Values and Democracy (Politics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Values and Democracy (Politics) - Essay Example Even though regular elections are, according to Beetham (1992), ‘a continuous discipline on the elected to take constant notice of public opinion’ (ibid, p. 47), the dictate that politicians take pleasure from is the fact that citizens have very little influence on political decisions made in their behalf. The core argument of this essay is that in order to justify the diversity of environmental values and the dedication of citizens, the process of decision making should be to improve and endorse democratic participation. In order to do this, this essay will compare and contrast the relationship of environmental values and democracy in four countries, namely, The United States, Great Britain, Russia, and China: the former two countries being highly democratic while the latter two being less democratic. As reported by the Brundtland Commission, an environmental right should state that â€Å"all human beings have the fundamental right to an environment adequate for their health and well being† (Smith 2003, 104). ... 216). Democracy should be concerned with the composition of the constitution, since the effect of rights is experienced all over the legal, political, and moral areas. Several theories have been used for establishing environmental values (Carrow et al. 1998). Eckersley (1996) sums up the environmental challenge to democratic ideas of rights by saying that the democratic explanation of the moral interest of protection and independence from control needs consideration of the physical situations of its use. As argued by Eckersley (1996), â€Å"we must accord the same moral priority to the material conditions (including bodily and ecological conditions) that enable that autonomy to be exercised† (ibid, p. 223). Environmental values, however, conflicts with the democracy. Yet, the statements above show that ecological values and particular democratic rights are in fact connected. As stated by Saward (1996), â€Å"Rather than being something outside the purview of democratic theory , core environmental concerns are part of it† (ibid, p. 88). The following section will show the connection (or conflict) between environmental values and democracy in four countries, the US, the UK, China, and Russia. Environmental Values and Democracy If one looks at the political guidelines for the environment of the US and the UK, which are highly democratic societies, a particular problem appears as the clearest feature of the political practices, which is shown in their regulations. The problem has its source in knowledge of democracy that respects the involvement of citizens in decision making process to be a must. As shown by this idea, citizens should be given the right to express his/her opinion of and interest

Democratic ticket Essay Example for Free

Democratic ticket Essay Alvin Greene’s win was as a result of good, hard work. The models of voting used favored him. Research on models of voting shows that a candidate should be smart and sharp during campaigns. Models used by voters influence voting choice. Some of these models include Ballot Position Effect also known as Name Order Effect, Mere Exposure Effect, Name Letter Effect and No Information Voting. Use of research papers such as, Who is Alvin Greene by Mark, Greene on the Issues by Buster Brown, among others listed on the reference list shows the different types of models of voting. Questions asking advantages of using one or more or more models, limitation of each model, strengths and weaknesses of one model to another have been researched. The conclusion of this research shows ways which influence the behavior of voters. It summarizes the effects of different models applied and the effect they have on a candidate. Alvin Greene, an unemployed army veteran, is the winning candidate using the Democratic ticket. He has surprised analysts, pundits, and academics by winning with more than 58 percent of the votes. However victory was not a surprise for him because he worked hard and therefore earned it. His campaigns were simple; he traveled with friends, friends of friends and family members. He did not have any campaign website; neither did he put out signs nor fliers. Alvin’s victory was as a result of good, hard work. The phrase Get South Carolina Back to Work which was his campaign slogan had been acquired through Greene being motivated to run for one of South Carolina’s two senate seats to help Get South Carolina Back to Work. He had his priorities straight which included; focusing on jobs, education and Justice in the judicial system. These issues helped him rally against his running mate DeMint (Robert, Para. 5). Greene’s winning had benefited from unusual circumstances. One of them was his name appearing first in Alphabetical order on a ballot for U. S senate. This effect is called the Ballot Position Effect or Name Order. The candidate being listed first increases his or her performance by 2. 5 points as the average. This has primacy effect and affects a person psychologically in that people making a choice from a visual list considers top as best choice (Valerie, Para. 6). Secondly, Greene was able to win as a result of Mere Exposure Effect. In this type of model of voting, it is believed that the more a person is exposed to a certain stimulus, the more he or she is inclined to liking it. In this case Greene is a more common type of word compared to Rawl. Another type of model of voting is Name Letter Effect. This model holds that people prefer names that share their own initials. No Information Voting is also a type of model used to vote in USA. This is where voting is done with the voters having less or no information about the subject. In this case, the name order effect rises as voters get down the ballot to a candidate they know little about. Models of voting influence vote choice. Choice voting, a form of proportional representation is widely used by world’s established democracies. It gives political parties and candidates an assurance to gain the percentage of legislative seats reflecting their support by the public. Choice voting is a form of limited voting where voters maximize their ballot. Every model of voting has its advantages which affect vote choice. The Name Order Effect favors the candidate who appears first on the ballot. This is because the person voting might have no information about candidates on the ballot, therefore will go for the candidate appearing first with the assumption first is best. Secondly, Mere Exposure Effect gives the candidate who is more exposed to a certain stimulus an advantage and a higher chance of being voted. For example if it is the name, Greene and Rawl, Greene is a more common word, and voters are inclined to liking it. Other voters will use the No Information Voting type of model which will be an advantage to the candidate appearing first in the ballot. This is because voters will again tend to think that first is always the best and will vote for the person who appears first on the ballot. The voters have less or no information about the candidate and they will assume that if they vote the first one, chances are the person is the best (Mark, Para. 4). However, these models of voting may have limitations. A model may favor one candidate but be a shortcoming to other candidates on the ballot. When candidates use Ballot Position Effect, the candidates who appear at the bottom of the ballot will have less chances of winning the elections compared to the candidate appearing first. Similarly if voters use the No Information Voting type of model voting, voters will assume that the first is most likely the best causing the candidates who appear at the bottom of the ballot less likely to win. Sometimes, voters will use Mere Exposure Effect as their voting choice. This type of model of voting will give the candidate with a less exposed stimulus less chances of being voted in. If there is a candidate whose name is more exposed compared to other candidates’ names then that type of voting model will be a limitation to the candidates. Similarly, if the candidates use the Name Letter Effect when voting, a candidate with names that share initials with that of the voter will have a higher chance of being voted in compared to the candidate whose initials do not match with those of the person voting (Can Anyone Explain How Alvin Greene Actually Won Para. 1). When compared, all these types of voting models are related to one another. They can either be related through their strengths or weaknesses. Each one of them has their own strengths or weaknesses. Ballot Exposure Effect also known as Name Order Effect is related to No Information Effect in both strengths and weaknesses. Due to a voter having no information about the subject, the person can opt to vote for the candidate who appears first on the ballot. This is strength to the candidate appearing first on the ballot paper. On the other hand, it can still be a weakness because the person appearing last on the ballot might be the best candidate but loses because the name appears last. There is also a relation between Mere Exposure Effect and Name Letter Effect. When the name of the voter and that of the candidate match, then automatically their initials match. Voters using these types of model voting will relate their names and that of the candidate with a certain stimulus which they are exposed to in relation to the matching of their initials. In some cases, a candidate can be favored by majority of the model of voting, whereby a candidate appears first on the ballot, is exposed to a certain stimulus and the voters have no or less information about the candidates. Here the three types of model voting will be related to the candidate being voted or not being voted (Buster, Para. 3). CONCLUSION Models of voting being the behavior in which people vote can be influenced psychologically, socially or economically. As a candidate it is important to know about the people and their expectations during campaigns. Different types of voting affect vote choice in different ways. As a candidate, it is wise to make one known to the voters. This way, voters are able to avoid No Information Voting which leads to Name Order Effect. It is also advisable for candidates to address key issues which affect the people. This way a candidate is able to let the people be conversant with him or her. Reference List Buster Brown. Alvin Greene on the issues:Candidate gets beyond the headlines. Available at:http://www. charlestoncitypaper. com/charleston/alvin-greene-on-the-issues/Content? oid=2121463 Can Anyone Explain How Alvin Greene Actually Won? Available at:http://www. newsweek. com/2010/06/17/can-anyone-explain-how-alvin-greene-actually-won. html Mark Leibovich. Who’s Alvin Greene? State Asks After Vote. Available at:http://www. nytimes. com/2010/06/12/us/politics/12greene. html? _r=1src=mv Robert J. Baker. Local Dems had never met Greene Available at;http://www. theitem. com/news/local_news/article_0524b36c-ec80-5eba-882f-713558543451. html Valerie Bauerlein. Puzzle Roils South Carolina Contest. Available at:http://www. marioguerrero. info/ps151/wsjarticle. html

Application of Non-ionising Radiation Based Enzyme

Application of Non-ionising Radiation Based Enzyme APPLICATION OF NON-IONISING RADIATION BASED ENZYME INACTIVATION OF BITTER GOURD (Mordica charania L.): A COMPARATIVE STUDY Nalawade S. A, Akanksha, H.Umesh Hebbar Introduction Although many processing technologies could be used to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, the commonly used ones in current food industry are blanching and dehydration. Blanching is a pre-processing operation carried out before drying of fruits and vegetables. The main purpose of blanching is to inactivate enzymes such as peroxidase, polyphenoloxidases and phenolase which cause many adverse changes of a product (Fellows, 1990; Hiranvarachat, Devahastin, Chiewchan, 2011; Vishwanathan, Giwari, Hebbar, 2013). Conventional blanching involves processing with hotwater, steamand acid. The conventional blanching has many drawbacks such as loss of water soluble nutrients (Lavelli, Zanoni, Zaniboni, 2007), quality deterioration (Gornicki Kaleta, 2007) and environmental problems (Bomben, 1977). Bitter gourd is known for its medicinal properties and has been used in various Asian and African herbal medicine systems from a long time Grover and Yadav (2004), Beloin et al., (2005), Ananya Paul and Sarmistha Sen Raychaudhuri (2010). It has antidiabetic, antitumorous, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and cholesterol lowering capacity Ahmed et al., (2001), Grover and Yadav (2004) and Taylor (2002).The compound responsible for anti-diabetic property in bitter gourd is Charantin, a hypoglycemic compound which is a mixture of two compounds (1:1) sitosteryl glucoside (C35H60O6) and stigmasteryl glucoside (C35H58O6) that has been isolated from the seeds, leaves and fruit of Momordica charantia (Raman and Lau, 1996). Storage of raw bitter gourd is difficult because of presence of some enzymes which deteriorate the product quality. Hence, Blanching is carried out before drying operation. Primary purpose of blanching is to inactivate enzymes such as Peroxidase (POD), Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) allowing stabilization and minimize the degradation of other quality attributes (Canet, 1989). Peroxide (POD) is considered as enzymatic indicator for blanching (Gunes and Bayindirli, 1993, Sheu and Chen, 1991 and Zhu and Pan, 2009) which is one of the most heat resistant enzymes, therefore when POD is inactivated most of other enzymes present might not survive (Halpin Lee, 1987). 90% reduction in POD activity was considered as the end point, since persistence of 3-10% is considered sufficient for drying purpose (Gunes and Bayindirli, 1993). Conventional blanching method includes processing the sample with hot water and steam. The advantages of electromagnetic radiation (MW and IR) employed blanching over conventional blanching methods (water or steam) are rapid inactivation of enzyme complexes that cause quality degradation and minimal/no leaching of vitamins, flavor, pigments, carbohydrates and other water soluble components (De Ancos et al. 1999).These methods have drawbacks such as quality deterioration (Gornicki Kaleta, 2007) and loss of water soluble nutrients (Lavelli, Zanoni, Zaniboni, 2007). The application of microwave radiation for blanc hing or enzyme inactivation (Ramaswamy and Fakhouri, 1998; Ponne, Baysal, Yuksel, 1994; Begum and Brewer, 2001; Brewer and Begum, 2003; Roberts et al., 2004; Lin and Brewer, 2005; Zhu Pan, 2009; Lin and Ramaswamy, 2011; G.C. Jeevitha et.al ,2013 ;Vishwanathan et al., 2013 ) showing its effectiveness and suitability. From the results of Ramaswamy and Fakhouri (1998), Ramesh et al. (2002), G.C. Jeevitha et.al ,2013 and Bengang Wu et al.,2014 it is possible to observe that vegetable tissue blanched with microwave and infrared radiation retained better nutritional value. G.C. Jeevitha et.al,2013 reported better retention of water-soluble nutrients during dry blanching of red bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) slices using infrared (IR) and microwave (MW) radiations and its performance compared with conventional methods. There are a few reports on MW blanching (Chung et al. 1981; Ramesh et al. 2002; Brewer and Begum 2003) and IR blanching (Ponne et al. 1994) indicating their benefits in terms of nutrient retention over steam or water blanching. The objectives of present study were to: evaluate kinetics of Bitter gourd peroxidase (POD) polyphenol oxidase (PPO) inactivation and determine adequacy of both conventional (water and steam) and Dry blanching (IR and MW); to evaluate effect on product quality in terms of moisture, ascorbic acid, chlorophyll and charantin. Materials and Methods Bitter gourd dark green (moisture content 92  ± 1.2%w.b) were purchased from a local market. All the fruits were washed with running water under tap to remove adhering dust and reduce the surface micro-flora and stored at 4  ± 1 °C until further use. The bitter gourd fruits were procured from a single source and almost the same degree of maturity was maintained in order to minimize variation in raw material quality. Sample preparation Bitter gourd fruits were washed thoroughly with tap water and sliced using Robot coupe slicer of dimension 5 mm. seeds were removed manually and used for the study. Blanching Systems Water Blanching Bitter gourd slices (100 g) were immersed in hot water (1:3) maintained at 90  ± 2 °C for 2 min. The blanched samples were immediately cooled to room temperature (25 °C) by dipping in water for 5 min. Surface excess moisture of slices was removed using filter paper and subjected for analysis. Steam Blanching Bitter gourd slices (30 g) were subjected to steam blanching by exposing the slices to steam in an autoclave (100C and 1atm) for 3 min. The steam blanched Bitter gourd slices were immediately cooled to room temperature by dipping in water for 5 min. Samples was subjected for analysis after removing the surface moisture. IR Blanching. About 100 g of bitter gourd slices spread uniformly on the stainless steel (AISI 304) conveyor of IR heater developed (Hebbar and Ramesh 2006) at the authors institute and exposed to IR radiation at a chamber air temperature 200 °C for 8 min. The IR heater, fitted with near IR heat sources (1.1 THz; 0.26 kW/m2) on top and bottom sides of the wire mesh conveyor, was used for the study. IR heat was applied intermittently to control blanching temperature. The chamber was preheated to the required temperature before blanching. The blanched slices were cooled rapidly to room temperature by blowing air. MW Blanching MW blanching was carried out in a domestic microwave oven (BPL, 2,450 MHz) at an intensity of 5.57, 7.36 and 8.8 W/g. For all the runs, the position of the bitter gourd slices were maintained the same on the turntable to minimize variation. Crude extract preparation Slices were homogenized with 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer of pH 7 in the ratio of 1:3. Homogenate was filtered through muslin cloth and centrifuged at 5,100 g for 20 min at 4 ° C. Supernatant was collected and used for the assay. Enzyme analysis. POD Assay The substrate solution was composed of 1.0 mL of phosphate buffer of pH 6, 1.0 mL of 15 mM guaiacol and 1 mL of 3 mM H2O2. To the substrate solution, 50  µL of enzymatic extract were added and the increase in OD was recorded at 470 nm for 5 min using ultraviolet (UV) visible spectrophotometer (UV- 160A, Shimadzu, Japan). Enzyme activity was determined from the slope of the linear portion of the graph relating absorbance with time and expressed as ΔAbs470/min.g sample (Fujita et al. 1997). PPO Assay A spectrophotometric assay at 411 nm using 0.1 M catechol as substrate was used to quantify PPO activity (Weemaes et al. 1997). Moisture content Moisture content of raw and blanched bitter gourd was analyzed using the AOAC method. Values reported are the average of triplicate determinations Estimation of Ascorbic acid The ascorbic acid was determined by 2,6-dichlorophenol- indophenol visual titration methods,(Ranganna 1986) given as follows: Standardization of dye Ascorbic acid (100 mg of l-ascorbic acid) was dissolved in 3% HPO3 and volume made up to 100mL. Further, 10 ml of this solution was diluted to 100mL with HPO3. From this, 5mL was transferred to Erlenmeyer flasks containing 5mL of metaphosphoric acid (3%). A burette was filled with the dye, prepared from dissolution of 50 mg of the sodium salt of 2, 6-dichlorophenol in hot distilled water (150 mL) containing 42 mg of NaHCO3, which was made up to 200mL with distilled water. Then, the ascorbic acid solution was titrated against the standard indophenol solution to a rose pink color, which persisted for around 15 s. The dye factor was determined as milligram of ascorbic acid per milliliter of the dye, using the formula: Sample preparation and assay, the sample (10 g) was macerated with metaphosphoric acid (3%) in a pestle and mortar, filtered, and made up to 100 ml. The filtrate (5 mL) was taken and titrated against the standard dye to a pink end point, which persisted for at least 15 s. The vitamin C content was calculated as: Percentage retention of ascorbic acid was calculated by, Where A= amount of ascorbic acid present after processing A0= amount of ascorbic acid present in fresh bitter gourd Both values taken dry basis Estimation of Chlorophyll Estimation of chlorophyll was carried out according to the procedure of Ranganna.[25] bitter gourd slices (1 g) were macerated with 80% acetone in a pestle and mortar. The supernatant layer was decanted and the extraction was repeated until the residue was colorless. Then the extracts were pooled, filtered, and made up to 100mL in a volumetric flask. The absorbance measured at 645nm and 663nm using spectrophotometer (Schemadzu UV-1800) The amount of chlorophyll present in the extract mg chlorophyll per g tissue was calculated using the following equation Where, A=absorbance at specific wavelength V= final volume of chlorophyll extracted in 80% acetone W= weight of tissue extracted The results were expressed as % on dry basis. Percentage retention of ascorbic acid was calculated by, Where A= amount of chlorophyll present after processing A0= amount of chlorophyll present in fresh bitter gourd Both values taken dry basis Estimation of Charantin Soxhlet extraction About 1.0 g of bitter melon fruit powder was extracted with 200 ml of ethanol for 150 min. Charantin remained in the sample residue was extracted repeatedly in 30 ml volumes of methanol using ultrasonication. The extract was filtered and evaporated to obtain viscous crude extract and purified prior to the analysis with HPLC. Sample purification To purify the crude extract, the protocol as described in Chanchai (2002) was carried out. Briefly, 5 ml of 50:50 (v/v) methanol–water was added to the crude extract. The mixture was then sonicated for 15 min and centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 15 min to separate the supernatant from the precipitate. The precipitate was then added with 5 ml of 70:30 (v/v) methanol–water, and the mixture was again sonicated and centrifuged. The precipitate from this step was added with 3 ml of hexane, and the step was repeated. The precipitate from this step was re-dissolved in 200  µl of 1:1 (v/v) chloroform–methanol mixture, and then adjusted to volume with methanol to 2 ml volume for that obtained with Soxhlet extraction. The purified solution was filtered through a 0.45 µm nylon membrane filter (Millipore, USA) before being analyzed by an HPLC. Analysis HPLC analysis was carried out for the quantification of Charantin present in the sample with C-18 Ascentis column (5 µm particle, 4.6 mm Ãâ€" 250mm ID). The mobile phase used was 100:2 (v/v) methanol-water and flow rate was maintained at 1mL/min. The UV detector was set at the wavelength of 204nm and the sample injection volume was 20 µL. Percentage retention of charantin was calculated by, Where A= amount of charantin present after processing A0= amount of charantin present in fresh bitter gourd Both values taken dry basis Kinetics of enzyme inactivation The reaction rate constant was determined using first order equation Where A is the peroxidase or polyphenol oxidase activity at time t; A0 is the initial enzyme activity; t is the blanching time (s); k is the reaction rate constant (s-1) at given temperature. Decimal reduction time (D) of enzyme is the time required for one log10 reduction in activity of the enzyme (Cigdem and Zerrin 2005), was determined using the following equation: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Enzyme Inactivation The activity of POD and PPO in fresh samples were found POD 4Ãâ€"103 U/g and PPO- 322 U/g (fresh weight), respectively. The blanching was continued till the POD activity was reduced to 10% of the initial activity. The slices were blanched in water maintained at 95 °C (fig. a) and exposed to steam (fig. b) for different time intervals (15 to 180 sec). The time taken for water and steam blanching was 120 and 180 sec, respectively. The inactivation of PPO was also significant during this period. The bitter gourd slices were blanched using IR radiation at 200 °C chamber temperature for different time intervals. The time required for blanching was 8 min (fig. c). PPO inactivation trend was similar to that of POD, with marginally quicker inactivation. The initial content of ascorbic acid was 666.7 ± 2.3 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dry weight .Ascorbic acid is considered as a relevant nutritional quality index of food during blanching and drying because of its low stability during thermal treatments and its water solubility. Ascorbic acid is significantly lost (20– 70%) during water and steam blanching and one of the advantages of dry blanching is the higher retention of this water soluble micronutrient. IR blanching at 200 °C retained higher ascorbic acid (∠¼ 93%) compared with other two conditions.(table.1) The results showed that that the duration–temperature combination decided the retention of ascorbic acid, rather than temperature or duration alone. IR blanching removed nearly 10% moisture, which could be a favorable factor, if drying is the subsequent step. Acknowledgement The Author would like to thank UGC for the award of Junior Research Fellowship (RGNF). Authors wish to thanks Director, CFTRI for extending infrastructure other facilities for carrying out this work.

Quality and Six Sigma Quality Initiative Essay -- Six Sigma TQM Total

Quality and Six Sigma Quality Initiative Sigma - ï  ³ is most common known as a Greek letter which is used in statistics as a measure of variation, or change. Most of the people, however, don’t know that ï  ³ is not only a symbol but it is also a method of quality. 6ï  ³ Quality (Six Sigma Quality) is a management philosophy which has to lead to better employee performance and therefore completely satisfy the customer. Six Sigma Quality, or in the abbreviation 6SQ was first introduced in 1986, when Dr. Mikel J.Harry tried the first project in the Motorola Company. However, the idea if it is not new. The same, or a very similar concepts are known under different names such as Total Quality Management (TQM) or Zero-Mistake-Production. Nowadays, many companies adopted the Six Sigma Quality Philosophy, among them are General Electric (GE), BMW – car producers in Germany, Navistar or Thermoking. Six Sigma involves all the employees, from the basic ones, to the top management. 6SQ requires not only training, but also the cooperation from the employees. If a company achieves ï  ³ 1, it will have a yield of 31% that means the business operations will be error free in 31%. Sigma on the stage two means error freeness in 69.2%, number 3 - 93.32%. All this seems to be a big improvement, but as we will see later on, it is not enough to work on the level 3, or 4, even though both of them have a very high percentage of error-freeness. Sigma step number 4 in the real numbers means 99.37% error free operations. Most of the companies, which are working under 6SQ are operating somewhere between Sigma 3 and Sigma 4. Sigma 5 means almost perfect result. 99.97% error freeness, and this seems to be a dream for most of the compa... ...es is the common sense. Alone the General Electrics Company (GE) is going to invest $550 M only in the year 1999 for the Six Sigma Program. (Manager Magazine, October 1999). Since GE had 293.000 employees in the year 1998, the cost for each employee comes up to $ 1.706. Since we have to consider that not all the employees are willing to take part on the seminar. Some of the people view that the Six Sigma Quality is forcing people to do lots of seminars on what is the common sense saying. Simply it is sometimes viewed as a pure waste of time, because the participation on these seminars takes a lot of time. The other disadvantages include another stress for the employees who are running the quality program and also for the employees who have to be in the program. Very often the idea is not bad at all, but the employees simply do not have time to complete the tasks.

Octopus :: essays research papers

Recently, researchers have discovered the existence of an extremely unique type of octopus. The species, known as the Indo-Malayan octopus, has the ability to alter its shape, form, and color pattern to mimic or imitate other sea creatures in order to avoid predation (2). The discovery of the mimic octopus is noteworthy because no other type of cephalopod is known to have impersonation abilities. The octopus is also not limited to one imitation. Researchers have observed up to eight different formations. The alternations occur depending upon the appetite, surrounding environment, and proximity of predators the octopus encounters (1). In analyzing the formations, behaviors, and predators of the mimic octopus, it is important to isolate the origins of this exclusive, and highly intelligent defense mechanism. Is this means of protection or evolutionary development, one that allows the cephalopod a better means of survival? Or is this the result of observed behaviors where the mimic oct opus becomes aware of the relations occurring in the environment, and successfully imitates a species based upon their ability to subsist when dealing with dangerous predators? The existence of mimic octopi is restricted to the islands of Indonesia, specifically off the coasts off Solawesi, and Bali (3). Surprisingly, the octopi have been viewed during the daylight hours, generally residing near sand tunnels, and holes (1). The octopi enjoy these mounds because they provide a significant source of food, including small worms, fish, and crustaceans. The octopus utilizes its arms to feel for prey, and then captures the food through the use of expanded webs. However, when the animal is attempting to hide itself from possible enemies, the Indo-Malayan octopus can transform itself into a variety of organisms, including fish, sea snakes, and anemones. If the octopus observes a cluster of damselfishes, it will change into a lionfish by swimming above the ocean floor, with arms extended beyond the body (2). The lionfish is known to possess poisonous spikes, which successfully deter the damselfish from preying upon the mimic octopus. Another possible transformation includes the sole fish. The octopus is able to propel itself in a similar manner by forming a leaf-shaped arm that moves it across the ocean floor effortlessly. The octopus's arms are also useful in impersonating the sea snake. Two arms are waved around to appear like a pair of snakes, while the other six are hidden from view. The octopus also changes its color and creates yellow and dark bands across the exposed arms.

Laptops, Hard Drives, The Ephemera Of Data, The Risk Of Theft And Consequence Of Law: Responsibilities And Liabilities

As technology develops at the speed of light, as digital phones computers grow more powerful than twelve acres of 1967 IBM mainframes, as information is set down in liquid pixels and stored in virtual warehouses the size of a postage stamps, as hackers and those of ill-will seek out ever-new clever ways to â€Å"break and enter† virtual â€Å"banks of data†. the law must respond, reflect, assess and codify those principles which will serve the business community, management and labor, employers and employees, as it enters the unknown territory of a virtual future.In a more gentile time of scriveners, Bartleby and Scrooge, an employee as day’s end would lift the top of his writer’s desk, store the hand written documents for that day and wait for his superior to stop by with a key to lock the desk for the night. Theft of such documents would have required the breaking and entering into a physical place to obtain physical objects.Cause and effect would be cle ar, as would an assessment of responsibility and liability. However, with today’s technology and the wide-open vistas of the world wide web, theft can occur from an transnational distance over invisible lines by processes barely comprehensible to those responsible for security. The 19th century scrivener under contract to his employer performed certain services and incurred certain duties and responsibilities.Doubtless, to a certain degree (perhaps depending upon who held the key) he was responsible for the safeguard of his newly copied documents. Likewise the modern employee owes similar duties and responsibilities; however, in the cyber age of information, the protection of data and information, securing it from being lost in the ocean of the web, is a more complicated issue, a more difficult task and raises questions that have yet to be resolved in this protean and ever-burgeoning area of business law.First, a word concerning definition and semantics: The terms â€Å"resp onsibility† and â€Å"liability† tend to get laced in the TV screenwriter’s daisy-chain of legalese in much the same way as Hamilton Burger couldn’t help himself from objecting in every episode of â€Å"Perry Mason† with the contradictory charge of â€Å"irrelevant, incompetent and immaterial. † What one gains in the impressive sound of â€Å"lawyer-words† is lost to meaning and precision.The distinction is important to present issues insofar as responsibility means the capacity, so far as this is a matter of a man’s mind or will, which normal people have to control their actions and conform to law. It describes the duties a person takes on which are general for any party to an agreement, a contract for consideration. Liability, on the other hand, is the quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable.It is a legal responsibility owed to another or society enforceable by civil remedy or punishment. Liability is a more serious matter in that it is ultimately an assessment by some given authority (judge, jury, and arbitrator) that one’s failure of responsibility is of such a nature as to incur the greater duty to make amends or remedy as determined by the specific facts of the matter.In short, liabilities denote some failure of responsibility; however, all failures of responsibility do not necessarily result in the imposition of liability. At its most basic level the law is about the management of relationships, the identification, assessment and balancing of the rights, interest, duties and responsibilities of the parties to the relationship. The law assesses the relative merits of argument when these respective interests come into conflict.In the arena of cyber space, cyber theft, cyber torts, the many relationships between and among several parties raise a plethora of issues, a multitude of arguments. The primary relationship exists between the employer and the employee. The relationship rests in the employment contract; however, depending upon the conduct of the parties other areas of law may come into play: harassment, negligence, cyber tort, trespass, theft, etc.The focus on the employment contract as setting forth certain responsibilities for either party in the age of cyber-data, the portability of laptops, and the ephemeral nature of recorded data, the questions, among others, raised are to what extent an employer can direct and restrict the conduct of an employee when those directives and restrictions bounce up against the employee’s competing interests in the ownership of personal property (his or her laptop) or the employee’s right to come and go as he/she pleases in a free society without having to exercise extraordinary care concerning the contents of his/her laptop, outside the office, beyond office hours. Just how far can the four corners of the employment contract stretch to govern employee conduct, responsibilities and the imposition of potential liabilities during the employee’s personal time? (The issues concerning the use and the restrictions on use of the employee’s personal laptop in the workplace during work hours is the easier analysis with the weight of authority siding with the employer’s right to impose restrictions deemed necessary for security and employee performance. )Analogies to the this predicament which in general asks to what degree an employer, as a condition of the employment contract, can direct the employee’s â€Å"after-hours† life, can be found in similar issues raised by those employment contracts which include a 24/hour non-smoking clause (in the interest of health costs, insurance premiums) or the ban on any office romance, inside or outside the office. What responsibilities does an employee incur with the pervasive use of laptop computers, which in a physical sense are portable items of personal property, but also carry a volume of information that on ce would have been stored in several warehouses or file rooms? Simply stated, employees are probably more of a security risk than an asset.By virtue of technology’s advance, employees have been placed in a precarious position of being guardians at the gate of treasure when the gate and the treasure are often invisible and invaded by invisible means. Perimeter security doesn’t work anymore. The airwaves are filled with rogue access points, and people are bringing infected laptops in and out of the enterprise. â€Å"A number of companies †¦ are revising their policies about how employees should handle confidential data stored on computers. Many employees are facing new restrictions on who can take confidential records out of the office and are receiving special training on how to keep data secure.Workers found violating security policies are being disciplined or even dismissed. † The next relationship is a sub-set of the first. It looks at the situation in wh ich an employee, having agreed to whatever conditions, duties, responsibilities, set forth in the employment contract and the statement of company policies, exhibits negligence, even gross negligence in the care and handling of his laptop, resulting in its physical theft. Assume the laptop’s hard drive contains something equivalent to the recipe for Coca-Cola, and the implications of loss to the company are self-evident. In this hypothetical the employee has failed in his responsibilities to the company. And yet what are the company’s remedies?As referenced above, they can discipline or dismiss the employee, and then sit back and watch as Company Z manufactures a soda as good as their own. The issue as to whether they can hold the employee liable is dwarfed by the issue of remedies. One fired employee will not return the secret formula. Assume the employee’s conduct was criminal. He gets ten years, community service, and a lien on his property (a double-wide out side of Macon) in the amount of ten million dollars. Company Z is still making a fortune manufacturing a cola as good as the original. The failure of remedy only serves to point the aggrieved party downstream to search out other remedies (i. e. , deep pockets), civil and criminal, for their loss.And yet, even then, assuming the best case scenario for Company Z (meaning the likely imposition of civil remedies and criminal fines/punishment) any litigator knows that at that advanced stage of litigation with large companies and big firms on the clock, the process is exceedingly slow and absent injunctions against the offending party – the secret’s now likely to be in the hands of Companies A, B, C and D. These hypothetical only points up the extreme seriousness of the necessity for a company’s defense against attacks from outside, and the disturbing acknowledgment that said defense is not wholly within the company’s control. Companies have instituted policies to stress, express and maximize an employee’s responsibility, even imposing certain liabilities on the failure of such duties; all to minimize and the limit the risk of hacking and theft.But the 20th century world of â€Å"hard copy† (and what that implies) is about to pass by commerce as businesses enter a new age of information-gathering and information-conveyance. The substance of current information is as rock-solid, as valuable as ever, however the â€Å"thing itself† – what used to be the paper and the ink scribbles on the paper, i. e. , the thing that carried the information are now words on screens that can all too easily disappear onto invisible hard drives that move by means of invisible wires cast about the world in an invisible matrix – rendering the whole chain of custody as ephemeral as vapor, vulnerable to the peculiar talents of a new kind of thief, who’s comfortable with the notion of theft as an intellectual rather than a physical activity. So, who’s vulnerable? â€Å"Anybody who has data. †Another issue that arises out of the various relationships involved is this: Given the current state of affairs regarding the risk and threat of data theft, cyber theft, laptop theft, floppy disk theft, companies, for some time, have been on constructive (if not express) notice that there are individuals among us, peculiar perhaps in their pursuits, talented and brilliant in ways often unknown to current Baby-Boom age management, who derive pleasure and more likely profit from infecting the web and its offshoots with viruses. The following hypothetical presents itself: Hacker X in a basement in Queens has been hired by Rogue Company Z, competitor of large and established Company A, to infect Company A’s computers with a virus that will disable Company A, thereby enhancing competitor Rogue Company Z’s position in the shared market.Hacker X is to be a paid a good deal of money and not bec ause he’s stupid. He knows from experience that a direct assault on Company A is more likely to lead a trail back to himself and Rogue Company Z. Therefore Hacker X studies the interlocking systems of Company A with client companies and determines he can attack Company A through out of state Company Client. On a given Monday Company Client’s workers go to work and discover that their system has crashed with a virus that will spread through a given network, affecting several companies down line, including Company A, the prime target. The issues are what duties did Company Client have to notify entities down line?As a practical matter, is there time for Company Client to notify other companies down line? What duty does any company, such as Company Client have, not only towards itself, but to companies down the line who will suffer impairment from the traveling virus? And most importantly do the companies down line have a cause of action against Company Client for breach of some duty in failing to protect itself (and therefore others) from virus infestation. The questions are not rhetorical. They are real and fact sensitive. One can envision a circumstance in which a company is so lax in its security that it all but screams for hackers to have their way.Such a security failure might very well be deemed a breach of duty to other companies in the zone of danger (its length and breadth however defined). And yet all we are left with are the questions: What laws or what standards govern? Are they state laws? And if so do they give rise to conflict of laws problems? Are they Federal laws? Who sets the standards codified by the legislation? Does the current state of common law (tort and contract) anticipate the advantageous application of old principles in new clothes? On analysis, it appears that when all is said and done, the essential â€Å"bottom line† issue will devolve about the areas of remedies and insurance.Analysis of responsibilities, the ir breach and consequent liabilities can fill courtrooms with boxes of pleadings; however, when the issues are finally resolved and liability is determined, who, in this day of multi-billion dollar cyber secrets will have the funds, the deep pockets, to make the aggrieved party whole. The resort to insurance opens another area of analysis which for now remains without the boundaries of discussion proscribed herein; however, one can only imagine the super-layer of responsibilities to be imposed on companies and their employees by insurance contract, drafted water-tight, so as to minimize risk of theft in a high risk environment.

Symbolism In English literatureâ€â€œGravity” Essay

Symbolism is a good tool to use when we come across difficult abstract concepts such as life and death.For example, in her article entitled â€Å"Gravity†, David Leavitt tells us a story about how a mom named Sylvia encourages her HIV infected son Theo to live longer. When Theo started to have bad eye sight in his childhood Sylvia just let him wear her flamboyant glasses despite that people around them all think that Theo looks strange. After Theo grew up, between a drug that could sustain his life and a drug that could save his sight, Theo chose the second one. Sylvia worried that Theo would give up the hope for living, so she tried to encourage Theo to live by a strange way which similar to the way she help him with his sight when he was a child. She threw a very heavy crystal bowl to Theo when they were shopping in a gift store. Theo caught the bowl without thinking. Theo realized that by throwing the bowl, on one side, Sylvia tended to prove that he is still alive. On the other side, Sylvia wanted to encourage him to live longer. The crystal bowl in the story represents exactly what Theo was going through. It symbolizes both life and death. It represents life because it was heavy and valuable â€Å"(The crystal bowl is) Four hundred and twenty- five dollars† (l. 88) This shows that the crystal bowl is very valuable just like that human’s life is very precious. In the same time, crystal bowl represent death because it could easily been shattered. Theo was surprised that he actually did not shatter the bowl â€Å"Theo looked at the floor, still surprised not to see shards of glass around his feet.† (l. 96-97) If the crystal bowl were broken, it would have not value or meaning just like it has lost its life. So, the Crystal bowl in the story represents death. If the bowl shattered, it just like a person lost his/her life. The crystal bowl also represents the character and hopes of Sylvia. The crystal in the story is very showing and pricy. â€Å"(The crystal bowl is) a large ridges crystal bowl, a very fifties sort of bowl, stalwart and square-jawed.† (l. 84-86) It represents Sylvia’s flamboyant and materialism characters. The author tells us that Sylvia has a flamboyant character by describing Sylvia’s bold and flashy glasses†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ harlequins with tiny rhinestones in the corners†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (l. 9) The author also implies that Sylvia is quite materialism by showing us that she care a lot abo ut the price of a graduation gift her sister given to her son  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Don’t you remember that cheap little nothing Bibi gave you for your graduation? It was disgusting.†(l.50-51) On the other hand, the crystal bowl represents the strength of Sylvia’s hope for Theo to live because the crystal bowl is heavy â€Å"’That’s heavy,’ Sylvia said, observing with satisfaction how the bowl had weighted Theo’s arms down†(l.93-94) The heavier the stronger, so the heaviness of the crystal bowl represent the strong will and hope of Sylvia. The author shows us that Sylvia is a strong willed woman who has done extremely stressful things in a role â€Å"The DHPG injections she (Sylvia) took in stride—she’s seen her own mother through her dying, after all, Four times a day, with the equanimity of a nurse, she cleaned out the plastic tube implanted in his chest, inserted a sterilized hypodermic a Sylvia and slowly dripped bag of sight-giving liquid into his vein†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (l.17-20) It shows that Sylvia has tremendous strength just like the toughness the crystal bowl appeared to be. The author also shows us that Sylvia’s hope for Theo to live is very strong. Even though Sylvia was stressed out †Yet she (Sylvia) had also, at about three o’clock one morning, woken him up to tell him she was going to the twenty-four- hour supermarket, and was there anything her wanted†(1. 122-124) This shows that Sylvia was on the edge of mental broken-down. But Sylvia still keeps strong hope for The o to live â€Å"†¦ it had occurred to him (Theo) that she (Sylvia) was trusting his two feeble hands, out of the whole world, to keep it from shattering.† This shows that after all, Sylvia strongly hoped that, showing Theo that he was still strong by throwing the crystal bowl and letting him catch it, Theo would not continue on giving up his life but choose to live longer. The crystal also symbolized the general message which the author is trying to convey to the readers: life should be fully lived. The author shows that Theo was dying and tended to giving up his life. He felt â€Å"†¦wide and unswimmable the gulf was becoming between him and the evereceding shoreline of the will †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (l. 35-36) Even though he felt that way, he still caught the heavy crystal bowl without thinking. It shows the underlining deep and significant meaning of the story â€Å"There are certain things you’ve already done before you even think how to do them†¦ the bowl, which Theo was holding before he could even begin to calculate its brief trajectory†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (l.131-133) This shows us that all human have an instinct for living. By showing us this, the story conveys a message to the readers that even though life is  violable like the fragile crystal bowl; it doesn’t mean that we should give up. Instead, we should look at the positive side of life. Just like the crystal bowl also heavy and strong side, human lives also have a strong side because very one have instinct for living. Therefore, we should have faith to ourselves and stop complaining our own misery but start to look at life in a positive way, and realize that our lives should be fully lived.