music and dance, and other forms of arts.
  • Rice is the best wheat flour substitute and can go will with many native crops in its cultivation, as well as in various food preparations. Rice goes with vegetables, fish, meat, fruit, soup, sweets, sautes, etc. It is made into coffee, or mixed with cocoa.
  • Rice has many indigenous uses from suman (rice cake) to bihon (local noodle). It is made into puto and kutsinta. It can be mixed in various proportions with corn starch (maja), ube (halaya), gabi (binagol), and tugui’ (ginatan), cassava (cassava cake and sago).
  • Rice is the source of "tiki-tiki" the miracle substitute of milk during the second world war, saving the lives of millions of infants and young children.
  • Rice is fermented into rice wine tapoy in the Cordillera and sake among the Japanese, and beer Cooking wine is also made from rice.
  • Rice oil is superior to many cooking oils. It has better effect to health than most sources from plants, and animal fat as well.
  • New products are being developed from rice - from rice milk to glass manufacture, school paste and plywood binder. Natural antibiotics are known to be of high level in pinawa and unpolished grain.
  • Have you heard of black rice - pirurutong? Yes, the whole grain is glutinous and entirely black. Nothing beats its kind. So with pinipig, tinubong, patupat.

Here's a toast to the versatile rice. ~


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Second of a Series: Practical Tips ni Ka Abe and Ka Melly on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, Radyo ng Bayan

1. To keep coffee hot longer, first pour hot water to preheat the cup. Empty the cup and pour in the real coffee. Enjoy.

2. If you are using glass for coffee, place a spoon first before pouring in the coffee. The metal absorbs sudden and excess heat that may cause the glass to crack.

3. Be sure oil is hot enough before putting into the pan the thing to wish to fry, say meat or fish. A drop of water will readily splatter when introduced into the pan. Be careful.

4. Get rid of ants in the kitchen. Wipe table, floor, and other surfaces with diluted natural vinegar. Vinegar freshens the smell of the kitchen as well.

5. To know if the honey you are buying is genuine or not, place it in the ref. Real honey does not solidify and has no residue. Fake honey does. Sugar in adulterated honey settles as thick residue.

7. Healthy and hale, take the plunge, or turn off the water heater. Temper your body, once in a while – then regularly. This builds resistance to changing weather conditions.

8. Forgot your toothbrush on a camping trip? Pick a small guava stem; chew to soften one end like brush. Chew young leaves like poultice as paste and astringent. Rinse and you’ll feel fresh.

9. Serve lemonade without tasting and know its sweetness is just right. Stir with calculated sugar. When seeds float, it’s too sweet. If they settle down you need more sugar.

10. To make potato fries crispy on the outside and soft inside, immerse in ice water for a minute or two. Proceed with usual deep frying. Do the same with kamote or sweet potato, gabi (taro), and ubi and sinkamas (yam)

11. Wood ash from firewood and charcoal for cleaning. Removes slime when scaling fish, cleans metals and utensils, and eases disposal of pet droppings. Gather ash after cooking and store in a convenient container. Dispose ash after use as fertilizer; ash is rich in potassium, a major plant nutrient.

12. Keep salt in glass container snugly closed every after use. It is hygroscopic, that is, it absorbs humidity causing it to become soggy. Coffee cakes when exposed, so with sugar. Spices lose their essence.

13. Hang in dry and cool place garlic and shallot onion in bundles to prolong shelf life. In the province. the bundles are hanged above the stove. Smoke is a natural protectant against pests and rot.

14. To hasten the ripening of fruits like chico, mango, guyabano, atis and caimito, rub a little salt at the base of the peduncle (fruit stem). For nangka, drive a stake of bamboo or wood 2 to 3 inches long through the base of the stem. As a rule pick only fully mature fruits.

15. Collective ripening of various fruits is hastened with the inclusion of banana in the plastic pack or container. Explanation: the trapped ethylene gas emitted by banana catalyses ripening.

16. Pry open, instead of pounding with stone or hammer, oyster using the tip of an ordinay knife. Find the hinge behind the shell. This is its Achilles heel. Insert and twist. Poor shell simply opens clean and whole. Eat straight with gusto.

17. When eating banana, observe your friends peel. If peel is in three pieces, that normal - human; if four or more, that's angelic; if two, primitive - and if he removes the peel completely and holds banana with bare hands, that's evolution. Of course, this is just for a lively gathering.

18. Bagoong smells, so with patis. But the best recipes can't be without. Here's what to do. Heat desired amount of water with bagoong to boiling, don't stir. Get rid of the froth. Now you can proceed with the usual cooking of bulanglang, pinakbet, and the like. Walang amoy bagoong o patis. (No trace of the raw smell)

3rd of a Series: Ten Practical Tips from Ka Abe and Ka Melly (Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, Radyo ng Bayan)


1. Insert balled newspaper (better brown paper to get rid of possible lead content from ink and paint) into shoes to remove odor, absorb moisture, keep shoes in shape.

2. Orange peeling kept in sugar jar prevents sugar from caking and discoloring into dark clumps.

3. For banana delayed in ripening - cut away rot on the stem to prevent its spread and unpleasant odor.

4. Banana leaves as floor polisher. Mature leaves of saba variety (other varieties will do) is first wilted on flame to melt the natural wax. It also imparts a pleasant smell.

5. Don't throw away coconut husk. Make it into flower pot for orchids and ferns. Shred to make scrub for floor and utensils. Cut whole mature nut crosswise, trim off protruding shell. Now you have a foot floor polisher. Happy exercise.

6. Add talc powder (baby powder) to hardware nails to prevent rusting. Be sure tio keep the container tight.
7.Notice in some restaurants, rice is mixed with salt in the dispenser. Rice absorbs moisture preventing the salt from clumping and soggy.

8. Stuck bubble gum in clothes? Don't force to remove. Put soiled clothes in the freezer. Once solidified, peel off the gum clean and easy.

9. Remove old and unsightly cobwebs, but save the spiders, unless they are the dreaded kind. House and garden spiders trap and devour insect pest. They are nature's biological agents, friends of farmers and housewives.

10. Leave trail marks in a jungle to guide you back. Bend and break branches or shrubs, consistently at your right bent towards you and height, to serve both as marker and compass.

11. Now and then anyone may fall into a pit of hiccup for reasons not well understood even in the medical field. But as sudden and unpredictable it came, just by jolting the person is enough to terminate hiccup.

This is what you can do to help your friend in a pit. The first remedy is to give him water. If this does not work, gently massage the back of his head. If still this does not work, secretly time the interval of his hiccup. Jolt him up real good coinciding with the next hiccup. Pronto! The hiccup is gone.

x x x

Poetry - Babel

Dr Abe V Rotor

Tower of Babel, biblical but true;
Lofty Eiffel will have its time, too.
Stairway to heaven is man's dream
The god in him to claim God's realm.

The sun peeps behind this huge tower
Once proud in its prime;
I can not wait nor my children can
To see it succumb in time.

Where have all the faithful gone?
The prayerful old and young;
Pilgrims come one by one
To fill the emptiness of time

History marks the march of time
In events big and small
By the hand that holds the pen
and the magic crystal ball.

Poetry - Rhapsody in Blue

Dr Abe V Rotor

Let me hold on your roof dear Mother Earth
and not be detached to outer space
to view your whole being that gave me birth
and beauty of all things and ways.

From a thousand mountains high I find peace
in the rhapsody of a Cherubim
descending, riding on cumulus to the East
onto the path of the sunbeam.

Below I see the reflection of heaven
all in blue, soft and pristine -
where the sea ends and the shores leaven,
where lost Eden could have been.

I am a Prodigal Son who lived so bold
In the days of lust and waste;
what can I offer you now that I’m old
but this simple song of praise? ~

Lightning, Nature’s First Invention

Dr Abe V Rotor

All over the globe lightning strikes at one point or another
incessantly night and day, in good or bad weather.
The atmosphere and earth meet in deafening thunder
that accompanies a spark of a thousand atomic bombs
enough to light a city for days if captured and stored.

In the process chemistry combines nitrogen with oxygen,
one-to-three in proportion to form nitrates in tons
and tons in a single bolt, becoming negatively charge
and soluble, riding on the rain to descend to earth.

Nitrate the free radical ion joins a positive ion and forms
combinations of compounds that nourish plants and all
photosynthetic organisms - and the saprophytes, too
- the mushrooms and their kin of Kingdom mycophyta.

Wonder the hills and mountains turn green soon after
the first rain in May or even only a shower in April;
afterwards the whole landscape builds into a realm
of emerald green as the sky sends boundless energy.

Electrical energy transforms into chemical energy
passing from the inorganic to the organic world, thence
through the living world - the food chain and web,
food pyramid, there into the ecosystems and biomes,
finally to the biosphere that make the earth full of life.

Mysterious are nature's ways, the sun's energy
transforming into electrical energy through lightning,
henceforth building proteins, the building blocks
of all living things, great or small, as they grow and die,
and into the the next cycle the process is the same,
ad infinitum.

Tunnel Windows of Santa Monica, Capiz

Dr Abe V Rotor

Daybreak, I ask what lies beyond the wall, and a whisper

came through, what goes in there?

And the view

I see is the same though,

yet a vine across the window

is calling, hello!

Walls, walls, walls, I complain.

Windows, windows, the sun and wind answer in refrain.

One window is blocked

with the machine of a clock

that had long stopped.

Tic-tac-tic-tac-tic-tac...

Here's one bright morning, ah, but another game,

yet a holy name I hear to learn to say, Amen.

I see heaven through a keyhole,

and myself whole;

I wish to reach it, but the key isn't mine

And neither time.

Acknowledgment: Santa Monica church; Rev Msgr Benjamin Advincula

Episcopal Vicar for the Clergy, Archdiocese of Capiz,

and Parish Priest of Santa Monica

Old Walls of Faith

Dr Abe V Rotor

Crowned windows with garland,
and sealed by time,
while faith ruled over the land
once in its prime.

Stand tall, oh tower, and taller still,
the faithful gazes forevermore,
for heaven by wealth cannot fill
the vacuum of the poor.

Don't sleep, and never doze;
have presence,
for faith behind walls may lose
its essence.

Silence in these walls is deafening,
You can hear your breathing;
But if peace reigns in the Being,
You won't really hear a thing.

The World of Dogs

Dr Abe V Rotor

The genes of the wolf come alive
where the ultimate game is to survive;
the species born in the wild
must in anywhere thrive.

Pity the dogs if they are man's best friend,
Else man is dogs' worst fiend.
Test the rational side of man
the way he puts a stand
on behalf of his best friend
all the way to the end.

Remembering the rescuer, White Bulldog;
and the children have found another world;
their language no longer whims and bark
nor friendly pat and leisure in the park.

Sketches in Flight

Dr Abe V Rotor

I speak not, I sleep not,
and must be quiet;
I'm afraid, I must be brave,
calm and patient.

I fly fast but time isn't,
my baby's comfort
fills my soul and heart
to reach the port,

I'm blessed with love
by a common bond,
thankful to my Creator
as I look beyond.

Above I imagine Him
guiding our destiny,
and earthbound,
man's technology. ~

Armageddon ticking

Dr Abe V Rotor

Armageddon in human hands released,
piece by piece ticking with the clock;
innocence denied, sanity defied
to the final shock.

Time capsules all into infinity:
pleasure and pain, evil and goodness -
all that is on planet earth,
into emptiness.

It's Sodom revived, so with the Flood
and Vesuvius a thousand times;
and in war none but the innocent
is the price.

And the god in man and man in God
in futile struggle comes to end
the earth shall be no longer,
so with a heaven.

Fabled paradise shall be no more,
lost and regained, and finally gone;
Then a new world shall rise - perhaps
without man. ~

Sunday, August 14, 2011

ANSWER KEY - Examination in Ecology and Field Biology (Multiple Choice)

ANSWER KEY - Examination in Ecology and Field Biology (Multiple Choice)
Dr. A.V. Rotor

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Copy the letter of the correct answer
A. In the preparation of wine and vinegar from local fruits, the following steps are involved:
A. Inoculation of yeast B. preparation of the must C. fermentation proper D. aging E. Oxidation

___1. Arrange them according to SOP. A. a-b-d-c-e B.-a-c-d-e b C. b-d-b-c-e D. b-a-e-c-d
___2. The enzyme produced is zymase. - A
___3. This consequently transforms ethanol into acetic acid. E
___4. This involves mashing of fruits with table sugar.B
___5. Mellowing of taste is the principal objective. D

B. Natural ecosystems are sacrificed by certain socio-economic projects such as the following: A. Building of golf courses B. Urbanized communities C. Industrialization D. Intensive agriculture E. 3-Mile Island nuclear accident.

___6. Displaces pasture land, farmlands and wildlife areas. A
___7. Chemicals are washed into rivers, lakes and sea. D
___8. Emits radioactive fallout that affects many countries. E
___9. People become concentrated in a limited area. B
__10. Results in the production of non-biodegradable by-products such plastics and oil spills. C

C. These are dihybrid crosses to show dominant and recessive traits. The parents are shown as follows: A. TTRR (tall round-seeded) x ttrr (short wrinkle-seeded B. Tt Rr x TtRr C. TtRr x tt rr D. ttrr x ttrr E. Not applicable.

__11. The offspring are 1 tall round-seeded, 1 tall wrinkle-seeded, 1 short round seeded and 1 short wrinkle-seeded. C
__12. The phenotype ratio of the F1 is 9:3:3:1 B
__13_Offspring of the first filial generation are all tall round-seeded A
__14. The F1 offspring are medium - they are neither tall nor short, round nor wrinkle seeded E
__15. The F1 offspring are all short wrinkle seeded. D
__16. The genotype ratio of the F1 is 1:1:1:1 C

D. These are acronyms: A. BSE-CJD B. DNA C. GMC D. SALT E. SWIP

__17. Popularly known as Mad Cow Disease which originated in Britain. A
__20. Answer to “kaingin” or slash and burn agriculture. D
__16. Known as Code of heredity, the discovery of this millennium. B
__18. Frankenfood, after the horror fiction, Frankenstein. C
__19. A miniature of Pantabangan Dam E

E. Among the major ecological systems or biomes of the world are as follows: A. Savannah B. Tundra C. Grassland D. Alpine E. Tropical Rainforest F. Taiga g. Chaparral

__21. Safari or game of hunting wild animals is the scenery in this biome. A
__22. Coldest of all biomes, only bryophytes at certain times of the year can survive. B
__23. The prairies of North America, inhabited by the early American Indians. C
__24. In terms of diversity and population density this is the richest of all biomes E
__25. Gymnosperms virtually appear to be singularly occupying this biome.

F. Identify the position of the following in the Food Pyramid A. producers B. herbivores C. decomposers D. 2nd order consumers E. 3rd order consumers

__26. Larvae of dragonfly (naiad) D orE
__27. Arachis hypogea A
__28. Chanus chanus philippinensis B
__29. Philippine Tarsier D or E
__30. Diatoms A

G. Here is a case study whereby fishponds are built on formerly natural ecosystems of mangrove estuaries, a business venture in supplying the market with prawns and bangus. Among the effects are A. Destruction of the ecosystem. B. Endangerment of the local species C. Pre- disposition to erosion and siltation D. Blocking of waterways E. Loss of indigenous industries and livelihood.

__31. The displaced area is no longer a climax community. A
__32. Shifting soil and detritus cannot settle down and stabilize. C
__33. Fisherfolk find riverine transportation becoming difficult. D
__34. Firewood, tangal for dye and fermentation, and the like, become unavailable. E
__35. As a breeding place, marine life cannot go through the natural life cycle. B

J. Environmental degradation can be arrested/minimized in our own way with governments, NGO and the citizens working hand on hand. A. Waste segregation scheme Program B. Microbial decomposition C. Use of atmosphere-friendly compounds, in lieu of CFCs. D. Vehicle volume reduction scheme

__36. Nature’s way of getting rid of wastes with the aid of unicellular organisms. B
__37. These are so-called alternative energy sources. C
__38. A palliative measure to ease traffic and reduce pollution in Metro Manila. D
__39. Garbage collection is easier and systematic for recycling and disposal. A
__40. Give relief to allow nature to cope up with the thinning of the ozone layer. C

I. For five billion years the year has been undergoing change. Life for one has been a long struggle as evidenced by as evidenced by the following developments: A. The unicellular organisms were the first inhabitants on earth. B. Man is among the recently formed species. C. “Only those species which are the fittest will survive.” D. Now and then Nature commits error through mutation. E. All organisms are said to be continuously evolving.

__41. Chromosomal aberration occurs unpredictably. D
__42. Blue-green algae or cyanophytes are still around today, possibly as abundant as before. A
__43. It was Darwin who thought of this as a theory – and now as an acknowledged principle. C
__44. This explains why there are freaks and variants among living things. D
__45 Only change does not change – the world is always undergoing dynamic changes. E


RATING:
41 - 45 Very Good
35 -40 Good
30 - 34 Passed

Medinillia - Flower of Mystic Beauty


Medinillia magnifica, Mount Makiling Botanical Garden, UPLB, Laguna

Dr Abe V Rotor

Can you hide your beauty?
Magnificent is your cape against sun
and rain over your inflorescence,
in drooping, storeys full and shy;
glowing pink and purple
like bunches of ripe berries
for the beak to carry your kind.

You've been discovered in your hiding,
deep in the forest unknown, unsung,
playing hide-and-seek game
with people who call you naive,
who make riches out of your beauty,
regal and meek and rare,
now endangered and tame.


In your new home, you've lost freedom.
away forever from your kin,
the mountains that nurtured you;
now an orphan, you seek the love
you lost, solace and peace.
your beauty has betrayed you;
beauty that gave you fame.

x x x

Monsters under the Lens

Remember Honey I Shrunk the Kids? Or Jurassic Park? Well, it's all in the lens.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog 
Leafhopper, Nepothettix apicales (100x)

Take this leafhopper nymph, almost invisible to the naked eye. But once under the microscope, it grows into a giant and shows off its monstrous look. The living minutiae is full of make-believe monsters and many characters of fantasy land.

The microscope is an important study tool to adults and kids. It has long evolved from the model used by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, founder of microscopy, in the 18th century. Today, it is electronically operated and computerized. It can "see" the minutest things - the virus - and virtually the structure of chemical compounds, such as the DNA (Deoxyribose nucleic acid).


All you need is prepare the specimen, mount it, view, edit, organize and label. Print, save, send, or make PowerPoint presentation, documentary - all-in-one, if you may wish.


A drop of water from a pond when viewed and scanned under the lens transports you to another world, heretofore unknown to you, save bedtime stories and cartoons. This time, scenes and characters are real - and you are a part of them.


x x x


Monsters under the Lens

Dr Abe V Rotor

Remember Honey I Shrunk the Kids? Or Jurassic Park? Well, it's all in the lens.


Leafhopper, Nepothettix apicales (100x)

Take this leafhopper nymph, almost invisible to the naked eye. But once under the microscope, it grows into a giant and shows off its monstrous look. The living minutiae is full of make-believe monsters and many characters of fantasy land.

The microscope is an important study tool to adults and kids. It has long evolved from the model used by Anton van Leewenhoek, founder of microscopy, in the 18th century. Today, it is electronically operated and computerized. It can "see" the minutest things - the virus - and virtually the structure of chemical compounds, such as the DNA (Deoxyribose nucleic acid).

All you need is prepare the specimen, mount it, view, edit, organize and label. Print, save, send, or make PowerPoint presentation, documentary - all-in-one, if you may wish.

A drop of water from a pond when viewed and scanned under the lens transports you to another world, heretofore unknown to you, save bedtime stories and cartoons. This time, scenes and characters are real - and you are a part of them.

x x x

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Group Research in Communication and Socio-Cultural Change

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rules in conducting and presenting group research. For 3CA3 and 5CA3, University of Santo Tomas.

1. Choose topic from the course syllabus, or from avrotor.blogspot.com (socio-economic, cultural and environmental). Clear with the professor any topic not found in the list.

2. The topic must be first hand, and must not have been presented before, whole or in part, in any class or occasion.

3. Include in the Rationale, background and significance (present and future). enhance themain, and end up with advocacy to the Filipino people.

4. Keep abreast, get the latest about the topic. (readings, media, other sources)

5. Group research must be done
  • on-site (visit the place),
  • hands-on (demo, assist), and through
  • interview (in person)
6. Be original, particularly photos and text.

7. Use PowerPoint (50 to 60 frames, standard). Submit CD and printed copy (6 frames per page) ahead, and one page summary (printed) single space. Include CD cover design (title, members, course, date.

7. Duration of presentation: 10 to 15 minutes, without interruption, including question-and-answer.

8. Grade will be based on the
  • PowerPoint (research proper)
  • Oral presentation
  • Individual and group effort
9. Output for Accreditation, Faculty of Arts and Letters

10. Dry run as a group. Good Luck! Ingat lang sa lakad ninyo.

NOTE: Recall sample PowerPoint presentation in class.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Part 1: All about Allergy - First of all, Avoid Allergy

Dr Abe V Rotor

A. Allergy-Friendly Exercise Program
1. Avoid exercise if you have an upper-respiratory viral infection.
2. Premedicate.
3. Drink plenty of fluids.
4. Perform warmup exercises.
5. Breathe through your nose.
6. Cool down.
7. Know your limits.
8. Avoid exercising near busy roads.
9. Judge exercise intensity with a “talk test”.
10. Slow down if you feel weak, dizzy.
11. Don a dust mask when necessary.
12. Stay inside during high-pollen days.

B. Allergy-Free Stress Busters
1. Biofeedback (internal memo)
2. Cognitive Reframing (handling an experience)
3. Guided Visualization (imagination)
4. Humor Therapy (healthy laugh)
5. Hypnosis (hypnotherapy)
6. Journaling (diary, autobiography, literary)
7. Massage, sauna
8. Social Involvement (clubs, parties)
9. Yoga, Tai-chi
10. The Humanities (drawing, singing, drama)
11. Meditation (prayer, communion with nature)
12. Proper grooming.

C. Clean Your Home Naturally
1. Instead of disinfectant, use borax (1 cup to 1 gal of warm water) or grapefruit seed extract (10%)
2. Instead of fabric softener, use ¼ cup of vinegar added to the rinse water.
3. Instead of furniture polish, use olive oil with 1 tbsp vinegar poured in 1 liter of warm water. Keep in spray bottle.
4. Instead of glass cleaner, use ½ cup vinegar mixed with 1 gal warm water, place in spray bottle.
5. Borax instead of laundry whitener; Baking powder on sponge instead of scouring powder;
6. Hydrogen peroxide as stain remover; borax + vinegar as toilet bowl cleaner.

Sick Building Syndrome (Things to be done)
1. Install proper air-con and exhaust fans corresponding to the number people, and nature of work.
2. Avoid blocking the air supply and return vents.
3. Clean up water spills and damp places to get rid of molds.
4. Store food properly, and empty the garbage daily.
5. Observe if symptoms are experienced by co-workers, other occupants, visitors.
6. Check equipment and supplies – they may be the source of irritating odor and fumes.
7. Strictly no smoking allowed.
8. Divide area into independent units – office, manufacturing, kitchen or storeroom.
9. Report problem to concerned persons/authorities.

D. Allergy-Free Travel
1. Detect kind and source of pollen
2. Learn the lingo to describe your allergies
3. Ensure you are insured
4. Get checked up before traveling.
5. Bring medicine with you; bring mask, too
6. Clean the car of allergens.
7. Check before you sign in for your lodging; stay in non-smoking quarters.
8. Drive off-hours (less allergens).
9. Pack own food, if you are sensitive to eating any kind.
10. Be a happy camper; stay safe in the sun.
11. Stick to your routine/itenerary.
12. Know the doctor or clinic in the area.

The Major Players in the Workplace
1. Asthma - As the sawmill operator slices the tree trunk into boards amid a shower of sawdust, he feels the familiar chest tightness of an approaching asthma attack.(10% asthma cases worldwide linked to workplace)

2. Skin Problems – After the hairdresser gives yet another permanent to a customer, her itchy, burning hands start to give her fits. (occupational skin diseases account for up to 20% of all reported work-related diseases)

3. Allergic Rhinitis – the graduate student sneezes as she looks through itchy eyes at the laboratory rats in cages surrounding her. Better known as hay fever, AR strikes with symptoms like runny nose and congestion, sneezing, itchy watery eyes, triggered by allergens like perfumes, fumes, dusts, chemicals, and many more linked with the workplace.

A guide to deal with allergies -

1. How do you differentiate Common Cold from Allergy Rhinitis?
  • Duration: Colds - 3 to 5 days (rarely more than 10); Allergy Rhinitis - 2 to 3 weeks (or more)
  • Nose Symptoms: Colds - colored or cloudy discharge, stuffiness; Allergy Rhinitis – clear, water-like discharge, sneezing and itchiness.
  • Other Symptoms: Colds – sore throat, fever; Allergic Rhinitis – red, itchy eyes
2. Sources and causes of allergy
  • Allergy on seafoods in common noticeably exhibited by sudden reddening of the face and other parts of the body, accompanied by increased blood pressures, pulse rate and other symptoms.
  • Allergy on seafoods in common noticeably exhibited by sudden reddening of the face and other parts of the body, accompanied by increased blood pressures, pulse rate and other symptoms.
  • Pollen allergy is most common during the months of October to December, the flowering period of Cereals (Family Poaceae) Staminate flower of corn, Zea mays
  • Nearly microscopic in size, plant lice (Psylla) form colonies so huge they can destroyed entire plantations of ipil-ipil. Allergic reactions have been reported from their skin castings. The nymphal stage is completed after four to five moultings.
3. Mystery of the Marble Dust
  • Marble is metamorphic limestone
  • It has a natural finish; it is durable, hard and brittle.
  • When ground and polish dusts fill the air, and reach the lungs even through aircon.
  • Under the microscope, marble dust is a miniature abrasive particle.
  • It hurts the lungs and being Calcium compound, “cake” in the alveoli and tracheal linings,
  • Allergy symptoms may start as allergy rhinitis, often mistaken as bronchitis and asthma attack.
  • Marble dusts collector and wet process of grinding.
  • Use mask, refrain from exposure.
4. A short list of causes of Allergies
  • Drug
  • Dust Mites, Roaches and Other Insect Allergies
  • Food allergies and intolerances
  • Hay Fever
  • Latex
  • Mold
  • Nickel
  • Pet
  • Physical
  • Poison Plants
  • Stinging and Biting Insects
  • Sinusitis
Common Allergic Symptoms
  • Runny Nose and Sneezing
  • Coughing and Wheezing
  • Skin Problems
  • Eye Problems
  • Ear Problems
  • Other Symptoms
B. Hidden Allergy Connection
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Candidiasis
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Depression
  • Headaches
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
5. Obesity-Allergy Connection
Which come first? Chicken-or-egg question.
  • Smaller airways
  • Shallower breathing
  • More time indoors
  • Stomach problems
6. Easing Childhood Eczema
  • Avoidance of the following:
  • Dust mites, pollen, and certain foods.
  • Certain non-allergic irritants such as soaps, wool, synthetic fabrics, or other clothing can make already developed dermatitis.
  • Overheating and sweating.
  • Creams and ointments
  • Scratching
7. Potential allergy-provoking problems the garage and workshop
  • Start the engines outside.
  • Ditch your damp possessions.
  • Store chemicals safely.
  • Moldy rags on the floor
  • Old chemicals stored on table
  • Paint can not closed tightly
  • Car engine should not be left running in garage
  • Room should have a window or exhaust fan
  • Tools should be cleaned outside or in an area with good ventilation

References
•Ansorge R and E Metcalf et al (2001) Allergy Free Naturally Rodale Inc NY, 532 pp
•Hampton JK (1991) The Biology of Human Aging, Wm C Brown Publishers 343 pp
•Jacobson E (1964) You Must Relax, McGraw-Hill 270 pp
•Rotor AB (1983) The Men Who Play God: A Collection of Yen Short Stories Ateneo de Manila University Press 147 pp
•Rotor AV (2003) The Living with Nature Handbook. UST Publishing House 210 pp
•Rotor A V (2007) Living With Nature in Our Times, UST Publishing House 318 pp.

Be Friendly to Nature

Dr Abe V Rotor
Avilon Zoo, Rizal
Safari World, Bangkok, Thailand
Safari World, Bangkok, Thailand
Safari World, Bangkok, Thailand
Safari World, Bangkok, ThailandLake Tikob, Tiaong, Q@uezon


Be kind to nature, and nature will be kind to you.
Be cruel and you will be the loser at the end;
For kindness begets kindness. It bestows on you
the grace that makes our earth truly Eden. ~

Home, Sweet Home with Nature, AVR

"Plant Trees on Palm Sunday " Title of Manuscript, an Appeal to Christendom

"Plant Trees on Palm Sunday " Title of Manuscript, an Appeal to Christendom
Dr Abe V RotorMessage to the Capiz Archdiocesan Gathering of the Clergy
by the author as Conference Speaker August 4, 2011

Plant Trees on Palm Sunday is the title of a manuscript of essays and poems by AVR.

School on Blog
Lesson: Please don't destroy Nature. Don't kill the palm trees and endangered species (Cycads, buri, others).

This is also an appeal to DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) and other agencies whose functions are related. The death of a single coconut tree contributes to poverty. Poverty is the root of many ills of society. This is a year round appeal of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid , DZRB 738 KHz. Please tune to DZRB 738 KHz ,
8 to 9 in the evening, Monday to Friday.

Notice that most of the palaspas held by the faithfulare young leaves or bud leaves of coconut and buri.

Palaspas in different designs made of young leaves of coconut, and the endangered buri (Corypha elata) and anahaw (Livistona rotondifolia) species, are sold in the open on Palm Sunday. A large percentage of palaspas ends in waste which otherwise could be made into gainful products.

How can we help save the palm trees?

1. Don't patronize palaspas made of young or bud leaves (white to yellow green to pale green, supple and easy to wilt).

2. Get only those with deep green color - they are of mature leaves. There is not much harm to tree, if the number of leaves harvested is regulated. Heavily pruned trees recover slow and their fruiting is drastically affected.

3. Never buy palaspas made from whole leaves of
oliva and other Cycad species - they are highly endangered. Actually they are living fossils, much older than the dinosaur.

4. Reject also buri, it is the raw material of home industries making mats, butal hat, bags, decors, broom, and many others. You will be depriving the livelihood of hundreds of families.

5. Anahaw, nipa (
Nypha frutescens), bunga (Areca catechu), sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) likewise provide the industries of many more families. They are the sources of alcohol, wine, vinegar, brushes, fabric and cordage, medicine and drugs, fuel and activated charcoal, and many others. You can be of great help to these industries and thousands of people depending on them.

6. Why carry a whole bunch of palaspas when a handy size or even "feather-size" for that matter is a sufficient manifestation of sincere devotion?

7. One palaspas for a family is enough, not one for each member. Save the trees, save money and effort, and avoid thrash. Have you noticed how unsold palaspas are thrown away or burned?

8. Use substitute materials, like ornamental palms - palmera, red palm, bunga de Jolo, MacArthur palm, and several species of
Pinanga and Orania. The reason palm is used on Pakm Sunday is because in the place of Christ in His time, few plants survive the harsh desert condition - date palm and olive among them which grow in oases, pockets of spring in the desert.

9. Your effort in this campaign can be translated in practical economics and ecological significance. The coconut is the source of many products from
walis tingting (broom made of midribs), to virgin coconut oil. There are one-hundred-and-one coconut products. Its ecological significance is tremendous. It's one crop you don't take care at all. It ripraps the shorelines from tidal wave and rising sea level. Physiologically the coconut plant can filter off toxic metals, pesticide residues, hydrocarbon compounds, and other toxic substances. No crop is more versatile worldwide - and the Philippines is endowed with this gift of nature.

10. Talk to your priest or minister, take this matter up with your church organizations. Be assertive, this is vital to our environmental and socio economic problems. Support this campaign collectively, as a community effort. Course it through the heirarchy of the church, if necessary. Make press releases and broadcast on TV and radio.
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Palm trees are the frontliners on shorelines and estuaries against tidal wave and tsunami as observed with coconut trees riprapping the land from sea, nipa grove blanketing deltas and mudflat arresting soil from being washed away to the sea. They provide a nursery and sanctuary to both terrestrial and marine organisms.
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How much do we lose from a single coconut tree sacrificed on one occasion?

A fruiting coconut normally lives for twenty years, others twice as long. Nuts are harvested every two months with 10 nuts to as many as 30. Young nuts (
buko) are sold P10 each (P20 in Manila); commercial mature nuts for copra (to be made into vegetable oil) sell for P5 each, ex-farm.

Here is an actual case: Buko at P10, and 100 nuts harvested a year is worth P1,000. Double the yield or the price means P2,000 a year. That's P20,000 for ten years for a single tree. Double that if the tree lives for another ten years.

For mature nuts (picked up on the farm), the farmer gets half the value, but he simply waits for the nuts to mature. Meantime, he plants between the nuts cash crops and high value crops (coffee, cacao, papaya, root crops, vegetables lanzones) and gets additonal, if not more income. This is only possible in a coconut grove.
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A coconut plantation is the only man-made agricultural ecosystem with a very high biodiversity, that can be sustained generation after generation. (AVR)
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It is safe to estimate that on just one occasion when thousands and thousands of coconut trees in the tropics are sacrificed, the potential loss runs to hundreds of millions of dollars. It means poverty and death, erosion and landslide, loss of shorelines and farmlands, deprivation of people from the opportunities to enjoy the good life.

Let's join the campaign:
Let's save the palm trees on Palm Sunday (and thereafter, for that matter)
--------------------------------
A buri palm lives up to a century. Before it dies, it profusely produces an inflorescence that turns out thousands of nuts. The nuts are transported by water and animals to new places where they germinate and grow. It takes at least five years to gain a niche in the new place.
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Living with Nature, AVR 2011

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Natural Farming Models

                    Natural Farming Models
Dr Abe V Rotor


Farm Life in acrylic by AVRotor

The other name of natural farming is organic farming. In the United States and Europe, the trend now is for people to reach for organically grown food. In malls and large groceries, we find rice labeled "organically grown."

Mere substitution of fertilizer from chemical to organic is not enough. The organic fertilizer must be free from pathogens, toxic waste and metals.

The crops and animals must not be products of genetic engineering, meaning they should come from natural gene pools.

Natural farming also requires the absence of chemical spraying. If it cannot be avoided, the spray must be biodegradable, using botanical derivatives like derris, neem and chrysanthemum.

Here are scenarios of natural farming in the country.

1. Payatak method (Samar) - This is a local version of zero tillage. No plowing, no harrowing is done. A herd of carabaos trample over the soil until it turns into puddle, then the one-month old rice seedlings are transplanted. There are no sprays or fertilizers. This is natural farming in the marginal sense, a carryover of age-old tradition.

2. Mixed orchard (Zambales) – This is a stand of several kinds of trees, where orchard, firewood trees and forest trees grow together. These trees follow a natural pattern of arrangement. They have no common pest and need soil fertility differentially. The trees have their own niche and grow into layers resembling storeys. Management is simple and practical.

3. Multiple cropping model (Sta. Maria. Bulacan) - The farmer engages in the production of three commodities. A two-hectare farm may produce fruits, vegetables and rice, plus several heads of carabao and cattle. A pond supplies irrigation and produces tilapia and hito.

Why three commodities? It is because these commodities are closely integrated. First, the animals produce, other than meat and milk, manure for the plants. The plants produce food for the family and market. Plant residues are made into animal feeds and compost. The pond is source of irrigation. It is a waterhole for wildlife conservation, too. Because of its integrated structure and management the farm becomes a balanced system. This is the key to sustainable agriculture, otherwise known as ecological farming.

4. Sloping agricultural land technology or (SALT in Bohol). Call this natural farming even if the farm is a logged over area. The idea is for the farmer to revert the land to its natural state as much as possible. How does he do it? If one sees the model, the land has a slope of around 20 degrees. The steeper the grade the more difficult it is to apply the system. It does not work for slopes above 30 degrees.

In SALT, the contour of the slope is marked and outlined. The contours are spaced uniformly, and the rows that follow the contour are planted at intervals with annual and permanent crops. The idea is for the permanent crops (like fruit trees and firewood trees) to be sandwiched with annual crops (like peanut, rice, corn, and vegetable). The ipil-ipil herbage is used as organic fertilizer. The Neem tree is used for pesticide, while Lantana (L. camara) is a natural pest repellant, so with Eucalyptus. Legume intercropping and crop rotation replenish the soil of Nitrogen and other elements.

5. Modified models (rice and corn areas). Rice farming can be modified to suit the conditions of natural farming. There are farms today that rely entirely on homemade or commercial organic fertilizers. An equally important aspect of successful farming is cleanliness. This means effective weed removal, trimmed waterways, properly disposed of farm wastes, efficient drainage, well arranged rows, and properly scheduled farming activities. All these activities require low technologies that are also affordable. Together they contribute to good health for both the producer and consumer - and the environment.

As more people go for organically-grown food, agriculture becomes more environment-friendly, which is the essence of ecological farming.~