Imports from my old multiply site joyceanndumayag.multiply.com
Just this afteroon, Sir Emilio talked to me asking if I'd be available next year for some work stuff, and I said I cannot answer for myself, but of course I am willing to be of help. And just last night,I had a dream, I knew it when I woke up this morning with a slight headache, he was talking to me in my dream, offering me some kind of job. Its so weird, is this the result of me being hooked up with X-Files lately?
Christmas is coming and I can’t help but look forward to give my gifts to my little goddaughter & nephew, 2 young cousins, my mom and dad, of course, my beloved lola, aunts and uncles. We are not much in the family actually, on my father side, I only have 4 first cousins, born from the families of my father’s 2 siblings. There is no population growth in our family since each family only had 2 kids, like the kids are just replacing the existence of their parents. This thought made me remember the fate of the Buendia Family of G.G. Marquez’ “One Hundred Years of Solitude” – that in the end, all the offspring of the Buendia Family were wiped out from the face of Macondo. J And I plan not to have more than 2 kids, so I guess we’re not contributing to the population problem in the Philippines (if there is).
Season of Birth May Have Long-Term Effects on Personality, Study Suggests
The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic and persistent effect on how their biological clocks function. The new study raises an intriguing but highly speculative possibility: seasonal variations in the day/night cycle that individuals experience as their brains are developing may affect their personality. "We know that the biological clock regulates mood in humans. If an imprinting mechanism similar to the one that we found in mice operates in humans, then it could not only have an effect on a number of behavioral disorders but also have a more general effect on personality," said McMahon.
"It's important to emphasize that, even though this sounds a bit like astrology, it is not: it's seasonal biology!" McMahon added.
+++ Word for the day: Seasonal Biology, I knew its true!
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Lower Occurrence of Atopic Dermatitis in Children Whose Mothers Were Exposed to Farm Animals and Cats During Pregnancy
The researchers were able to demonstrate that women who spend their pregnancy in the proximity of farm animals and cats have children with a reduced risk of developing atopic dermatitis in their first two years of life. The research team also identified two genes in these children that are of vital importance for innate immunity and was able to link the expression of these genes to a lower likelihood of a doctor diagnosis of an allergic condition. The findings of the study are not only significant in the face of the frequency of the disease and the suffering it causes: They also support the theory that gene-environment interaction with the developing immune system influences the development of atopic dermatitis in young children.
+++ Now I know why I don’t have allergies.
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Electronic Cigarettes Are Unsafe and Pose Health Risks, Study Finds
"Contrary to the claims of the manufacturers and marketers of e-cigarettes being 'safe,' in fact, virtually nothing is known about the toxicity of the vapors generated by these e-cigarettes. Until we know any thing about the potential health risks of the toxins generated upon heating the nicotine-containing content of the e-cigarette cartridges, the 'safety' claims of the manufactureres are dubious at best.
+++ Or is this study a result of the competition between tobacco cigarettes and the e-cigarettes as they are gaining popularity?
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People With a University Degree Fear Death Less Than Those at a Lower Literacy Level, Spanish Study Finds
People with a university degree fear death less than those at a lower literacy level. In addition, fear of death is most common among women than men, which affects their children's perception of death. In fact, 76% of children that report fear of death is due to their mothers avoiding the topic. Additionally, more of these children fear early death and adopt unsuitable approaches when it comes to deal with death.
+++ Yeah, maybe because of apocalyptic images associated with death.
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Pregnant Mother's Diet Impacts Infant's Sense of Smell, Alters Brain Development
A major new study shows that a pregnant mother's diet not only sensitizes the fetus to those smells and flavors, but physically changes the brain directly impacting what the infant eats and drinks in the future.
Researchers studying mice found that the pups' sense of smell is changed by what their mothers eat, teaching them to like the flavors in her diet. At the same time, they found significant changes in the structure of the brain's olfactory glomeruli, which processes smells, because odors in the amniotic fluid affect how this system develops. "Exposure to odor or flavor in the womb elicits the preference but also shapes the brain development," said Todrank,
+++ Good, so at least there is a way to direct your child, if you want him/her to eat just fried chicken or be more inclined to eat fruits or vegetables.
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A Team With a Shared Lousy Temper Is Better at Mental Tasks
Managers who want their team to perform better should let employees express negative emotions. Teams who share bad feelings solve complicated problems better, share more information with each other and have a greater solidarity, concludes Dutch researcher Annefloor Klep.
Complaining aloud or in silence?
Klep let her test subjects see cheerful films or specifically sad ones, and looked afterwards at how her fictitious employees worked together and how successful they were in performing creative or specifically analytical tasks. Groups who were shown sad films and talked about it before they started their task, performed difficult decision-making tasks the best, also better than groups who had seen a sad movie but hadn't been allowed to discuss it. A team can therefore benefit considerably from expressing negative feelings and sharing these.
+++ Therefore, whining is good. J
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Dogs Have Bigger Brains Than Cats Because They Are More Sociable, Research Finds
Over millions of years dogs have developed bigger brains than cats because highly social species of mammals need more brain power than solitary animals, according to a study by Oxford University.
+++ Sociable = Intelligence? Nope. So I still prefer cats. Hehe.
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All topics above are excerpts from ScienceDaily.Com. Check out their website on www.sciencedaily.com.
What to do on a sleepless midnight? Write down your thoughts...
2010 is going to end very soon, as each day passes very quickly. I have been preparing for the trip to Pagadian City this coming Monday and I am so preoccupied and excited about this new place to visit. I’m going to Mindanao, a beautiful place masked by a dark facade of religious controversy and civil strife, where the family of my Father came from – Sultan Kudarat – his stories revolves around images of poverty, conflict with Muslim people, land grabbing, and militarism. That is why in the later part of his youth, they transferred here to Luzon, despite meagre income opportunities, and they survived, that is why I’m here.
The training in Pagadian City is Community Based Disaster Management Training. I guess it should have been easier have I not watched 11th Hour nor The Inconvenient Truth. Watching these films gave me the burden of always linking DM with Climate Change – which should always be the case, actually. I remember JP during the last time we met (on his birthday), he mentioned that their organization is dealing with Climate Change politics, not really Disaster Management, and I was then asking ‘Why not?’ – his organization saw the links, have weighed, and lead them to deal with CC politics – which I think in ‘our’ organization, what can we actually do, or what have we been doing so far? In the local arena, how are our chapters capacitated to deal with Climate Change issue, or shall we deal with this issue knowing that no matter how we change our lifestyle into loving Mother Earth, we still cannot do so much unless the US signs and ratifies the agreements?
With all these questions, looking back at the last 10 months of experience with the organization, I’m thrilled that at last, at least, I will have the chance to share the lessons I have learned and practised – in Pangasinan, Benguet and most especially, in Zambales.
Danny Cabalyero will be my best friend in Pagadian. It’s going to be one week of stay, and I guess I’m ready for it.
Christmas is near, and still, we haven’t put up some decorations. Things are going smoothly in the house, and I’m looking forward to go home by Christmas in Aurora, hope there’s no disaster at that time, so we’ll all have a disaster-free Xmas. I really wanted to go home, and just relax, my Mom said the cat – Sascha is big already – that’s one of the things to motivate me to go home.
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Documentary |
I was checking the list of songs that I’ve been listening to back in 2006 and one was this song by Melanie Safka. I remember it was also one of the theme songs for Beauty and the Beast – my favourite fairy tale. The song was derived from a poem by EE Cummings “Somewhere I have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond”. I like it so much, it keeps on ringing on my head.
