A quiz on allergy: Identify if fact or myth.

A quiz on allergy:  Identify if fact or myth.
 Milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, fish and meat comprise the most common food allergies.
Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Children who grow up on the farm are at much lower risk to allergy than children in the city.Uncontrolled sneezing, a common symptom of allergy, may cause embarrassment and even accident . 
 
2. Infants on the farm have fewer allergies than those who grow up in sterile environments. 

3. Children who grow up with a cat in the house are less likely to develop allergies or asthma. 

4. Very few pet owners are allergic to the animals they love.

5. Children who have been breastfed are less likely to have allergies. 

6. Milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, fish and meat comprise the most common food allergies.

7. Most reactions to food are not allergic in nature, but rather intolerance, that is, there is no allergic antibody involved.

8. Babies exposed late to cereal grains have higher risk to cereal allergy, especially wheat.

9. Regular use of “foreign” materials (e.g. nail polish remover, contact lens, metals) can eventually cause sensitivity and reaction to the products.

10. Allergy can induce strong and unwelcome mental and emotional reactions, such as altered perception or inappropriate changes of mood.

NOTE: These above statements are all based on facts.

Part 2 - Tropical Rainforest Profile

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rainforest serves as watershed, keeps river full and clean, 
creates a cool mini climate in the area, Bohol.

Reforestation rebuilds and increases stand of trees, Bohol

Let us look at the TRF profile like slicing a multi-layered cake and studying its profile. It is made up of storeys similar to a high-rise building. The “roof” or canopy is what we see as forest cover. Here and there are very tall trees called emergents jotting through the monotonous canopy like living towers.

From the air, the view of a tropical forest is one huge and continuous green blanket that catch the energy of the sun and through photosynthesis converts it into organic materials beginning with simple sugar to the most complex compounds from which useful materials are derived - wood, rubber, resin, and drugs, etc. These products are needed to sustain the life of countless organisms and the stability of the ecosystem itself.

From the forest floor, one can see only a little part of the sky, with the rays of the sun filtering through. But now and then, the trees, depending on the species, season and other environmental conditions, shed off their leaves, which can be compared to the molting of animals as they grow. Entire crowns of leaves fall and litter the forest floor. Transformation into humus continuously takes place with the aid of insects, bacteria, fungi, earthworms and the like. And this is very important because humus fertilizes the soil and conserves water acting as sponge and blanket.

This is one of the wonders of nature. Trees in a tropical rainforest have this special characteristic. They are not only self-fertilizing; they are soil builders. Through time, with the deciduous cycle repeated without end, the forest floor – even how thin the soil is, or how solid the underlying rock is – builds up, layer after layer, and it is this process that enables many organisms in the forest obtain their nutrition in order to grow.

Deciduousness allows sunlight to pour over the previously shaded plants occupying the various layers or storeys, which serve as specific habitats or niches. Occupying the lowest part of the forest, which is equivalent to the ground floor of a building, are mostly annuals, ferns and bryophytes. Next are the shrubs which occupy the lobby and second floor, followed by undergrowth trees that reach a height equivalent to the third and fourth floor, lianas and epiphytes which may reach as high as the eighth floor. It is not surprising to find emergent trees reaching up the 200 feet.

How big can a tree grow and for how long? Take the case of the Redwoods or Sequoia found growing in southern California, and China. I saw a tree of this kind in southern Taiwan, recently killed by lightning. The tallest redwood, which is still growing today, is 267.4 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 40.3 feet. It is estimated to be 3,500 years old.

The analogy of the layers of a rainforest with a ten- or twelve-storey building gives us in imagination of the orderliness of nature in keeping the rich biodiversity of the ecosystem.

The true forest primeval – the rain forest – stands along the equator now reduced into a sanctuary of “living fossils” of plants and animals that once constituted the eternal green cover of the earth.

The canopy at one time or another allows the sky to meet the residents of the forest from the ground floor to the upper storeys - something that if you stand among the trees during this transformation you will find a kind of communion that, while it can be explained biologically, fills the spirit with the wonders and mysteries of nature.

The tropical rainforest is a natural menagerie where peace, music, colors, patterns, art and skill are not so well known to modern man. The high-perched artists like squirrels and monkeys are better acrobats by birth and practice than any known human acrobats. Many primates howl with electrifying, ear splitting and blood-chilling sound that breadth the land. Above plummet the masters of the sky – the Philippine eagle and hawks, spotting their preys which may be several kilometers away, or hundreds of meters below – something which our modern spotting scopes can not yet achieve with readiness and precision.

Inside their tunnels the termite workers tap their way and chop the wood for their colony and themselves. Man has yet to learn more about the social structure of this insect.

(Continued)

English Refresher: Terms given to groups of animals.

... A SWARM of locusts, a NEST of hornets, a CHARM of hummingbirds, an EXALTATION of larks,  a PARLIAMENT of owls, a RAINBOW of butterflies ...                            

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Here is a long list of terms given to groups of animals.

1.    A COLONY of ants (photo)                                          

2.    An ARMY of ants

3.    A STATE or SWARM of ants

4.    A HERD of asses

5.    A DROVE of asses.

6.    A TROOP of baboons

7.    A CONGRESS of baboons

8.    A COLONY of bacteria

9.    A CULTURE of bacteria 

10. A BATTERY of barracudas

11. (A BATTERY of lawyers)

12. A SHOAL of bass

13. A COLONY of bats                                                 

14. A CLOUD of bats

15. A SLOTH or SLEUTH of bears

16. A COLONY of beavers

17. A FAMILY of beavers

18. A GRIST, HIVE, SWARM of bees

19. A CLUSTER or NEST of bees

20. A FLOCK or FLIGHT of birds (photo)

21. A POD of birds (small flock)

22. A VOLARY of birds (in an aviary)

23. A BRACE (a pair of game birds or waterfowls)

24. A DROVE of bullocks

25. A KALEIDOSCOPE of butterflies                

26. A FLUTTER of butterflies  (photo)                               

27. A RAINBOW  of butterflies

28. A CARAVAN, FLOCK or TRAIN of camels

29. An ARMY of caterpillars

30. A HERD, DROVE or DRIFT of cattle.

31. A MOB of cattle (US and Australia)

32. A POUNCE of cats

33. A KINDLE, LITTER OR INTRIGUE (for kittens)

34. A BROOD, FLOCK, RUN or PEEP of chicken 

35. A CLUTCH OR CHATTERING of chicks

36. A HERD of cows

37. A KINE of cows (12 cows are a FLINK)   

38. A PACK of coyotes

39. A TRAIN of coyotes                                                                              

40. A BAND of coyotes    

41. A ROUT of coyotes  

42. A HERD, SEIGE or SEDGE* of cranes              

43. A CAST of crabs

44. A CONGREGATION or NEST of crocodiles

45. A BASK or FLOAT of crocodiles.   

46. A HOVER, MUSTER, or PARCEL of crows.

47. A MURDER of crows        

48. A HORDE of crows                                       

49. A PARLIAMENT of owls
       (photo) 

50. A LITTER of cubs

51. A TROOP of dogfish

52. A PACK (wild dogs) or KENNEL of dogs

53. A LITTER of puppies

54. A FLIGHT or DOLE of doves

55. A TEAM, FLIGHT or FLOCK* of wild ducks in flight

56. A CONVOCATION of eagles

57. A CONGREGATION of eagles

58. An ARRAY of eels

59. A HERD or PARADE of elephants         

60. A CRASH of elephants

61. A HERD of elks

62. A GANG of elks

63. A CHARM of finches

64. A SHOAL, DRAFT, NEST, SCHOOL of fish.

65. A RUN of fish in motion                                      

66. A STAND of flamingoes                                         

67. A FLAMBOYANCE of flamingoes

68. A CLOUD, HATCH or SWARM of flies

69. A SKULK of foxes                                               

70. A CLOUD, TROOP or COMPANY of foxes

71. A GAGGLE or FLOCK of geese

72. A SKEIN, TEAM or WEDGE of geese (in the air)

73. A PLUMP of geese (on water)

74. A CLOUD OR HORDE of gnats

75. A FLOCK, HERD or TRIBE of goats

76. A TRIP of goats 

77. A CLOUD of grasshoppers                           

78. A SWARM of locusts (photo)

79. A NEST of hornets      

80. A SCATTERING, SEIGE or SEDGE* of herons

81. A CHARM of hummingbirds

82. A BEVY of larks

83. An EXALTATION of larks                                  

84. An ASCENSION of larks

85. A PARTY or SCOLD of jays

86. A TROOP of lemurs

87. A SCOURGE of mosquitoes

88. A PACK or SPAN of mules

89. A WATCH of nightingales

90. An ENCHANTMENT of nightingales

91. A TEAM or YOKE of oxen                                   

92. A DROVE or HERD of oxen  

93. A BED of oysters

94. A SQUADRON of pelicans

95. A FLOCK or FLIGHT of pigeons

96. A DROVE OR STRING of ponies.

97. A NURSERY of raccoons

98. A MURDER of ravens                                                                    

99. A CONSPIRACY of ravens 

100. A HERD, HAREM, TRIP or ROOKERY* of seals 

101. A DEN, BED, PIT or SLITHER of snakes.

102. A NEST or KNOT of snakes

103. A HOST of sparrows

104. A FLIGHT of swallows                                                                              

105. A BALLET of swans

106. An AMBUSH or STREAK* of tigers    

107. A COMMITTEE of vultures

108. A SCHOOL of whales

109. A HERD of whales
110. A ZEAL, HERD or DAZZLE of zebras                                                                                                                           

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Hint and Things Collective Nouns, Internet
 Wikipedia,

Nata de coco shoes, surgical thread, and wallet, too.

Dr Abe V Rotor
A Tribute to a Filipino Inventor
The uppers of these pairs of shoes are made from Nata de Coco leather. The author is shown with the late Amparo Arambulo (right) who developed Nata de Coco as Substitute of Leather, her thesis for BS Biology, at St Paul University QC. Note nata de coco leather sheets at the foreground.
Now, this one is for the Book of Guinness Records: shoes made from nata de coco.

Nata is a culture of Leuconostoc mesenteroides, a bacterium that forms a mass of gelatinous material from a medium of sugar and acetic acid. When thick enough, this layer is harvested for dessert or fruit salad mix. This time it is made into laminate, a leather-like material.

At St. Paul University QC, Dr. Anselmo S. Cabigan and his thesis advisee, the late Miss Amparo Arambulo, developed shoes made from nata laminate. The laminate is actually compressed nata de coco, dried and layered like plywood, then subjected to standard tanning procedure. It is cut and made into shoes. Nata laminate is stronger than leather, according to results of a test conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It also gives a good finish like real leather.

Nata laminate is also a healthy and environment-friendly packaging material. It easily decomposes without leaving any trace of harmful residue - unlike plastic, which in the first place is synthetic and non-biodegradable. Nata offers a solution to plastic materials accumulating in garbage, and scattered all around.

In another thesis research, nata was made into surgical thread. Again, since nata is a natural product, it is soluble and absorbed in our system without any harmful effect to health. Thus, it is a good substitute for expensive commercial surgical threads.

"You can have nata shoes and eat them, too." I said jokingly to my friend. "You can have nata for writing and reading," my friend Dr Cabigan added to my joke. Nata is used to make drums, speakers, wallets. The list continues with other possible uses: belt, diploma sheepskin, parchment paper, thread and rope."

It's true - nata is a versatile material that can save animals, especially those in the endangered list. And save the world from being buried by a mountain of plastic wastes. ~

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The technology of nata growing in culture medium is ancient and universal in process. It is a microbial process, a kind of farming with a bacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and a complex of other microorganisms, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Acetobacter aceti.   It is Nature's microbiological chemistry which man has learned to produce useful materials, vinegar, herbal tea, and of course, nata as food. The innocula grow on a wide range of substrates. If it is pineapple, the product is nata de piña. It is possible that other countries have nata products from their indigenous fruits and nuts. Biologically, the process is nature's way of disposing organic residues by converting them into more stable forms preparatory to their final degradation, ultimately returning to their elemental forms ready for the next cycle.

The encapsulated bacterium is the main agent in the process, leaving its gelatin or cellulose shell to form layers and thick mass which is the nata. This is made into mats and when finally cured becomes laminate, firm and soft (even after a few years), cool to the feet, and other tests for leather. There are yet many other tests were not done or completed.

The nata "leather" is produced by gradual pressure and drying until a leatherlike consistency is attained. This undergoes curing and tanning, and dyeing like leather. Which is then made as uppers of shoes and slippers, cut into belt, surgical thread, and even fabric substitute.

This work is ahead by more than ten years of one of Time magazine's featured of inventions in 50 Best Inventions of 2010 (November 22, 2010, page 53, Invention No. 15 BioCouture).

The untimely death of the inventor is a great loss. Had she lived longer she could have proceded in pursuing this pioneering discovery. Nata surgical thread was invented by another student at SPU the following year. ~