POST PRESS: A New Oil-Eating Bacteria Discovered

Using more than 200 samples collected from 17 deepwater sites between May 25 and June 2, scientists led by Terry Hazen reported on 24 August 2010 that they found a dominant microbe in the oil plume which turned out to be a new species, closely related to members of Oceanospirillales. It thrives in cold water, with temperatures in the deep recorded at 5 degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit).

Scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory noticed this suddenly flourishing bacteria at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although still unknown and unnamed, the microbe consumed oil droplets found underwater without significantly depleting oxygen in the water. Oxygen saturation outside the oil plume was 67 percent, while that within the plume was still 59 percent. Oil-eating microbes that consume large amounts of oxygen in the water can potentially create a "dead zone," an area where no oxygen was available, which is dangerous to other life underwater. (Photo by Associated Press) [Read the full report.]

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POST-PRESS: Narcissistic Disorder, Ground for Annulment

On 20 May 2011 (Friday), the First Division of the Philippine Court of Appeals dismissed the plea that Julie Balarbar, wife of 15 years of House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, filed questioning the November 25, 2010 decision of the Makati Regional Court declaring the marriage null and void on the ground that Balarbar had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Pyschiatric evaluation show a diagnosis of NPD with anti-social features, from her involvement in a shoplifting incident, her closeness to and trips abroad with her male students, and a kissing incident with a co-professor. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder Fourth Edition (DSM IV-TR) enumerated nine indicators of NPD, with only five of them needed for the diagnosis. It is not clear however which indicators have been found in the case of the Tañada annulment case. The Archdiocese of Manila also declared their canonical marriage void ab initio (void from the start) due to "gra

Omicron Updates

(Source: Penzit, 2015) UNITED KINGDOM As of 29 December 2021, the UK Health Security Agency reported the current status of its Omicron cases under emergency care. The lowest emergency admission rate is among those who received one dose of vaccine up to 21 days before specimen date: 0.1%. However, the overall rate for vaccinated individuals was very high at 72.5%. The unvaccinated emergency admission rate was 25.3%. (Source: SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern and Variants under Investigation in England , 31 December 2021, page 8)

Death By Heat Stroke in the Philippines

The hotter and earlier-onset El Niño phenomenon this year 2010 poses a threat to the Filipino lives. How much life it took? See incidence that reached the news. UPDATE On 19 May 2010, candidate army soldier Ericson Pascua (22) came on his first day of training in Isabela when he collapsed after a series of strenous exercise. Although rushed to the hospital immediately, he died shortly afterwards (around 11 a.m.) due to heat stroke. That day Isabela peaked at 38.2 degrees Celsius. Sixteen others were rushed to the hospital for dehydration and heat exhaustion. (Check report ) On 28 April 2010, a veteran Cavite cop, PO3 Florencio Gamana Alivio (48), succumbed to cardiac arrest as a result to heatstroke while having tae bo with his colleagues at the Cavite Police Provincial Office (CPPO) grounds in Camp General Pantaleon. He reached the Imus MEdical Center but pronounced dead at 5:15 PM. (Check report ) In Batangas, former governor Amando Sanchez (57)died on April 27 (Wednesday), a

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