Mattel’s Toy Recall And Supply Chain Management Essay

Why do firms contract overseas for production of products they sell? Answer: The firms contract overseas for production of the products they sell to gain certain advantages from the different countries. One of the biggest advantages is cheap labor that cut down the cost of the products. To get the advantage of the cheap fuel prices and raw materials to make the products at effective cost. The companies can get the tax benefits and other government policy advantages by producing their products at overseas. The companies can also get the lower cost suppliers from different countries. The company can get the advantage of currency fluctuation to produce the products at lower currency rate. What were the primary causes of Mattel’s recall problems? Answer: There were several causes for Mattel’s toy recall. But the primary causes are problems in manufacturing, design and usage. Manufacturing Problems: One primary problem is the use of excessive lead paint in toys. Lead was commonly used in paint. However, it is a neurotoxin and is harmful to developing brains in children. Repeated exposure can cause serious brain damage. Design problems: A second cause for recall was defect in product design. That was the result of increasing use of small powerful magnets in children’s toys. If the designs of these toys were deficient and did not adequately encase the magnets, they could become dislodged and swallowed by the children. When a child ingested more than one magnet, the ingested magnet could be bind together across intestinal folds, eventually perforating the intestine and causing serious injury or death. Product misuse: Some recalls were due to the potential for misuse. Some features of the toys generally were not a ca use for concern if children used the toy in intended way, but children often found creative ways to play that were not anticipated by designers. So, if potential danger was brought to the  company’s attention, the toy might be subject to recall. What actions taken by whom to deal with the recall problems? Do you think these actions were the right one? Why or why not? Answer: In early July 2007, one of the Mattel’s European retailer discovered excessive lead on some of the company’s toys. Mattel stopped production and launched investigation of the problem. The company received data that convinced that recall is necessary. In August Mattel announced voluntary recall of 83 Fisher-Price products sold from May 1 to August 1, 2007. The recall involved about 1.5 million toys worldwide. Two-third of the toys were pulled from inventory before they reached retail customers. After first recall Mattel announced second voluntary recall for toys with excessive lead content. The recall involved 436,000 toys worldwide. After the second recall Mattel announced to recall the Sarge toy cars, an expansion of earlier recall due to small magnets. It recalled 18.2 million toys worldwide. All of the toys recalled had been manufactured in China. Two weeks after the August 2nd recall, the owner of the Chinese factory that used the lead paint committed suicide. According to my opinion, the actions taken by Mattel were absolutely right. Mattel has been criticized heavily for having to recall not once but twice in as many weeks 20 million toys manufactured in China with lead paint and/or loose, potentially dangerous magnets. Clearly Mattel did not have sufficiently tight quality control procedures in its supply chain to compensate for the extra risks of outsourcing to relatively new Chinese subcontractors. Clearly there were design flaws in the toys with the magnets that could come loose. Though the recall of the products had created serious problems for Mattel and for manufacturers of China, the products were highly dangerous for the children which needed serious concern. But the positive point was both the Governments of China and U.S. tightened the rules regarding product safety. They also raised the product quality standards and product testing. The CEO of the Mattel had taken personal charge of the situation. He has apologized publicly and taken immediate steps to tighten quality assurance requirements on Mattel’s suppliers. What should Mattel do now? What should China do now? Answer: Mattel has faced a series of difficult and potentially crippling challenges, including the lawsuits. Mattel should attempt to rectify its mistakes and to prevent future mistakes as well. Mattel should work hard for  restoring goodwill and faith in its brands, even as it continues to be plagued with residual distrust over the lead paint scandal. Mattel should upgrade its safety standards and quality control. Mattel should be careful for approaching international supply chain management strategies. Mattel should make sure its Chinese suppliers operate ethically, including treating their workers fairly. Whereas Mattel can do randomly test finished toys, as it should now test every single batch of toys produced. Safety checks should also get beefed up at the supplier and subcontractor level prior to the finishing of the product. Reputations are hard won and easily lost, but Mattel should appear to be steadfast in its commitment to restoring its reputation. After the recall by M attel, China’s export manufacturing sector, an important factor driving country’s economic growth, had been stung by suffering highly visible problems. The â€Å"made in china† brand was in real danger. At that point China needed to prove that they could produce products to the quality and safety standards expected by the rest of the world. China should ask companies to hire full time inspection staff and allow their customers to inspect their plants. China should enforce quality licensing system for product exports. Chinese agency should increase efforts to certify exporters and should severely punish and blacklist the companies that fail to meet performance requirements. Though Mattel had taken full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to the Chinese people and all of their customers who received the toys, China was fighting with the brand image in the international market. How can accountability be increased and better managed when production is moved overseas to other firms in the supply chain? Answer: There are many criticisms levelled at multinational organizations for choosing to relocate their manufacturing operations from domestic markets in developed countries to developing countries many thousands of miles away. Suspicion is often focused on cheap labor and possibly lower or less enforced health, safety and environmental legislation all contributing to lower production costs. But to increase accountability and better production management at overseas the company needs to have law inventories, flexible manufacturing and close relationship with suppliers and customers. Better managed supply chain requires close coordination with suppliers to achieve the desire level of quality and delivery. It also needs to have frequent communications with the suppliers  and customers. It entails to have close coordination among product design, engineering, the manufacturing plant, and suppliers. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to ensure that its products are produced to the highest safety standards that its workers are not exploited and that health and safety and environmental standards not compromised in the search for lower prices. In this case the stakes are very high since the safety of all our children is at stake as well as the acceptance of the ‘Made in China’ designation in world markets.

Biodegradation of Hydrocarbons from Crude Oil by Pseudomonas Putida

Biodegradation of Hydrocarbons from Crude Oil by Pseudomonas putida A Project done under the guidance of Dr. K. Bharathi Department of Biotechnology. Submitted to the faculty Of Department of Biotechnology National Institute Of Technology, Warangal (A. P) Submitted By Febin P. Nalpady, Anzal Rahman, Shruti Sharma, Sindhuja Nandiraju, Giraboina Kranthi Kumar NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WARANGAL (A. P) (DEEMED UNIVERSITY) 2010-2011 DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, WARANGAL (A. P) CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the project entitled â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. † carried out by †¦.. , bearing roll no. †¦. ,, final year B. Tech, Biotechnology, during academic year 2010-2011, is a bonafide work submitted to the National Institute of Technology, Warangal in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology. Guide : Dr. K Bharathi Dept. of Biotechnology NIT Warangal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT With great pleasure and deep sense of gratitude, we take this opportunity to express our sense of indebtedness to Dr. K Bharathi, our project guide for accepting us under her good self to carry out this project work, and providing us his invaluable guidance and constant encouragement at each and every step throughout the progress of this project. To be sincere it was an inextinguishable treasure of pleasure for us to work under her excellent guidance. I would also like to thank the faculty of our department,Dr. P Sreenivasa Rao, Mr. Onkara Perumal and Mr. K. Narasimhulu. They were a pillar of strength for us and encouraged us to do our best. Name Roll no Table of Contents 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 2. 1 Bioremediation 2. 2 The conventional techniques of remediation 2. 3 Advantages of Bioremediation 2. 4 Microbes that are useful for bioremediation 3. Review of literature 3. 1 Microbial degradation 3. 2 Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons 3. 3 Factors affecting Degradation 3. 4 Mechanism of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Degradation 4. Brief outline of the project work 5. Materials and Methods 5. 1 Preparation Of Nutrient Broth 5. 2 Preparation of Nutrient Agar Slants from the Bacterial Strain 5. Preparation of SubCultures of Bacterial Strain 5. 4 Centrifugation of Crude Oil 5. 5 Subculturing Of Petri Plates with oil 5. 6 Biodegradation Studies 5. 7 Gravimetric Analysis 6. Results 6. 1 Growth Analysis of Pseudomonas Putida 6. 2 Gravimetric Analysis 7. Discussion 8. References 1. ABSTRACT Oil spills have become a serious problem with the ever-increasing re source exploitation, transportation, storage, and accidental leakage of oil. Several techniques, including physical, chemical, and biological methods, are used to recover spilled oil from the environment. Bioremediation is a promising option for remediation since it is effective and economic in removing oil with less undue environmental damages. However, it is a relatively slow process and the degree of success depends on a number of factors. These factors include the existence of a microbial population capable of degrading the pollutants, the availability of contaminants to the microbial population and the environment factors are type of soil, temperature, pH, the presence of oxygen and nutrients. This project aims to study the degradation extent of the pseudomonas putida on oil. The microbial strain used is procured from NCL pune. 2. Introduction In quantitative terms, crude oil is one of the most important organic pollutants in marine environment and it has been estimated that worldwide somewhere between 1. 7- 8. 8? 106 tons of petroleum hydrocarbons impact marine waters and estuaries annually. Reports have been appearing since last three decades on the biodegradability of crude oil by bacteria which can use hydrocarbons as source of carbon and energy. A way to mitigate the effects of oil spills is bioremediation. 2. 1 Bioremediation It is a process by which chemical substances are degraded by bacteria and other microorganisms. The use of these microorganisms has been successfully applied for the treatment of waste and wastewater in controlled systems. Several research studies have recently been performed to investigate the use of bioremediation for oil-spill cleanup in seawater, freshwater and terrestrial areas. The technique has been found to have a potential for broad applications in terrestrial and freshwater environments for treating soils and sediments contaminated with oil and other substances, as well as for coastal environments impacted by oil spills. Water is a more sensitive medium than soil and requires different remediation techniques. Spills to surface water are easier to clean up than spills to groundwater, for obvious reasons. It is not only much harder to see the extent of the contamination, but also to remove the source of the contamination as, for example, a leaking underground storage tank. 2. 2. The conventional techniques of remediation . The conventional techniques used for remediation have been to dig up contaminated soil and remove it to a landfill, or to cap and contain the contaminated areas of a site. The methods have some drawbacks. The first method simply moves the contamination elsewhere and may create significant risks in the excavation, handling, and transport of hazardous material. Additionally, it is very difficult and increasingly expensive to find new landfill sites for the final disposal of the material. A better approach than these traditional methods is to completely destroy the pollutants if possible, or at least to transform them to innocuous substances. Some technologies that have been used are high-temperature incineration and various types of chemical decomposition (e. g. , base-catalyzed dechlorination, UV oxidation). They can be very effective at reducing levels of a range of contaminants, but have several drawbacks, principally their technological complexity, the cost for small-scale application, and the lack of public acceptance, especially for incineration that may increase the exposure to contaminants for both the workers at the site and nearby residents. . 3 Advantages of Bioremediation Bioremediation is an option that offers the possibility to destroy or render harmless various contaminants using natural biological activity. As such, it uses relatively low-cost, low-technology techniques and can often be carried out on site. It will not always be suitable, however, as the range of contaminants on which it is effective is limited, the timescales involved are relatively long, and the residual contaminant levels achievable ma y not always be appropriate. Although the methodologies employed are not technically complex, considerable experience and expertise may be required to design and implement a successful bioremediation program, due to the need to thoroughly assess a site for suitability and to optimize conditions to achieve a satisfactory result. Because bioremediation seems to be a good alternative to conventional clean-up technologies research in this field, especially in the United States, rapidly increasing. Bioremediation has been used at a number of sites worldwide, including Europe, with varying degrees of success. Techniques are improving as greater knowledge and experience are gained, and there is no doubt that bioremediation has great potential for dealing with certain types of site contamination. Unfortunately, the principles, techniques, advantages, and disadvantages of bioremediation are not widely known or understood, especially among those who will have to deal directly with bioremediation proposals, such as site owners and regulators. 2. 4 Microbes that are useful for bioremediation The biodegradation of petroleum in the marine environment is carried out largely by diverse bacterial populations, including various Pseudomonas species. The hydrocarbon-biodegrading populations are widely distributed in the world’s oceans; surveys of marine bacteria indicate that hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms are ubiquitously distributed in the marine environment. Generally, in pristine environments, the hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria comprise < 1% of the total bacterial population. These bacteria presumably utilize hydrocarbons that are naturally produced by plants, algae, and other living organisms. They also utilize other substrates, such as carbohydrates and proteins. When an nvironment is contaminated with petroleum, the proportion of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms increases rapidly. In particular, in marine environments contaminated with hydrocarbons, there is an increase in the proportion of bacterial populations with plasmids containing genes for hydrocarbon utilization. The proportion of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial populations in hydrocarbon-contaminated marine environments often exceed 10% of the tot al bacterial population 3. Review of Literature 3. 1 Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons is a complex process that depends on the nature and on the amount of the hydrocarbons present. Petroleum hydrocarbons can be divided into four classes: the saturates, the aromatics, the asphaltenes (phenols, fatty acids, ketones, esters, and porphyrins), and the resins (pyridines, quinolines, carbazoles, sulfoxides, and amides) [R. R. Colwell, J. D. Walker, and J. J. Cooney, â€Å"Ecological aspects of microbial degradation of petroleum in the marine environment,]. Di? erent factors in? uencing hydrocarbon degradation have been reported by Cooney et al. One of the important factors that limit biodegradation of oil pollutants in the environment is their limited availability to microorganisms. Petroleum hydrocarbon compounds bind to soil components, and they are difficult to be removed or degraded [S. Barathi and N. Vasudevan], â€Å"Utilization of petroleum hydrocarbons by Pseudomonas ? uorescens isolated from a petroleum-contaminated soil]. Hydrocarbons di? er in their susceptibility to microbial attack. The susceptibility of hydrocarbons to microbial degradation can be generally ranked as follows: linear alkanes > branched alkanes > small aromatics > cyclic alkanes [J. J. Perry, â€Å"Microbial metabolism of cyclic alkanes,† in Petroleum Microbiology]. Some compounds, such as the high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), may not be degraded at all. 3. 2 Microbial degradation Microbial degradation is the major and ultimate natural mechanism by which one can cleanup the petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants from the environment [1-3] The recognition of biodegraded petroleum-derived aromatic hydrocarbons in marine sediments was reported by[ Jones et al]. They studied the extensive biodegradation o alkyl aromatics in marine sediments which occurred prior to detectable biodegradation of n-alkane pro? e of the crude oil and the microorganisms, namely, Arthrobacter, Burkholderia, Mycobacterium, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, and Rhodococcus were found to be involved for alkylaromatic degradation. Microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in a polluted tropical stream in Lagos, Nigeria was reported by Adebusoye et al. Nine bacterial s trains, namely, Pseudomonas ? uorescens, P. aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus sp. , Alcaligenes sp. , Acinetobacter lwo? ,Flavobacteriumsp. , Micrococcus roseus, and Corynebacterium sp. were isolated from the polluted stream which could degrade crude oil. Hydrocarbons in the environment are biodegraded primarily by bacteria, yeast, and fungi. The reported e? ciency of biodegradation ranged from 6% to 82% for soil fungi, 0. 13% to 50% for soil bacteria, and 0. 003% to 100% [6] for marine bacteria. Many scientists reported that mixed populations with overall broad enzymatic capacities are required to degrade complex mixtures of hydrocarbons such as crude oil in soil, fresh water, and marine environments [8]. Bacteria are the most active agents in petroleum degradation, and they work as primary degraders of spilled oil in environment [7]. Several bacteria are even known to feed exclusively on hydrocarbons [9]. Floodgate [36] listed 25 genera of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria and 25 genera of hydrocarbon degrading fungi which were isolated from marine environment. A similar compilation by Bartha and Bossert [6] included 22 genera of bacteria and 31 genera of fungi. In earlier days, the extent to which bacteria, yeast, and ? lamentous fungi participate in the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons was the subject of limited study, but appeared to be a function of the ecosystem and local environmental conditions [7]. Crude petroleum oil from petroleum contaminated soil from North East India was reported by Das and Mukherjee . Acinetobacter sp. Was found to be capable of utilizing n-alkanes of chain length C10–C40 as a sole source of carbon [6]. Bacterial genera, namely, Gordonia, Brevibacterium, Aeromicrobium, Dietzia, Burkholderia, and Mycobacterium isolated from petroleum contaminated soil proved to be the potential organisms for hydrocarbon degradation [9]. The degradation of poly- aromatic hydrocarbons by Sphingomonas was reported by Daugulis and McCracken . Fungal genera, namely, Amorphoteca, Neosartorya, Talaromyces, and Graphium and yeast genera, namely, Candida, Yarrowia, and Pichia were isolated from petroleum contaminated soil and proved to be the potential organisms for hydrocarbon degradation [ Singh et al. ] also reported a group of terrestrial fungi, namely, Aspergillus, Cephalosporium, and Pencillium which were also found to be the potential degrader of crude oil hydrocarbons. The yeast species, namely, Candida lipolytica, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Geotrichum sp, and Trichosporon mucoides isolated from contaminated water were noted to degrade petroleum compounds [5]. Though algae and protozoa are the important members of the microbial community in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, reports are scanty regarding their involvement in hydrocarbon biodegradation. [Walker et al. ] isolated an alga, Prototheca zop? which was capable of utilizing crudeoil and a mixed hydrocarbon substrate and exhibited extensive degradation of n-alkanes and isoalkanes as well a aromatic hydrocarbons. Cerniglia et al. observed tha nine cyanobacteria, ? ve green algae, one red alga, one brown alga, and two diatoms could oxidize naphthalene. Protozoa by contrast, had not been shown to utilize hydrocarbons. 3. 3 Factors affecting Degradation A number of limiting factors have been recognized to a? ect the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, many of which have been discussed by Brusseau. The composition and inherent biodegradability of the petroleum hydrocarbon pollutant is the ? rst and foremost important consideration when the suitability of a remediation approach is to be assessed. Among physical factors, temperature plays an important role in biodegradation of hydrocarbons by directly a? ecting the chemistry of the pollutants as well as a? cting the physiology and diversity of the microbial ? ora. Atlas [4] found that at low temperatures, the viscosity of the oil increased, while the volatility of the toxic low molecular weight hydrocarbons were reduced, delaying the onset of biodegradation. Temperature also a? ects the solubility of hydrocarbons [8]. Although hydrocarbon biodegradation can occur over a wide range of temperatures, the rate of biodegradation generally decreases with the decreasing temperature. shows that highest degradation rates that generally occur in the range 30–40? C in soil environments, 20–30? Cin some freshwater environments and 15–20? C in marine environments . Venosa and Zhu [11] reported thatambient temperature of the environment a? ected both the properties of spilled oil and the activity of the microorganisms. Signi? cant biodegradation of hydrocarbons have been reported in psychrophilic environments in temperate regions. Nutrients are very important ingredients for successful biodegradation of hydrocarbon pollutants especially nitrogen, phosphorus, and in some cases iron [8]. Some of these nutrients could become limiting factor thus a? ecting the biodegradation processes. Atlas [11] reported that when a major oil spill occurred in marine and freshwater environments, the supply of carbon was signi? cantly increased and the availability of nitrogen and phosphorus generally became the limiting factor for oil degradation. In marine environments, it was found to be more pronounced due to low levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in seawater [10]. Freshwater wetlands are typically considered to be nutrient de? cient due to heavy demands of nutrients by the plants. Therefore, additions of nutrients were necessary to enhance the biodegradation of oil pollutant. On the other hand, excessive nutrient concentrations can also inhibit the biodegradation activity [11]. Several authors have reported the negative e? ects of high NPK levels on the biodegradation of hydrocarbons especially on aromatics [10]. The e? ectiveness of fertilizers for the crude oil bioremediation in subarctic intertidal sediments was studied by Pelletier et al. . Use of poultry manure as organic fertilizer in contaminated soil was also reported , and biodegradation was found to be enhanced in the presence of poultry manure alone. Maki et al. eported that photo-oxidation increased the biodegradability of petroleum hydrocarbon by increasing its bioavailability and thus enhancing microbial activities. 3. 4 Mechanism of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Degradation The most rapid and complete degradation of the majority of organic pollutants is brought about under aerobic conditions. Figure 2 shows the main principle of aerobic degradation of hydrocarbons [11]. The initial intracellular at tack of organic pollutants is an oxidative process and the activation as well as incorporation of oxygen is the enzymatic key reaction catalyzed by oxygenases and peroxidases. Peripheral degradation pathways convert organic pollutants step by step into intermediates of the central intermediary metabolism, for example, the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Biosynthesis of cell biomass occurs from the central precursor metabolites, for example, acetyl-CoA, succinate, pyruvate. Sugars required for various biosyntheses and growth are synthesized by gluconeogenesis. The degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons can be mediated by speci? c enzyme system. Figure 3 shows the initial attack on xenobiotics by oxygenases. Other mechanisms involved are (1) attachment of microbial cells to the substrates and (2) production of biosurfactants [12]. The uptake mechanism linked to the attachment of cell to oil droplet is still unknown but production of biosurfactants has been well studied. 4. Brief outline of the project work: 1. Procurement of oil Samples. 2. Procurement of Pseudomonas putida strain. 3. Sub-culturing the microbe in nutrient rich media for checking viability.. 4. Culturing microbes on a mineral salt media containing only crude oil as a carbon source. 5. Biodegradation studies. 6. Gravimetric analysis 5. Materials and Methods Soil Samples – Samples(500g) contaminated with oil used for hydrocarbons utilizing microorganisms, were collected from Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai(where a recent oil spill has took place). Crude Oil – Crude Oil is procured from an Oil production site of ONGC. Bacterial Strain – Pseudomonas Putida PS-I strain procured from NCL Pune. 5. 1 Preparation Of Nutrient Broth For preparation of nutrient agar, malt extract, yeast extract, Potassium dihydrogen phosphate and dextrose is required. Malt extract and yeast extract is generally used as a nutritious agent. Potassium dihydrogen phosphate i. . KH2PO4 is used as a buffering agent to maintain the pH. Dextrose is generally used as a carbon source because dextrose inhibits the growth of other micro-organisms. AUTOCLAVE is a device to sterilize equipment and supplies by subjecting them to high pressure steam at 121 ° C or more. Machines in this category largely operate by utilizing pressurized steam and superheated water. To sterilize culture media, rubber material, gowns, dressing, gloves etc. are used. It is particularly useful for materials which cannot withstand the higher temperature of hot air oven. CHEMICALS REQUIRED:- For 1000ml, Malt extract — 10 gm Beef Extract — 4 gm K2HPO4 — 1 gm Magnesium sulphate — 1 gm Sodium Chloride — 0. 5 gm pH — 7. 0 Agar — 15% PROCEDURE:- For preparation of 100ml of nutrient broth, around 100ml of double distilled water was taken in a conical flask. Malt extract, yeast extract, KH2PO4 and dextrose was weighed as per the composition mentioned above and added to the conical flask. The conical flasks are to be shaken so well so that all the chemicals should dissolve. pH was checked using pH meter and adjusted to 7. 0 using NaOH and HCl. The volume was made to 100ml by adding double distilled water. The above solution i. e. nutrient agar along with the Petri-plates was autoclaved at 15 psi and 15 minutes. Now the solution was allowed to cool down to ready to pour condition. PRECAUTIONS:- The autoclave should be done at 15 psi and 15 min. The pH should be maintained at 7. 0. 5. 2 Preparation of Nutrient Agar Slants from the Bacterial Strain For the preparation of Slants, Flame the inoculating loop to redness by holding it pointed down into the flame, starting near the handle and then moving the loop into the flame. This technique sterilizes the loop and, if wet with a culture, heats up the loop without spattering bacteria into the air and onto the surrounding area. Let the loop cool a minute. A hot loop will damage the bacteria cells. Using the fingers of the â€Å"loop hand† remove the cap from the stock culture tube and flame the tube mouth. Do not set the tube top down on the table. Insert the cooled sterilized loop into the culture tube being careful to not touch the sides of the tube. Touch the loop to the culture. You need not scrape a visible amount from the culture. Hold the tube as horizontal as possible to preclude particles from the air settling into the tube But do watch out for any condensate in the bottom of slant cultures. Don't let this fluid wash across the face of the culture. Remove the loop being careful again to not touch the tube sides. Flame the tube mouth and replace the cap. Remove the cap of the broth tube. Flame the top. Remember to hold the top in your fingers. Insert the loop into the Slant tube filled with agar and shake to remove the bacteria. Withdraw the loop, flame the tube mouth and replace the cap. Resterilize the inoculating loop and place it on the table. Never place a contaminated loop on the table. If there is any liquid in the bottom of the slant tube avoid sticking the loop into this condensate. 5. 3 Preparation of SubCultures of Bacterial Strain The Nutrient Broth Cultures are inoculated with the bacterial strain from the nutrient agar slant as detailed below. PROCEDURE Light your Bunsen burner. In one hand hold both the Nutrient Broth culture to be inoculated and the nutrient slant agar. Loosen the tube caps. In your other hand hold the inoculating loop. Flame the inoculating loop to redness by holding it pointed down into the flame, starting near the handle and then moving the loop into the flame. This technique sterilizes the loop and, if wet with a culture, heats up the loop without spattering bacteria into the air and onto the surrounding area. Let the loop cool a minute. A hot loop will damage the bacteria cells. Using the fingers of the â€Å"loop hand† remove the cap from the stock culture tube and flame the tube mouth. Do not set the tube top down on the table. Insert the cooled sterilized loop into the slant tube being careful to not touch the sides of the tube. Touch the loop to the culture. You need not scrape a visible amount from the culture. Hold the tube as horizontal as possible to preclude particles from the air settling into the tube But do watch out for any condensate in the bottom of slant cultures. Don't let this fluid wash across the face of the culture. Remove the loop being careful again to not touch the tube sides. Flame the tube mouth and replace the cap. Remove the cap of the broth tube. Flame the top. Remember to hold the top in your fingers. Insert the loop into the broth and shake to remove the bacteria. Gently shake the broth culture. This inoculated broth culture is incubated at room temperature for 72 hours and the bacteria is allowed to grow in the broth medium. 5. 4 Centrifugation of Crude Oil Centrifugation is a process that involves the use of the centrifugal force for the separation of mixtures with a centrifuge, used in industry and in laboratory settings. More-dense components of the mixture migrate away from the axis of the centrifuge, while less-dense components of the mixture migrate towards the axis. The precipitate (pellet) gathers on the bottom of the tube. The remaining solution is properly called the â€Å"supernate† or â€Å"supernatant liquid† The Crude Oil is Centrufuged at a speed of 5000 rpm for a period of ten minutes. The Contaminants in the oil are collected at the bottom of the tube in the form of pellets. These pellets can be removed by filtration using a filter paper. Now the concentrates oil which is free from impurities is collected in a flask and gently shaken. Spectophotometric Analysis Optical density, measured in a spectrophotometer, can be used as a measure of the concentration of bacteria in a suspension. As visible light passes through a cell suspension the light is scattered. Greater scatter indicates that more bacteria or other material is present. The amount of light scatter can be measured in a spectrophotometer. Typically, when working with a particular type of cell, you would determine the optical density at a particular wavelength that correlates with the different phases of bacterial growth. Generally we will want to use cells that are in their mid-log phase of growth. Typically the OD600 is measured. 5. 5 Subculturing Of Petri Plates with oil % of crude oil is mixed with 100 ml of Nutrient broth medium. The 1. 5g of agar is added to the medium and Nutrient Agar(with 1% crude oil) is prepared. Now take 6 Petri dishes. Open one of the dishes. Take the nutrient agar to be added and Swab the agar, barely pressing, side to side on the entire surface. The dish is closed immediately after swabbing to prevent contamination. The dish is sealed with tape around the edges to prevent co ntamination. Repeat the same procedure for the other dishes. Put the dishes in an incubator for 4 days to allow some growth. 5. 6 Biodegradation Studies Laboratory Biodegradation studies were carried out under optimized conditions for assessing the biodegradation potential of the pseudomonas putida PS-I Strain. After the desired interval of time, the petriplates were taken out and the bacterial activities were stopped by adding 1% N HCl. For the extraction of crude oil from these plates, 50ml of culture broth was mixed with 50 ml of acetone : petroleum ether (1:1) in a single separating funnel and shaken vigorously to get a single emulsified layer and acetone was added then to it and shaken gently to break the emulsification which resulted in three layers. Top layer was a mixture of Petroleum ether crude oil and acetone. Clumping cells aere formed in the middle layer and the bottom layer contains acetone, water and biosurfactant in soluble form. The lower two layers were separated out while the top layer containing petroleum ether mixed with crude oil and acetone is taken out in a fresh beaker. The extracted oil is passed through anhydrous sodium sulphate in order to remove the moisture. The petroleum ether and acetone were evaporated on a water bath leaving us with the dry oil clump. 5. 7 Gravimetric Analysis Gravimetric analysis describes a set of methods in analytical chemistry for the quantitative determination of an analyte based on the mass of a solid. the analyte must first be converted to a solid by precipitation with an appropriate reagent. The precipitate can then be collected by filtration, washed, dried to remove traces of moisture from the solution, and weighed. The amount of analyte in the original sample can then be calculated from the mass of the precipitate and its chemical composition. Gravimetric analysis is performed on the dry oil clump collected after the water bath. It is done by weighing the quantity of residual oil left after biodegradation in a tared vial. The mass of this crucible is subtracted from the initial mass of the 1% of oil that is added in the petridishes giving the amount of oil that is degraded due to the biological avtivity of the pseudomonas putida strain. 6. Results 6. 1 Growth Analysis of Pseudomonas Putida: The culture which was obtained in test tube slants was further sub cultured in conical flasks in a LB medium and the growth analysis was done to check the viability of the culture obtained. The growth kinetics plot was obtained by measuring the O. D. y using a visible spectrophotometer and recording the reading at regular intervals. The Graph was then plotted. 6. 2 Gravimetric Analysis: Biodegradation studies were conducted for 15 days and gravimetric analysis was done after every five days. The biodegradation effect was seen from the 5th day onwards. Laboratory biodegradation studies on crude oil by Pseudomonas putida No . Of Days| Initial Concn| Final Concn| Difference| Degradation (%)| 5 days| 1. 431  ± . 57| 1. 325  ± . 46| 0. 106  ± . 11| 7. 4| 10 days| 1. 453  ± . 71| 1. 198  ± . 38| 0. 255  ± . 34| 17. 54| 15 days| 1. 398  ± . 68| 0. 936  ± . 31| 0. 62  ± . 28| 33. 04 | 7. Discussion It can be seen that the degradation percentage of oil has increased from mere 7. 41 in the first 5 days to a good 33. 04 percentage towards the 15th day, from this it is clearly understood that pseudomonas putida is an ideal organism for bioremediation programmes. Moreover this rate of degradation has been obtained under normal conditions without any aid from surfactants or fertilizers. Hence there is scope for achieving much greater rates by using the above mentioned methods of fertilizing or adding surfactants. 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY (1). U. S. Enviromental Protection Agency (1990). Interim Report, Oil Spill Bioremediation Project. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Washington (2). T. Cairney. Contaminated Land, p. 4, Blackie, London (1993). (3). R. B. King, G. M. Long, J. K. Sheldon. Practical Environmental Bioremediation: The Field Guide, 2nd ed. , Lewis, Boca Raton, FL (1997). (4). Atlas, Ronald M. (1995). Petroleum Biodegradation and Oil Spill Bioremediation. Marine Pollution Bulletin 31, 178-182 (5) Hoff, Rebecca Z. (1993). Bioremediation: an overview of its development and use for oil spill cleanup. Marine Pollution Bulletin 29, 476-481. 6). Irwin, Patricia (1996). To clean up environmental spill, know your medium. Electrical World 37-40. (7). Swannell, Richard P. J. ; Lee, Kenneth; McDonagh, Madeleine (1996). Field Evaluations of Marine Oil Spill Bioremediation. Microbiological Reviews 60, 342-365 (8). Radwan, S. S. ; Sorkhoh, N. A. ; El-Nemr, I. M. ; El-Desouky, A. F. (1997). A feasibility study on seeding as a bio remediation practice for the oily Kuwaiti desert. Journal of Applied Microbiology 83, 353-358. (9). P. E. Flathman, D. Jerger, J. E. Exner. Bioremediation: Field Experience, Lewis, Boca Raton, FL (1993). 10). J. G. Mueller, C. E. Cerniglia, P. H. Pritchard. Bioremediation of Environments Contaminated by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. In Bioremediation: Principles and Applications, pp. 125–194, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996). (11). P. J. S. Colberg and L. Y. Young. Anaerobic Degradation of Nonhalogenated Homocyclic Aromatic Compounds Coupled with Nitrate, Iron, or Sulfate Reduction. In Microbial Transformation and Degradation of Toxic Organic Chemicals, pp. 307–330, Wiley-Liss, New York (1995). (12). A. S. Allard and A. H. Neilson. Oil Eating Microbes 39, 253–285 (1997).

Accounting theory in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accounting theory in Australia - Essay Example My reflection is based upon Watt and Zimmerman's contention that the managers of a firm will attempt to utilise methodologies to avoid taxes and dividendsIn this vein I waspreoccupied reflecting upon and reading on the Enron disaster and how numbers can not be seen as neutral and unbiasedTaking this course changed my perceptions about the very pith and substance of how I would ever perceive numbers.After taking this course I realised that numbers like words and conduct and can be just as easily manipulated by the human mind.Therefore they will be seldom neutral and unbiased.One of the most revealing moments were when I was able to see that even share valuation will be subject to novel accounting methodologies.For example I was able to see that in valuation of shares there would likely be an involvement of a lot of paper work in accounting terms in order to adjust the Capital Gains Tax valuations for rebasing and indexation purposes ,assess Inheritance Tax on shares and also assess th e situation now with employee share schemes.It was seen that there might be a biased view of accounting when the share valuation will have to account for It was seen many times that by choosing certain accounting techniques it would be possible to see a certain bias emerging.For example while using the Asset based approach it was seen to ignore factors like Industry prospects ,Management quality / stability ,Growth potential ,Competitive bidding and the alternative opportunities for the company being valued for tax purposed to avoid paying large amounts of tax money to the Inland Revenue .Infact it was possible to see a conflict of views here where as many times what seemed like creative accounting reminded me of biased accounting .It was learnt that the process of attempting to bias accounts is often referred to as 'creative accounting'. which often attacked for not being neutral and ethical as some techniques can cause bias: 1. Revenue may be recorded too early. In particular revenue from sales may be recorded in the accounts before the sale is agreed. 2. Bogus revenues may be recorded. For example refunds from suppliers might be recorded as revenues. 3. Profits from recurring business may be artificially boosted by the inclusion of one-off gains. Also losses from recurring business might be described as non-recurring. 4. Current expenses could be allocated to a later period. This could take the form of depreciating or amortizing too slowly. 5. Future expenses may be shifted to a current period. For example depreciation or amortization may be too rapid. 6. There may be a failure to record all liabilities. 7. Current income may be allocated to a later period. 8. Unrealistic valuations might be given to inventories. 9. Unrealistic bad debt provisions could be made. 10. Items may be held 'off-balance sheet'. Infact it is worth mentioning the hazards of careless accounting as learnt from the Enron Saga. For the purposes of accounting practices the most important thing to analyse is that who exactly in the accountancy/auditing profession should have taken responsibility for the shortcomings in the accounting records .These accountants were clearly abusing their authorities as watchdogs for shoddy practices and instead they perpetrated fraud on the investors.. The Statement of Accounting Standards 100 clearly allocates responsibility to auditors in the matter of financial statements 'the responsibility for the preparation of the financial statements is that of the directors of the entity'. In this vein I learnt that accounting is a profession requiring much responsibility.The should be able to scrutinise and guard any financial wrong doing on behalf of the directors with regard to Auditing and Accounting Standards. It is evident from the events leading up to Enron

Informative presentation, persuasive PowerPoint Presentation

Informative , persuasive - PowerPoint Presentation Example Training is a sort of meeting that draws individuals with the same agenda or line of work together giving them an opportunity to mingle and share their experiences as well as their thought of how to tackle the challenges. Training is an integral part for a company seeking to climb the ladder and be successful in their area of business. It holds the key to unlocking unrealized talents and untapped skills while at the same time improving the environmental conditions for the business as effects of training come into effect. While we do conquer that training is essential, it is important to outline some of the reasons why companies and businesses insist on training its people. First off, it helps employees to understand the job market as it is in its present state, to move along with the trends in the market and this helps the business appeal to new share holders and financiers, to be a force to recon with for potential employees and for employees to learn how to conduct themselves while on official duty. Communication cuts deep within the organization and not just the ordinary exchange of pleasantries and this is also taught while in training. Training programs also focus on getting the best all round employees and imparting a different skill set so that they can handle duties assigned to them in future which they may have not necessarily been prepared for while at the university/college. Training programs follow a strict schedule and timeline. It has to be planned for in advance and communicated to the people set to undergo it. Other things that need to be done include pairing up experts with trainees where they learn through apprenticeship. This means that the expert will work on a project while the trainee takes notes and this goes on for about a week before they are given the go ahead to attempt and do what they have been witnessing. This, however, lies with the complexity of the field of operation in

Streer Bike Stunters write-up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Streer Bike Stunters write-up - Essay Example Street bike stunting in the streets of California is one thing that brings a lot of young people to craze and it has helped to develop friendship and amity among the youths. I set out to find out how bike stunting had been incorporated in the society as a culture. Many youths during their early life experiences, tend to incline to a certain group usually informally, this is because of the same age, or live same street e.t.c. I learnt from my friend that street bike stunts in many American states helps young people to socialize and interact at personal levels offering each other support in their activities. Theses activities help to build friendships and give the young people an opportunity to discover their talents and encourage them to work even harder to achieve greater heights. I have experienced the street bike stunts of San Jose of California and found out that all they do is more than just stunting on the streets. A friend of mine by the name Jonathon says â€Å"these stunts give us an opportunity to socialize and discover full potential in a person†. Affinity groups may develop formally as a result of being included in the same school team, or same class (Glaser 1999, 21). â€Å"How did you guys meet?† I asked him. â€Å"Actually we were not strangers we grew up in the same neighborhood† Jonathon explained. â€Å"How do you identify yourselves?† I asked â€Å"The name of the group is Stunters, Street Battlers† we came up with the name to build in ourselves a psyche and motivation to achieve greater heights. The group works to entertain people as well as build on their skill and to earn experience of what they do best. I think the stunts pool together youths who are ambitious to develop their talents and the stunts are occasionally graced with prizes and cash for the best stunts. People usually give money to support the events for the love of the sport and this is wholly a non profit making

Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Project - Essay Example ABSTRACT Pervasive environment is the emerging computing paradigm that aims to provide users access to services all the time, everywhere, in a transparent way, by means of devices installed in the surrounding physical environment or worn by the user. Smart environment represents the evolutionary development of pervasive environment. Web ontology language has become a promising technology to capture the knowledge of smart environment and information about its inhabitants. In this project, an ontological framework (taxonomy) of a smart home for the elderly has been developed. Protege-OWL 4.1 was used to build OWL representation of the elderly smart home. The presented ontology implements reasoning set on the rules of the ontology and elimination of the rules outside of the ontology. Chapter 1 1.1 Introduction In recent years, rapid advances in technology have paved the way for the creation of pervasive environments. A pervasive environment [1] is a user-centric environment in which the re are a number of devices (sensors, computers) and services (such as Web services) that help users to achieve their various application goals. Smart environments [2] represent the evolutionary development of pervasive environments. Smart environment [2] is able to acquire knowledge about its inhabitants and their surroundings, and adapt to the inhabitants’ behaviour or preferences in order to improve their living experiences. The type of inhabitants’ experiences may vary from the safety of the users to the progress of an independent living environment. An important characteristic of smart environments is the interaction of smart devices including sensors and computer systems used for acquiring inhabitants’ contexts such as locations, activities, or vital signs. Therefore, context awareness [7] is a key issue for improving inhabitants’ independent living experience. Context awareness is about the situation an inhabitant is in and also about adapting the s mart devices’ reaction to that situation. Ontology language [3] is the context representation technology which maximises the context awareness of the smart devices. It is a set of vocabulary to describe the conceptualisation of a particular domain. One of the goals of this project is to build a context-aware [7] ontology based on the acquired context from a smart environment and the inhabitants. The context in this project consists of location, time, and information on inhabitant’s vital signs. The ontology represents concepts and relations for the acquired context. The aim is to represent all the acquired information in context [7] form to reduce the dependency of the framework on rules outside of the ontology. 1.2 project aims and objectives 1.2.1 The aim of the project The essence of pervasive healthcare is in the creation of smart environments integrated with their respective inhabitants. A characteristic of

Managing Organisational Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Managing Organisational Change - Essay Example ge in the organization that there are change management models and dynamics of change theories to serve as guides in the cases of change in the organization. The major cause of the problem in the case study is approach. The approach with which the industrial engineer went about his change is to blame for the problems that were encountered. This argument is made against two of eight dynamics of change lessons suggested by Fullan (1993) and quoted in North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. According to Fullan (1993), â€Å"You cant mandate what matters. The more complex the change, the less you can force it.† In fact, the change desired by the engineer was a very major change that should have gone through a series of step-by-step processes in implementing. The engineer seemed to be in a hurry to make the change and perhaps his glory shine. He was therefore eager to force the change (forgoing how his team leader felt about it). The second point raised by Fullan (1993), which is closely related to the first is that â€Å"individualism and collectivism must have equal power. There are no one-sided solutions to isolation and gro up think.† For this reason, the engineer should have worked more on convincing all stakeholders in the department to fully understand him before implementing the change and in implementing the change he should have factored in the views and ideas of each and every stakeholder to the latter. Looking at the kind of change that the industrial engineer wanted to undertake, it is the kind that can be described as individual change. For this reason, ADKAR model for individual change developed by Prosci is recommended for future changes of that nature. â€Å"Proscis model of individual change is called ADKAR - an acronym for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement† (Prosci, 2010). From the ADKAR model, the industrial engineer should have sensitized an Awareness of the need for change among all stakeholders in the team, sort the

Compare and contrast the work and lives of Walter Gropius and Oscar Essay

Compare and contrast the work and lives of Walter Gropius and Oscar Niemeyer - Essay Example The art of architecture is not in its defiance of function, but in its ability to create a form through which functioning within the structure takes on meaning. Walter Gropius created a school in which the exploration of craft, art, and the functionality of a building through the form of its design was explored. His theories on teaching were based upon ideas of innovation and his students were encouraged to create their world by working with materials so that they could find how they could be used in expressive and innovative ways. Gropius must be understood to understand how the rest of Modernity through architecture has been achieved. Oscar Niemeyer is still a working architect, even at the age of 106. At the age of 101 he wrote his memoirs, explaining the trajectory of his life and how his politics prevented his work in the West and despite them he was still able to contribute to architecture because of his beautiful and extraordinary curvaceous forms. Although he was a Communist and he was dealing with the world as it was conditioned during the 1940s and 1950s to deny those who believed in Communist politics to work, he was still able to be a contributing architect to the UN building and to build beautiful works of art within which public functions could be accomplished. Gropius and Niemeyer were contemporaries, although Niemeyer was younger. Their histories intersect in the United States where the German born Gropius had migrated to Boston and Niemeyer was asked to become the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the second post that he would have to decline because of his associations with the Communist Party and the political climate in the 1950s. Walter Gropius Walter Gropius was born in 1883 and died in 1969, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and a history of teaching those ideas that he came to discover. Along with Oscar Niemeyer, who is the second subject of this paper, was a pioneer of modern architecture and ideas on form. Lupfer, Sige l, and Gropius write that without knowledge about Gropius, Modern architecture cannot be understood. His ability to communicate was his most powerful resource as he could not draw well.1 Therefore it was necessary for his associates to create what he could describe, his work the result of collaborations with those who could put into a drawing what he could not. His ability to communicate resulted in founding the Staatliches Bauhaus, or more commonly just referred to as the Bauhaus, was a school that was focused on the arts and craft.2 Craft is often seen as something less in modern interpretations, but the true idea of craft is the ability to build something that is high quality and with fine design. It might be said that art interprets life while craft enables it. Something is crafted when raw materials are developed into something that can be used in the everyday. Gropius said that â€Å"Let us then create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that raise an arro gant barrier between craftsman and artist!†3 Of course, not all art is interpretation and not all craft is used in the everyday, but it is a good way to consider the two. The Bauhaus was likely the direct result of the

The Prescott High School Regression Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Prescott High School Regression - Case Study Example Regression analysis, however, offers a more reliable analysis of the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. The analysis develops a model for the relationship and tests the following hypothesis. HO: ÃŽ ²HSGPA =ÃŽ ²SATSCORE =ÃŽ ²RECOMENDATION= 0, There is no significant relationship between the dependent and the independent variablesHA: any of the ÃŽ ²s, There is a significant relationship between the dependent and the independent variablesAppendix 7 shows the ANOVA results and from the results, the alternative hypothesis is significant for the general model (F=19.3151, p= 0.000< 0.05). The model further explains a significant proportion of the data, 48.65 percent, based on the adjusted R squared value. Appendix 8 shows the results for coefficients. The intercept (t= -1.69, p= 096) and quality of letter or recommendation (t= 0.87, p= 0.383) are not significant while high school score (t= 2.66, p= 0.01) and SAT total score (t= 3.97, t= 0.000) are sig nificant. Running a regression analysis with the significant variables yields the results in Appendix 9. The results in Appendix 10 show a significant relationship between college GPA and both high school GPA and total SAT score. The intercept is not significant but coefficients are and the following model represents the relationship.The model that includes only significant independent variables is better in predicting the scores because it eliminates effects of the other variables that can be attributed to error.

Individual Midterm essay exam- Great Britain Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual Midterm exam- Great Britain - Essay Example When one focuses on how Weiner discussed about multiculturalism in Great Britain, it gives interesting and insightful perspectives. In the chapter titled â€Å"Great Britain†, Weiner goes to the city of Slough, which is located near London in U. K. In association with BBC, Weiner conducts a happiness experiment in Slough by taking around fifty volunteers and making them part of an twelve weeks happiness regime. Apart from finding the results and interpreting it, Weiner makes certain key inputs regarding multiculturalism. At the outset, he brings out how multiculturalism has given both advantages and disadvantages to Slough and Great Britain as a whole. Great Britain is home to people from various ethnicities and that has given certain advantages particularly in the enrichment of cuisine, but has also led to certain socio-political issues. Slough, like much of Britain, is multicultural. On the one hand, this welcome news. The immigrants have spiced up bland British cuisine, as well as the bland British personality. On the other hand, this influx of immigrants has brought problems. Most notably, Islamic terrorists (Weiner 326-327). Although, Weiner’s latter perspective of how immigration has led to Islamic terrorism might be controversial, it cannot be totally overlooked. On the other hand, as mentioned above, influx of immigrants has accentuated the diversity of the country and has even contributed to a better understanding of cultures of other countries. That is, as immigrants from other countries are living in high numbers in many localities in Great Britain, including in Slough, it provides the native British people more opportunities to interact and socialize with them thereby understanding and appreciating other cultures more. Weiner even goes to the extent of stating that by being in Slough and experiencing

English Speech Journeys Essay Example for Free

English Speech Journeys Essay Journeys can be long, journeys can be short, journeys can be difficult. Life is a journeys, something we all experience. Goodmorning/afternoon fellow students, Mrs. Grant, my understanding of the concept of journey has been expanded through my study of Samuel Coleridge’s poetry of â€Å"Frost at Midnight† and â€Å"This Lime-tree Bower My Prison† to just name a few. Samuel Coleridge was recognised for his romantic and a natural conversational type of poetry. 1. Journeys can be long, journeys can be short, journeys can be difficult. Life is a journeys, something we all experience. Goodmorning/afternoon fellow students, Mrs.  Grant, my understanding of the concept of journey has been expanded through my study of Samuel Coleridge’s poetry of â€Å"Frost at Midnight† and â€Å"This Lime-tree Bower My Prison† to just name a few. Samuel Coleridge was recognised for his romantic and a natural conversational type of poetry. 1. Coleridge’s poetry draws the audience into his imaginary world in a poem such â€Å"Frost at Midnight†, which is using the journey to reach enlightenment and through it we the audience are able to realise some of the values we hold as human being like our family, loved ones, freedom and security. For an example and a quote â€Å"My babe so beautiful! It thrills my heart with tender gladness†. This quote evokes Coleridge’s preciousness, protective love for his son and for his childs future. Coleridge’s poetry draws the audience into his imaginary world in a poem such â€Å"Frost at Midnight†, which is using the journey to reach enlightenment and through it we the audience are able to realise some of the values we hold as human being like our family, loved ones, freedom and security. For an example and a quote â€Å"My babe so beautiful! It thrills my heart with tender gladness†. This quote evokes Coleridge’s preciousness, protective love for his son and for his childs future. 2. 2. The dark gothic atmosphere of the opening creates a sense of mystery. As Coleridge is isolated in a cottage away from everyone else, which Coleridge to recall both on his school life and his happier life as a country man, and to channelled that unhappiness into a resolution that his infant son will not share in Coleridge’s unfortunate imprisonment in the city, but will grow up in the natural surroundings of the countryside. The dark gothic atmosphere of the opening creates a sense of mystery. As Coleridge is isolated in a cottage away from everyone else, which Coleridge to recall both on his school life and his happier life as a country man, and to channelled that unhappiness into a resolution that his infant son will not share in Coleridge’s unfortunate imprisonment in the city, but will grow up in the natural surroundings of the countryside your imagination that changes our approach towards reality and forces us to look more deeply into what we perceive to be true isplay the capacity of language to change us and force us to look more deeply into what we perceive to be true Coleridge expresses his childhood memories through the quietness of the cottage. Which begins Coleridge’s imaginative journey that son It is a beautiful text that portrays the imaginative journey undertaken by an unusual girl; through her reflection of her childhood memories, she is able to go beyond time and reach a state of contentment. The core concept of the story revolves around ‘moving on’ and not dwelling in the past. There is a very sombre tone that resonates in the text. It eventually changes to one of gratification as the character ‘spoke quietly to the gravestone of his son. ’ This contrast of tone highlights the power of the imaginative journey to change us and instils this very notion into our minds.

Health Care System In Uae Health And Social Care Essay

Health Care System In Uae Health And Social Care Essay Health care is essential for any economy regardless of its size since it directly affects the workforce. The workforce in turn influences output and income earned by the government from taxes and foreign exchange. The health care sector should thus receive a substantial proportion of the budgetary expenditure if a country is to achieve high growth and development levels. The UAE is one of the most influential countries in the Middle East and it shapes the economic and political sphere in this continent. Although it is a dominant country in the Middle East, it faces many challenges in its health care system which threatens to undermine its growth and development. Several interventions should be taken to ensure that this nation does not lose its influence in the Middle East due to problems in the health care sector, which may affect its growth and development. This paper will show that UAE faces challenges such as limitation in the number of specialists and nurses, low skills possessed by nurses and poor remuneration of employees who work for government hospitals. In order to address these concerns, more health care professionals should be trained and schools build for students who are interested in the medical field. In addition, foreign workers in health care facilities should be thoroughly vetted to ensure that they possess skills needed by patients. In order to motivate employees in the health care sector, their salaries and allowances should be increased, and their working environments improved through equipping hospitals with drugs, equipment and health care specialists. This will improve the overall quality of health care provided in the UAE. Introduction The health care sector is one of the most important sectors in any nation and it directly affects the economic growth and development of all nations. This is due to the reason that if the population has poor health, the productivity from individual workers decreases and this in turn reduces output from industries and firms. This in turn results in lower GDP, lower taxes earned by government and lower income earned from exports. Many health care systems across the world face challenges due to an increase in number of people who seek health care and the limitation of resources available. There has been an increase in diseases, both communicable and terminal illnesses. In addition, unhealthy lifestyles and poor dietary habits have led to an increase in diseases such as diabetes, heart illnesses and high blood pressure, across the world. It is therefore important that different health care systems are assessed and their weaknesses exposed in order to improve the quality of health care pr ovision. The UAE faces some challenges in its health care service delivery. These weaknesses include a shortage of specialists and nurses. Others include low quality of skills by nurses and low motivation levels among health care stakeholders. This has led to poor service delivery and man patients are opting to pursue health care services abroad. Many specialists are also taking jobs abroad since they perceive remuneration in UAE to be low. These factors have an economic impact of loss of revenue by the government, increase in cost of health care and opportunity costs of seeking local health care services. This paper will analyze the health care industry in the United Arab Emirates. Various weaknesses inherent in the system will be discussed from an economic point of view. These weaknesses will be compared to other successful hospitals across the world in order to develop effective interventions to solve them. Recommendations will then be made on actions which the UAE government, in collabora tion with the private sector and international partners, has to take to improve the quality of health care provision. The incentives which should be given to change the behavior of UAE health care stakeholders will also be given at the end of the paper. The discussed issues will be summarized. Problems and solutions Introduction There are various problems which are present in the UAE health care system as earlier stated. These problems include inadequate distribution ratio of nurses to patients and the presence of low skilled nurses. These problems lead to dissatisfaction with service provision amongst the UAE population, and this results in many patients seeking treatment overseas. Over 70% of residents in UAE seek treatment overseas when faced with life-threatening ailments. This leads to losses to both health care providers and the government, which loses a substantial income from taxes. In addition, sometimes the government supports patients who seek treatment overseas and this increases the costs incurred by the government. For instance, in 2009, the UAE government spent over 280 million dirham to cover overseas costs of 530 patients (Porter Teisberg, 2006). This figure is even higher when military patients are included. When the government spends this amount of money on overseas treatment, economic lo sses include opportunity costs of payment from patients to health practitioners, loss of tax revenue by the government and direct expenses paid for the medical cost. It is therefore imperative that steps are taken to restore the confidence which nationals of the UAE have in the health care system. This part of the paper will discuss individual problems in the provision of health care in the UAE. The solutions to the problems faced will be discussed after discussing the problems. Inadequate distribution ratio of nurses to patients The international acceptable standards in health care provision advocates for a bed capacity to nursesà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ ratio of 1:1 in areas which are considered critical to health care. The current ratio present in the UAE is in fact 1:5. This means that one nurse takes care of four patients simultaneously. According to Zain and Libo, (2008), although the internationally recognized nurse to patient ration in the ICU is 1:5, there are several hospitals in Dubai which have higher nurse to patient ratios. For instance, the Al Baraha hospital has a nurse to patient ratio of 1:10 in general wards, and in the ICU, this ratio is 1:4. In addition, it has 100 doctors and 200 nurses yet it receives 13 new born babies, 250 emergency patients and 650 outpatients in a daily basis. This shows the problem facing the hospital as far as the shortage of nurses is concerned. This is not acceptable, especially in critical areas of health care. This is due to the reason that increasing the workload of nurses has adverse impacts on health care provision. These include increasing risk of spread of infection as nurses urgently try to complete tasks, increasing risk of error due to fatigue, increasing occupational injuries due to rush to complete tasks, increasing risk of error when filling incident reports and increasing turnover rate due to excessive work and few promotions. This would eventually reduce the overall quality of health care, which adversely affects the health of the population and workforce. This would in turn reduce productivity and economic growth and development in the UAE. In addition, inadequate staff may make patients lose confidence in the health care provision and seek alternative health options such as over the counter medication, herbal medicine and others. Some of these methods may further aggravate their illnesses. In order to solve this problem, the UAE government should increase its investment in health care. The current proportion of budget spent on health care in the UAE is approximately 9%. For a sector which has a huge impact on a countryà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s growth and development, UAE spends too little on health. It should increase this proportion to over 15% in order to cater for the needs of hiring new nurses and expanding health care infrastructure. The US, which is a larger economy, spent 17% of its GDP in 2009 on health care. More nurses should be hired to improve the nurse to patient ratio. In addition, more medical schools would be built to train more health care practitioners who would cater for the expanding health care needs. This will reduce the risks earlier discussed and improve the overall quality of health care in the UAE. Low skilled nurses Many nurses who work in the UAE are either under qualified or in possession of little experience, which affects their health care provision. This is caused by many factors and one of them is the shortage of nurses and the unfavorable nurse to patient ratio. Due to this shortage, cheap labor is sought from foreign countries such as Philippines and India. When this happens, it is difficult to fully ascertain the levels of skills held by these professionals, and most end up having low nursing skills. In addition, little or no professional training in nursing is given to such health care professionals. As a result, the few nurses present in the UAE do not possess the skills required to deal with the many health care needs of the population. This leads to provision of poor and low quality health care, which makes the population unhealthy. Nurses with poor professional skills are more prone to errors, which may even end up being fatal to patients. In order to deal with the problem of low skills among nurses, several interventions ought to be taken. The first is a review of skills and experience possessed by nurses who come from overseas to work in the UAE. Their academic qualifications and experience should be corroborated, and the quality of health care institutions they worked for assessed before they are employed in UAE hospitals. In order to develop superior nursing skills among UAE residents, the government ought to increase its budgetary allocation to the health care sector in order to build more nursing institutions which would develop more nurses (Oxford Business Group, 2008). The private sector and international partners should collaborate when building these nursing schools and training new nurses in order for improve the quality of skills possessed by nurses. According to City data website (2010), this strategy has already proved to be successful in Bangkok. Due to investment in training of nurses and use of technol ogy, the health care delivery has improved and this has translated into direct benefits to the population. The life expectancy has increased by over 10 years during the last three decades. Inadequate number of specialists This is a third problem which faces the UAE health care industry. There are a large number of general doctors but few specialists amongst the population. Most large hospitals have over 100 doctors but the number of specialists is usually less than 10. This limits the effectiveness of health care provision since many patients nowadays require specialized health care needs. The increase in chronic diseases such as cancer, heart problems and brain disorders has made it necessary to increase the number of specialists in these fields. In the current case, where there are few specialists, the specialist to patient ratio is very large. This may cause similar problems caused by overburdening nurses with responsibilities. In addition, it increases the costs of treating illnesses which require specialized care since the few specialists may charge high prices due to their high demand. The overall effect of having few specialists is increase in cost of health care, inability of the population to access specialized care and increase in errors made by specialists due to high work load. All these factors undermine the UAE health care provision industry. In order to solve this problem, training of specialists is required, so that they may offer their services to patients who require them. The government should collaborate with international partners and the private sector to build more schools where health care specialists are trained. These medical schools should be well equipped in order to ensure that specialists have the expertise and knowledge needed to perform their duties effectively (Crichton, 2000). Since the cost of training health care specialists is high, the government should subsidize the costs of pursuing education on certain areas of health care. The population should be encouraged to pursue knowledge on certain areas which have very few specialists such as neurology. Incentives which should be given to health care practitioners There are various incentives which should be given to doctors and nurses in order to increase their motivation levels. These incentives enable them to be well motivated and to increase their output as far as caring for patients is concerned. These incentives will be discussed below; Better remuneration There have been complaints from many health care practitioners in the UAE that the salaries and benefits they receive are not commensurate to the efforts they put in their assignments. As is common in many countries, many government health practitioners have complained that professionals working in private practice are earning significantly higher salaries and benefits than them. This lowers their morale and productivity since according to the expectancy theory by Vroom, employees only work harder when they are sure that their expectations regarding remuneration and other needs, will be realized (Beach, 2007). This can be seen by the large number of health care specialists who are moving to the US and Europe to offer their services to these countries. In order to increase their motivation levels, their salaries and benefits should be increased and matched to those of specialists in private practice. This will ensure that health care professionals are motivated and they will increase the quality of services they give. Better working environments In order for doctors and nurses to be able to work effectively, they should be provided with the latest equipment, drugs and training. This enables them to provide high quality health care to the population. The government should ensure that all hospitals have enough staff in order to improve the nurse to patient ratio. There should also be enough specialists and equipment and drugs used by patients. In any organization, organizational culture plays a role in motivating employees (Murray, 2005). The organizational culture should be therefore conducive for employees, since this will motivate them into increasing their output. The management should ensure that employees are involved in decision making, are given independence when working and that they are encouraged to work as a team. There should be an uninterrupted flow of information between the lower level employees and the management. The management should use the democratic leadership style since this is the most effective in ach ieving employee motivation (Bratton, et. al., 2004). This style involves employees in making decisions which affect their duties. Finally, there should be conflict resolution mechanisms which will avoid workplace conflicts. This will ensure that the quality of service provision improves. Incentive for patients It has been discussed that due to the challenges which the health care sector in the UAE faces, many patients are beginning to lose confidence in the health care system. It is therefore necessary to provide certain incentives which will restore confidence in the health acre system. One way of doing this is improving the patient to nurse ratio. This has been discussed in detail above when dealing with challenges in the UAE health care industry. Increasing the number of nurses will ensure that patients receive better quality of health acre and this will restore their faith in the system. Another incentive is the increase in quality of skills possessed by nurses. This will enable nurses to provide better services to patients, and this can be achieved through re-training them and vetting them before they are employed. Finally, patients should be provided with score cards which reveal their satisfaction with service provision in hospitals. This measure will enable hospitals to acquire fee dback from their patients and they will be able to improve upon areas which they are considered to be weak (Carver Scheier, 2001). It has proven to be successful in many hospitals in Thailand and it is bound to be similarly successful in the UAE. This measure will increase the quality of health care provided. Summary and conclusion There are various aspects of the UAE health care system which have been discussed in the paper. UAE has been seen to have challenges such as few number of specialists, low nurse to patient ratio, lower remuneration of health care stakeholders and poor skills by nurses. These effects have been discussed to lower the motivation of employees and as a result, they are likely to make errors or perform poor quality assignments. This in turn makes patient lose confidence in local health care provision and some seek health care services overseas. Some health care professionals also look for employment overseas as a result. When this happens, the UAE government loses tax revenue. It also ends up paying for patientsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ overseas treatment which leads to economic losses such as lost opportunity costs of payment from patients to health practitioners, loss of tax revenue by the government and direct expenses paid for the medical cost. In order to solve these problems which are affecting the UAE healthcare service provision, several steps should be taken by the UAE government in collaboration with the private sector and international partners. The first involves better remuneration of employees in the health care industry. The stakeholders in the health care industry should set new remuneration which matches that from the private practice. The second step involves building of medical schools and paying for educational needs of students to enable them pursue various medical fields. This will increase the skills and number of health car professionals, which is a major challenge in UAE. The third intervention is screening all health care professionals from foreign countries before they begin working in the UAE in order to ensure that they have adequate skills. Although these interventions are important in improving the overall quality of healthcare provision in the UAE, it is similarly useful to provide incentives to stakeholders in the health care sector in order to improve service provision. Health care employees should receive higher remuneration in order to increase motivation. Their work environment should also be conducive and the organizational culture should feature teamwork, independence, communication, conflict resolution and other important factors (Mugisho, 2007). Patients on the other hand can be motivated through improving the skills and increasing number of nurses and specialists since this will encourage them to have faith in the health care system. Feedback should be sourced through score cards, where patients rate service provided to them. This will enable the management improve the weaknesses of the processes. These interventions will encourage patients to seek local health services and this will increase government inco me and tax revenue thereby leading to higher economic growth and development.

The beliefs of Childrens Learning

The beliefs of Childrens Learning Identifying the beliefs of Childrens Learning, Development, and the Social Influences that shaped them. A childs learning and development begins from the moment they are born, the early years from birth to five are an important milestone in a persons life, what a child experiences in the early years has a major impact on their future chances in life. A safe, secure and happy childhood is important in its own right. We can shape a childs learning from an early age, children learn through experience and adult involvement, therefore interaction with babies and young children is fundamentally important, it helps to build ideas, creates thinking and helps them develop as learners. Babies are born with an interest in people and a drive to find out about their world. Observing and assessing babies and young children is an important basis in their learning and development. Watching children learn can open our eyes to the capacity of how they learn (Pugh, 2001, p. 66), and this shows us the i mportance of these first few years in a childs life. Over the decades early education, policies and practices have seen significant changes. We still use many of the earlier theories and methods through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in our early education settings today. The EYFS is part of a ten year Childcare Strategy introduced in 2008, it relates to the Childcare Act 2006, and its aim is to give young children the best start in life, it sets standards to enable early years providers to implement the rich and personalised experience many parents give their children at home. It provides legal requirements relating to learning, development, assessments and welfare. The EYFS principles which guide all practitioners consists of four themes; a Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments, Learning And Development. It implies that all children from birth to five will acquire the same skills and knowledge in preparation for school while at the same time recognising that all children are individuals that require ind ividual learning strategies. The construction of early education and care of children and young people dates back many years, as early as the 17th century. Friedrich Froebel a major theorist was born in 1782 in Thuringia what is now Germany and was well known for saying play is a childs work, he formulated the idea of kindergarten meaning childrens garden as a means of educating young children. Play and the outdoor environment were important in Froebelian kindergartens. His approach emphasized that children are able to develop their capacity for learning through play, and that active learning is essential with guidance and appropriate direction. He believed that training of workers within the early years was essential, and the importance of parents as partners in the education of young children. The influence of Froebels methods are well established in early years settings to date, his work was one of the theories that made the basis of early education. Many recent theorists based t heir work on these early findings, and say, he was ahead of his time as one of the EYFS themes and commitments, of today states active learning. Active learning it is implemented through the learning and development principle of the EYFS, it provides physical and mental involvement, decision-making and personalised learning, and it occurs when children are keen to learn and are interested in finding things out for themselves. Play is a dynamic process that develops and changes, it provides children with opportunities for developing cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills. Froebelian kindergartens were seen to be middle class; despite this his methods were adapted for use with disadvantaged children and families within developing 20th century nursery and infant schools. (Pound, 2008, p. 16). The first nursery school opened in Scotland in1816 by Robert Owen(1771-1858), he was a mill owner who refused to employ children less than 10 years of age, he believed that education should be a common right for all children, and that children are passive, contrived and by due preparation and accurate attention can be formed into any human character. He managed their behaviour through kindness, which in the19th century was unusual, children as young as 2 years attended his school. The opening of his nursery school influenced changing attitudes on child labour, and set the basis of early education for young children. The start of the curriculum method was one of Owenss ideas, his vision on education-inspired generations of activist; he recognised the link between social welfare and early education this is an important part of practice in modern day settings. His commitments to education were radical as were his ideas on the importance of equality, although his policies were a bold ste p forward, he was criticised as being rooted in his desire for profit. (Pound, 2008, p. 13) In the UK the development of early education was very slow compared to Europe, it was In 1870 that publicly funded education became compulsory for children age 5, the need to understand these early childhood services is important as they laid down the foundations of our education system (Pugh, 2001, p. 8) During the 1960s the voluntary playgroup movement emerged. A letter sent to the Guardian by Belle Tutaev, a young mother of a four-year-old expressing concern to the lack of appropriate nursery provision within our education system. For many years the main means of early education was state primary schools, and this was aimed at children over 5 years, after campaigning to the authorities to no avail she opened her own playgroup, this progressed and by the seventies playgroups became a recognised form of pre-school provision. Over the next 2 decades the changing family patterns and employment patterns meant early years provision were a much needed source, this saw the growth of private nurseries. Only after a review in 1988 on early childhood and education services, (The Education Reform Act) did the government realise there was a growing problem. It found flaws, in uncoordinated services, which varied between different parts of the country, compared to the rest of Europe there were low levels of public funding. It had different services ran by a diversity of different organisations, this meant a wide range of clients used them, all with different aims and purposes. The education system needed the government to intervene. A number of national reports was to be published, one of them the Rumbold report published in 1990, expressed concerns about education and the lack of access to Early Years services. It highlighted the need for the development of good quality provision in the early years, and believed it to be vital that all that work, or are involved with young children recognise the importance of their educational role and fulfil it. She urged those who make provision recognise the growing demand for and the expansion of high quality services to meet children and parents needs (rumbold, 1990). The report also highlighted the way in which young children learn are as important as what they learn, and argued against the introduction of formal learning. At the time, this report was ignored but it is now used as a basis for best practice in todays Early Years settings. The establishment of the Early Childhood Education forum in 1993 meant bringing together all national agencies working in the field, (Pugh, 2001, p. 11) it clarified that an early years policy is needed, and an expansion in services, the forum gathered strength with over 45 national organisations by 1998. Its aims were to champion childrens rights and entitlements, support the training development and education of early childhood practitioners, and all those who work with children and their families. The government took action and in 1995, funding for the education of 4 year olds was introduced this was in the form of vouchers that could be redeemed in private, voluntary, or local authority nurseries, the vouchers were extremely criticised at the time and was abolished in 1997 when Labour Government was elected. The election of the Labour Government brought big changes in the way our whole Education System was run, especially Early Education; its key issue is to eradicate child poverty, and provide more family friendly policies and childrens centres. The Sure Start initiative, launched in 1999 under the National Childcare Strategy plays a major role in doing this, by helping families in local communities of need with children under 4years old. The government pledged 1.4 billion pounds over 6 years. This meant that parents had access to a multi agency of services within the Sure Start Childrens Centres. They are now a key influence within our communities helping children, families and society, by learning and developing life skills in the early years so that young children grow up to be happy, healthy and are able to achieve their goals in life. The centres are at the Heart of the Every Child Matters Change for Children 2004. The green paper Every Child Matters was published in 2003, in response to a report by Lord Laming in 2001, into the death of Victoria Climbie. Victoria was a young girl who was horrifically abused, tortured and killed by her great aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao and partner Carl Manning; they were the people who were supposed to be caring for her. Shameful failings within a number of systems meant on 12 occasions over 10 months the chances to save Victoria were missed. Evidence from this Inquiry demonstrated the dangers of staff from different agencies not fulfilling their separate and distinctive responsibilities. The death of Victoria showed a fundamental need for an integrated service that would be part of a political agenda for many years, despite the Children Act 1989 provisions, child protection strategies and services stayed within the social service system, and the level of communication and co-operation between these and other services in health and education were variable. The Ev ery Child Matters agenda is recognised by five outcomes; be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and achieve economic wellbeing; these outcomes are a universal ambition for the government, and form a strong basis for the EYFS curriculum used in Early Education Settings to date. The transfer of responsibility for children under 8-years-old were made from the Department of Health, to the Department of Education and Skills and from 2001, an integrated inspection service was introduced, bringing together all the services, enabling multi-agency working, which was an important step forward. The Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership in local authorities were also introduced, helping to increase levels of provision in Childcare. Working in partnership with the Local Education Authority, each authority completed an audit, with a plan to reach the governments targets for early education places for all 3- and-4year-olds. This was made easier in the change of policy earlier, that allowed non maintained sectors to apply for nursery grants, children in private day nurseries, pre-schools and some childminders could now access their free half-day nursery provision. In this way the strategy started to tackle the long-term split between Early Years education serv ices and the childcare services. (Macelod- Brundenell,and Kay 2nd edition 2008 pg 352 ). It has been without doubt that Early Education has come a long way since Froebel in the 17th century, and the opening of Owens nursery school in 1816, but not many things have changed, it was evident then that children learn through play and exploration, and early learning is important in the first five years. Maybe many generations of children have missed out the chances given to young children of today. The EYFS has been an important milestone for early education and young children, and is now the way forward in preparing a child for school, but its existance is still in the primary stages, and many small nursery settings may find adapting to these changes and sustaining them quiet difficult as the standards and welfare requirements set are extremly high.

Golden Lion Tamarin Reintroduction Program Essay -- Rio de Janeiro, Br

Golden Lion Tamarin Reintroduction Program Biodiversity may be our most precious gift on this planet. It is amazing to think about how much we know about our fellow creatures, and even more amazing to realize there is still so much to learn. From the smallest pollen to the biggest whale, every species has evolved to be a special part of its ecosystem. It is when we lose sight of the intrinsic value of all this life that we find ourselves destroying the delicate web and irreparably damaging ourselves as well. We cut down entire jungles into grazing land, irrigate vast deserts into golf courses, seal up marshes for business offices, dump toxic waste in the oceans. Since the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, many animal and plant populations have been brought back from the brink of extinction. But many more have been lost and there are still nearly a thousand names on the list, and that is even an understatement of the true danger we’re in. There are several continuing efforts focused on saving creatures and their habitats from destruction. Among the more promising is the Golden Lion Tamarin Reintroduction Program. Leontopithecus rosalia, common name golden lion tamarin (GLT), are small monkeys native to the coastal rain forests of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But their forests are disappearing fast (98% gone since 1850, according to the World Conservation Monitoring Center) to make way for "development" and the tamarins are disappearing with them. There are three other species of tamarin native only to Brazil: the black tamarin, the black-faced tamarin, and the golden-headed tamarin. All have playful temperaments and thus have also fallen victim to illegal trade in exotic pets since the banning of legal exportation in... ...l 1997, v49 n2. Pp. 26-31. French, JA, Inglett, BJ and Dethlefs, TM. The reproductive status of nonbreeding group members in captive golden lion tamarin social groups. "American Journal of Primatology." 1989, v18 n2. Pp. 73-86. Kierulff, MCM and DeOliveira, PP. Re-assessing the status and conservation of the golden lion tamarin Leontopithecus rosalia in the wild. "Dodo- Journal of the Wildlife Preservation Trusts." 1996, v 32. Pp. 98-115. Ruiz, JC. Comparison of affiliative behavior between old and recently established pairs of golden lion tamarins. "Primates." April 1990, v31 n2. Pp. 197-204. Http://estel.uindy.edu/outReach/guestSchools/indyzoo/vz/quotes.html Http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~cait/ Http://www.endangeredspecie.com/ Http://www.selu.com/~bio/cauz/links/endangered.html Http://www.wcmc.org.uk/data/database/rl_anml_combo.html

Animal Disturbances in Eastern Deciduous Forests Essay -- Ecology, Eco

The study of ecology is currently primarily focused upon anthropogenic effects on ecosystems as well as feeding relationships; however, non-feeding interactions are also an important factor in understanding the balance of the ecosystem and identifying issues. These interactions are generally termed disturbances. What constitutes a disturbance? White and Pickett defined it as â€Å"any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment† (White 1985). Some definitions of disturbances such as Grime's require the destruction of biomass, however, this tends to rule out many events that cause changes in the makeup of ecosystems yet are not feeding interactions (Buckley 1992). All animals interact with their environment beyond simply feeding as even walking can affect the makeup of the environment by crushing grasses or insects. Still, not all animals have the same degree of effect on the environment - certain animals are considered to be â€Å"ecosystem engineers.† These ecosystem engineers include crocodiles and beavers, animals that substantially change the environment around them to adapt it to their needs. Clive G. Jones defined ecosystem engineers as â€Å"organisms that directly or indirectly modulate the availability of resources to other species, by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials. In doing so, they modify, maintain, and create habitats†(Jones 1994). Of course, not all organisms that have non-trophic effects on their environment are ecosystem engineers. It is simply that the effects of the ecosystem engineer tend to be the best studied as they have the largest, most deliberate effect. H... ...ing monoculture comes a plethora of plant viruses that were previously reduced by diversity. As Castello states: â€Å"As forests become monocultures of one or several species, and as they suffer from mismanagement...they become more vulnerable to the impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses†(Castello 1989). Problematically, little is known about plant viruses and thus little is known about how to manage forests to prevent viruses or reduce their impact. There is some disagreement on whether a lack of disturbances truly leads to monoculture as certain ecologists including Hubbell believe that recruitment failures outweigh any possible effect of disturbances (Hubbell 1999). However, as studies have shown, disturbances can drastically increase recruitment failures. Nearly all researchers did agree that anthropogenic disturbances universally reduce diversity in ecosystems.