The energy yield from a gram of fatty acids is approximately 9 kcal, compared to 4 kcal/g for proteins and carbohydrates.
PGD2, an eicosanoid derived from essential fatty acids, promotes sleep.
Mg2+ is an important mineral as it is a cofactor in several steps in glycolysis.
Glutathione (an antioxidant with a TV ad) if taken orally is not well absorbed across the GI tract. However, glutathione concentrations can be raised by increased intake of the precursor cysteine.
Instead of having a labor union some manufacturing firms in export processing zones here opted to have a cooperative. Some examples are Yazaki and Intel. A mayor I was talking with earlier says that union fees in such firms amounts to several million pesos yearly. With this money, expectedly, unions are over politicized. This even resulted to the death of some union leaders in the past. (Some says pinapatay ng kalabang pulitiko, etc.)
I want to go to Palau. I have a college classmate from there who graduated magna cum laude. The brother of a Palau-an senator visited us earlier. They are into grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) farming and are looking for source of their inputs as there are no manufacturing plants in that place. Their main source of income is from tourism and the islands is a US territory. Their farming technology is from Israel and they're planning on selling live groupers in Japan, Hongkong and Taiwan. Yes, the usual reason: groupers are believed to have medicinal properties and have aphrodisiac effect if cooked/boiled live.
DOLE - It's very useful for employees and employers. The Labor Code is dissected and presented in a question and answer form which makes it easy to understand.
I'm excited about going back to school tomorrow after a very long semestral break. This semester I would be taking four (!) animal science subjects: 3 majors and 1 elective.
I have already asked permission from my employer that I be allowed to attend my classes on work hours on every Wednesdays and Fridays this sem. The trade off is for me to come to work in Saturday mornings. Not bad.
This sem would be different from my previous because last sem my subjects were mostly unrelated to my specialization (except for one, Biochem). I was enrolled in Experimental Design, Biochem, CISM (a computer course which I really enjoyed) and Economics. Considering that I didn't have any background in econ, this is the subject that I appreciated much and since this is an econ subject that focuses on project analysis, it's very useful in my kind of work. Yup, from planning, conceptualization to analysis and evaluation of agricultural projects.
My personal acad goals this sem:
Relearn the basics. This would give me fresh perspective on the cases that I handle.
Learn to read faster than usual.
Enhance my mental and manual computation skills. To be able to calculate fast without using a computer.
To be able to make fast qualitative evaluation of RMs with just my senses.
Thoroughly understand all the analytical tests being done in the lab.
To ask the questions I failed to ask when I was on college. :-)
I don't know if you notice them, but throughout Metro Manila and nearby provinces, including Cavite, ambulant calamares sellers abound. Did you know that this particular product adversely affected the farm-gate price of quail eggs? Quail eggs sell at 70-80 pesos per box (hundred eggs per box) before the influx of these calamares from China. For the past three months, its price plunged to beyond break-even 50-60 pesos per box! Earlier this day, I was talking to a quail farmer and he was very happy that the price of quail eggs is rebounding. He says that most of the ambulant quail egg vendors have shifted to calamares because of better income (due to the very low cost of calamares) which decreased the demand for quail eggs. His seaman neighbor, instead of boarding another ship, shifted to selling calamares and earns more than 3000 pesos a day! His case against China calamares:
Kinilabutan ako dito. I hope it doesn't happen again and doesn't happen to other kids. Yes, we could be blamed for this. Imagine, she's just a sixth grader....
Girl who killed self lamented family’s poverty in diary
November 07, 2007 Updated 22:00:31 (Mla time) Nico Alconaba Inquirer
DAVAO CITY, Philippines -- A 12-year-old girl, who became despondent over her family’s poverty, hanged herself inside their makeshift house a day after her father told her he could not give her the P100 she needed for a school project.
Using a thin nylon rope, 12-year-old Mariannet Amper hanged herself in the afternoon of November 2. She was a sixth grader at the Maa Central Elementary School.
Her father, Isabelo, 49, who was out of job as a construction worker, said Mariannet asked him for P100 which she needed for school projects, on the night of November 1. He told his daughter that he did not have the money yet but he would ask his wife if she could get some money for her. The morning after, however, he was able to get a P1,000 cash advance for a construction work on a downtown chapel.
By the time he got home, Mariannet already lay dead.
"Duda nako nga tungod ni sa kalisod namo (I suspect that she did it because of our situation)," Isabelo said.
Going through Mariannet's things, her parents saw her school "talaarawan" or diary.
In her October 5 entry, Mariannet wrote: "Parang isang buwan na kaming absent. Hindi na kasi nakin (sic) binibilang ang absent ko. Hindi ko namalayan na malapit na pala ang Pasko." [It feels as if we’ve been absent for a month. They’re not counting my absences anymore. I just realized that Christmas is just around the corner.]
Isabelo recalled that in that week, Mariannet skipped school as they did not have money for her food and transportation allowance.
"We did not have any money and I didn't want Mariannet and her younger brother (Reynald) to walk to school," he said in Bisaya.
But Isabelo clarified that Mariannet was absent for only three days. "For her, three days was like one month," he said.
On October 14, Mariannet wrote in her diary: "Hindi kami nakapagsimba dahil wala kaming pamasahe at nilalagnat pa ang aking tatay kaya nanglaba na lang kami ng aking nanay." [We were not able to hear mass because we did not have fare money and my dad was sick with fever. So, my mom and I just washed clothes.]
Along with her diary, the Ampers also discovered a letter Mariannet wrote for the GMA 7 television program "Wish Ko Lang [I just Wish]."
"Gusto ko po sana magkaroon ng bagong sapatos at bag at hanapbuhay para sa nanay at tatay ko. Wala kasing hanapbuhay ang tatay at nagpa-extra extra lamang ang aking nanay sa paglalaba," she said in her "Wish Ko Lang" letter. [I wish for new shoes, a bag and jobs for my mother and father. My dad does not have a job and my mom just gets laundry jobs.]
"Gusto ko na makatapos ako sa pag-aaral at gustong-gusto ko na makabili ng bagong bike," she added. [I would like to finish my schooling and I would like very much to buy a new bike.]
That letter, apparently written while Mariannet was still 11 years old, was never sent to "Wish Ko Lang."
"We never knew that our daughter had dreams for us," Isabelo said.
Isabelo's wife, Magdalena, works part-time "repacking" odong and misua in a nearby factory, earning at least P50 a day. She also does laundry jobs on the side, receiving P100 to P150.
Isabelo, on the other hand, is in and out of work.
"I'm already old, no one would want to hire me," he said.
The Ampers live in a hillside community at the back of the Yñiguez Subdivision in Maa District. They do not have electricity and water supply.
Of the seven children, only Mariannet and Reynald are left with their parents as most are grown up and have families of their own.
Even with only two children left to feed, the Ampers still have a hard time surviving.
A neighbor said that even in this "mostly poor" neighborhood, the Ampers were being discriminated against.
"Ayaw makipaglaro ng ibang bata sa kanila dahil madudungis daw sila," the neighbor said. [The other kids do not want to play with them because they’re dirty.]
"Mahirap na nga sila, ni-reject pa ng ibang kapitbahay," she added. [They’re poor and they’re rejected by their neighbors.]
This was taken at an old house in Taal, Batangas in 1996. This is a requirement in History 1 under Mr. Diestro. ----- The caption is supposed to read 1st Sem 1996! Sign of old age.
This photo was taken 1995 in our Sociology class field trip. We went to several municipalities in the south of Palawan to find and immerse with Palawan tribes people. As we were heading home, we had our photo taken with some Palawan. From left are Nena Tabinga, Imelda Ambe, Sheryl Lagan, Aileen Perez, Vernalou, Benedict (Yup, it's him!), Junver, Venus, Me, Cheryl Christine Justo, Jonathan Rago, Laila Sebido, Cza Cabanlig, and Sonny Magbanua.
This was during my SA (Student Assistant) days. We were offered a trip to Baguio City by our boss (Dr. Landicho). In photo are Drs. Jill, Arcee and Joma, Tita Linda Eres (an expert in MS Word, my mentor), her children and Ms Excel's brother. Photo was taken by Ms Excel (Nori Manalo), my tutor in MS Excel.
This photo was taken 1995 in our Sociology class field trip. We went to several municipalities in the south of Palawan to find and immerse with Palawan tribes people. As we were heading home, we had our photo taken with some Palawan. From left are Nena Tabinga, Imelda Ambe, Sheryl Lagan, Aileen Perez, Vernalou, Benedict (Yup, it's him!), Junver, Venus, Me, Cheryl Christine Justo, Jonathan Rago, Laila Sebido, Cza Cabanlig, and Sonny Magbanua.
