Congratulations, Dr. Arlene Lorica: Pisay Alumna is One of the '100 Most Influential Filipina in the U.S.'

Today (10/11/07) I received a forwarded e-mail from my fellow Philippine Science High School Alumni Association Board Member, Butch Zaldarriaga, a member of PSHS Batch '80 and incoming PSHSAA president. (Note: Butch was in first year high school when I was already in fourth year high school in PSHS or Pisay).

Butch's message is about her batchmate, Dr. Arlene "Bambi" Antonio-Lorica. Bambi is a recipient of the '100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the United States' award.


Below are some details about Bambi and the Filipina Women's Network in the U.S.A.

---------- Forwarded message -----------------

Arlene Marie "Bambi" A. Lorica, M.D.
Georgetown University
Potomac, Maryland

From: Marily Mondejar Date: Sep 27, 2007 5:28 PM

Subject: Builders & Emerging Leaders - 100 Most Influential FilipinaWomen in the U.S.

To: "Arlene Marie A. Lorica"


Dear Bambi:

-Our warmest CONGRATULATIONS!

The Filipina Women's Network's nationwide search for the 100 MostInfluential Filipina Women in the U.S. has ended and YOU have beenselected a Most Influential Filipina Woman in the U.S.

We celebrateyour professional accomplishments - role modeling for Filipina womenwhat is possible when you share your expertise with others and giveback to the community. We honor you with the Builders & EmergingLeaders award category.

The Builders & Emerging Leaders award categoryrecognizes Filipina women who are making their mark in a workplace environment, displaying high energy and skill in a leadership role at a nonprofit institution, government agency, or organization in any field.

FILIPINA "PINAY" POWER 2012: Changing the face of power in America Developing tomorrow's Filipina leaders today.

We received 202 nominations for the Filipina Women's Network's (FWN) nationwide search for the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S.

Pinay Power 2012 is a dream with a meaningful purpose - double the number of Filipina women leaders by 2012. To achieve this goal, we launched the nationwide search to identify the Top 100 Filipina women who are shaping our community's influence in American society today and how they are impacting our future. We've attached a copy ofthe nominee announcement which will be published in various Philippinenewspapers nationwide. To view the nominee list online, go to -http://www.ffwn. org/InfluentialN ominees.htm

This prestigious recognition is conceived as a working award - theFinal 100 are invited to mentor a protégé and both leaders are invitedto return to the Filipina Summit in October 2012 to celebrate theirpartnership.The announcement of the Final 100 list is the highlight of the 5thAnnual Filipina Summit which will be held October 25-27, 2007 inWashington D.C.

We have designed two events to honor the Final 100's outstanding work -1) Gala awards dinner on Thursday evening, October 25, 20072) "Kwentuhan" - the power of telling our personal and communitystories and how to develop your community legacy by partnering with a Filipina protégé - Friday evening, October 26, 2007.

Both events will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington D.C. If you are available to participate as a resource speaker, please letus know so we can schedule you in the summit agenda. We hope you can be part of this historic event - a gathering of 100Filipina Voices in Washington, DC - changing the face of power inAmerica. FWN invites you to collaborate with us in achieving Pinay Power 2012. We would like to have you partner with a protégé at thesummit and together return in October 2012, a culmination of ourshaping the Filipina image campaign. If you have identified your ownprotégé, we encourage you to have her also attend the Filipina Summit.When Filipina women come in unity, a strong and positive result isachieved. When distinct personalities come together in unity - sharingtheir strengths and differences - a new dimension of excellence iscreated.Our goal is to gather the Final 100 at this historic event. Pleaseacknowledge this email and let us know if you will attend the FilipinaSummit (Oct 25-27) in Washington DC no later than Wednesday, Oct. 3,2007, (if you have not notified us yet). At this time, we will not beable to provide any complimentary summit registrations or any travel support. I have indicated helpful links about the Filipina Summit at the end of this letter. Lastly, we need your help in highlighting your accomplishments duringthe recognition awards.


...

Your dedication and professionalism is a trait to be emulated by all of us at FWN!Once again, congratulations on your selection. We look forward toy our reply and a fabulous awards gala event!

In Filipina sisterhood and on behalf of the 100 Most InfluentialSelection Committee

-Marily MondejarPresident, Filipina Women's Network
415.278.9410

Search Committee for the100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S.
Co-Chairs: Maya Escudero, Ayala Foundation USA & GenevieveHerreria, Levensohn Venture Partners
Members: Cecille Rebong, Consul General New York Elena Mangahas,Co-Chair, Little Manila Foundation Fay Olympia, Editor, FWN Magazine &V-Diaries Marily Mondejar, President, Institute for Image ManagementNida Recabo, MSW, Baptist Hospital of Miami Nini Alvero, PhilippineTrade Commissioner Rose-Ann K. Ubarra, Youth Coordinator, FAHSI SoniaDelen, Senior Vice President, Banc of America Leasing Weng Sanchez, Consul General Shanghai

==============================================
More info about the Filipina Summit

- http://www.ffwn. org/FilipinaSumm it5.htm

FWN's National Steering Committee

-http://www.ffwn. org/FilipinaSummitSteering Committee5.htm
==============================================

PURPOSE OF THE FILIPINA SUMMIT: Every year, the Filipina Women's Network (FWN) brings togetherFilipina women, corporate America's untapped source of leadership at a time when economic, social and political challenges demand new levels of talent and innovation. FWN strives to meet this demand by providing Filipina women the knowledge and resources and by building a networkof women who dare to change the landscape of the leadership in today's workplace. The FWN Summit is held in October in celebration of Filipino Heritage Month. Please join us in three days of compellingconversations on what it takes to lead change and initiatere-invention.

=============================

-------- End Of Forwarded Message

Raffy Saldaña
(The Pisay '77 Blogger)
Corporate Secretary
PSHS National Alumni Association
10/11/07

Round Table Discussion on Innovation and ICT

Yesterday (10/10/07) I participated in a Round Table Discussion on Innovation and ICT (information and communications technology). Held at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), the event was organized by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology (PCASTRD) of the Department of Science and Technology.

I attended this workshop as a member of the Information Technology Technical Panel of PCASTRD, as an officer of the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP) and an ACM ICPC director in the Philippines.

The Round Table Discussion on Innovation and ICT is considered a pre-summit event in relation with the forthcoming National Innovation Summit (NIS) to be held on November 26, 2007.

More details about the Round Table on Innovation and ICT are found in the CICT invitation reproduced below:

[startofquote]
"
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Commission on Information and Communications Technology

8 October 2007

Dear Participants:

We are pleased to inform you of the forthcoming National Innovation Summit (NIS) scheduled to be held on 26 November 2007. This initiative is being undertaken to highlight the importance of innovation in growth and development and providing therefore an environment conducive for innovations. The Summit also aims to strengthen collaboration among all stakeholders in the public and private sectors in developing and promoting innovation strategies for the Philippines. The lead organizations for the conduct of the NIS are the Department of Science and Technology, IBM Philippines, the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center and Ayala Foundation, Inc.

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), as the Lead Convenor for the ICT/ICT-Enabled Services Sectors, would like to invite your organization to the Pre-Summit Workshop (in the form of a Round Table Discussion) to be held on Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 1:30 p.m., Soriano Room 3/F AIM Building, 123 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City.

The expected outputs of the workshop include identification of bottlenecks to innovation activities, development of recommendations for quick-wins and policies, and drawing up of strategic steps in creating an innovation ecosystem for the ICT/ICT-Enabled Services sectors. These will all become part of the National Innovation Roadmap, which will be presented during the NIS.

...

Thank you very much for your continued support and partnership.

Very truly yours,

SEC. RAY ANTHONY ROXAS-CHUA III
Chairman
"
[endofquote]

Raffy
The Pisay '77 Blogger
10/11/07

RAFFY'S WORLD: 4,000 HITS

I started my RAFFY'S WORLD blog near the end of June 2007 (See http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/2007/06/nth-attempt-at-blogging.html ).

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On August 21, 2007 (the death anniversary of Philippine hero Ninoy Aquino) I installed a hit counter in my blog site.

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Since then I take note of every thousand 'hits'.

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Today (10/9/07), my RAFFY'S WORLD blog reached its 4,000th hit since August 21, 2007.

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To document this moment I wrote a blog entry about it :)

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Indeed, there is a joy in counting :) [BTW, the branch of mathematics that deals with counting is called 'combinatorics'. I teach combinatorics/discrete mathematics to computer science students at the Ateneo de Manila University.]

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Ang babaw ng kaligayahan ko! (Literally: "My happiness is shallow"!)

Cheers,

Raffy

The Pisay '77 Blogger

10/9/07

P.S. I also installed today a 'countdown' meter. See bottom left portion of this blog site. :)

Countdown to ACM ICPC Philippines 2007

(Photo caption: At the 2006 ACM ICPC Asia-Manila Regionals. From left to right: Dr. Ma. Mercedes Rodrigo, Dr. Rafael Saldaña, Dr. Pablo Manalastas, members of the Ateneo Team Persistence (awarded the Best Team from the Philippines) and Dr. Ma. Assunta Cuyegkeng).

After the UAAP Basketball Finals (De La Salle University-Manila beat University of the East for the championship) and the Pacquiao versus Barrera boxing match, another important competition is coming soon.

On October 20, 2007 the First Philippine National Inter-Collegiate Programming Competition (ACM ICPC Philippines 2007) will be held at De La Salle University-Canlubang. I am directing this contest on behalf of the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP) and in cooperation with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

My fellow CSP Board Member (and Philippine Science High School alumnus) Dr. Arnulfo Azcarraga is the Executive Vice-President of DLSU-Canlubang – this year's ACM ICPC Philippines host university.

I first directed an ACM ICPC event in the Philippines in October 2005. This was the 2005 ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest Asia-Manila Regionals held at the Ateneo de Manila University. I was the regional contest director. Some 100 teams from 40 schools in Asia and the Philippines participated in that event.

The second ACM ICPC event that I directed was in October 2006 – the 2006 ACM ICPC Asia-Manila Regionals held at the Holiday Inn, Galeria-Manila in Pasig City, Metro Manila. There were around 88 teams from 40 schools in Asia and the Philippines that participated.

This year, the ACM ICPC Asia Regionals will be held in Singapore and not in Manila. This will be held on December 13-14, 2007 at the National University of Singapore.

Every year, thousands of students from various colleges and universities in Asia participate in the ACM ICPC Asia Regional competitions in selected countries in Asia to qualify for the ACM ICPC World Finals. The ACM ICPC World Finals will be held on April 6-10, 2008 in Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada.

I have participated in two ACM ICPC World Finals in the past: the first was in Shanghai, China in March 2005. The second was in San Antonio, Texas, USA in April 2006. In both events, our programming team from the Ateneo de Manila University (the reigning Philippine programming champion) competed in the ACM ICPC World Finals.

Since the ACM ICPC Asia Regionals will not be held in the Philippines this year, I suggested to my fellow officers of the CSP that we organize an ACM-affiliated nationwide inter-collegiate programming competition. I made the suggestion during our latest conference (the 7th Philippine Computing Science Congress) held in February 2007 in Boracy, Philippines. Thus, the ACM ICPC Philippines 2007 was born.

As of 8 October 2007, thirty two (32) teams have pre-registered. The deadline for the submission of pre-registration forms is on Wednesday, October 10. It is probable that the pre-registered teams will reach around 40. (The contest in DLSU-Canlubang has a capacity of 60 teams).

The deadline for payment of registration fees is on October 15, 2007.

Related Links:

1. ACM ICPC Philippines 2007: http://icpc2007manila.blogspot.com/
2. ACM ICPC Asia-Manila (2005 and 2006): http://acm.ateneo.edu/
3. ACM ICPC Asia-Singapore 2007: http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~acmicpc/
4. ACM ICPC website: http://icpc.baylor.edu/

Cheers,

Raffy
The Pisay '77 Blogger
10/8/07

A Controversy Between 'Desperate Housewives' and Filipino Medical Doctors

In today's news on Philippine television (10/4/07), one of the "juicy" items is the controversial episode of a popular American television show, "Desperate Housewives", which made a derogatory remark on Philippine medical schools.

Later in the day I received an e-mail message from a colleague which contains a letter of the Filipino Consul General based in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Below is the text of the letter contained in the e-mail that my colleague forwarded to me today.


[startofquote]

KONSULADO PANLAHAT NG PILIPINAS
CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINES
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA

Mr. MARK PEDOWITZ
President
ABC TelevisionNetwork
500S.Buena Vista street
Burbank CA 91521-4551
Fax # 818-460-5636

2 October 2007

SIR:

The Philippine Consulate General in LosAngeles wishesto express its
strong displeasure over a derogatory remark made against Philippine
medical schools in a recent episode of "Desperate Housewives." In the
September 30, 2007 episode, the character, Susan Mayer Delfino, played
by actress Teri Hatcher, said: "Okay, before we go any further, can I
check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure they are
not from some med school in the Philippines. "

We wish to point out that the Philippine medical profession is highly
regarded all over the world, as evidenced by the high demand for
Filipino healthcare professionals in many countries, including this
country. The United States recognizes the academic standards of
Philippine medical and nursing schools, and in general, does not
require additional schooling in this county for Filipino healthcare
professionals who wish to work here. Moreover, the Philippines is
considered a top Medical Tourism destination, with many foreigners,
including US citizens, who choose to undergo surgical and other medical
procedures in the country in recognition of its high quality and
reasonably-priced medical services.

We believe that a popular series such as "Desperate Housewives" need
not resort to making such prejudicial statements in order to generate
humor.

It is most unfortunate that the remarks made at the recent episode only
served to create racial stereotypes, thereby tainting unnecessarily the
excellent record of Filipino healthcare professionals all over the world.

We will therefore appreciate the ABC Network's immediate and concrete
steps to rectify the injustice done against Filipino healthcare
professionals.

Sincerely yours,



MARY JO BERNARDO-ARAGON
Consul General
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500,
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel. (213) 639-0980;
Fax (213) 639-9990;
E-mail: losangelespc@aol.com;
Website: http://www.pcgenla.org/

[endofquote]

Message From A Friend

Today (10/4/07) I received an e-mail message from a friend. When I read it, I smiled. It made my day :)

Below is a portion of my friend's message:


"
Sometimes in life, you find a special friend;

Someone who changes your life
Just by being part of it.

Someone who makes you laugh
Until you can't stop;

Someone who makes you believe
That there really is good in the world.

Someone who convinces you
That there really is an unlocked door

Just waiting for you to open it.

-- Anonymous

"

Have a good day to all!

Cheers,

Raffy
The Pisay '77 Blogger
10/4/07

Grid Computing, Computational Nanotechnology, And Moore's Law

(Figure Caption: The NanoWire user interface. Image courtesy of nanoHUB)

Note: I receive regularly via e-mail issues of the iSTWG (International Science Grid This Week) Newsletter.

iSGTW promotes grid computing around the world by sharing stories of grid-empowered science and scientific discoveries.

iSGTW is a collaboration between the Enabling Grids for E-SciencE and Open Science Grid projects. It is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the National Science Foundation, through the Open Science Grid, and by the European Commission’s Information Society and Media Directorate-General, through the Enabling Grids for E-SciencE project.

One of the articles featured in iSGTW (Oct. 3, 2007 issue) is an article titled, "Keeping up with Moore's Law":

[startofquote]

"Silicon nanowire transistors are promising devices for future integrated circuits.

Researchers in this field are interested in geometries and properties of materials that vary on an atomic length scale; they study quantum states and the relationship between voltages and currents at these scales. But not all nano-device engineers are nuts for computers. Many prefer to let other people worry about the computational end of things. Since this research depends heavily on simulations of nano-device behavior under varying conditions, the door is wide open for the development of accessible and intuitive computational tools.Enter Gerhard Klimeck of Purdue University, technical director of the National Science Foundation Network for Computational Nanotechnology. Klimeck and his colleagues have developed the user-friendly NanoWire computational tool, accessible via the web-based nanoHUB. On nanoHUB, researchers set up a NanoWire simulation through a graphical interface that allows input of device parameters, ranges of voltages to test, and so forth.

A simple click on “Simulate” transparently sends a set of parallel processes off to Open Science Grid, TeraGrid and/or the local cluster at Purdue. The computers send back complex and enticing electrostatic potentials and quantum eigenstates. NanoWire makes the results easy to interpret, and the researchers are on their way to optimizing transistor designs.

“Users are interested in ease of use, not Unix commands. They need to be able to set up their experiment, explore their data interactively and ask ‘what if’ questions,” says Klimeck. Enter Saumitra Mehrotra and Kenneth Roenker of the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. According to them, one of the leading challenges in producing nanoscale circuits is the variation in device performance due to inherent variability in the fabrication process.Mehrotra and Roenker studied the effects on silicon nanowire MOSFET voltage characteristics of varying body thickness, gate length and gate dielectric thickness.“We ran over 500 simulations on NanoWire and gained an insight into how superior the silicon nanowire MOSFET device is (relative to traditional MOSFETs) and an understanding of its limitations,” said Mehrotra. They were able to optimize a nanowire device design for both high performance and low operating power applications, thus advancing one of the technologies expected to help continue transistor scaling and extend Moore’s Law, according to which the number of transistors on a chip is expected to double about every two years."

- Anne Heavey, Open Science Grid

[endofquote]

Raffy
The Pisay '77 Blogger
10/3/07

Invitation: Seminar on Best Practices in Computer Programming and Mentoring

You are cordially invited to attend a seminar on

"Best Practices in Computer Programming and Mentoring Students for National and International Programming Competitions"

Featuring invited speakers from Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and University of the Philippines

Organized by the Computing Society of the Philippines,
in cooperation with De La Salle University - Canlubang,
and in conjunction with the First Philippine National Inter-Collegiate Programming Competition (ICPC 2007)

Date: October 20, 2007 (Saturday)
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(Registration starts at 9:00 a.m.)
Venue: Auditorium, De La Salle University - Canlubang
(Map: http://www.canlubang.dlsu.edu.ph/about-us/vicinity-map.php)

PROGRAM (Tentative):

9 - 11 : Registration

11 - 12: Opening Session
- Welcome Remarks
- Introduction of Participants
- General Orientation

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 3:00 Talks on Best Practices in Computer Programming

3:00 - 3:30 Snacks

3:30 - 5:00 Talks on Best Practices in Mentoring Students for National and International Programming Competitions

5:00 Closing Session/ Distribution of Certificates

NOTES:

This seminar is open to teachers, students, information technology professionals, and interested individuals.

The seminar fee is:

PhP 1,000 for faculty members and other professionals

PhP 700 for students (who are not contestants/alternates in ICPC 2007)

The seminar fee includes lunch, snack, ICPC 2007 souvenir t-shirt, and certificate of participation.

CSP members (who have paid their membership dues for the year 2007) will get a 20% discount.

For more information and attendance confirmation, contact:

Dr. Rafael P. Saldaña
Contest Director
Philippine ICPC 2007
Tel./Fax.: (02) 4266125, (02) 7090907
Mobile Phone: 0928-5043121
E-mail: raffysaldana@gmail.com
Website: http://www.csp.org.ph/
BLOG: http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/

------------ --------- --------- --------- -------
PRE-REGISTRATION FORM

__ I/We would like to participate in the "Seminar onBest Practices in Computer Programming and MentoringStudents for National and International ProgrammingCompetitions"

Name/s School/Affiliation
------------ --------- --------------------- --------- -----
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Name of Contact Person:
Signature:
School/Affiliation:
Position:
Tel. Number/Fax:
E-mail Address:

Notes:

1. Send this registration form to The Secretariat,Computing Society of the Philippines, c/o Rm. 317, SECBldg. A, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights,Quezon City. Tel./Fax.: (02) 4266125, (02) 7090907,E-mail: computingsoc@ gmail.com

2. Mode of Payment:

a. CASH - cash payments can be made ONSITE
b. CHECK - Make checks payable to COMPUTING SOCIETY OFTHE PHILIPPINES

3. Deadline for submission of pre-registration forms: October 12, 2007.

PLEASE REGISTER EARLY. PRIORITY WILL BE GIVEN TO: (1) those who have pre-registered, and (2) those who aremembers of the Computing Society of the Philippines.

Lecture on 'Digital Signatures for Author Identification'

On the Development of Digital Signatures for Author Identification

by

Prof. Wayne Patterson
(joint research with Robin Williams and Suganthi Gunasekaran)

SEC Lecture Hall 3, Ateneo de Manila University
4:30-6 pm, October 8, 2007

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Abstract:

With the increasing numbers of books converted to a digital format, represented generally with underlying ASCII text, it is now feasible to perform frequency analyses on the components of a book. This leads to the question of whether or not frequency analysis can be used as a biometric tool to determine authorship, in other words, to be usedas a digital signature for author identification. The results of this study indicate some positive findings, and that there is potential in further study of this type of analysis. The importance of this area of research is intensified because of the current projects to digitize all of the world's literature.

About the speaker:

Prof. Wayne Patterson obtained his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan, and later his M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of New Brunswick. He has published more than 50 scholarly articles, and a leading textbook, Mathematical Cryptology (Rowman and Littlefield, 1986).He is a Professor of Computer Science at Howard University, but he is presently on loan to the US National Science Foundation as its Program Manager for International Science and Engineering in Developing Countries. He also taught Mathematics and later Computer Science at several other universities that include Université de Moncton in Canada, University of New Orleans, and University of Charleston, South Carolina.

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He held various positions in universities and some organizations:. Chair of the Department of Computer Science, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, at the University of New Orleans;. Vice President for Research and Professional and Community Services, and Dean of the Graduate School, at the University of Charleston, South Carolina;. Dean in Residence, and later, member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools, the national organization of graduate deans and graduate schools in the US;. Senior Fellow for International Programs and Academic Program Review in the Graduate School, and as Associate Vice Provost for Research , at Howard University;He is also involved in the Project SEED, a project that serves tens of thousands of at-risk students in the US and elsewhere, annually, first as a teacher of algebra and calculus, then later, and even up to now, as member of its Board of Directors.He served the Government of Canada, as Special Assistant and Economic Advisor to the Secretary of State and later the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. He also was a candidate for the House of Commons of Canada, and the Legislature of the Province of New Brunswick; and was twice elected as the national Vice-President of the Liberal Party of Canada.

BSPT Batch D Reunion: Some Video Clips

Last September 22, 2007 my BSPT (NSDB-PNC Proj. 7405 Ed. at Philippine Normal College) friends and I had a mini-reunion in Makati City (See http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/2007/09/class-reunion-dinner-and-bowling-in.html)

Below are some video clips of the BSPT Batch D taken during our mini-reunion:

1. Dinner in Makati:

http://booleanlogic.multiply.com/video/item/7

2. Bowling, Part 1.

http://booleanlogic.multiply.com/video/item/8

3. Bowling Part 2.

http://booleanlogic.multiply.com/video/item/9/BSPT_Reunion_Bowling_in_Makati_Part_2_92207


Cheers,

Raffy
9/27/07

An Update on Breast Cancer Treatment

(Photo caption: A mammogram shows a malignant tumor. Source:http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/sept/mammograms)

"Breast cancer is the second most common cancer killer of women, after lung cancer. It will be diagnosed in 1.2 million people globally this year and will kill 500,000."

"The Philippines has one of the leading breast cancer incidence in Asia. "

My only sister, Ate Lorie, died of breast cancer in 1995. She was already in stage 4 (advanced stage) when she had her mastectomy and chemotherapy. Ate Lorie died at the age of 39.

My sister's death had a great impact in my life. At the time when she was confined in the hospital (for two months) I was her "caregiver." I practically lived with her in the hospital during her confinement. At that time, I was teaching fulltime while doing my doctoral thesis revisions.

My Ph.D. thesis (at Monash University, Australia) deals with mathematical modeling and computer simulations of muscle contraction and cell motility. This is somehow related to cancer research, considering that my supervisor (Dr. David Smith) and I investigated a model of amoeboid movement which has implications to T-cells and the immune system.

It has been said that early detection of breast cancer increases the chance of cure from the disease. This makes me wonder always: If the tumor in my sister's breast was detected early, then she might have survived from the disease and she would have been alive today.

The death of my sister due to breast cancer is one of the significant factors why I am doing work related to cancer. So far, I have done modeling studies on tumor growth using cellular automata and investigated algorithms for image segmentation of digital mammograms.

Today (9/26/07) I encountered an article on the NET about a medical procedure developed by German cancer researchers. The report was presented at the European Cancer Conference held on September 23-27, 2007 in Barcelona, Spain.

The title of the article is "Simple test may help predict breast cancer return" and it was written by Michael Kahn (See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/cancer_cells_dc;_ylt=An7jzXEaPEdMfA1X4fUoW3Mo.YMA).


Below is a summary of the report:

• A simple test to measure tumor cells circulating in the blood could make it easier to tell which breast cancer patients are at greatest risk of their cancer returning after treatment.
  

• Detecting these cells might also help doctors tailor chemotherapy treatments to make them more effective and reduce healthcare costs along the way.
  
  
• The study is important because it is one of the largest of its kind to investigate whether measuring such tumor cells can help predict the chances of cancer returning.
  
  
• Researchers have known about these cells for about 20 years and are now exploring the role they may play in cancer and studying ways to measure them. The cells themselves are considered dormant and are not believed to be harmful until they leave the bloodstream and settle on an organ.
  
  
• The researchers think that the level of circulating tumor cells will predict the recurrence in cancer. This implies that in low risk patients, an oncologist could use less aggressive treatments.

• The German team has so far analyzed blood samples taken from 1,767 breast cancer patients at diagnosis and during chemotherapy and compared the results to those obtained from 852 of the same patients when they finished their treatment.



• The results show that of the patients who initially tested positive for circulating tumor cells (CTCs), 10 percent tested positive for them after chemotherapy. Of those who were initially negative, 93 percent remained negative after treatment.
  


• The researchers think that the persistence of CTCs after chemotherapy treatment is likely to be predictive of the likelihood of recurrence of cancer in these patients.
  


• Researchers have also used bone marrow to detect circulating tumor cells but that technique is more difficult to use so it is not performed widely. It can also be painful for the patient. A simple blood screen could mean that patients who need extra chemotherapy will get it, while those who do not will not have to endure weeks or months of extra treatments.
  


• Final results may be attainable in the next five years. If they are as what the researchers expect, there could be an improvement in breast cancer treatments.
  

Raffy
9/26/07

SIPNAYAN 2007: Inter-School Math Contest in Ateneo

Note: Last Saturday (9/22/07) I watched Sipnayan 2007 -- a math contest for grade school students. The event was organized by the Ateneo Mathematical Society (AMS). One of the contestants is my godchild, Chloe, who represented St. Theresa's College (Grade School Department). Although St. Theresa's College did not make it to the semi-final round, Chloe (who is only a grade five student) had a great time and a valuable experience.

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The math contest was attended by several leading schools in Metro Manila. The Contest Judges are Ms. Debbie Marie Bautista, Mr. Enrico Paolo Bugarin, and Mr. Christian Robert Canlas, who are all faculty and staff members of the Ateneo Mathematics Department.

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Congratulations to the Ateneo Mathematical Society (AMS) for successfully organizing Sipnayan 2007!

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Cheers,

Raffy

9/25/07

BSPT Batch D Class Reunion: Dinner and Bowling in Makati

Note: Last Saturday (9/22/07) my BSPT (Batch D) classmates (at Philippine Normal College) and I had a mini-reunion at the Glorietta Mall in Makati City. Tess (who is based in Tokyo, Japan) is in town for a few days. (The last time Tess and I met was in July 2007 when I visited her in Tokyo). After having dinner our group went to a bowling center. We had lots of fun reminiscing our student days and talking about our escapades in college. Those who made it to the reunion are (standing from left to right): Raffy, Ruby, Tess, Morey, Cora, Ferdie, Erwin, and Ronald). We missed many of our classmates who did not make it to the reunion: those based abroad -- Loy (in Chicago, Illinois, USA), Joy (in Los Angeles, California, USA), Daniel (in Phoenix, Arizona, USA), Toto (in Toronto, Canada), Vangie (in Singapore), and Elliot (in the Middle East ?) and those in the Philippines --Kim, Ivan, Jesse, Jun, Rolly, Irwin, Godo, Ramon, Paxy, and Alelli.

Hopefully, during our next class reunion, there will be more of us.

The more, the merrier :)

Cheers,

Raffy
9/24/07

Gospel Reflection: September 23, 2007

This Sunday's Gospel Reading is taken from the Gospel According to St. Luke (16:1-13):

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.

If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?

If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?

No servant can serve two masters.

He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

(Lk: 16:10-13).


In his column today in the Philippine Star, Fr. Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. (my former teacher at the Loyola School of Theology) explains the meaning of mammon: "Riches regarded as an object of worship and greedy pursuit."

In contemporary language, the word mammon is equated with money.

And so, the Bible tells us that we cannot be disciples of Jesus if we are enslaved by love of money or material wealth.

For indeed, the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10).

Today's Gospel reading is very relevant to contemporary Philippine society, considering that 'corruption in government' is one of the burning issues of the day.

Can we trust our elected officials with our nation's wealth?

I wish and pray that our leaders, especially our government officials (from the President down to the barangay chairpersons) would heed the message of Jesus in today's Gospel reading.

Raffy
9/23/07

'Seasons of Love' by the Ateneo Blue Repertory: The Video

(Photo caption: Members of the Ateneo Blue Repertory singing 'Seasons of Love' during a performance at Ateneo de Manila University last September 21, 2007. Photo by Raffy Saldaña.)

'Seasons of Love' is a popular song from the Broadway hit musical, 'Rent'. This song was one of the songs performed by the talented members of the Ateneo Blue Repertory during the Annual Faculty Appreciation and Dice Game organized by Celadon (See my blog post on Ateneo Celadon's Confucius Awards).

I took a video of their performance and uploaded it in my multiply.com account. Below is the link to the video clip:

http://booleanlogic.multiply.com/video/item/4

and the lyrics of the song, 'Seasons of Love':

COMPANY

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes- how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love?
Measure in love.
Seasons of love.

SOLOIST

1525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan.
525,600 minutes - how can you measure the life of a woman or man?

SOLOIST 2

In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned, or the way that she died.

COMPANY

It's time now to sing out,
though the story never ends
let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love.
Seasons of love!
Seasons of love.

(Source: http://www.allmusicals.com/)

Raffy
9/22/07