Cell Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cell Biology - Essay Example They found out that when antibodies of GRASPs were introduced, daughter cells resulting from mitosis had improper stacking of cisternae membranes. Nonetheless, the findings have been inconclusive due to other studies using equally logical and accepted techniques. The studies conducted by other scientists employing gene knockout (removal of gene responsible for GRASP production) and siRNA depletion on animal cells, such as that of Behnia et al (2007), have shown that proper stacking occurred even in the absence of GRASPs. General protein secretion was also unencumbered. Furthermore, the absence of GRASPs in plants has not prevented them from acquiring proper stacking of the cisternia membranes. It is in the confusion regarding the true physiological function of the GRASPs that Kutzen and his colleagues conducted their study. They sought an explanation on why GRASPs exists by determining and establishing its role in cellular development. The authors present a new perspective on the physiological role of GRASPs. They contend that these proteins are not needed for conventional protein secretion, growth (i.e. stacking) and viability of vegetative cells. Their importance lies in making sure that AcbA, a protein that initiates spore differentiation, are secreted. Since AcbA lacks a signal sequence for its transport to the site where terminal differentiation occurs, GRASPs present an unconventional mechanism that facilitates the secretion and transportation of AcbA. Since spore differentiation ultimately results to fruiting bodies containing mature spores, GRASPs can be thought of as necessary for the reproductive mechanism of the cell and not the stacking of the membranes. 3.0 Major Findings Thru the use of cells of Dictyostelium, a type of mold, the authors found that GRASPs are not necessary for insuring cell growth and viability. This was the result of comparing the Golgi structure of cells containing GRASP and those without thru the use of immunoflourescence microscopy. The structure, even the stacking of the Golgi membranes, was similar for both cases. In proving their hypothesis, the authors studied the prespore cell type of the mold. With molds that have GRASPs as the control and those without as the experimental variable, they were able to determine that the viability of the mature spores in the control was 100% as compared to the 25% of those negative for GRASPs. Digging deeper, the authors were able to determine that the decrease in viability was the result of the insignificant production of SDF-2, a major peptide factor necessary for proper spore formation. According to the Anjard and Loomis (2005), SDF-2 is generated in the cleaving of AcbA. The cleaving of the protein AcbA initiates a loopback process that ultimately results to a successful sporulation event. The question now that faced the authors was to determine how GRASPs affected the production of AcbA. After having conducted Western blot analysis on moulds which did not have GRASPs, they found that AcbA was still as abundant as that in normal conditions. The only logical

Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Sustainability - Essay Example The multidimensional perspectives of a business should therefore encompass several environmental and ecological issues and factors. In other words, in any analysis of a business’ performance, the social, cultural, health-related and monetary/financial aspects of its operations must be integrated. Thus, the idea of sustainability surpasses sustained business yields of welfare, resources and profit and touches on social and communal effects (Farley & Daly, 2004). This paper explores the benefits that Janssen UK, a medium-sized leading transnational research-based pharmaceutical company with its headquarters in High Wycombe might enjoy from sustainability, the leadership initiatives by which the company may become a leader in sustainability and how the organisation’s leadership might effect the sustainability change. The Benefits of Sustainability The big question that many people, especially company managers and CEOs ask is whether sustainability really works. In other wo rds, are there real benefits of sustainability? For Janssen UK, the general and simplest response to this question is yes. This answer is supported by the fact that other top-ranking small-, medium- and large-sized organisations in the world are either practicing or introducing sustainability to their operations and practices. In addition, more workers now choose organisations or employers based on their environmental credentials, friendliness and corporate citizenship (Hawken & Lovins, 1999). Nonetheless, owners, CEOs and managers continue to question the costs and financial benefits even as they enjoy the benefits of sustainability. It is however generally supported that businesses that seek to reduce the amount of resources or materials used in the production of the same amount of goods and services or that seek to reduce cases of sick leave while improving staff retention rates definitely enjoy the financial benefits of sustainability (Von Weizsacker, 1998). That sustainability has immense personal and professional benefits is evidenced by the reports of organisations that successfully implement sustainability programs. The benefits of sustainability for Janssen UK may be largely categorised as financial, brand and reputation, human resources and employee engagement and environmental benefits. Under the financial benefits, Janssen UK may enjoy reduced energy and water usage, hence reduced production costs (Daly & Cobb, 1999). In addition, Janssen UK could enjoy reduced paper, waste and associated costs as well as reduced use of production materials. In some cases, the company may receive grants due to its improved sustainability practices. The other likely financial benefit of sustainability to Janssen UK is visibility of business performance as a result of mandatory reporting. As mentioned earlier, businesses that implement sustainability programs have numerous human resources and employee engagement benefits. For Janssen UK, these benefits include but ar e not limited to improved working conditions, increase productivity, improved attraction and retention of labourers, increased staff loyalty and lowered costs associated with improved human resource outcomes (Jackson et al., 2008). The third category of the benefits of sustainability, the brand and reputation benefits include better corporate social responsibility performance, lowered liability and risk management, improved competitiveness and market positioning and increased

Supply Chain Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supply Chain Management - Case Study Example Analysis of Bearing Service Inc Bearing Service, Inc was launched by Herbert Mann in the year 1943, after identifying a business opportunity in ball bearing production. The company has been in operation for over twenty five years since its inception. Its headquarters are situated in Michigan Monrovia. In addition, the company has displayed tremendous growth in terms of structural growth and increase in sales. For example, Bearing Company started from being a single based business structure that was centralized in Detroit. The company has undergone via great expansion in selling bearing related products in various destinations/locations. Bearing Company Inc is independently managed and has decentralized its operations by establishing four subsidiaries in Michigan and in the United State. In above connection, the company focuses in distributing bearings, seals, linear motion products, power transmission tools and other accessories related to power transmission. Bearing service Inc comp rises of more than three hundred product manufactures that supplies material and products that are needed by the customer. However, due to special customers needs, Bearing Service Company Inc may contact other vendors to supply items that are required by the customer? To increase their effectiveness and relevance in the market, Bearing Service Inc provides customers with some basic training concerning their products. For example the company educates their customers on power transmission, linear motion, repair and maintenance among other trainings. Bearing service vision entails providing their clients with great satisfaction by offering them with highly innovative products as well as cultivating long term relationship and responding to any emergencies as soon as they arise. The company received its ISO 9002 Certification the year 1998.This enabled the company to compete with large companies as well ensure that there is continuous improvements. However, the company realized that it w as making low returns by entering into large contract and hence, the company decided to identify the key markets where it could excel properly (Bearing Service Inc, pp.1-2). The strength and weakness of Bearing Service Inc may be evaluated via observing the company strategic plans as internal and business external environment. The strength of Bearing service Inc may be observed in the manner in which the company has design responses for handling emerging customers’ needs based on the company plan. The company has further differentiated its products and has been keeping in touch with new innovations. For example the company, it has been reported that the company has embraced innovativeness to cope with globalization unlike other companies in this industry. In addition, bearing company provides basic training to its customers which also form the basis of its strength in the market. The company has well established logistic and inventory management systems that also form the bas is of its strength. Among the capabilities of bearing company in respect to inventory management include; Plant and crib surveys, establishment of customers identification numbers, usage evaluation, periodic stock taking as well as establishment of customized parts packaging. This has enabled the Bearing Company to minimize numerous cost such as the cost of bearing service provision, materials handling cost,

Sustainable Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sustainable Project Management - Essay Example ng the social, environmental, and economical interests in project management life cycle to attain a bearable, sustainable and equitable environment (Kohler & et.al., 2012). In other words, it bonds the people, planet, and profits realized in a construction project. This paper discusses sustainable project management under four concepts; project quality, economic studies (risks and benefits), construction waste management, and build operation and maintenance. Rose (2005) defines quality as the total characteristics of a product that satisfies the implied needs. A construction project has an anticipated project deliverables. Therefore, project quality management is a process that ensures that the delivered project meets the value for money to the client. The details of the scope of works and contract specification document determine the expected and the level of quality. Project quality management should be compatible with ISO 9000 and ISO 1000 quality standards as well as the guidelines. Project quality also focuses on management of the project and the delivered. Project appraisal is a forecasting technique rather than a formulation one. Despite this, there is no forecast without problems (risks). Uncertainties in certain scenarios can be transformed to risks. Therefore the risks are subjected to empirical measurement, analyzed and managed. Risk assessment is a study of existing probabilities that the project will attain a satisfactory performance. The following are the recommended steps for assessing project risks; Cost-benefit analysis is the commonly used appraisal technique for evaluating construction projects. It is required by the client to ascertain the value for money for the delivered project. A sustained project is thus that which he benefits outweigh costs. Cost-benefit analysis is a process that determines the pros and cons on the project life cycle. It is concerned with the benefits from quality management versus the costs of quality management

Locus of control and self-esteem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Locus of control and self-esteem - Essay Example A drive to accomplish and maintain high self-esteem is one of the strongest motives of personality. People with high self-esteem possess a positive image about themselves while people with low self-esteem possess a negative about themselves (Baumeister, 1998). In recent times, psychologist and other social scientists have shifted emphasis on studying the personality traits of students. A number of researchers have studied the relationship between self-esteem and locus of control (Martin, 1978; Liu, Haiyan & Li, 2009). The findings of the researches suggested that locus of control and self-esteem has a negative or inverse relationship. This means that individuals having a high locus of control, that is, external locus on control will have a low self-esteem. Similarly, individuals having a low locus of control, that is, internal locus of control will have a high self-esteem (Martin, 1978; Liu, Haiyan & Li, 2009). These results are not only consistent in the academic field rather researchers investigated the relationship of the two variables among different ethnic backgrounds, socio-economic status, gender roles and discovered the same results (Goodman, Cooley, Sewell & Leavitt, 1994; Harrison, Guy & Lupfer, 1981). The main purpose of the research is to study the relationship between locus of control and self-esteem among students studying at Marshall Graduate College, Charleston. The study aims to investigate whether students having a higher locus of control have a low self-esteem and vice versa. In order to understand the two variables; locus of control and self-esteem better, the conceptual definitions are presented. The locus of control is an important concept of psychology which explains how a human perceives the events that he has gone through in his or her life. It is considered as an important part of an individual’s personality as it mainly refers to the way one perceives his/her actions and the events that his/his life passes through,

US history from 1865-1900 Essay Example for Free

US history from 1865-1900 Essay Most Americans thought the war would not last long. Southerners thought that just one victory on the battlefield would force the Union to see that they were a separate nation now. Northerners believed that one victory would convince the Confederate states to return to the Union. Northerners thought their victory would come easily. They had many advantages over the South. Besides, the north already had a government and an army, while the South had to start their own government and army in 1861. The South, however, had hidden advantages. (Tindall, 1984). For example, many of the best officers in the U.S. Army came from the South. When the war began, many of these officers joined the rebels. These Southerners knew that the North would have to invade the South to fight the war. Soldiers tend to fight harder when they defend their own homes. Fighting on home territory thus gave the South an advantage over the North. By the end of 1865, the Union was also entirely slave-free (Bailey). Upon Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, the powers of his office fell upon Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. In many ways, Johnson’s life story was similar to that of Lincoln. He was self-educated and worked his way up through the political ranks and before the war he had reached the position of United States senator from Tennessee. Johnson had remained loyal to the Union when Tennessee seceded. Throughout his career, Andrew Johnson had performed his political tasks well. He had demonstrated integrity, sincerity and courage. Having risen from poverty himself, he was respected by many poor Southerners. Unfortunately, President Johnson did not have the strong leadership qualities of his predecessor (Bancroft, 1956). Â  Southern states adopted constitutions that complied with congressional stipulations and ratified the fourteenth amendment. Most of the Southern states were readmitted to the Union in 1868, although federal troops were kept in the South for nearly a decade thereafter. In order to further protect the voting rights of freedmen, Congress proposed the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution. The last several Southern states to be readmitted to the Union were required to ratify the fifteenth amendment as well as the fourteenth. Much of America’s steel business soon came under the control of a young entrepreneur named Andrew Carnegie. His venture into the building of iron bridges soon led him into the manufacture of iron. When he was convinced that the Bessemer process was the wave of the future, he entered the steel business. By early 1880s, he had joined forces with Henry C. Frick, and their company was the leading producer of iron and steel in the United States. Because so many changes took place in the South after the Civil War, it is often referred to as the New South. Agriculture became more diversified. Cotton remained the chief crop, but tenant farmers began to grow a wide variety of other crops as well. Other endeavors besides agriculture also became increasingly important in the southern economy. Industry was to play an important role in the development of the New South. The South had the ingredients necessary for several important types of industry. It had good sources of waterpower. It has the capability of producing important raw materials such as cotton, tobacco, lumber, coal, oil and iron ore, It also had a large labor force willing to work for relatively low wages (Brinkley, 1993).

Judiciary in a democracy

Judiciary in a democracy What is the role of the judiciary in a democracy? This work is going to examine the way judiciary works and operates in a democracy. Judiciary has definitely a very significant role in a democracy as it shapes and interprets the laws. Key roles and features of the judiciary will be discussed in this work. There will be some theories looked over at and some real life examples as well. First of all, the meaning of the term ‘judiciary needs to be established. Judiciary is ‘the branch of government that is empowered to decide legal disputes and adjudicate on the meaning of the law (Heywood, 2007:452). Democracy on its hand has the roots in Ancient Greece as even the word itself has Greek parts e.g. demos for ‘the people and kratos for ‘power. The word democracy has a lot of meanings nowadays and may not have any meaning to some people at the same time (Heywood, 2007). In this essay the word ‘democracy is going to be used in the context of ‘a system of government that serves the interests of the people regardless of their participation in political life (Heywood, 2007:72). As it was discussed in class the role of the judiciary is as follows: * Protect the constitution * Look after government and parliament * Expound the constitution and laws The key feature of judiciary in a democracy is its complete independence from government. For judges being nonpolitical is essential as well. They must be neutral in order to be legal (Heywood, 2007). Neutrality is ‘the absence of any form of partisanship or commitment (Heywood, 2007:329). Often not only the judicial independence in a democracy is the case, but the external pressure can sometimes take place. Heywood argues that in this case it ‘is not so much how judges are recruited, but who is recruited (Heywood, 2007). Judges may sometimes be the subject to internal bias and external bias. Internal bias occurs when judges may have personal preferences and cant be neutral in their decisions. External bias may occur when someone else may put pressure on the judge or put at risk his/her employment, it is said that the external bias is controlled by the principle of ‘judicial independence. It gives a suggestion that judges cant be dismissed and that the amount of cri ticism towards judges work is constrained. In reality judges tend to be dependent on certain circumstances as political bodies often have control over certain key issues e.g. judge recruitment (Heywood, 2007). As it is seen from Heywood, judges are not always neutral and therefore in a real democracy can influence the final decision in both ways. Kathleen Sullivan, the past Dean of the Stanford Law School, agrees to the statement of judiciary being the protector of constitution: ‘ It seems obvious that the court system especiallyjudicial review of the acts of the legislative and executive branches of government is, in one way,a bulwark of our constitutional democracy. The court protectscertain minority rights from being trampled by the majority, protects the basic liberty and participatory rights of all, and checks the excesses of the other branches of government.Thats all well and good and crucial for democratic self governance (http://theblog.philosophytalk.org/2007/02/democracy_and_t.html). Kathleen adds another point about judiciarys role in a democracy that we did not look at during the class: judiciary protects minorities and makes them less vulnerable to the majorities choices. Judges expounding the law and constitution have a very important role in a democracy. Many things and even lives depend on the way a judge interprets the law at that moment. Heywood states that every judge uses law in his/her own way, interprets and builds up the argument in court: ‘†¦judges impose meaning on law through a process of ‘construction that forces them to choose amongst a number of possible meanings or interpretations. In this sense, all law is judge-made law (Heywood, 2007: 330). In real life judiciary can be very contradictory. It can be observed from different angle and be seen in a different ways by different parties. For example the X case in Ireland caused a lot of confrontation. The case was about a 14 year old girl who was raped and got pregnant and wanted to go to England to have an abortion. However, she was refused to go by the High court. Later the case was solved by the appeal from the Supreme Court which stated that if there was a risk to mothers life as the result of pregnancy as there was a suicide possibility. As the result there were three amendments proposed to the constitution of Ireland. One of them argued to remove suicide threat from the grounds for the legitimate abortion and was then rejected. Other two were ratified and these are thirteenth and fourteenth amendments (http://www.ifpa.ie/eng/Hot-Topics/Abortion/Abortion-in-Ireland-Legal-Timeline). This case shows how different judges can build their arguments and interpret the law in di fferent ways and, for sure, influence the final decision. Some people have mixed feelings about the way how judges are elected in a democracy. First of all they are elected just like politicians, so it makes judges political what interferes with judges being ‘strictly independent and nonpolitical actors (Heywood, 2007:328). It is thought that appointing judges is better than electing them as they are maybe more independent than the elected ones (http://theblog.philosophytalk.org/2007/02/democracy_and_t.html). Another case is the demographical representation of the judges in democratic countries. As it was discussed in the class about 80% of all the judges in Ireland attended UCD. Most of the judges in Britain are white young males with private education (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/28/uk.immigrationpolicy1). There was an attempt to change this pattern and encourage women and members of the minority groups to become judges to have a more diverse judiciary. The launch of the independent Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in 2006 was meant to herald an end to the old tap on the shoulder method of recruitment and secret soundings among existing judges, which produced a senior judiciary that was almost exclusively white and male (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/28/uk.immigrationpolicy1). Unfortunately, this new method of recruitment did not work as well: ‘But a Guardian review of selection shows that those appointed since last September are remarkably similar to those selected under the old process (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/28/uk.immigrationpolicy1). Diversifying of the judiciary is not easy, so it will take some time, but it will certainly get to the point. In the conclusion I would like to say that judiciary certainly works in a democracy. The question is if it works fairly, correctly and totally neutrally like it must work. Judiciary protects the constitution and judges interpret the laws in court and expound constitution. Real life examples can be very contradictory and be seen in different ways by different judges e.g. the X case. Bibliography. Heywood, Andrew (2007) ‘Politics. Third Edition, Palgrave. http://theblog.philosophytalk.org/2007/02/democracy_and_t.html http://www.ifpa.ie/eng/Hot-Topics/Abortion/Abortion-in-Ireland-Legal-Timeline http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/28/uk.immigrationpolicy1