Examine the Movements of their Employees at Work Essay

Examine the Movements of their Employees at Work - Essay Example It is this monitoring that has raised ethical issues causing detrimental effects to both employer and employee. Whereas employers justify their actions with the right to get value from their employees and resources, employees’ have objected with the reasoning that their personal privacy is being unlawfully breached. Background Employee monitoring can be defined as the act of surveillance and monitoring employees’ actions during stipulated working hours by use of employer equipment (Stanton & Stam, 2006). It entails the use of computers to record, evaluate and observe an employees’ use of computer, plus communications like web sites visited and emails sent or received besides telephone calls made. However, it is legal for employers to use computer programs to monitor employees (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, 2008). Employee surveillance has gained prominence as a prerequisite and in the same breath a contentious issue due to the complexity and prevalent use of techno logy at the work place. Employers are worried with employees’ proper behavior and conformity to work related regulations. Hence some critics believe employee monitoring is an inalienable responsibility. To others it is an invasion to privacy. Managers employ different ways of monitoring employees’ internet use, emails and their location to capitalize on employee productivity, uphold the integrity of the firm and to defend the interest of clientele and work mates (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, 2008). When managers start to probe into employees’ private life, mistrust and acrimony are built between employees’ and managers. Many workers have lost their employment and a lot more companies have had to face lawsuits filed against them because people believe that the use of internal company communications should remain confidential (Bassick, 2007). Managers and owners of private firms have had several reasons to scrutinize the activities of their employees. Some a re driven by the displeasure when employees misuse company money and waste time to carry out non-work related tasks. Others would want to confirm any suspicion of criminal, fraudulent or unwanted conduct by their employees; observe application of safety and health regulations; make certain to compliance of internal employment policies; verify the quality of work done; protect staff from harassment or unjust treatment in the office and so forth (Lane, 2003). Managers base their actions on the basis that they have a right to examine employee productivity and to guard against fraud and theft. This will ultimately lead to employee monitoring (Lane, 2003). Some of the areas prone to abuse in the work places include use of company resources like vehicles, technology adapted at workplace like electronic communication, and adherence to acceptable working hours. In this report, I will review employee monitoring on their use of electronic communication at the workplace, more so the ethical di lemma facing managers and employees. Hence the questions of how far should managers go to examine employee movements? With the arrival of advanced technological capabilities, many professional and personal tasks are becoming quicker and more convenient to carry out. For instance, email has been viewed as a convenient substitute to making telephone calls because it is perceived as private. In the real sense it is public because it leaves a record long after it has been deleted (Bassick, 2007). Thus a skilled person can easily retrieve it from a networked communication system.

Romeo and Juliet Movie Comparisons Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Movie Comparisons Essay The movie adaptations of Romeo and Juliet are immensely different, while conveying the main plot and maintaining the important parts. The settings were in two different sceneries and clothing styles. Classic version maintained the Shakespearian setting whereas the Modern version takes place in a Beach-like scenery, one could relate it to being a California scene. Although both kept the Shakespearian dialogue, their actions while speaking it were different. For example, Mercutio’s character in both kept his witty and goofy personality, yet the classic version portrayed him as immature at times. The modern version, on the other hand, portrayed him as a person who lives the party life. Also, their styles of fighting were majorly different. The classic version fought true to the time period which it takes place, using swords and daggers. Guns are the main weapons of the Modern version unlike the actual play. The movies did have some of the exact same scenes. Like the climax when Mercutio and Tybalt both die or Romeo’s banishment. But even some of the non-scripted scenes were similar. Like the play never shows the wedding between Romeo and Juliet in Friar Lawrence’s cell. The party scene where Romeo and Juliet meet is as similar as the scenery allows, it’s a masquerade. The main points of the play remained in both movies, along with the Shakespearian language. The characters basically remained the same even though they are portrayed a little different with than the other movie, since the movies were directed by two different people with different perspectives on the play.

Socioeconomic effects on children :: essays research papers

When Both Parents are Employed Socio-economic conditions in North America have contributed to the need for dual incomes for families. Economically, â€Å"the number of two parent families below the poverty line would increase to an estimated 78% if they were to become single income families.† (Ontario Women’s Directorate 9) Socially, it was the norm, in the past, for women to stay at home having a more expressive role in the family; taking care of the children and providing emotional support for the family. Presently, women feel that their traditional roles as child bearers and homemakers must be supplemented with a sense of achievement outside the home. Recent studies reflect an increased trend towards the dual income family and projections are for this trend to continue. In 1961, 30% of married women were working; in 1978, 38% were employed; by 1981 50% were working and in 1985, 55% held paying positions outside the home. (Jarman and Howlett 95) In 1961, only 20% of all two parent families were! dual wage families, but by 1986, more than half (53%) of all families were dual earning families. (Ramu 26) In light of the fact that the majority of two parent families in the 1990’s have also become dual wage earning families, it is important to examine the effects of such a phenomenon on society in general and on child rearing in particular. Children acquire their goals, values and norms based on the way that they view or identify with their parents as well as from the quality and amount of care, love and guidance given to them by their parents. Parents who work present a different image to their children than parents who do not work. In addition, wage earners, including parents, must (in most cases), be absent from the home during the day. When considering these modifications to the family dynamics, there is considerable basis for proof that the positive effects outweigh the negative effects experienced by offspring in families were both parents are employed. The working parent occupies an important exemplary role within the family. Working parents often command considerable respect from their children, because they demonstrate the worthy characteristics of industriousness, social compatibility, self reliance, maturity, intelligence and responsibility. Because children identify with their parents, the feedback from such positive influences tends to be positive as well because many of these positive characteristics are imparted upon them.

Thomas Fudge on his Vanilla Jefferson :: essays research papers fc

Thomas Jefferson by Norman Risjord is a biography of the third president of the United States that takes Thomas Jefferson from his youth through his later years in the early 19th century. The purpose of this book is to give a political and social overview of the Thomas Jefferson's life and career. It was written for both the student of American history and the casual reader interested in the genesis of the United States government, seen through the eyes of one of its founding fathers. The value of this book is that it shows that Jefferson was not a saint, yet he was one of the most intelligent presidents that the country has ever had. Risjord has given the book great value because he has framed Jefferson among his peers. Consequently, the book truly comes to life, and the reader is able to learn about Jefferson as well as his contemporaries James Madison, John Marshall, and John Adams. The scope of the book is all-inclusive. Risjord begins with Jefferson's birth on April 13, 1743 on his father's plantation, Shadwell, in Goochland County on the western edge. The narrative continues on to show Jefferson graduating from William and Mary College, then entering politics in Virginians House of Burgesses in 1769. Jefferson married Martha Skelton on New Year's Day, 1772. With the Virginia legislature from 1776 to 1779, Jefferson formed the groundwork for abolition of entail and primogeniture, for the establishment of religious freedom, and not for the public school system. Jefferson was of course the author of the Declaration of Independence, and because he had set this document in motion, he waited out the Revolutionary War to see if the colonies would win. If they had lost, Jefferson would have been hanged for treason against the King of England. He served as the minister to France from 1785 to 1789. At this time there was growing opposition to Alexander Hamilton and his policies, and Jefferson associated himself with a group called the Republicans, who were actually forerunners to the present Democratic Party. While Jefferson was serving as vice President from 1797 to 1801, he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions. He was elected President following a long deadlock with Aaron Burr in the House of Representatives. This happened mainly because Alexander Hamilton considered Burr the more dangerous man and he gave his support to Jefferson. Jefferson's election was a great victory for the democratic forces, but it was black Tuesday to the thousands of Federalists who believed that the Republican leader was an atheistic anarchist who feared that his administration would be that of a bloodyhanded revolutionist.

Mexico’s largest cement manufacturer

Cemex, has become a global powerhouse In the cement and construction Industry. It currently controls 60 percent of the cement industry in Mexico (Hill 2009). Cemexs success is a result of a combination of efficient technology such as radio transmitters, satellites, and computer hardware that allow the company to anticipate changes in supply and demand and reduce waste. Cemex's success is also a result of an attempt to dominate the industry by acquiring and buying out competitors worldwide In order to expand. . Which heoretical explanation, or explanations, of FDI best explains Cemex's FDI? I believe that Internalization theory best explains Cemex's FDI because Cemex has taken the initiative to enter into many countries and instead of licensing; they bought domestic cement businesses and have grown into a worldwide powerhouse. According to the textbook, internalization theory explains why firms often prefer foreign direct investment over licensing as a strategy for entering foreign ma rkets (Hill 2009).With the advanced technology that Cemex uses, so licensing would not be the greatest venue for the company to take In order to protect It's â€Å"technological know-how' (Hill 2009). b. What Is the value that Cemex brings to the host economy? Can you see any potential drawbacks of inward investment by Cemex in an economy? Cemex is the third largest cement company in the world, and a powerhouse in Mexico where it controls 60 percent of the market. Cemex is highly focused on efficient manufacturing and customer service. Distributors are rewarded for their sales, as are users.The primary benefit Cemex brings to host countries Involves these competltlve advantages. Cemex acquires companies and then transfers technological, management, and marketing know-how to the new units. Improving their performance. The company has brought several acquired companies back to full production, increasing employment opportunities in the host country as well. c. Cemex has a strong pref erence for acquisitions over greenfield ventures as an entry mode. Why? Cemex has successfully acquired established cement makers in many countries.By acquiring companies rather than establishing them from the ground up, Cemex can avoid some of the delays that could occur in the start-up phase, while t the same time, capitalize on the benefits of an established market presence. Acquiring other businesses is effective because the host economy already knows the demographics and the market. Cemex would be able to make the business better with their technology and research. A Greenfield venture would be risky and not cost effective. d. Why is majority control so important to Cemex?Majority control is important to Cemex because of the ability to Implement its policy of transferring resources. When It does not have majority control It may not be able to transfer its own managing resources to newly acquired companies. Also, Cemex ight want to take advantage of differences in factor costs a cross countries, so it will be allowed to import parts from other places to reduce costs. References Hill, C. W. L. , Richardson, T. , ; McKaig, T. (2009). Global business today. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.BUSN 427 WEEK 3 Case study By Jihadmalley Mexico's largest cement manufacturer, Cemex, has become a global powerhouse in the cement and construction industry. It currently controls 60 percent of the cement industry in Mexico (Hill 2009). Cemex's success is a result of a combination of acquiring and buying out competitors worldwide in order to expand. a. Which hat internalization theory best explains Cemex's FDI because Cemex has taken the avenue for the company to take in order to protect it's â€Å"technological know-how' (Hill 2009). . What is the value that Cemex brings to the host economy? Can you see any are users. The primary benefit Cemex brings to host countries involves these competitive advantages. Cemex acquires companies and then transfers technological, management, and marketing know-how to the new units, improving Majority control is important to Cemex because of the ability to implement its policy of transferring resources. When it does not have majority control it may not be able

Crack essays

Crack essays Crack (rock) and cocaine are both stimulant drugs, which are widely used in our country today. They both present problems for us because of their potency and highly addicted addicts that can not seem to escape their grasp. Crack and cocaine also have various street names such as coke, snow, blow, base, C, ice, flake, sniff, rock and the list goes on. Cocaine is sold in a white powder form, which is sniffed, injected, or smoked (free-basing) and is much more expensive than its cousin crack (rock). Crack is a powerful form of cocaine and comes in a small crystal form, which is smoked, in a crack pipe or suitable utensil. "Cocaine by binding to the sites that normally reabsorb neurotransmitter molecules, cocaine blocks the reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The extra neurotransmitter molecules therefore remain in the synapse, intensifying their normal mood altering effect and producing an euphoric rush. When the cocaine level drops, the absence of these neurotransmitters produces a crash"(D.G.Meyers PG 233). The high that a user will experience from cocaine lasts approximately fifteen to thirty minutes. Crack is another name given to cocaine, which has been processed with hydrochloride to a free basing state. " Rather than requiring the more volatile method of processing cocaine using ether, crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to remove the hydrochloride, thus producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked. The term "crack" refers to the cracking sound heard when the mixture is smoked, presumably from the sodium bicarbonate".(NIDA's home PG 1). This process produces a small white to tan looking pellet that has the texture of porcelain. Crack smoke reaches the lung tissue through the bloodstream to the brain in seconds. Its instant effect or ...

Change, Challenge and Strategic leadership The WritePass Journal

Change, Challenge and Strategic leadership Introduction Change, Challenge and Strategic leadership IntroductionCHANGE; CHALLENGE; AND STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP COURSEWORKSCOPE OF ASSIGNMENTCONCLUSIONSREFERENCE Related Introduction CHANGE; CHALLENGE; AND STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP COURSEWORK SCOPE OF ASSIGNMENT This assignment is aimed the critical review and analysis of journal articles and a strategic management textbook in relation to the impact of strategic alliances between corporate organizations. Relevant journal articles; reviews and alliance topics from strategic management textbooks will be critically reviewed and analyzed to verify the differing and contrasting views of the research findings. Finally, there will be an overall conclusion of the findings based on the journal articles; and other relevant sources. (A) CRITIQUE OF THE LITERATURE   ( ONE FROM JOURNAL ARTICLE; ONE FROM HBR; AND ONE CHAPTER FROME TEXT BOOK RELATING TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT   THE SUBJECT SHOULD BE RELATED TO BOTH THE ARTICLES.) (1)   TITLE: MAKING STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TO SUCCEED. BY CAROLINE ELLIS (NOVEMBER, 1996) IN HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW The first article was written by Ellis (1996) and the main theme of the journal article was that if the strategic alliance is to succeed, there should be trust and mutual understanding. Her research and analysis was mainly to review the articles written by Spekman et al (1995) titled â€Å"Building Strategic Alliances: The Successful Intertwining of Business and Personal Relationships†; â€Å"Creating Strategic Alliances That Endure† and â€Å"Alliance Management†. Her article seems to suggest that without the creation of an environment of trust, it will be difficult to achieve any meaningful results in any strategic alliance. She opined that based on Spekman’s (1995) view, good alliance managers must lay more emphasis on learning so that they can easily accept the problems as challenges that offer both risk and reward. Ellis (1996) was of the view that in order for strategic alliances to be successful, there is the need for trust to be the paramount key success factor. Nevertheless, Ellis (1996) admitted that trust cannot be achieved in a short space of time. She therefore advised that corporate executives must recruit the managers who have some necessary innate traits and the broad gauge empathy that can help the strategic alliance to be successful (Ellis, 1996: 9). Finally she concluded that alliance managers must insist on quality training for their employees emphasizing on the three â€Å"Rs† if there was to be any success in increased productivity. (2) CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE JOURNAL ARTICLE TITLED â€Å"THE INFLUENCE OF MANAGERS’ CHARACTERISTICS AND PERCEPTIONS IN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE PRACTICE† WRITTEN BY JALONI PANSIRI (2005) FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT, BALLARAT-AUSTRALIA. The final article to be reviewed was written by Pansiri (2005) and it was aimed at providing the linkage between strategic alliance practice and managerial cognitive base with a view to understanding alliance dynamics better. Pansiri’s research was more academical and theoretical than practical because he undertook an in-depth analysis of all known models and research on strategic alliances. In the end, he concluded that the influence of managers’ characteristics and perceptions in strategic alliance practice is not only limited to reasons why firms form strategic alliances and attitudes towards alliances. They influence an array of practices which determines not only the survival of the strategic alliance, but also the survival of the firm in question. Issues concerning the type of the strategic alliance to be adopted and the number of alliance partners or alliances a firm may join is of high concern for managers. Pansiri (2005: 1105) claimed that â€Å"Strategic alliance partner selection has been cited as one of the reasons that account forthe successful implementation of strategic alliances (Kanter, 1994; Brouthers andWilkinson, 1995; Faulkner, 1995; Mendleson and Polonsky, 1995; Medcof, 1997; Evans,2001; Hagen, 2002).† According to Pansiri (2005) Researchers indicate that finding the right alliance partner isextremely important because the failure of many alliances can easily be traced topartner selection at the planning stage. It is at this stage where risk minimization should be addressed. In choosing appropriate partners, strategic alliance researchidentifies four Cs on the choice of alliance partners emphasizing on compatibility, capability, commitment and control cannot be subjected to objective calculation but largely depends on managers’ cognitive base. (3)   CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TEXTBOOK TITLED â€Å"MANAGING AND ORGANIZATIONS† AN INTRODUCTION TO THEORY AND PRACTICE. 2ND EDITION. WRITTEN BY S. CLEGG; M. KORNBERGER; AND T. PITSIS (2008) LOS ANGELES: SAGE. CHAPTER 14: GLOBAL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES. The authors contend that the major mechanism of global integration is collaborations and strategic alliances. In their view alliances are essentially a strategic device connecting different organizations in a network or web that includes many transacting parties. The authors claim that corporate organizations and entities all over the world resort to the formation of strategic alliances based on varied reasons. Some of these reasons are that they want to have more access to a greater market share. According to Clegg; Kornberger; and Pitsis (2008: 589) the major strategic objectives of alliances are maximizing value; enhancing learning; protecting core competencies; and maintaining flexibility.   Strategic alliances have a lot of importance and benefits to the corporate entities that decide to embark on it because it helps in the transfer of technology from one company to another in a more convenient environment. In addition, alliances have the capacity to allow the top executives to tap in certain capabilities and save the organisation from duplication. They further contend that strategic alliances are a way of focusing investments, efforts, and attention only on those tasks that a company does well in its value chain. They further lamented that the value chain is a concept for decomposing an organisation into its component activities. They claimed that one strategy that firms which are deeply involved in alliance relations follow is to use formalization as a means to make sense of their partners, the interorganizational relationships in which they are engaged and the contexts in which these are embedded. (B) A COMPARISON OF THE LITERATURE REVIEWED In comparing the literature reviewed in relation to the 3 sources, it can be deduced that all the writers had one common similarity concerning strategic alliance which is that it creates a â€Å"value† to the partners involved in the alliance. Whilst the first article by Ellis (1996) concentrated on reviewing the journal article by Spekman et. al (1995) titled â€Å"Building Strategic Alliances: The Successful Intertwining of Business and Personal Relationships†; â€Å"Creating Strategic Alliances That Endure† and â€Å"Alliance Management†Ã‚   which was mainly the discussion of how the perceived gap between the strategic formulation and the sustainability of the alliance management, the second article byPansiri (2005)   was aimed at providing the linkage between strategic alliance practice and managerial cognitive base with a view to understanding alliance dynamics better. Pansiri’s research was more academical and theoretical than practical because he undertook an in-depth analysis of all known models and research on strategic alliances. Pansiri (2005) asserted that the influence of managers’ characteristics and perceptions in strategic alliance practice is not only limited to reasons why firms form strategic alliances and attitudes towards alliances. Clegg et al (2008:590) however were of the view that there should be the instigation and maintenance of interaction during the formation period in order to reduce judgment errors and individual biases during the alliance formation. Pansiri (2005) contends that issues concerning the type of the strategic alliance to be adopted and the number of alliance partners or alliances a firm may join is of high concern for managers. Finally, Clegg et al (2008) were very keen on the fact that major mechanisms of global integration are collaborations and strategic alliances and that the major strategic objectives of alliances are maximizing value and enhancing learning. (C) ADDITIONAL REVIEW OF COLLEAGUE ARTICLE (CRITIQUE AND COMPRASION OF COLLEAGUES ARTICLE) (1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Critical Analysis of Journal Article from Harvard Business Review titled â€Å"Simple Rules for Making Alliances Work† authored   by Jonathan Hughes and Jeff Weiss (November, 2007) The two authors of the article Hughes and Weiss (2007:123) claims that strategic alliances are just not any business arrangement but they demand a high degree of interdependence between may continue to compete against each other in the market place.   They lamented that in strategic alliance there is the need to have the ability to actively ascertain the differences between the strengths and operating styles of the two corporate organizations planning to form the alliance in order to form sensible tactics and gain a lot of insight in relation to the prudent management of the partnership. The two authors suggested in order for the alliances to be effective, there should be the consideration of five (5) principles by the two companies considering forming the alliance. This in their opinion will go a long way to make the alliance to be effective and yield the desired results. The first principle they suggested was that there should be less focus on the definition of the business plan and more on how they will work together. They claimed that numerous experiences of failed alliances were due to breakdown in communication and trust but not necessarily the absence of a business plan. Successful alliances in their opinion was to a large extent based on the ability of the staff of the two companies to work as if they were employed by the same company. There should be a clear communication and understanding on how the resources will be allocated; sharing of information; and the process of decision making. The second principle they suggested was that the alliance partners must not focus only on the goals of the alliance but rather the progress because it is not usually possible to achieve measurable results in the first couple of months or even up to a year. The third principle is that alliance partners should focus on creating value with their differences instead of trying to eliminate them. This in their opinion will help streamline and fast-track the process of forming the alliance into a formidable force instead of the conflicts; bickering; pettiness; and trivialities of differences. The two authors compared the alliance between Microsoft and HP where the perceptions of the two companies of each other and their own appraisal was later catalogued into their respective strengths for value to be created. The fourth principle by Hughes and Weiss (2007:128) claimed that the alliance partners must go beyond formal governance structures but rather encourage collaborative behavior. They contend that there should be an emphasis on inquiry instead being judgmental so that there will be a dispassionate analysis on what went wrong so that both parties can interpedently sort out issues amicably. The final principle suggested by the two authors was that the alliance partners should spend much time on managing stakeholders internally as on managing the relationship between the partners. They cited an example of two financial services company who in the late 1990’s formed an alliance to exploit technological developments enabling electronic payments but a few years into the alliance they had some challenges as a result of the fact that one of the partners did not have the support of the departmental heads of the firm before entering into the alliance. These 4 departmental heads were therefore creating problem for the smooth operation of the new partnership and they were able to influence other stakeholders which eventually led to the downfall of the alliance. The two suggested that if the 5 principles are adhered to by companies contemplating to form an alliance, it will be very effective to successfully make the synergy a success. In comparing my colleague’s articles written by Hughes and Weiss (2007) with the article written by Ellis (1996), it can be deduced that the former was more in depth with practical examples to back up all the five (5) principles they suggested for effective strategic alliances. The latter (Ellis, 1996) wrote a short article and the main theme was on the importance of trust in strategic alliance management. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, it must be emphasized that strategic alliance is very useful exercise for corporate organizations that wants to increase their productivity and profitability and to improve their competencies. Nevertheless, the process of strategic alliance must be based on mutual trust; honesty; understanding; and continuous communication between the partners forming the alliance. If the alliance is to be successful, it is very critical that all the relevant stakeholders must be embedded in all the processes of the alliance formation for effective results. Proper planning and adherence to well tested principles as opined by Hughes and Weiss (2007) and the issue of having a trustworthy environment between the partners (Ellis, 1996) will be very critical to the success of any strategic alliance. REFERENCE 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Clegg, S.; Kornberger, M.; and Pitsis, T. (2008) â€Å"Managing and Organizations† An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 2nd Edition. Los Angeles: Sage. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ellis, C. (1996) â€Å"Making Strategic Alliance to Succeed† Harvard Business Review 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hughes, J. and Weiss, J. (2007) â€Å"Simple Rules for Making Alliances Work†: Harvard Business Review: November, 2007 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pansiri, J. (2005) â€Å"The influence of Managers’ Characteristics and Perceptions in Strategic Alliance Practice† Emerald Insight: Management Decision.Vol. 43 No. 9, 2005 pp. 1097-1113

Rare Earth Properties

Rare Earth Properties When you look at the Periodic Table, there is a two-row block of elements located below the main body of the chart. These elements, plus lanthanum (element 57) and actinium (element 89), are known collectively as the rare earth elements or rare earth metals. Actually, they arent particularly rare, but prior to 1945, long and tedious processes were required to purify the metals from their oxides. Ion-exchange and solvent extraction processes are used today to quickly produce highly pure, low-cost rare earths, but the old name is still in use. The rare earth metals are found in group 3 of the periodic table, and the 6th (5d electronic configuration) and 7th (5f electronic configuration) periods. There are some arguments for starting the 3rd and 4th transition series with lutetium and lawrencium rather than lanthanum and actinium. There are two blocks of rare earths, the lanthanide series, and the actinide series. Lanthanum and actinium are both located in group IIIB of the table. When you look at the periodic table, notice that the atomic numbers make a jump from lanthanum (57) to hafnium (72) and from actinium (89) to rutherfordium (104). If you skip down to the bottom of the table, you can follow the atomic numbers from lanthanum to cerium and from actinium to thorium, and then back up to the main body of the table. Some chemists exclude lanthanum and actinium from the rare earths, considering the lanthanides to start following lanthanum and the actinides to start following actinium. In a way, the rare earths are special transition metals, possessing many of the properties of these elements. Common Properties of the Rare Earths These common properties apply to both the lanthanides and actinides. The rare earths are silver, silvery-white, or gray metals.The metals have a high luster but tarnish readily in air.The metals have high electrical conductivity.The rare earths share many common properties. This makes them difficult to separate or even distinguish from each other.There are very small differences in solubility and complex formation between the rare earths.The rare earth metals naturally occur together in minerals (e.g., monazite is a mixed rare earth phosphate).Rare earths are found with non-metals, usually in the 3 oxidation state. There is little tendency to vary the valence. (Europium also has a valence of 2 and cerium also a valence of 4.)

Critique of a qualitative research article Essay

Critique of a qualitative research article - Essay Example 4. The study shows no any stated hypothesis. 5. The study was an original one and not a replication of past studies because it was the first study to apply longitudinal and repeated measures design in children. This is unique because previous studies were done through the cohort design. Through the unique approach, the study added new information to what was already from previous studies. First, the study found that self-determined health judgment reduced significantly over the 6 month period after intervention. This decline portrayed a change from intrinsic to extrinsic direction unlike previous studies that used the cohort design, which found the change to move from extrinsic to intrinsic direction (Chen & Kennedy, 2009). 6. The study participants in this study were children aged 8 to 9 years and their mothers. In selecting, the study participants, children and their mothers were supposed to self identify as either white or Latino. The second criterion was that the child should be in good health, which meant that the child should not have any acute or life threatening medical condition. In addition, the child was supposed to have the ability to attend to daily activities such as attending school. Thirdly, the mothers we required, in addition to speaking Spanish, English or both, were also required to be able to read in either of the two languages for them to be able to fill questionnaires that were written at fourth to sixth grade levels. Finally, both the child and mother were required to reside in the same household (Chen & Kennedy, 2009). The independent variables in this study were; one, consistent use of media rules in families under investigation. The other independent variables were age, ethnicity, and poor affective responsiveness in the family. The dependent variable was the level of children involvement in risk taking behaviors. The study fails to provide a definition of each of the independent variables, as well as the dependent variable (Chen & Ke nnedy, 2009). 7. The sample population was made of study subjects of the White and Latino origin. There were 16 sites that offered a total of 34 groups with about 4 children in a group. There were a total of 122 children aged 8 to 9 years and their mothers. The number of the white participants was 58 while the Latinos were 64. The randomly selected sample comprised of 58 girls, who represented 47.5% of the participants, and 64 boys, which was 52.5%, of the study participants. The groups were well balanced in terms of ethnicity and gender (Chen & Kennedy, 2009). Based on the objective of the study, which was to research on school age children to reduce their risk taking behaviors and increase safety behaviors, I feel that the study also ought to have included teachers who teach in the schools attended by the children under investigation. Therefore, the study was to some extent not comprehensive because teachers spend more time with the children than the mothers and are much aware of children behaviors. By targeting two ethnic groups; the Whites and the Latinos, the population appears not to be a generalizable one because there are varying factors among ethnic groups that would determine the level of exposure to risky behaviors by children. Therefore, ethnicity being one of the variables under investiga

Miss Lonelyheart and the Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Miss Lonelyheart and the Depression - Essay Example West illustrated such aspects of life evolved during the depression era in his novel Miss Lonelyhearts. The novel is of relevance today as the global economy showing a sign of depression, which may in turn lead to the great depression II.Even though the events and circumstances described in the novel are from a period of a century ago, the theme of the novel has relevance in this modern age. â€Å"Miss Lonelyhearts† the son of an England priest, is involved in giving advice for reader’s distressing letters.These hurting stories which he receives are depressing and eventually he also becomes depressed by reading the painful letters. He started heavy drinking and occasional bar fights.William Shrike, editor of the New York newspaper where Miss Lonelyhearts works, uses the column to boost up the circulation. The characters of this novel do not possess moral qualities, or they do not have any strong spirituality, which may be the result of depression era. They are not reall y concerned about social values (Martin, 1970). For example, Miss Lonelyhearts was not sincere as a columnist. At the beginning Miss Lonelyhearts started as a columnist in a style existing at that time with a superficial way of analysing and solving problems of individuals in society. In the society of that time where people suffered from financial and economic problems, actual religious and spiritual values did not affect them. When Miss Lonelyhearts received hundreds of letters from people of all walks of life describing their individual problems of many types he became astounded on going through the actual life problems. The letters contained plights of diverse people. For example, the novel describes a letter by a 16 year old girl who was born without a nose. Her life was pathetic because her parents felt guilty and shamed of their daughter, and this girl wanted Miss Lonelyhearts to tell her if she should commit suicide. When Miss Lonelyhearts understands the problem, he gets a sense of shock, which is a clear contrast to the attitude that the editor William Shilke shows. This contrast is very true of the media in the modern world. Over the years, media has become insensitive and focuses more on getting the sensational news out just to get more publicity and increase their profit. Just like Shilke, many media houses put immense pressure on the journalists to compromise on their ethics and values, just to get more attention from the public. This results in a breakdown at some point, just that Miss Lonelyhearts faced in the novel. Therefore, the approach of the editor to exploit the current situation is very similar to the way in which media sensationalizes the news in today’s era. In addition, in today’s society, depression is often taken out by certain methods that are not moralistic, such as getting involved in extra marital affairs or taking refuge in drugs. For Miss Lonelyhearts, he chose to overcome this depression by indulging in an extr a marital affair with one of his readers and with the wife of the editor. Only a very drastic situation, such as an encounter with the crippled husband of Mrs Doyle can bring out repentance in Miss Lonelyhearts. In real life too, only a very tragic instance gets the people to come out and remorse as most people do not understand their mistake unless the situation is very grave. Even though this work is a piece of fiction, it is very reflective of the current situa

Business Culture Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Culture Environment - Essay Example His mission does not include trying to transform the Chinese business culture or their society. So taking a very hard and principled stance is never a great business strategy. A sound business strategy is one that is pragmatic, realistic and with a clear profit motive and wealth maximization for the company's stakeholders. [Ref. 2: "Profit Motive" by Murphy Warren.] This is even more so, because by winning one moral victory at a very high cost, there is no guarantee that it will bring greater benefits to the joint venture in the future. There is no guarantee that it will lead to a change of heart and a change of culture of your Chinese partners. There is no guarantee that even the same people with whom you negotiated this protracted conflict, will even be there by the time the joint venture moves forward into its next stage of progress, considering that most of the key employees belong to the state and the communist party, and can be re-shuffled or transferred to other positions at any time. The problem with a joint venture is that the more time you lose in the beginning over smaller issues, the lesser time you are left with by the time you confront larger issues. [Ref. 3: "Effective International Joint Venture Management" by R.C. Wolf] Since the joint venture was already off to a bad start with an eighteen-month delay, the pressure was bound to increase as the negotiations progressed to other areas of the venture. During negotiations, the TNT manager must take it into account the experiences of his competitors, and how they are dealing with such problems. In business, you cannot afford to ignore your competitors' behavior and their strategies, while you remain trapped in your own personal beliefs or biases. Excessive loss of time gives opportunities to the competitors to occupy the space that has been left vacant by you. The fact that the negotiations of TNT with the Chinese lasted five years before the joint venture could see the light of the day, speaks eloquently about its dismal performance. There is no way to justify such an inordinate delay merely by explaining the extremities of the Chinese culture. The TNT manager learned about the Chinese culture the harsh way, which proved too expensive for the joint venture. He ought to have done his homework well in advance, and been fully aware of what to expect from the Chinese. Without a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Chinese culture, it would waste a lot of time in gathering one's learning and experience, which is what happened with the TNT manager. The biggest strategic error of TNT was to put such a man in-charge of the negotiations with the Chinese, who had apparently no past experience in dealing with them. Such a valuable joint venture definitely needed such people on the team of TNT who had either worked for many years in China, or alternatively, who were men of Chinese origin working in the west for many years. In other words, the joint venture needed negotiators who understood both sides intimately. ANS. 2: The TNT case is an outstanding example of cultural misunderstandings and miscommunications. Its

FEMELE EFFIGY IN THE PRESS AND TV ADVERTISEMENT AS THE SOURCE OF Essay

FEMELE EFFIGY IN THE PRESS AND TV ADVERTISEMENT AS THE SOURCE OF STERETYPICAL IMAGE - Essay Example In presenting women in this way, in both the press as serious representation and in advertising as everyday representation, the media serves to reinforce and reintroduce concepts of the female gender as something less than or less capable than men. To prove this concept, the present study will investigate images of the female in news media as press and in advertising as representations of the everyday to determine whether this concept of female effigy in the media remains true today. To accomplish this, the study will look at a number of media theories regarding how images seen on television and in advertising reinforce and introduce social ideals and investigate several case studies in which gender messages can be discerned. Philosophies will be presented in a literature review segment while case studies will be presented individually. As this study will demonstrate, the media has made some strides toward more positive representation, but there remains a great deal to be done before women are actually portrayed as equal by the mainstream structures of news media and advertising. The subject for the present study was suggested by an interest in discovering more about how the media functions as a tool of reinforcement of ‘traditional’ concepts regarding women. Although the modern world has obviously moved beyond the concepts of the woman as relegated to the home and family alone, these ideas continue to persist. Thus, the purpose of the study was to determine if these persistent antiquated ideas of woman’s ‘rightful’ place were being reinforced through media channels so that I, as a future member of the media, can work to counteract these concepts if necessary. However, in looking to the media to discover the ways in which the female might be shaped and defined by the messages sent, the scope needed to be narrowed to a more manageable size. This

Genre 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Genre 7 - Essay Example There are different types of biographies such as fictional bibliographies, authentic, bibliographies, autobiographies, picture book biographies, simplified biographies, compote biographies, partial biographies and collective biographies. The literally elements in the biographies are that they have written text patterns meaning they are written in chronological order, they are written as a story and biographies are written with predictable patterns. The main literacy concepts associated with biographies are factual, story, logical, aids and Authentic. One relevant award for this genre is the Robert F. Sibert Informational Medal, which is offered to the most distinguished informational book author. The award is relevant to this genre since it is aimed at rewarding authors that have written informational books, such as biographies, which are important in advancing the knowledge of children. The ward is in line the genre bibliography since it rewards the most distinguished authors who write books that have information about prominent and outstanding personalities in the society. The first advice to teachers when using the genre in a curriculum is that they should choose biographies that have a logical organization meaning bibliographies that have an interesting lifestyle that brings about curiosity to learners in the classroom, ones that have a clear and balanced view about the personality, use current and up-to-date bibliographies. Secondly, teachers use biographies in the curriculum by highlighting the main traits of successful people in the world with what learners can achieve. Teachers are cautioned against using books that have fictional characters to teach children about the genre bibliography. One of the books that fit the genre is a splash of Red, which explains the life, and art of Horace Pippin. The book provides a clear account of Horace Pippin’s life of art and

FEMELE EFFIGY IN THE PRESS AND TV ADVERTISEMENT AS THE SOURCE OF Essay

FEMELE EFFIGY IN THE PRESS AND TV ADVERTISEMENT AS THE SOURCE OF STERETYPICAL IMAGE - Essay Example In presenting women in this way, in both the press as serious representation and in advertising as everyday representation, the media serves to reinforce and reintroduce concepts of the female gender as something less than or less capable than men. To prove this concept, the present study will investigate images of the female in news media as press and in advertising as representations of the everyday to determine whether this concept of female effigy in the media remains true today. To accomplish this, the study will look at a number of media theories regarding how images seen on television and in advertising reinforce and introduce social ideals and investigate several case studies in which gender messages can be discerned. Philosophies will be presented in a literature review segment while case studies will be presented individually. As this study will demonstrate, the media has made some strides toward more positive representation, but there remains a great deal to be done before women are actually portrayed as equal by the mainstream structures of news media and advertising. The subject for the present study was suggested by an interest in discovering more about how the media functions as a tool of reinforcement of ‘traditional’ concepts regarding women. Although the modern world has obviously moved beyond the concepts of the woman as relegated to the home and family alone, these ideas continue to persist. Thus, the purpose of the study was to determine if these persistent antiquated ideas of woman’s ‘rightful’ place were being reinforced through media channels so that I, as a future member of the media, can work to counteract these concepts if necessary. However, in looking to the media to discover the ways in which the female might be shaped and defined by the messages sent, the scope needed to be narrowed to a more manageable size. This

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION - Essay Example addition, it encompasses federal, state and local governments with the role of organizing programs, initiatives, policies and day to day running of the agencies effectively for viability of the environment. Woodrow Wilson laid a strong foundation in the study of public administration by providing insight into the history, challenges and adoption of public administration. His legendary work in the field of public administration influenced and triggered other authors such as Frank Goodnow and Leonard White to expand on his ideas. Together the three authors explicitly. The past and current trends show that public administration, politics, and law are highly interlinked, and this can impact negatively or positively on the functions of public administration depending on the level of involvement. This is shown by the analysis of three authors’ works opinions on public administration, which brings out the interrelationship. This essay also analyses the case study: Hurricane Katrina: A man made crisis? in relation to the authors opinions and effective execution of public administration policies. The term administration can be defined in a way that the administration is all about managing the things and work in any office, business or in any company. According to Woodrow Wilson, Administration is the study of the process of executing the public affairs. It means that how the government executes, operates and exercises its duties and tasks. Thus, administration plays an obvious role in the government (Wilson, 1887, p. 198). Thanks to Wilson, students of government found an avenue to the insight of public administration as one f the working parts of the government machine. In the early time, administration was not much needed because at that time, the functions, the jobs, and the roles of the government were much simple. In other words, the situation was stable, and there was flexibility about the public finance and the government finance statistics. This implies that

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Those who think Transcendentalism is just a literary movement that took place in the early 1800s are only half correct. Transcendentalism is indeed a literary movement; however, it is much more than that. It is meant to challenge people to think for themselves and cause change. Authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee taught the importance of non-conformity and civil disobedience through short stories such as â€Å"Self Reliance† and â€Å"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience†, and the play, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that knowledge is derived from experience and personal reflection as opposed to reason. Transcendentalism promotes self-revelation because it encourages people to form their own opinions and then voice them in a way that will promote change in society. Transcendentalists ground their philosophy with the idea that every persons inner self is where knowledge is gained. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s â€Å"Self Reliance†, he says, What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think†¦It is easy in the world to live after the worlds opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Emerson realizes that it is easy to conform to society, but there is value in forming one’s own opinion. What makes a person great is if he or she can stand out in a crowd of people. While in a crowd, one can see the overall ideas of the group but never the individual thoughts that made up these ideas. Emerson is saying that to be great, one must be able to be with the crowd physically, but mentally remain one’s own person with their own ideas. Because Transcendentalism values individual opinions, it is also important to people such as Henry David Thoreau that everyone, especially the government, is open to other peoples’ opinions. In â€Å"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience† Thoreau says, â€Å"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power†¦ and treats him accordingly. † Thoreau understands that citizens should be able to influence the government and cause change. To do this, the government needs to treat its citizens with respect. Politicians and other government workers need to do away with their pride and listen to what is really important- the citizens. When people can form their own opinions, respect others’ opinions, and voice their opinions, there will be harmony. In Transcendentalism, people are encouraged not only to form their own opinions, but to voice them as well. Thoreau tells everyone to â€Å"make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it† (Thoreau). He supports transcendentalism by encouraging people to stand up and talk about their opinions. Thoreau understands that change, especially in government can only occur when individuals make their opinions heard. During his life, Thoreau challenged the idea of slavery, government corruption, payment of taxes, and the Mexican-American War. In The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Thoreau is talking to his old professor about how he should voice his discontent with the Mexican-American War. When Thoreau’s professor asks when he should voice his opinion Thoreau yells, â€Å"‘NOW! A year ago was too late! I’ll get you an audience. This afternoon. At Concord Square! †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lawrence and Lee 89). In the play, Thoreau expresses that opinions are no good if they are not proclaimed to the world. If opinions are not voiced they cannot be heard. Transcendentalism values individual opinions and acknowledges that voicing them is crucial if they are going to spearhead change in their society. Transcendentalists agree that self-revelation is wasted if it is not voiced and then heard and thereby causing change. During The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Thoreau spends a small amount of time as a schoolteacher. While Thoreau is a schoolteacher, he gets into trouble with the schoolmaster because he lets his kids â€Å"Huckleberry† in order to come to a conclusion in a class discussion. After he gets in trouble Thoreau sarcastically tells his students, ‘â€Å"You must not listen to a cricket or smell a flower that has not been approved by the School Committee. You’d better close both ears and hold your nose- though you may have to grow an extra hand to do it†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lawrence and Lee 20). In this instance, Thoreau is trying to speak out against the strict policy of the school committee. He sees that the policy is unfair and that students should be able to learn in a way that is effective for them. By speaking out against the school committee, Thoreau is opening up the possibility for a reform in the education system. Thoreau sees that there is an opportunity to promote change so he takes it and speaks his opinion. According to Thoreau and other transcendentalists, the government needs to be ameliorated. Thoreau says, â€Å"The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it† (Thoreau). Transcendentalists agree that the government usually does not work for the people it is protecting. However, they do realize that it is necessary for the survival of the United States. Thoreau is encouraging people to take a stand against the current government, which he hopes will lead to a reform that will empower people to demand more influence in politics. Transcendentalism emphasizes that individuals need to voice their opinions if change is going to occur. According to Transcendentalists, promoting change in society occurs through self-revelation. There must be free thinking people in the world who are willing to make their voice heard if change is ever going to occur. Today many people think that the American school system is something that needs to be reformed. There is a problem if most students are no longer engaged and excited to go to school. Transcendentalists would say that students should be learning things that are interesting to them and cause them to think beyond what is being taught. Students should be encouraged to investigate and debate ideas in order to come up with their own. If America were still in the Transcendentalism time period, people would be insisting on these types of changes. They know that if they do not speak out, nothing will happen.

Spectrophotometric Assay for Lipase Activity

Spectrophotometric Assay for Lipase Activity Decomposition of human and animals bodies depends on numbers of factors. One of these factors is the presence of bacteria, both endogenous and exogenous of the body. They use the environmental factors to drive the decomposition of the tissues in the body. The various tissues are degraded at different rates by different bacterial cells. As it was seen in the model burial of a pig that is the early stages of decomposition Gram negative bacterial were mostly present in the decaying body. But after 6 7 weeks later the Gram negative bacteria started to decrease as the number of Gram positive bacteria present in the decaying body started to increase. The bacteria produce enzymes which break down any tissue in the body. In the adipose tissue bacteria produces lipases which is secreted in to he tissue and slowly starts to break down the fat. Lipases producing bacterial has been collected from a model burial environment without any environmental factors to see if there is a difference in the activity of the lipase enzyme which are produced by different bacteria species. These bacteria were used in two of the spectrophotometric assay that has been described in the literature. The turbidity assay shows how quickly the lipase enzyme can break down the lipid in the emulsion solution. On the other hand the BALB (dimercaprol Tributyrate) DTNB (5, 5- dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid)) method shows the increase in the product that is produced by the lipase. INTRODUCTION Lipases are found naturally as it is produced by plants, animals and micro-organisms. In the last few decades, the micro-organism production of lipases has been studied for commercial use, which leads to bacterial lipases being studied a great deal. Lipase enzymes breakdown and mobilize lipids which are present within the cell of the organism and the breakdown of lipid is also present in the environment. However there are many questions still unanswered. For example, is the activity of the lipases different when they are produced by different strains or species of bacteria? Hopefully in this research paper, this question will be answered. Bacterial Lipases When bacteria is grown in a surrounding of hydrophobic media, the bacterial cell releases lipase for the breakdown of fats in the environment for a source of energy. Bacteria produce lipases during the late phases of log phases and in the stationary phases. Lipases are hydrolases which hydrolyzes triacylglycerols in aqueous conditions to form fatty acids and glycerol. The reaction releases energy which is used for growth of the bacteria which is why the bacterium produces lipases within these phases. The substrates of the lipases are triacylglycerols which are hydrophobic and the reaction occurs in aqueous condition and this leads to the reaction occurring in lipid-water interface. Some lipases can also catalyze the synthesis of long chain fatty acids. Lipases contains ÃŽ ±/ÃŽ ² fold, which has eight ÃŽ ² sheets in the middle which are parallel except for the second ÃŽ ² sheet and the sheets are surrounded by ÃŽ ± helices. This fold offers a scaffold for the active site in the lipase molecule. The active site or binding site of the lipase molecule is where the interface occurs. This is where the chains of the enzyme are subdivided; at the bottom of the active site is where the ester bond binds to which means this region is hydrophilic. Towards the surface of the enzyme is where the molecule binds to the fatty acids and therefore this region is hydrophobic. Within the ÃŽ ²-sheets there is an area which is highly conserved which is made up of the triad which is a nucleophile and histidine. The nucleophile is made up several amino acids, which are Serine, Cysteine or aspartic acid. The nucleophile is present on ÃŽ ²5 and the histidine is present on ÃŽ ²7. The histidine is the only highly conserved area of the active site/enzyme that d iffers in shape and structure from one type of lipase enzyme to another. Another area of the active site that is important but only present in some type of lipases is the lid. This area is what gives the lipase enzyme the structural explanation of the interface property. When the substrate comes into contract with the lid, it opens the lipid water interface where the substrate binds to for the reaction to occur. Some lipase molecules are only active in the presence of Ca2+ and this is due to the subdivisions of the active site being bound together by the Ca2+ion. The hydrophobic region of the active site leads to less inhibitors that can bind to and inactivate the enzyme. Since lipases are extracellular enzymes, the secretion/production of these enzymes is affected by a number of factors: Nutritional enzymes are produced when the bacteria is in the presence of a lipid environment such as oil, tweens, hydrolyzable esters and triacylglycerols. These are the main sources of lipid but many bacteria can produce lipases in the presence of various sources of substrates. For example Pseudomonas aeruginosa produce lipase in the presence of long chain fatty acids such as oleic and linoleic acid. Temperature the temperature at which maximum production of lipase can occur depends on the optimum temperature for growth of bacteria. The temperature normally ranges from 30 60Â °C, but some can survive at colder or warmer temperatures. Therefore it depends on the type of bacteria in question. pH normally bacterial lipases are active in neutral pH or alkaline pH. However there are a few exceptions like Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase has an optimum pH of 4.8, whereas most bacterial species possess stability over a broad range of pH of 4 10. Effect of ion one type of lipase which is produced by Pseudomonas species is activated by the presence of Ca2+ ion in the environment. Growth of bacteria if the bacterial cell is present in the log phase then the production of lipase is decreased in the bacterial cell. Inhibitors inhibition of lipases does not affect the production or the secretion of the enzyme but affects the activity of the enzyme. There are two types of inhibitors; irreversible or reversible. The reversible inhibitors are split into two types. The first of which are non specific as they bind to the enzyme but not at the active site. When the inhibitor binds to the enzyme, the active site changes and therefore prevents the lipases from binding to the substrate as the structure of the active site has been changed. An example of this type of inhibitor is bile salts. However bile salts can activate some lipases such as the lipase produced by the pancreas. The second type of reversible inhibitors is specific inhibitors as they bind to the active site of the lipase enzyme. They can also be irreversible as the interaction between the inhibitor and the enzyme is so strong that it cannot be broken. An example of this type of inhibitor is boronic acid which can bind to the active site f or a long time but can still be removes leaving the active site unchanged. These types of inhibitors bind to the triad of the active site, which means that when they bind to the triad, the interaction is irreversible. There are three major types of microbial lipases depending on the substrate they bind to. Nonspecific these enzymes act randomly on the lipid substrate molecules which then completely breakdown the molecule. For example with the triglyceride molecule, the enzyme will break the ester in random fashion until the molecule is complete broken down to fatty acids and glycerol. Regiospecific these enzymes only hydrolyze the primary ester bond, these are the C1 and C3 bonds in the triglyceride molecule , which means that when hydrolyzing triglycerides the final products are free fatty acids, 1, 2(2,3)-diacylglyceride and 2-monoacylglyceride. Fatty acid-specific there are some bacteria that only produce this type of lipase and they bind to fatty acids which are then broken down by the lipase. One type of bacteria that can produce lipases that only bind fatty acids is the Achromobacterium lipolyticum. Other bacteria that produce this type of enzyme are Bacillus species which mostly bind to long chained fatty acids. However other bacteria like Pseudomonas species produce lipases that can bind to short or medium length of fatty acids. Staphylococcus aureus can produce a lipase molecule that can bind to unsaturated fatty acids. Lipase in Decomposition The bacteria that are going to be used in the research project are bacteria that were purified from a model burial environment. The bacteria that were present in the model burial environment must have been already been present in the pigs body, which means that all the bacteria that are going to be used are endogenous bacteria that are part of the pigs microflora. The bacteria sample had been taken out of the fluid from the decaying organism in a steel box which was free from all external environmental factors except from oxygen. The sample of bacteria was taken two times a week and then towards the end it was reduced to once a week. It was discovered that at the beginning of the decaying process the bacteria that were present were Gram negative bacteria. However after week 9 the bacteria that were growing in the decaying pig changed from Gram negative to Gram positive. These bacterial cells can release lipases which can break down fats in the body which leads to the formation of adi pocere. Adipocere is made up from a mixture of saturated fatty acids which have been produced during decomposition of the adipose tissue in the body. These adipoceres are formed straight away after death by lipases which are present inside the body. These lipases are mostly produced by the bacteria in the body of the pig which breaks down triglycerides to free fatty acids. If in a suitable environment, bacteria release lipases for hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids to its saturated form. Lipase Assays There are two assays that will be performed to find out the activity of the lipase which are present in the solution. The first is based on BALB DTNB method and it uses dimercaprol tributyrate (BALB) and 5, 5 dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DNTB). The lipase enzyme binds to BALB and cleaves it to form an SH group which then binds to DNTB. The product then forms a yellow product which then increases the absorbance which can be measured using a spectrophotometer. The colour intensity is measured at 412 nm; the colour change is proportional to the activity to lipase at to 1:1 ratio. The second assay also uses the spectrophotometer but this time it measures the optical density of the solution instead of measuring the amount of product that is formed. Tributyrin and olive oil is emulsified in the solution which gives a turbid appearance. As the lipase breaks down the lipid in the assay solution, the optical density of the solution decreases which can be measured. The optical density of the solute ion can be measured at 450nm. Both assays measure the activity of the lipase but in two different ways. The first measures the amount of product that is formed while the second measures the breakdown of the substrate. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Decomposition of human or animal bodies is dependent upon a number of factors. Bacteria which are endogenous (in the body) and exogenous (in the environment) are the key components of decomposition. Different tissues in the body degrade at different rates and are degraded by different bacteria. Previously it has been shown that bacteria in the model burial environment can produce lipases which breakdown the lipids found within the tissues of the body. However it does not tell you if there are different lipases that are secreted by different bacterial cells. Lipase production was demonstrated by using plate assay when lipase breaks down tween 20. Therefore it does not compare the different lipases produced and the activity of different bacterial species. There have been different spectrophotometric assays that have been described in the literature to calculate the activity of lipase enzymes, but only two of these will be used. The bacteria that is going to be used in the assay has been purified from fluid from a decaying pig in a steel box which is free from all external environmental factors expect oxygen. Two assays are going to be preformed to find the activity of lipase, the first one similar to the BALB DTNB method. Lipase forms a SH group on BALB which then binds to DTNM to give a yellow product. The amount of product that is formed in a solution is related to the activity of lipase in a 1:1 reacting ratio which is a direct measurement of the activity. The colour change is measured at 420 nm. The second assay is also measure the change in the solution but this time it measures the decrease of the substrate that is left in the solution. It measures the density of the solution, as the substrate (olive oil) is denser than the product. The density is measured 450 nm. The decreased of the substrate is related to the activity of lipase. At first before anything can be done we need to see if the bacteria cells produced lipase is by growing them in a plate which contains Tween 80. If the Tween is broken down then the bacterial cell produces lipase. MATERIALS AND METHODS The bacterial strains that were given to me were extracted from fluid from a pig that was decaying in a steel box which had a controlled environment that was free from all external environment factors expect fresh air. Bacterial Media The bacterial strains were grown in half nutrient agar which was made from 2.6g of nutrient broth (OXOID, Basingstoke, England) and 4.8g of Agar bacteriological (OXIOD) in 400ml of water which was autoclaved and then poured in to 20ml Petri dish. The bacterial strains were plated and left in a 30Â °C incubator overnight. After the bacteria were grown on just half nutrient agar, they were then grown on half nutrient agar with 4ml of sterile Tween 80 (SIGMA ALDRICH, UK) and 400Â µl of 10% of CaCl2 (scientific equipment, Loughborough, England). Again the plates were placed in a 30Â °C incubator. The bacterial strains were also grown in minimal medium agar which contained 2.8g of Potassium Hydrogen Orthophosphate (BDH Laboratory Supplies, Poole, England), 1.2g Sodium Dihydrogen Orthophosphate (BDH LS) and 0.04g of Magnesium Sulphate (BDH LS) in 200ml of sterile water and 2.4g of Agar bacteriological. After the solution came out of the autoclave, 2ml of Tween 80 was added and 200Â µl of 10 % CaCl2. For the bacterial strains to be used in spectrophotometric assay, the strains had to be grown in liquid media. The bacterial strains were grown in two different types of media, Tryptic Soy Broth and Minimal Medium. The Tryptic Soy Broth (TBS) was made from 30g/L Tryptone Soya Broth (OXIOD) which was autoclaved. After the bacteria were added to the media, the bottle was placed in a shaking incubator at 37Â °C over night. The Minimal Medium contained 14g/L of potassium hydrogen orthophosphate, 6g/L sodium dihydrogen orthophosphate and 0.2g/L of magnesium sulphate. 100Â µl of Tributyrate (SIGMA ALDRICH) was added to 10ml of the Minimal Media. The bacteria were added to the media and then placed in a shaking incubator at 37Â °C over night. Sample Solutions After the bacteria are left to grow, the media is used to make up three different samples of bacteria to use in both of the assays. The first sample is purified bacterial strain from the media and this was obtained when 1ml of the media was placed in a sterile eppendorf tube which was then centrifuged at full speed for 2 minutes. The supernatant was replaced with 500Â µl of 150mM of CaCl2 and 500Â µl of 200mM of Tris buffer (12.11g of Trizma base in 150ml of water and then 0.1M of HCl was added to make the pH of the solution 8, this to make 0.5M Tris Buffer which was then diluted to make 200mM solution) (SIGAM ALDICH). The second sample was done in the same manner but instead of adding Tris buffer and CaCl2 to the pellet, PBS (Phosphate buffered saline) solution is utilized to re-suspend the pellet and 2ml of the media solution is used. Each suspension was transferred in to a different Bijou Bottle which is kept on ice. The suspension in the Bijou Bottle is sonicated twice for 30 seconds at 30W. The last sample was made when the media solution is filtered with the use of a sterile syringe and sterile 0.2Â µm pore syringe filter and placing the filtered solution into a sterile universal bottle. 3ml of the media was only filtered. The samples were ready for the assay and two different that were used. They both measured the absorbance of the solution at different wavelengths. One measured the turbidity of the solution while the other looked at the change in the absorbance of the solution. Turbidity Assay For the turbidity assay an emulsion solution is made and it is made from 100mM of Tris buffer (4.975ml), 50mM of CaCl2 (4.975ml) and 50ml of lipid source (either olive oil or Tributyrate or both). The solution was sonicated for 3 minutes at 40W. The solution is left in a water bath until it is used for the assay. The emulsion solution is used in three different ways as the assay was performed in a cuvette, Petri dish or 96 well plate. When done in a cuvette, 40mg of low melting point agarose (SIGMA ALDRICH) is added and the boiled before sonication. The agarose stabilises the emulsion. If the assay was done in a 96 well plate, then no agarose is necessary. The last test that is performed is in 20ml plates; 20ml of the emulsion solution is made up with 80mg of agarose to made a solid media (INVITROGEN, Paisley, UK) which is then boiled before and after sonication. For the 96 wells plate, 200Â µl of the emulsion solution was placed in each well and then 20Â µl of the sample solution was added. As soon as the sample was added the absorbance is measured at 450nm to measure the optical density of the solution. The absorbance was then measured every 15 minutes up to 60 minutes. Here the samples that were used were grown in the Minimal Medium. The lipid source in this part of the assay was 25Â µl of olive oil and 25Â µl of Tributyrate in 10ml of the emulsion solution. For the assay that was done in the cuvette 1L of the emulsion solution was added to a micro cuvette and 100Â µl of the sample solution. The absorbance was also measured at 450nm as soon as the sample is been added and then every 5 minutes up to 45 minutes. The lipid source is 50Â µl of olive oil in 10ml of emulsion solution. For the plate assay after the solution was boiled for the second time, the solution was poured in to a plate for the agarose to set. After the agarose was set, wells were made in the agarose using a hollow punch about 8mm in diameter which was filled with 10Â µl of the sample solution and the plate was left at room temperature over night. In 20ml of the emulsion solution the lipid source was 50Â µl of each olive oil and Tributyrate. Colour Assay (BALB DNTB Method) The second assay measures the absorbance change in the working solution. The working solution is made from BALB (SIGMA ALDRICH) and DNTB (SIGMA ALDRICH) and Tris buffer solution. The working solution was made from 1 ml of BALB is added to 17.5ml of 0.5M of Tris Buffer at pH 8.5 and 625mg of DNTB. 150Â µl of the working solution is added to the well after adding 150Â µl of water. To this 10Â µl of the sample was added. When the assay was done in 96 well plate the absorbance was measured after the sample was added at 405nm and then every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. When the assay was done in a cuvette, at first 400Â µl of water was placed in the cuvette then 380Â µl of the working solution was added to the water. Then the 20Â µl of the working sample was added into the cuvette. The absorbance was the measured at 412 nm for the 20 minutes. The reason why there is a difference in the wavelength in which the absorbance is measured is due to the plate reader not being able to read the absorbance at 412nm. For this assay the samples that were used were prepared from the bacteria that were grown in TSB. RESULTS When the bacteria colonies were grown on the agar plate which had Tween 80 and CaCl2, around the colonies there was the presence of halos or the colonies has a halo this can be seen in figure 1a. The arrow shows the halo colonies of the bacteria species. The bacteria colonies that were placed on other plates was not as clear as 16C but the halo can only be seen when the plates are held up by the light (result not shown). Turbidity Assay The first assay that was done was the turbidity assay in a cuvette, the optical density of the solution did not increase or decrease, and it just stayed the same. But when the assay was done in the 96 well plate the optical density increased when the bacteria were added to the well, and then decrease and keep decreasing even after 60 minutes (figure 2a). Then the filtered media was added to the emulsion solution in the 96 well plate, the optical density again decreased. However not all the bacteria were filtered to see if there was a decrease in the optical density (figure 3). Only some of the bacteria were used to see if it was an enzyme that was decreasing the optical density and not the bacterial cells. However the general result showed a decrease in the optical density except for 2 bacterial strains (1A and 4A) which showed an increase in the optical density after 30 minutes and then it optical density again. Then the bacteria cell free lysates were added to the welled plate and the same result appeared as the optical density levels decreased once again. The bacteria that were used were the same bacteria that were used in the filtered part of the assay (figure 4). After 45 minutes the optical density is starting to level off. The gradient of the line for all the bacteria strains are the same as they all decrease at the same rate expect for bacteria strain 5 which has flatter gradient than the rest. For the plate test in the turbidity assay, the bacterial solution in the well was not present and no zone of clearance was noticeable in any of the plates (figure 1b). Only one of the plates is shown in the figure and the rest of the plates looked the same as no zone could be seen. Colour Assay (BALB DNTB Method) In the BALB-DNTB method, the absorbance increases when bacteria strain 6 was added to the working solution in a cuvette and measured for 20 minutes. The increase was slow for the first 10 minutes and then increased at a faster rate for the next 10 minutes, figure 5. When the assay was done in the welled plate, the absorbance increases for all the strains but some increase more than others. For example strain 5 increased from 4.204 to 4.412 while strain 1 only increased from 4.241 to 4.265. This is shown in a table in figure 2b. When only the media in which the bacteria grew in was added as the sample, the absorbance also increased for most of the bacterial strains but not as much as when the bacterial cells were added. For some of the strains the absorbance decreased. For example in strain 1 there was a decrease from 4.241 to 4.235, figure 2c. The same happened when the content of the bacterial cell was added to the working solution. But when the absorbance increased, the increase was bigger than the increase when media was added (figure 2d). However there were still some strains in which the absorbance still decreased in 20 minutes but the absorbance increased from 0 to 10 minutes and then decreased from 10 to 20 minutes. Figure 1, (a) the plate has been plated with strain 16C (left) and 16B (right); the halo can be seen clear by the arrow which is the colonies of bacteria 16C. However the halo can not be seen clearly in the colonies of bacteria. (b), the plate contain solid emulsion solution with well which contain lipases from different bacteria, and there is no presence of zone of clearance from any of the well. There were 3 plates in total and all look the same (only one is shown) but the well had different lipases from different bacteria. Figure 2, A is a table that shows the optical density change when bacterial was added to emulsion solution for the turbidity assay. The optical density decreases when the bacterial cells were added to the emulsion solution. The next 3 tables are showing the absorbance change when the strains were added to the working solution for the colour BALB-DNTB method, (B) has bacterial cells added to the working solution; (C) has only filtered media, which had bacteria growing in, was added and lastly (D) had bacterial cells free lysates added. In the colour assay the absorbance increased in all three cases. DISCUSSION Bacteria produce lipases that can break down or hydrolyse lipid molecules such as fats and oils. They produce lipases in the log phase of growth when there is a high level of lipid source for energy. There are different lipases which can break down different lipid molecules. The bacterium produces lipases to break down lipid for energy as adequate amount energy is present in lipids. As most of the lipids cannot cross the cell membrane, the lipid has to be catabolised into smaller lipid molecules which can then enter the cell where it is broken down further. Lipases from bacteria are studied for industrial uses. Here it was studied to see if the lipases that were produced from different bacteria are different and if there was any variation in the activity of the lipases. When the bacterial cells were grown on agar plate without any Tween 80 the bacterial colonies do not have any halos or precipitate around the colonies. But when some of the bacteria were grown in agar that contained Tween 80 and CaCl2 the colonies had halo colonies 3 to 8 days after they were inoculated. In the past Tween has been used for lipase activity to see if the bacteria produce lipase. If lipases are produced then it binds to the Tween and breaks the Tween down to fatty acids. The fatty acids then bind to the Ca in the media which forms crystals. These crystals then become soluble in the media which can then be seen by eye as halos. Some of the colonies had halos which meant that the cell produced lipases. Figure 6, the turbidity plate assay should have looked like this but what the figure 1b shows. There the one of clearance can be seen very clearly where as in the plate in figure 1b there are no clearing at all what meant the assay did not work at all. The turbidity assay that was done is the plate which showed no zone of clearance, it should have had zone of clearance around the well which contained the sample of bacteria. The bacteria in the wells should have diffused out of the well and in to the agarose media in which the bacteria should have released lipases to break down the olive oil and Tributyrate. When the lipids were broken down the media would have become clear. The plate should have look like figure 6 from, the zone of clearance is shown very clearly. The other assay that did not work was the same assay that was done with the cuvette. This is when the absorbance levels did not decrease but just stayed the same. The absorbance levels should have decreased and the reason in why this did not occur is not known. It might have been due to the stability of the solution as the agarose must have been concentrated which meant that the bacteria solution was not able to diffuse through the media. The concentration of agarose might be the problem because when agarose was not added like in the 96 well plate part of the assay, the absorbance of the emulsion solution decreased. This was due to the emulsion solution being turbid by lipid in the solution when sonicated, when the bacteria sample was added the optical density increased slightly as the bacteria cell scatter the light which leads to the increase in the optical density absorbance levels. The bacteria cell then releases lipase in the solution or lipase that are inside the cell break down the lipid in the emulsion solution which then leads to the decrease in the level of lipid in the emulsion solution which then means that less light is scattered. The well plate assay was done to 3 different type of sample solution, one of which contained bacteria cell, one of which contained the filtered media solution and the last contained the bacteria cell free lysates. The bacterial cells were used to see if the bacterial cell produced lipases. The filtered media was used to see if the bacterial cell released lipase in to the media and if it was in fact the lipase that was decreasing the absorbance and not anything else. The bacteria content was used after the bacteria cell were sonicated for one minute, to use all the lipases that had been produced by the bacterial cell but not secreted. As not all the bacteria cells release the lipase in to the media and sometime the lipid molecule is too big to cross the cell membrane and wall of the bacteria. To see if there are any differences in the activity of the different lipases which are produced by different bacterial cells, cannot be done by adding the sample to the emulsion solution as different concentration of lipase must have been in the sample for each of the strains. In order to make the test fair, the amount of bacterial cell and the lipase concentration must be the same for each of the bacterial strain. But still it might be a fair test as some of the bacterial cells can still divide inside the emulsion solution and then increase the concentration of lipases. The lipases produced by the bacteria are produced in the log phase. The same can be said for the BALB-DNTB method. This assay is not like the other assay because the absorbance does not decrease but increase. This is due to the lipase bind to the BALB in which is cleaved to form a SH group. The SH group then binds to DNTB which is in excess in the working solution, to form a yellow substance. The complex then absorbs light hence increasing the level of absorbance. The bind of the BALB with the new SH group binds to the DNTB in a one to one reacting ratio, this means that increases is absorbance is proportional to the reacting activity of the lipase. When bacterial cells were mixed to the working solution the absorbance for most of them increase. This meant that lipases that were present in the well were cleaved BALB. The same thing also occurred when filtered media was added to the working solution but the increase were small and this must be due to the fact that not a lot of lipases were released by the bacterial cells in to the media solution. However, when the bacterial cell free lysates is added not all of the absorbance levels increase but in fact some of them decrease and then increase. It may mean that the lipases need time to start working since they had been on ice before the experiment. To see if this was true, the test needs to be done again but for a longer period of time. In the cuvette test, only one strain, it was used when the first assay was done it had the largest change in absorbance. It was used to see a general increase of the solution over 20 minutes and the absorbance was measured every minute to see the turning point when the rate of enzymatic activity change from being slow to a steady normal rate. The graph in figure 5 shows that the rate was slow during the first 10 minute this meant the bacteria cell needed to adapt to the new environment before the activity of the enzyme can to back to normal. If the test was done longer then the graph would start to level due to the substrate concentration starting to decrease. From the results, there is not enough evidence to conclude that there any differences in the activity of the different strains of lipase. To see if it is true then the both of the a

Kinesthesis in Science :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Kinesthesis in Science Especially to the uninitiated, learning science can be daunting. A primary contribution to this problem is the fact that too often science lectures are overly formal, and they employ a notation--namely the language of math-which ostensibly is transparent to only an elite few. The belief behind my remedy to this difficulty is that any physical problem, as well as all of the associated formalism, can be rendered not only intelligible but even pleasurable if the student first achieves a gut sense of the physical situation. Put plainly, all of the math in any science class makes sense if the student first has an intuitive mental picture of exactly what is going on. Once this physical picture is in place, it serves as a framework upon which the formal treatment can hang. And when the formal treatment flows intelligibly with a student's gut picture of the situation, the subsequent sense of insight is no less than thrilling. So how to instill this essential physical picture? I have found that getting students up out of their chairs and physically acting out a problem, though it may feel ridiculous, is an incredibly effective tool for instilling a gut-level physical intuition about any scientific situation. Need to understand tides? Link hands and form a circle to represent the Earth's hydrosphere. Pick volunteers for the sun and the moon. Distort the human hydrosphere appropriately, then let each student stand in the middle, being the Earth, physically witnessing the succession of high and low tides. Though it may appear laughable at first glance, actually acting out a given situation instills the physical sense of why behind the formalism to come. Once this instinct is in place, the rest of the discussion is well-motivated, and the formalism will make sense. Moreover, it is very unlikely that a student will forget one of these exercises. I have found that retention of material so introduced is near perf ect. As an ancillary benefit, the mere fact that the students are out of their seats during these human models, moving and laughing and bumping into each other, serves extraordinarily effectively to obliterate the impetus against asking questions in the classroom. The students have already felt silly and seen their instructor acting silly. In that respect, everyone is on equal footing, and the classroom becomes a safe environment for verbalizing concerns. Additionally, the enhanced physical and verbal interaction involved in kinesthetic modeling enormously smoothes the implementation of cooperative learning, since the "ice," so to speak, has long been broken.

The Man I Killed, By Tim O’Brien Essay -- Vietnam War

Usually when someone is murdered, people expect the murderer to feel culpable. This though, is not the case in war. When in war, a soldier is taught that the enemy deserves to die, for no other reason than that they are the nation’s enemy. When Tim O’Brien kills a man during the Vietnam War, he is shocked that the man is not the buff, wicked, and terrifying enemy he was expecting. This realization overwhelms him in guilt. O’Brien’s guilt has him so fixated on the life of his victim that his own presence in the story—as protagonist and narrator—fades to the black. Since he doesn’t use the first person to explain his guilt and confusion, he negotiates his feelings by operating in fantasy—by imagining an entire life for his victim, from his boyhood and his family to his feeling about the war and about the Americans. In The Man I Killed, Tim O’Brien explores the truth of The Vietnam War by vividly describing the dead body an d the imagined life of the man he has killed to question the morality of killing in a war that seems to have no point to him. The detailed descriptions of the dead man’s body show the terrible costs of the war in a physical aspect. O’Brien’s guilt almost takes on its own rhythm in the repetition of ideas, phrases, and observations about the man’s body. Some of the ideas here, especially the notion of the victim being a â€Å"slim, young, dainty man,† help emphasize O’Brien’s fixation on the effects of his action—that he killed someone who was innocent and not meant to be fighting in the war. At the same time, his focus on these physical characteristics, rather than on his own feelings, betrays his attempt to keep some distance in order to dull the pain. The long, unending sentences force the reader to read the deta... ... big deal than in helping him work through his emotions. In between the remarks from the others, O’Brien sits in the inevitable silence of Vietnam—a stillness that forces one to confront the realities of war. Behind every war there is supposed to be a moral—some reason for fighting. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. O’Brien relays to the readers the truth of the Vietnam War through the graphic descriptions of the man that he killed. After killing the man O’Brien was supposed to feel relief, even victory, but instead he feels grief of killing a man that was not what he had expected. O’Brien is supposed to be the winner, but ends up feeling like the loser. Ironically, the moral or lesson in The Things They Carried is that there is no morality in war. War is vague and illogical because it forces humans into extreme situations that have no obvious solutions.

DNA †Modified Food Essay

Some vegetarians do not prefer to consume genetically modified vegetables or food products because they contain other genes which they have no idea about. The consumers find these genes unsafe for their health. The people must have the knowledge that the addition of these genes into the plants is done only to give them a better food product, but it’s therefore important to label genetically modified foods because it enables the consumer to determine and know the right choice of food information that is needed. Genetic modification is the technology by which the genetic makeup of the living organism such as plants and animal’s bacteria is changed. Thus the resultant organism is called genetically modified, genetic engineered or transgenic. Source citation (http://www. ext. colostate. edu/pubs/foodnut/09371. html). First of all Consumers have a right to know what’s in their food, especially concerning products for which health and environmental concerns have been raised, this I think is one of the most important reason why individuals will prefer the labeling of genetically modified food, and also to know the condition of the environment of which the product was made from weather is a place with good sanitation or not. Mandatory labeling will allow consumers to identify and steer clear of food products that cause them problems because some people who with medical problems or allergic to some product will have to know before using them in order not to get themselves in trouble or contracting any form of diseases Surveys indicate that a majority of Americans support mandatory labeling. (However, such surveys often do not specify the effect on food prices.) Least 21 countries and the European Union have established some form of mandatory labeling source citation (Gruere and Rao, 2007; Phillips and McNeill, 2000) For religious or ethical reasons, many Americans want to avoid eating animal products, including animal DNA. For example some religious beliefs enact laws for people to avoid eating some certain products due to this labeling of genetically modified food will help consumers know the right choice of product to consume example are the jewish and the buddist.

Circular Flow Essay

Some income is saved and saving represents leakage from the circular flow of income because its part of the income paid out by firms which does not return to them through spending of households. If you save, economy slows down as there’s less money in circular flow. So if Gov. takes money from economy in form of tax and doesn’t spend it, or if people buy more things from abroad than they export (foreign trade), economy slows down as money leaves circular flow. Leakages determine size of multiplier. Tax is leakage because they remove purchasing power from the system. Injection – in circular flow are I (investment – increase in capital stock), G (government spending) and X (exports) Export is injection as spending of foreign households on domestic produced output is an additional source of income. Increase in investment (machinery, building) may increase spending in an economy as well as productive capacity enabling economic growth. Firms contribute to expenditure when they buy investment goods and add to their productive capacity. Change in balance between investment + consumption activity has effect on LR path of economy. Government spends (inj) on G/S – provisioning public goods but to finance these they must raise revenue – tax (w/d) International Trade is important as part of expenditure on G/S is form of exports and part is by households on imports Injections increase circular flow and a change in any of these are magnified by multiplier. If injections > leakages, spending on goods and services will exceed planned level of production. Firms will expand output and national income will rise (economy grows). If leakages > injections, production will exceed the current level of expenditure. Firms therefore reduce output and national income will fall (economy contracts) Injections = leakages, national income won’t change ; National Income Equilibrium: where AD for G/S = AS produced Wealth effects: Wealth is sum of all assets in an economy. It is a stock concept whereas income is a flow concept. This means wealth doesnt have direct impact on circular flow of income but changes in wealth can effect income/ spending If you live in a property that increase in value, you may feel more confident about spending in the economy and your increased spending will then become part of circular flow of income. If houses become more expensive, one can go to their mortgage provider and request mortgage equity – taking loan based on increased wealth. When that loan is spend, circular flow increases. In contract, when capital markets take a downturn in USA, people living on pensions in UK might find that their incomes fall because dividends on pension funds are often based on capital gains of shares. In UK most wealth is held in form of housing (59%) in other major forms of wealth are stocks, shares, and capital assets Exam skills: Income is measured by real GDP. Wealth is stock concept. income is flow concept. Wealth in UK is 6. 5 trillion – 5x total income in economy. Most income in UK is help in form of housing (59%) Capital assets/stock in UK is about 2. 6 trillion – less than cost of maintaining all capital stock in current condition – cost known as depreciation. Consumption is not an injection. You cant argue that increase in house price (wealth) causes fall in AD because people dont have as much money to spend on other things. A mid market taxi firm. Scenario is a recession In a recession, or downturn in the economy, consumer confidence decreases because spending power has reduced. This wall cause those taxi users to switch to cheaper forms of transport e. g. public transport (buses) or trains. London already has a transport system of underground trains and buses so those middle class incomers may choose to switch to this. However there may be some users who have no other choice than to use a taxi so they have to pay extra Solution is to decrease prices in order to keep demand sustained so taxi users remain using taxis and not overcrowd the other forms of transport. Consumer behavior