Monday, July 30, 2018
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Part 1 - The Music of Nature - the most therapeutic sound on earth
Listen to the Music of Nature!
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Identify the sounds of nature in this painting, translate them into notes. Arrange the notes into melody, and expand it into a composition.Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition.Mural detail, Nature: Rivulets and Streams, AVR 2011
Ethnic music makes a wholesome life; it is therapy.
Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores? They have songs when rowing the boat, songs when planting or harvesting, songs of praise at sunrise, songs while walking up and down the trail, etc. Seldom is there an activity without music. To them the sounds of nature make a wholesome music.
According to researcher Leonora Nacorda Collantes, of the UST graduate school, music influences the limbic system, called the “seat of emotions” and causes emotional response and mood change. Musical rhythms synchronize body rhythms, mediate within the sphere of the autonomous nervous and endocrine systems, and change the heart and respiratory rate. Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well being of the individual.
Music is closely associated with everyday life among village folks more than it is to us living in the city. The natives find content and relaxation beside a waterfall, on the riverbank, under the trees, in fact there is to them music in silence under the stars, on the meadow, at sunset, at dawn. Breeze, crickets, running water, make a repetitious melody that induces sleep. Humming indicates that one likes his or her work, and can go on for hours without getting tired at it. Boat songs make rowing synchronized. Planting songs make the deities of the field happy, so they believe; and songs at harvest are thanksgiving. Indeed the natives are a happy lot.
Farm animals respond favorably to music, so with plants.
In a holding pen in Lipa, Batangas, where newly arrived heifers from Australia were kept, the head rancher related to his guests the role of music in calming the animals. “We have to acclimatize them first before dispersing them to the pasture and feedlot.” He pointed at the sound system playing melodious music. In the duration of touring the place I was able to pick up the music of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Bach. It is like being in a high rise office in Makati where pipe in music is played to add to pleasant ambiance of working. Scientists believe that the effect of music on humans has some similarity with that of animals, and most probably to plants.
Which brings us to the observation of a winemaker in Vienna. A certain Carlo Cagnozzi has been piping Mozart music to his grapevines for the last five years. He claims that playing round the clock to his grapes has a dramatic effect. “The grapes ripen faster,” he said, adding that it also keeps away parasites, fruit bats and birds. Scientists are now studying this claim to enlarge the limited knowledge on the physiological and psychological effects of music on plants and animals.
Once I asked a poultry raiser in Teresa, Rizal, who also believes in music therapy. “The birds grow faster and produce more eggs,” he said. “In fact music has stopped cannibalism.” I got the same positive response from cattle raisers where the animals are tied to their quarters until they are ready for market. “They just doze off, even when they are munching,” he said, adding that tension and unnecessary movement drain the animals wasting feeds that would increase the rate of daily weight gain. In a report from one of the educational TV programs, loud metallic noise stimulates termites to eat faster, and therefore create more havoc.
There is one warning posed by the proponents of music therapy. Rough and blaring music agitates the adrenalin in the same way rock music could bring down the house.
The enchantment of ethnic music is different from that of contemporary music.
Each kind of music has its own quality, but music being a universal language, definitely has commonalities. For example, the indigenous lullaby, quite often an impromptu, has a basic pattern with that of Brahms’s Lullaby and Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan (Sweet Sound of the Cradle). The range of notes, beat, tone, expression - the naturalness of a mother half-singing, half-talking to her baby, all these create a wholesome effect that binds maternal relationship, brings peace and comfort, care and love.
Serenades from different parts the world have a common touch. Compare Tosselli’sSerenade with that of our Antonio Molina’s Hating Gabi (Midnight) and you will find similarities in pattern and structure, exuding the effect that enhances the mood of lovers. This quality is more appreciated in listening to the Kundiman (Kung Hindi Man, which means, If It Can’t Be). Kundiman is a trademark of classical Filipino composers, the greatest of them, Nicanor Abelardo. His famous compositions are
· Bituin Marikit (Beautiful Star)
· Nasaan Ka Irog (Where are You My Love)
· Mutya ng Pasig (Muse of the River Pasig)
· Pakiusap (I beg to Say)
War drums on the other hand, build passion, heighten courage, and prepare the mind and body to face the challenge. It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte taught only the drumbeat of forward, and never that of retreat, to the legendary Drummer Boy. As a consequence, we know what happened to the drummer boy. Pathetic though it may be, it's one of the favorite songs of Christmas.
Classical music is patterned after natural music.
The greatest composers are nature lovers – Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and our own Abelardo, Molina, Santiago, and San Pedro. Beethoven, the greatest naturalist among the world’s composers was always passionately fond of nature, spending many long holidays in the country. Always with a notebook in his pocket, he scribbled down ideas, melodies or anything he observed. It was this love of the countryside that inspired him to write his famous Pastoral Symphony. If you listen to it carefully, you can hear the singing of birds, a tumbling waterfall and gamboling lambs. Even if you are casually listening you cannot miss the magnificent thunderstorm when it comes in the fourth movement.
Lately the medical world took notice of Mozart music and found out that the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart music can enhance brain power. In a test conducted, a student who listened to the Sonata in D major for Two Pianos performed better in spatial reason. Mozart music was also found to reduce the frequency of seizure among coma patients, improved the interaction of autistic children, and is a great help to people who are suffering of Alzheimer’s disease. The proponents of Mozart’s music call this therapeutic powerMozart Effect.
What really is this special effect? A closer look at it shows similar therapeutic effect with many sounds like the noise of the surf breaking on the shore, rustling of leaves in the breeze, syncopated movement of a pendulum, cantabile of hammock, and even in the silence of a cumulus cloud building in the sky. It is the same way Mozart repeated his melodies, turning upside down and inside out which the brain loves such a pattern, often repeated regularly. about the same length of time as brain-wave patterns and those that govern regular bodily functions such as breathing and walking. It is this frequency of patterns in Mozart music that moderates irregular patterns of epilepsy patients, tension-building hormones, and unpleasant thoughts.
No one tires with the rhythm of nature – the tides, waves, flowing rivulets, gusts of wind, bird songs, the fiddling of crickets, and the shrill of cicada. In the recesses of a happy mind, one could hear the earth waking up in spring, laughing in summer, yawning in autumn and snoring in winter – and waking up again the next year, and so on, ad infinitum. ~
Katydid, (upper photo) a long horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera), and the field cricket (Acheta bimaculata) are the world's most popular fiddlers in the insect world.
And, of course the Caruso in the animal kingdom - the frog. Here a pair of green pond frogs, attracted by their songs which are actually mating calls, will soon settle down in silent mating that last for hours.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Identify the sounds of nature in this painting, translate them into notes. Arrange the notes into melody, and expand it into a composition.Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition.Mural detail, Nature: Rivulets and Streams, AVR 2011
Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores? They have songs when rowing the boat, songs when planting or harvesting, songs of praise at sunrise, songs while walking up and down the trail, etc. Seldom is there an activity without music. To them the sounds of nature make a wholesome music.
According to researcher Leonora Nacorda Collantes, of the UST graduate school, music influences the limbic system, called the “seat of emotions” and causes emotional response and mood change. Musical rhythms synchronize body rhythms, mediate within the sphere of the autonomous nervous and endocrine systems, and change the heart and respiratory rate. Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well being of the individual.
Music is closely associated with everyday life among village folks more than it is to us living in the city. The natives find content and relaxation beside a waterfall, on the riverbank, under the trees, in fact there is to them music in silence under the stars, on the meadow, at sunset, at dawn. Breeze, crickets, running water, make a repetitious melody that induces sleep. Humming indicates that one likes his or her work, and can go on for hours without getting tired at it. Boat songs make rowing synchronized. Planting songs make the deities of the field happy, so they believe; and songs at harvest are thanksgiving. Indeed the natives are a happy lot.
Farm animals respond favorably to music, so with plants.
In a holding pen in Lipa, Batangas, where newly arrived heifers from Australia were kept, the head rancher related to his guests the role of music in calming the animals. “We have to acclimatize them first before dispersing them to the pasture and feedlot.” He pointed at the sound system playing melodious music. In the duration of touring the place I was able to pick up the music of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Bach. It is like being in a high rise office in Makati where pipe in music is played to add to pleasant ambiance of working. Scientists believe that the effect of music on humans has some similarity with that of animals, and most probably to plants.
Which brings us to the observation of a winemaker in Vienna. A certain Carlo Cagnozzi has been piping Mozart music to his grapevines for the last five years. He claims that playing round the clock to his grapes has a dramatic effect. “The grapes ripen faster,” he said, adding that it also keeps away parasites, fruit bats and birds. Scientists are now studying this claim to enlarge the limited knowledge on the physiological and psychological effects of music on plants and animals.
Once I asked a poultry raiser in Teresa, Rizal, who also believes in music therapy. “The birds grow faster and produce more eggs,” he said. “In fact music has stopped cannibalism.” I got the same positive response from cattle raisers where the animals are tied to their quarters until they are ready for market. “They just doze off, even when they are munching,” he said, adding that tension and unnecessary movement drain the animals wasting feeds that would increase the rate of daily weight gain. In a report from one of the educational TV programs, loud metallic noise stimulates termites to eat faster, and therefore create more havoc.
There is one warning posed by the proponents of music therapy. Rough and blaring music agitates the adrenalin in the same way rock music could bring down the house.
The enchantment of ethnic music is different from that of contemporary music.
Each kind of music has its own quality, but music being a universal language, definitely has commonalities. For example, the indigenous lullaby, quite often an impromptu, has a basic pattern with that of Brahms’s Lullaby and Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan (Sweet Sound of the Cradle). The range of notes, beat, tone, expression - the naturalness of a mother half-singing, half-talking to her baby, all these create a wholesome effect that binds maternal relationship, brings peace and comfort, care and love.
Serenades from different parts the world have a common touch. Compare Tosselli’sSerenade with that of our Antonio Molina’s Hating Gabi (Midnight) and you will find similarities in pattern and structure, exuding the effect that enhances the mood of lovers. This quality is more appreciated in listening to the Kundiman (Kung Hindi Man, which means, If It Can’t Be). Kundiman is a trademark of classical Filipino composers, the greatest of them, Nicanor Abelardo. His famous compositions are
· Bituin Marikit (Beautiful Star)
· Nasaan Ka Irog (Where are You My Love)
· Mutya ng Pasig (Muse of the River Pasig)
· Pakiusap (I beg to Say)
War drums on the other hand, build passion, heighten courage, and prepare the mind and body to face the challenge. It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte taught only the drumbeat of forward, and never that of retreat, to the legendary Drummer Boy. As a consequence, we know what happened to the drummer boy. Pathetic though it may be, it's one of the favorite songs of Christmas.
Classical music is patterned after natural music.
The greatest composers are nature lovers – Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and our own Abelardo, Molina, Santiago, and San Pedro. Beethoven, the greatest naturalist among the world’s composers was always passionately fond of nature, spending many long holidays in the country. Always with a notebook in his pocket, he scribbled down ideas, melodies or anything he observed. It was this love of the countryside that inspired him to write his famous Pastoral Symphony. If you listen to it carefully, you can hear the singing of birds, a tumbling waterfall and gamboling lambs. Even if you are casually listening you cannot miss the magnificent thunderstorm when it comes in the fourth movement.
Lately the medical world took notice of Mozart music and found out that the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart music can enhance brain power. In a test conducted, a student who listened to the Sonata in D major for Two Pianos performed better in spatial reason. Mozart music was also found to reduce the frequency of seizure among coma patients, improved the interaction of autistic children, and is a great help to people who are suffering of Alzheimer’s disease. The proponents of Mozart’s music call this therapeutic powerMozart Effect.
What really is this special effect? A closer look at it shows similar therapeutic effect with many sounds like the noise of the surf breaking on the shore, rustling of leaves in the breeze, syncopated movement of a pendulum, cantabile of hammock, and even in the silence of a cumulus cloud building in the sky. It is the same way Mozart repeated his melodies, turning upside down and inside out which the brain loves such a pattern, often repeated regularly. about the same length of time as brain-wave patterns and those that govern regular bodily functions such as breathing and walking. It is this frequency of patterns in Mozart music that moderates irregular patterns of epilepsy patients, tension-building hormones, and unpleasant thoughts.
No one tires with the rhythm of nature – the tides, waves, flowing rivulets, gusts of wind, bird songs, the fiddling of crickets, and the shrill of cicada. In the recesses of a happy mind, one could hear the earth waking up in spring, laughing in summer, yawning in autumn and snoring in winter – and waking up again the next year, and so on, ad infinitum. ~
Katydid, (upper photo) a long horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera), and the field cricket (Acheta bimaculata) are the world's most popular fiddlers in the insect world.
And, of course the Caruso in the animal kingdom - the frog. Here a pair of green pond frogs, attracted by their songs which are actually mating calls, will soon settle down in silent mating that last for hours.Part 2 - The Music of Nature - the most therapeutic sound on earth
Listen to the Music of Nature!
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Living with Nature School on Blog
Identify the sounds of nature in these paintings and photograpghs, translate them into notes. Arrange the notes into melody, and expand it into musical compositions cum lyrics. Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition.
Figure 1 - Pinsal Falls (Sta Maria, Ilocos Sur)
Figure 2 - Migration of Birds
Figure 3 - Idyllic Farm Life in October (painting by AVR)
Figure 4 - Raging Twin Falls of Patapat (Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte)
Figure 5 - Sunken Pier (Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur)
Figure 6 - Friendly Love Birds (Safari, Thailand)
Figure 7 - Kite Flying detail of mural, AVR
Figure 8 - Seashore Combers Reflecting, (Calatagan, Batangas)
Figure 9 - Norfolk Pines on Tagaytay
Figure 10 - Rainbow across Bamban River, Tarlac
Figure 11 - Sea Urchins (Camindoroan, San Juan Ilocos Sur)
Figure 12 - Bikal Bamboo Grove (Tagaytay)
Figure 13 - Playing among the Saints (Manaoag, Pangasinan)
Figure 14 - On a Clear Day (Parks and Wildlife Center, QC)
Figure 15 - Sabado Gloria at Suso Beach (Sta Maria, IS)
Figure 16 - Honeybee at Work, Amadeo, Cavite
Figure 17 - Talisay Tree in autumn air, QC
Figure 18 - Bamboo Grove Playground (Taal, Batangas)
Figure 19 - Bamboo Xylophone, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Figure 20 - Author listening to the sea with conch shells
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
A Day with Animals
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
― Mahatma Gandhi
― Mahatma Gandhi
Dr Abe V Rotor
Tiger pet at Baluarte park,
be as tame as a cat;
its genes, still wild in fact,
caution's on our part.
An Arabian camel in Ilocos region,
fit in the dry months from October,
but come monsoon for the carabao;
wonder how they can live together.
Thailand, its imprimatur the elephant,
stately dressed to ride with pride;
yet beast of burden most of its life,
its kin endangered in the wild.
A baby elephant longing for mother and company,
what is love and freedom, a not too happy story.
Illegal trade of endangered species -
monitor lizard and boa constrictor,
flushed out from Pinatubo's eruption,
for exotic cuisine or pet collector.
A reticulated python, an attraction in a zoo,
educational, and recreational, too;
what message can we get in befriending it,
is to implant Reverence for Life value.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Eight Designs of Nature in Photos and Verses
Eight Designs of Nature in Photos
and Verses
"Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself."
- L. Wolfe Gilbert
Dr Abe V Rotor
A frond at birth questions the world,
if it can by its rules afford;
and knowing not to decipher neither
lose nor gain, sans to wither
and die before its prime and its kind
all by chance and magic bind.
A veil it rises to meet the sun,
every leaf a golden shield,
to catch its rays to build new life
to other creatures shall yield.
Tapestry in radial form like funnel,
living labyrinth, like Nature's bell.
sans trunk, branches and flower,
it's umbrella to catch the shower.
sans trunk, branches and flower,
it's umbrella to catch the shower.
Tongue of destruction,
matter back to energy;
sans known destination
in undefinable fury.
Deciduous trees in summer season,
unveil heaven through bars of branches;
wonder how the Creator would look
at us instead beneath these arches.
orphaned too soon, to where
this mass of cloud is bound;
would you call this freedom?
bigness like the dinosaur;
their doom's common for sure,
legend and science would tell.
It's a pathway, a cobbled walk,
the feet walks, none shall thrive,
grass may die but not the moss
that keeps the bare walk alive.
The making of an effective professor-researcher
The making of an effective professor-researcher
Dr Abe V Rotor
Professor Rey Pedoche (Media), Dr Anselmo Cabigan (Biology and Agriculture), AVRotor(Biology and Ecology), and Dr Manuel Martinez (Business and Psycvhology)
Here is a framework of a lecture on the subject, "What make an effective professor-researcher?" This serves as a guide to practitioners in the academe.
Ways of Researchers
- Hook and Line
- White Gown
- “Frankenstein”
- Entrepreneur
- Continuing
- The Age of Becoming (adventure and discovery)
- The Age of Overcoming (mastery)
- Age of the Forthcoming (Integrity and Harmony)
- Youth – Blunder, also Opportunity
- Middle Age – Regret, also Fulfillment
- Old Age – Curse, also Wisdom
- He is here and he is not here; anywhere but here.
- Often unhappy with what he has, with where he is.
- Imagines success, happiness and contentment to be external and distant
- Not physically, emotionally and spiritually involved.
- He is not living fully; he is Tomorrow’s Child.
- He wants to be in control in everything and everyone.
- Deep inside he does not trust himself.
- Very organized but always worried.
- Afraid to take the initiative, drifts with the current
- Creature of routine
- Contented with mediocrity
- Incurable critic
- Always complaining
- Envious and jealous
- He has insatiable want, forgetting what he truly needs.
- He is trapped in the fear of losing what he has.
- He needs to escape from the suffocating clutches of his possession
- His self-image relies on public approval (KSP)
- He can’t say, NO without feeling guilty.
- He overburdens himself with promises he can’t fulfill
- He wears many masks he has forgotten his real face.
- A jack of all trades, a master of none.
- He is excessively devoted to or burdened compulsively and habitually at something or someone.
- He is obsessed with alcohol, smoking, sex, TV, computer, money, and car - even religion.
- Humility – sincerely accepting “who I am and what I am doing that I can, to become what God wants me to be.”
- Simplicity – focusing one’s attention on what truly matters in life.
- Integrity – (integer is whole) wholeness leads to holiness.
1. Practice your religion. Religion is the most profound revolution.
- Life is a journey (We pass this way but once.)
- Life is beautiful (If you don’t see it, you will miss it.)
- Life is precious (Don’t miss the happy moments.)
- Life is short (If you don’t look around, you will miss it.)
- Breath, rest, take time out (Sabbath Day, siesta and holiday)
3. Be prepared to experience the Crises of Limit
- Crucial periods and vulnerability
- Know the boundaries, borders and confines
- The Unfinished Business
- The crisis of bodily change. The body never lies.
- The crisis of effectiveness
- The crisis of death awareness
“Everyday I am doing something beautiful to God.” - Mother Theresa
“Totus tuus.” (Everything I do, I do for God.” - Pope John Paul II
“Don’t judge yourself with what you do, but the meaning of your work,” - Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven
Acknowledgment: Lecture presented by AV Rotor in a faculty seminar at the University of Perpetual Help Rizal, Graduate School in Arts and Education. This outline was gathered and organized from a seminar-workshop conducted in for the UST Graduate School professors by Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, current rector of the university. Note: I encourage the readers to write a full article based on this outline, and send a copy of the same for posting in this Blog, and for inclusion in the lessons of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid.
Friday, July 20, 2018
The Mosquito – World’s Deadliest Creature
The Mosquito – World’s Deadliest Creature
Re-written and updated to address the extreme importance to be vigilant against the present outbreak of Dengue in the country. This article includes news about the deadly Zia virus, which threatens many parts of the world.
Dengue mosquito (Aedes) after feeding. (Internet)
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]
Virtually no one escapes this cosmopolitan uncanny vampire, that hardly a day passes without sustaining a surreptitious bite from it.
The mosquito follows wherever man goes, and oftentimes is even ahead in the frontiers. Its is there in the polar regions of Siberia, marshes of tropical America and Asia, at the Dead Sea basin, 1,300 feet below sea level, and on the Andes and Himalayas.
They come in armies or swarms but are not true colonies like those of the bees and ants. Swarming is just an accident of enormous population buildup concentrated in a local breeding area.
The mosquito changed the course of history. When irrigation canals built by the Babylonians joined the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a vast swamp developed and became infested with malaria. It was here Alexander the Great and his powerful army lost - to malaria.
The mosquito has successfully defended the wildlife bastions such as the Amazon, the jungles of India and Africa, and the forest islands of the Pacific. The development of the tropics - the mosquito belt - was retarded for centuries, and mosquitoes almost prevented the building of the Panama and Suez Canals.
The mosquito occupies a vital link in the food chain, being a major food source for fish and amphibians. Fishes feed upon its larvae, the wrigglers, while the adults are frog's favorite. Man's dependence on fish, - which are dependent on mosquitoes in turn - places him at the apex of the food pyramid. There is only one guarantee that man continues to occupy this position - if he is willing to shed blood for it. Without blood, mosquito eggs fail to hatch and without a sip once in every 25 generations, its particular generation dies out, thus breaking the food chain and toppling the food pyramid.
In today's modern living, with technological breakthroughs in pests and disease control, human encounters with the once dreaded mosquito have been reduced mainly to physical annoyance and "pesky" problems. This is not however, entirely true as we shall see later.
Here are some questions commonly raised about the mosquito, and their scientific answers to update our acquaintance with our old enemy and friend.
Q. Do mosquitoes bite only warm-blooded animals?
A. In general yes, but there are also species of mosquitoes that bite turtles and snakes.
Q. Do all mosquitoes bite?
A. Only the female mosquito does. The regular food of adult, male mosquitoes is plant sap and nectar.
Q. How are mosquitoes able to locate their suitable hosts?
A. They have chemoreceptors - a combination of smell and touch - located at the plumose antennae and hairy legs. These are sensitive to heat waves and odor emitted by the hosts.
Q. Do mosquitoes invade places far from their breeding grounds?
A. Yes, although they seldom travel farther than 1000 feet from their birthplace. Mass raids have been monitored to as far as 50 to 75 miles away, the swarm usually riding on air currents.
_________________________________________________________
The British named their bombers and reconnaissance planes in World War II, Mosquito, so with the Italians for their anti-tank rockets – a tribute to the superb agility of this pesky minutia.
_________________________________________________________
Q. What is the needle of the mosquito made of?
A. Actually it is a sheath bundle of modified mouthparts, the equivalent of teeth, lips and whiskers elongated to form a drill, siphon, probe and guide and rolled into a needle or proboscis.
Q. How can this tiny needle penetrate tough skin and clothing?
A. It works on the principle of jackhammer with high frequency.
Q. What prevents blood from clotting in the body of the mosquito?
A. The blood, before it is sucked, is first thinned by the mosquito's saliva, which contains an anti-coagulant substance. It has also an anesthesia effect on the host.
Q. Is this the reason why we do not feel a mosquito bite at once?
A. Yes, and probably the location of the bite is away from a nerve.
Q. Why do mosquitoes make their presence known by buzzing near the ear?
A. This is not true. They simply whine and emit short wave buzzing which is picked up when passing near the ear. (Wing beat is 600 per second, and the cymbal sound-producing membrane vibrates nearly 7000 cycles per second.).
Q. How do you recognize disease-carrying species from one another?
A. Anopheles, the malaria carrier has its head, body, and proboscis in straight line to each other but at an angle to the resting surface. It has spotted colorings on the wings. Its wrigglers lie parallel to the water surface.
Culex, the carrier of viral encephalitis and filariasis holds its body parallel to the resting surface. Its scaly proboscis is bent and uniform in color. Its wrigglers are slender and long with breathing tubes covered with hair tufts.
Aedes, the carrier of yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis, holds body parallel to the resting surface with proboscis bent down, thorax silvery with white markings. Its wrigglers are short and stout with breathing tubes containing a pair of tufts. They hang from the water surface at 45 degrees angle.
When you see a mosquito resting, or wrigglers hanging down from the surface of a pond, use the above reference.
Q. How serious is Dengue fever? How can it be controlled?
A. The disease threatens two billion people in 100 countries. In 1998 alone, 514 died of Dengue in the Philippines with one death for every 100 patients who were mostly children. Metro Manila had the highest incidence with more than six thousand cases. Since the disease is specifically transmitted by Aedes egpypti, the key to the control of the disease is the extermination of the breeding places of the mosquito vector.
Q. Do mosquitoes follow certain feeding hours?
A. Yes. For example, the Anopholes or malarial mosquito bites chiefly in the evening and early morning, while the Aedes bites during the day.
Q. How fast do mosquitoes multiply?
A. In a year's time there may be from 15 to 20 generations produced. At the normal rate of 100 eggs laid per generation, a common mosquito could spawn 31 billion descendants in six generations.
Q. What attracts mosquitoes?
A. They are attracted by the regular breathing, color and texture of clothing, and odor. Dr. A. Brown of the University of Ontario reported that the rate of breathing is the principal factor in attracting mosquitoes. He also found that only one-tenth landed on white clothing than on dark or black material. The texture most avoided is luminescent satin. A person who has not taken a bath gets more mosquito bites. Try it.
Q. What is the best insecticide to make our homes "mosquito- proof?"
A. When DDT was not yet banned, 200 milligrams of the powder could give effective proofing from 6 to 12 months. Dieldrin at 50 milligrams gives a three-month proofing. Carbamates, like Sevin, are preferred. Even if they have shorter residual effect, they are safer to health and the environment. Eucalyptus trees in the surroundings repel mosquitoes. Now and then smudge the area by burning dried leaves of Eucalyptus specially in the afternoon.
Q. Do mosquitoes develop resistance to chemicals?
A. Yes, through biological specialization, survivors from previous sprayings tend to carry on a certain degree of resistance, which could be passed on to the next generation. Chemical control should be judiciously practiced to cushion this phenomenon. Return to plant derivative insecticide like pyrethrum, rotenone, nicotine and derris is highly recommended.
Q. How does a film of oil on water kill mosquito wrigglers?
A. When they stick their tails out of the water to breath, the oil slick clogs the breathing tube, thus resulting to asphyxiation.
Q. If it is impractical to drain the breeding ground of mosquitoes, how do we get rid of wrigglers and pupae?
A. Keep the water free from organic matter and scum which are food of wrigglers. Better still, put some fish, like kataba (Poecilia) and Gambusia, to feed on them.
Q. Do mosquitoes fight each other?
A. They seldom engage in combat, but there are species, which have preying habits. These are Toxorphynchites nornatus, T. splendens, and T. brevipalpis which were introduced into Hawaii, Fiji, Australia and Southeast Asia to control pest mosquitoes. Their wrigglers are larger and larvivorous, feeding on the smaller wrigglers of other mosquito species.
Next time a mosquito comes buzzing around your ears, take the message seriously because it is the world’s deadliest creature. More people have died because of its bite than all who perished in all wars combined.
x x x
What is the Zika virus? Everything you need to know about the outbreak
ZIKA virus could spread to Europe this summer, world health leaders have warned. But what is it and what threats does it pose?
By Becky Fletcher and Alice Foster
GETTY Zika virus: 1.5 million people xxx infectedThe risk in Europe is highest on the island of Madeira and the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea, according to the World Health Organisation.
In its first assessment of the threat Zika poses to Europe, the WHO’s European office classified the overall risk as small to moderate.
In February the WHO declared a global health emergency over the Zika virus. The outbreak has now spread to more than 50 countries.
Here is everything you need to know about the disease, symptoms and ways to prevent its spread.
What is the Zika virus? The virus - a once rare disease confined to the depths of subtropical Africa - was first identified in Uganda in 1947.
It is an “arbovirus” - spread by mosquitoes and belongs to the same family as dengue fever and the chikungunya virus.
Because the virus has been so rare prior to 2015, there has been little research in to the virus, meaning it is difficult to clinically diagnose someone.
GETTY The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes
How is Zika virus spread? The virus is spread by a certain type of mosquito that transmits the disease when it bites someone infected with Zika, and then goes on to bite another person.
In some cases, Zika virus is transmitted through sex.
What are the symptoms of Zika virus? Only one in five of the infected is thought to develop symptoms including, mild fever, sore eyes, headache, joint pain and a red, bumpy rash.
The illness is mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week. Those who have it are advised to rest, drink plenty of fluids and take medicines to reduce pain and fever.
Because four out of five don’t develop symptoms, virologists are concerned that it could be easily spread by people who don’t know they have the Zika virus.
Zika virus may reach Europe this summer Wed, May 18, 2016The Zika virus, an infectious disease linked to severe birth defects in babies, may spread into Europe as the weather gets warmer
Which birth defects can Zika virus cause? The biggest concern - and why so many pregnant women are being urged to avoid pregnancy - is microcephaly.
Microcephaly is a birth defect being associated to women who have been infected by the virus. It is caused by below normal brain development in utero.
Babies born with the birth defect have a below-average head size often caused by failure of brain to grow at a healthy and normal rate. There is a link between birth defects and the Zika virus The severity can vary, but some babies are left with brains so underdeveloped they might experience walking, sight, hearing and learning difficulties.
Children who survive face severe disabilities and possible seizures.The rates of microcephaly in Brazil shot up by 1,792 per cent between 2013 and 2015.
People should avoid getting bitten by using insect repellents, covering up with long-sleeved clothes and keep doors and windows closed.Pregnant women should not travel to affected areas.
Male travellers should wear condoms to prevent the transmission of Zika virus through sex.
In its first assessment of the threat Zika poses to Europe, the WHO’s European office classified the overall risk as small to moderate.
In February the WHO declared a global health emergency over the Zika virus. The outbreak has now spread to more than 50 countries.
Here is everything you need to know about the disease, symptoms and ways to prevent its spread.
What is the Zika virus? The virus - a once rare disease confined to the depths of subtropical Africa - was first identified in Uganda in 1947.
It is an “arbovirus” - spread by mosquitoes and belongs to the same family as dengue fever and the chikungunya virus.
Because the virus has been so rare prior to 2015, there has been little research in to the virus, meaning it is difficult to clinically diagnose someone.
GETTY The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes
How is Zika virus spread? The virus is spread by a certain type of mosquito that transmits the disease when it bites someone infected with Zika, and then goes on to bite another person.
In some cases, Zika virus is transmitted through sex.
Where has Zika virus been reported? Previous outbreaks were confined to small regions in Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
In May 2015 Zika virus was first reported in Brazil. The disease has since struck other parts of South America as well as Central America, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands
What are the symptoms of Zika virus? Only one in five of the infected is thought to develop symptoms including, mild fever, sore eyes, headache, joint pain and a red, bumpy rash.
The illness is mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week. Those who have it are advised to rest, drink plenty of fluids and take medicines to reduce pain and fever.
Because four out of five don’t develop symptoms, virologists are concerned that it could be easily spread by people who don’t know they have the Zika virus.
Zika virus may reach Europe this summer Wed, May 18, 2016The Zika virus, an infectious disease linked to severe birth defects in babies, may spread into Europe as the weather gets warmer
Which birth defects can Zika virus cause? The biggest concern - and why so many pregnant women are being urged to avoid pregnancy - is microcephaly.
Microcephaly is a birth defect being associated to women who have been infected by the virus. It is caused by below normal brain development in utero.
Babies born with the birth defect have a below-average head size often caused by failure of brain to grow at a healthy and normal rate. There is a link between birth defects and the Zika virus The severity can vary, but some babies are left with brains so underdeveloped they might experience walking, sight, hearing and learning difficulties.
Children who survive face severe disabilities and possible seizures.The rates of microcephaly in Brazil shot up by 1,792 per cent between 2013 and 2015.
How is Zika virus treated?
There is currently no vaccine for Zika virus. People should avoid getting bitten by using insect repellents, covering up with long-sleeved clothes and keep doors and windows closed.Pregnant women should not travel to affected areas.
Male travellers should wear condoms to prevent the transmission of Zika virus through sex.
ZIKA SEX WARNING: Mosquito virus linked to baby brain damage may spread via intercourse
THE Zika virus, which is causing panic across the Americas, could be passed on through sex, findings suggest.Two cases have been unearthered whereby Zika could have been spread sexually
The condition, which has been linked to birth defects and is rapidly spreading through Brazil, has been linked to intercourse twice in medical literature.
It has led to calls for urgent research into the virus.The first known case occurred when scientists found high levels of the virus in the semen of a 44-year-old man from French Polynesia.
The WHO says more evidence needs to be proven before a link between sex and Zika can be made
THE Zika virus, which is causing panic across the Americas, could be passed on through sex, findings suggest.Two cases have been unearthered whereby Zika could have been spread sexually
The condition, which has been linked to birth defects and is rapidly spreading through Brazil, has been linked to intercourse twice in medical literature.
It has led to calls for urgent research into the virus.The first known case occurred when scientists found high levels of the virus in the semen of a 44-year-old man from French Polynesia.
The WHO says more evidence needs to be proven before a link between sex and Zika can be made
Neither passed the disease to their kids or close family, so the couple believe it could have been sexually transmitted.
Health experts have said while the cases do not warrant a health warning, it should be investigated further. The World Health Organisation says more evidence is needed to prove that sexual contact is a means of transmitting the virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the cases are a “theoretical risk” but there is insufficient evidence to issue public health warnings.
Health experts have said while the cases do not warrant a health warning, it should be investigated further. The World Health Organisation says more evidence is needed to prove that sexual contact is a means of transmitting the virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the cases are a “theoretical risk” but there is insufficient evidence to issue public health warnings.
The virus has been linked to a birth defect called microcephaly
Only 20 per cent of those infected show symptoms of the short-lived virus.
Typically symptoms include low-grade fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache, muscle and eye pain.
Only 20 per cent of those infected show symptoms of the short-lived virus.
Typically symptoms include low-grade fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache, muscle and eye pain.
The virus itself is not thought to be dangerous to most people but it has been linked to pregnant women and the birth defect microcephaly.
Countries in the affected regions are warning women to postpone
pregnancy until more is known about the previously rare virus.
Zika outbreak: What you need to know
By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website
The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency.
The infection is suspected of leading to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.
Some areas have declared a state of emergency, doctors have described it as "a pandemic in progress" and some are even advising women in affected countries to delay getting pregnant.
But there is much we do not know in this emerging infection.
What are the symptoms?
Deaths are rare and only one-in-five people infected is thought to develop symptoms.
These include:
mild fever
conjunctivitis (red, sore eyes)
headache
joint pain
a rash
A rare nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre syndrome, that can cause temporary paralysis has been linked to the infection.There is no vaccine or drug treatment so patients are advised to rest and drink plenty of fluids.
But the biggest concern is the impact it could have on babies developing in the womb and the surge in microcephaly.
What is microcephaly?
It is when a baby is born with an abnormally small head, as their brain has not developed properly.
The severity varies, but it can be deadly if the brain is so underdeveloped that it cannot regulate the functions vital to life. Children that do survive face intellectual disability and development delays.It can be caused by infections such as rubella, substance abuse during pregnancy or genetic abnormalities.
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